The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-09-30

the palace Of the King, and at the table; ana
while the Lord Of heaven is apportion1ng
from His own table to the other tables he
will not forget Us; and then and there 1t Will
be found that our Ben1amins mess Is larger
than all the others. for go It ought to be.
HWorthy is the Lamb that wef slain, to re-
ceiye blessing and riches and honor and
glory and power"
want to make three points. Every frank
and common sense man will acknowledge
himself to be sinner. What are you going
to do with your sins? Have them pardoned,
you say. How? Through the mercy OF God:
What do you mean by the mercy OF dodF
Is 1t the letting down OF a bar Tor tne 40.
mission Of all, without respect to characteH
Be not deceived? I see soul coming up 70
the gate o: mercy and knocking at the corn
crib Of heavenly supply; and voice from
within says: care you alone?" The sinner
replies, "All alone" The voice from
within says, "You shall not see my pardon
ing face unless your divine Brother, the
Lord Jesus, be with you" Oh, that is the
point at which so many are discounted.
There Is no mercy from God except through
Jesus Christ. Coming with Rim, we are ac-
cepted. Coming without Him, we are re-
jected. Peter put 1t right In his great ser!
mon before the high priests, when he thun-
dered forth: "Nelthet Is there salvation In
anv other. There Is no other name given
under heaven among men whereby We may
be saved" Oh, anxious sinner! Oh, dying
sinner! Oh, lost sinner! all you have got to
do is to have this divine Benjamin along
with you. Side by side. coming to the gate,
| all the store-houses of heaven will swing
open before your anxious soul.
Am right In calling Jesus Benjamin? O,
yes. Rachel lived only long enough to give
name to that child, and with dying KISS
she called him Benoni. Afterward Jacob
changed his NAM, and he called him Benz
was, "Son OF my Pain" The meaning OF
the name the father gave was, "Son Of my
Right Hand" And was not Christ the Son
OF pain2 All the sorrows OF Rachel IN that
hour when she gave her child over Into the
hands OF strangers, was as nothing compared
with the struggle OF God when BE gave up
| His only Son. And was not Christ appro-
priately called "Son Of the Blight Hand?"
Did not Stephen look into heaven and see
1 Him standing at the right hand OF God? And
does not Paul speak Of Him as standing at
the right hand Of God making tntercession
for us2 o, Benjamin-Jesus! Son OF pangl
Son Of victory! The deepest emotions OF our
souls ought to be stirred at the sound OF that
nomenclature. In your prayers plead His
tears, His sufferlngs. His sorrows, and HIS
death. Ityou refuse 10 do 1t. all the corn
cribs and the palaces Of heaven Will be
bolted and barred against your soul, and
voice from the throne shall stun you with the
announcement, "You shall not see My face
except your brother be with you"
My text also suggests the reason why
so many people do not get any real
comfort. You meet ten people, nine OF
dolence. There Is something In their
| hao1fh nr In THAR state. In their DO
mestic condition that demands sympa:
thy. And yet most of the worlds sympathy
amounts to absolutely nothing. People 90 TO
the wrong crib, or they go the wrong way.
When the plague vas In Rome. great many
years ago, there were eighty men who chant
ed themselves to death with the lltanies
of Gregory the Great-literally chanted
themselves to death, and yet 1t did not stop
the plague And all the music OF this world
cannot halt the plague OF the human heart
I come to some one whose ailments are
chronic, and I say: "In heaven you will
| never be sick" That does not give you much
comfort. What you want Is soothing power
for ryourpresent distress.
Lost children, have you? come to you
and tell you that In ten years perhaps you
will meet those loved ones before the throne
Of God. But there Is but little coincidence
In that. One day is a year with
them, ana Ten years ID onoh
eternity. What you want Is sympathy now
present help. come to those Of you who
have lost dear friends and say: "Try to for.
get them. Do not keep the departed always
In your mind" How can you forget them
when every figure in the carpet and every
book and every picture and every room calls
out their name.
My friends. you see 1t is either Christ o.
famine. II there were two banquets spread,
and to one Of them, only, you might go, you
might stand and think good while
as to which invitation you had bette!
accept; but here It Is feast
ing or starvation. II there were two
mansions offered, and you might have
only one, you might think for long
while, saving: "Perhaps ! had better
accept this gift, and perhaps ! had
better accept that gift;" but here 1t L.
choice between palaces OF light and
novels OF despair. II 1t were choice be
tween oratorios, you might say, 81 pre-
fer the Creation" or, ~ prefer thu
Messiah" But here It Is choice be
tween etornal harmony and everlast
ing discord. Oh, will you live or diel
Will you sail into the harbor or drive on the
rocks2 Will you start for the Egyptian corn
crib or will you perish amid the empty BARN