The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-03-17

VINO was in the employ or Alexander the
Great, and he offered to hew mountain in
the shape of his master, the emperor, the
enormous figure to hold in the left hand a
city Of 10, ,OO0 inhabitants, while in the right
hand 1t was to hold basin large enough to
collect all the mountain torrents. Alexan-
der applauded him for his ingenuity, but for-
badethe enterprise because Of its costliness.
Yet have to tell you that our King holds In
one hand all the cities OF the earth, and all
the oceans, while he has the stars OF heaven
for his tiara
Earthly power goes from hand to hand
from Henry to Henry II and Henry III,
to Louis II and Louis III, but from everlast-
ing to everlasting is God. God the first, God
the last, God the only, He has onetelescope,
with which he sees everything-his omnis-
cience. He has one bridge, with which he
crosses everything-his omnipresencp. He
has one hammer, with which he builds
everytblng-his omnipotence. Put two
tablespoonfuls Of water in the palm OF
your hand. and Il will overflow, but Isaiah
Indicates that God puts the Atlantic, and
the Pacific. and the Arctic, and tine Antarc-
tic, and the Mediterranean, and the Black
Sea, and all the waters OF the earth in the
hollow OF His hand. The fingers tho beach
on one side. the wrist the beach on the other.
"He holdeth the water In the hollow OF Bis
hand"
As you take pinch Of salt or powder be-
tween your thumb and two fingers, so Isaiah
indicates God takes up the earth. He meas
ures the dust Of the earth, the original there
indicating that God takes all the dust Of all
the continents between the thumb and two
fingers. You wrap around your hand blue
ribbon five times, ten times. You say 1t Is
five hand breadths or it is ten hand breadths.
SO indicates the prophet God winds the
blue ribbon Of the sky around His hand.
she meteth out the heavens with a
span." You know that balances are
made Of a beam suspended in the middle,
with two basins at the extremity Of equal
heft in that way what vast heft has been
weighed! But what are all the balances Of
earthly manipulation compared with the
balances that Isaiah saw suspended when he
saw God putting into the scales the Alps and
the Apennines and Mount Washington and
the Sierra Nevadas2 You see the earth had
to be ballasted. It would not do to have too
much weight In Europe, or too much weight
in Asia, or too much weight in Africa or In
America, 80 when God made the mountains
he weighed them. The Bible distinctly
says 80. God knows the weight Of the great
ranges that cross the continents, the tons.
the pounds avoirdupois, the ounces, the
grains, the millegrams-just how much they
now. she weighed the mountains In scales
and the hills in a balance" Oh, what God
to run against! Oh, what God to disobey!
Oh, what God to dishonor! Oh. what
God to defy! The brightest, the mightiest
angel takes no familiarity with God. The
wings Of reverence are lifted. with twain
he covered the face"
Another seraphic posturein the text. The
seraph must not always stand still. he must
move, and 1t must be without clumsiness.
There must be celerity and beauty In the
movement. 'With twain he did fly" Cor
rection, exhilaration. Correction at our
slow gait, for we only crawl In the service
when We ought to fly at the divine bidding.
Exhiaration In the fact that the soul has
wings as the seraphs have wings. What is
wing2 An instrument OF locomotion.
They may not be like seraphs' wing, they
may not be like birds wing, but the soul has
wings. God says so. He shall mount up
on wings as eagles" We are made in the
says so. "Healing In His WINGS" "Under
the shadow OF His wings" Under Whose
wings hast thou come to trust" The
soul with folded wing now, wounded
wing, broken wing, bleeding wing. Gagged
wing. Aye, 1 have 1t now! Gagged within
bars of bone and under curtains of flesh, but
one day to be free. I hear the rustic Of
pinions In Seagrave's poem which we some-
times sing:
Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings.
Ihear the rustic of pinions in Alexander
Pope's stanza, where he says:
mount, I fly.
o death, where Is thy victory2
Oh, people Of God, let US stop playing the
| fool and prepare for rapturous fight. When
your soul stands on the verge OF this life,
and there are vast precipices beneath and
sapphired domes above, which way will you
fy2 Will you swoop, or will you soar2 Will
you fly downward, or will you fly upwardl
| Everything on the wing this day bidding US
aspire. Holy Spirit on the wing. Angel Of
the New Covenant on the wing. Time on
the wing, flying away from US. Eternity on
the wing, flying toward Us. Wings, wings,
| wings!
Live so near to Christ that when you are
| dead people standing by your nfeless body
will not soliloquize, saying; "What dis
appointment life was to him! How averse he
was to departure! What pity 1t was he had
| to die What an awful calamity" Rather
standing there may they see sign more
| vivid on your still face than the vesttges OF
pain, something that will indicate that
1t was a happy exit, the clearance from
oppressive quarantine, the cast-of chrysa.
| lis, the molting of the faded and the useless,
and the ascent from malarial valleys to
| bright, shining mountain tops, and be led to
say, as they stand there contemplating your
humility and your reverence In life and your
/ happiness in death, "With twain he covered
the feet, with twain he covered his face,
with twain he did fly" Wings, wings, wingsl