The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-09-22

say of him? lie is a suicide. And what
do you say Of that man who, sick in sin.
has the healing medicine of Gods grace
offered him and refuses TO take it? If
he dies, he is a suicide People talk as
though God took a man and led him ont
TO darkness and death, as though He
brought him.up to the cliffs anG then
pushed him OFF. Oh, mol When a man
is lost, it is not because God pushes him
Off; il is because he jumps Off. In olden
times a suicide was buried at the cross
roads, and the people were accustomed
to throw stones upon his grave. So il
seems to me there may be at this time
a man who is destroying his soul, and
as though the angels of God were here
to bury him at the point where the
roads Of life and death cross each other.
throwing upon the grave the broken
law and great pile of misimproved
privileges so that those going by may
look at the fearful mound and learn
what a suicide it is when an immortal
soul for which Jesus died puts itself
out of the way.
When Christ trod this planet with
foot of flesh, the people rushed after
Him-people who were sick and those
who, being so sick they could not walk.
were brought by their friends. Here
see a mother holding up her little
child, crying: "Cure this Group, Lord
Jesus! Cure this scarlet feverl" And
others: Cure this ophthalmial Give
ease and rest to this spinal distress!
Straighten this club footl" Christ
made every house where lie stopped a
dispensary. do not believe that in the
- centuries which have gone 10y since,
His heart has got hard. l feel that we
can come now with all our wounds of
soul and get His benediction. o Jesus.
here we arel We want healing. We
want sight. We want health. We want
life. "The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick" Blessed be
God that Jesus Christ comes through
this assemblage now, His garments
smelling of myrrh"-that means fra
grance-'and aloes"-they mean bitter
sacrifcial memories-"and cassia"-
that means medicine and cure.
According to my text, He comes "out
of the ivory palaces" You know, or,
if you do not know, will tell you now
that some of the palaces of olden time
were adorned with ivory. Ahab and
Solomon had their homes furnished
with it. The tusks of African and Ash
attic elephants were twisted into all
manners of shapes, and there were
stairs of ivory and chairs of ivory and
tables of ivory and pillars of ivory and
windows of ivory and fountains ofl
ivory that dropped into basins of ivory
and rooms that had ceilings Of ivory
Oh, white and overmastering beauty
Green tree branches sweeping the
white curbs. Tapestry trailing the
snowy floors. Brackets of light flash
ing on the lustrous surroundings. Sill
very music ripping on the beach Of the
arches. The mere thought of il almost
stuns my brain, and you say: "Oh, if /
! could only have walked over such /
floors! If l could have thrown myself
in such a chair If could have heard
the drip and dash of those fountains,"
You shall have something better than
that if you only let Christ introduce /
you. From that place lie came. and 10 /
that place He proposes to transport you, /
for His garments smell of myrrh and /
aloes and cassia out of the ivory pal /
aces What a place Heaven must be. /
The Tuileries of the French the Wind /
sor castle of the English. the Spanish /
alhambra, the Russian kremln. are |
mere dungeons compared with it! Not /
SO many castles on either side of the /
Rhine as on both sides of the river Of God |
the ivory palaces! One for the am
gels, insuiferably bright, winged, fire /
eyed, tempest charioted; one for the /
martyrs, with blood red robes from un- /
der the altar; one for the King, the /
steps Of His palace the crown of the |
church militant; one for the singers. /
who lead the one hundred and forty /
and four thousand; one for you ran /
somed from sin; one for me, plucked /
from the burning. Oh, the ivory pal /
aces.
To-day it seems TO me as II the win
dows Of those palaces were illumined +
for some great victory, and look and .
see climbing the stairs of ivory and /
walking on floors Of ivory and looking I
from the windows Of ivory some whom .
we knew and loved on earth. Yes, /
know them. There are father and .
mother, not 50 years and 70 years as /
when they left us, but blithe and young /
as when on their wedding day. And /
there are brothers and sisters, merricr F.
than when we used TO romp across the /
meadows together The cough gone I
The cancer cured. The erysipelas /
healed. The heartbreak over. Oh, how I
fair they are in the ivory palacesl And /
your dear little children that went out I
from you-Christ did not let one Of /
them drop as lie lifted them. lie did 4
not wrench one Of them from you. No. /
They went as from one they loved well /.
to one whom they loved better. II
should take your little child and press
its soft face against my rough cheek, 7
might keep IL a little while; but when /
you, the mother, came along il would /
struggle TO go with you. And so you
stood holding your dying child when F.
Jesus passed by in the room and the /.
little one sprang out to greet Him. I