The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-03-22

may be bound up with loving and sympa-
thetic God. We may be as near to Him as
ever we're emerald and ruby united in one
ring, as ever were two deeds in one pack
she'll rs ever were two valuebieS in the
same bundle. Together In time OF sorrow.
Together in time OF Joy. Together on
earth. Together in heaven. Close COM
panionship Of God. Hear Him, II will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee" "For
the mountains shall depart andth hills be
removed, but My kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant OF
My peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee" And when those
Bible authors compared Gods friend
ship to the mountains for height and
firmness they knew what they were
writing about; for they we'll knew what
mountains are. All those lands are noun
famous. Mount Hermon, Noun: Gilboa,
Mount Gerlzlm, Mount Engedi, Mount
Horeb, Mount Nebo. Mount Pisgah, Mount
Olivet, Mount Zion, Mount Moriah. Mount
Lebanon. Mount Sinai, Mount Golgotha.
Yes, we have the divine promise that all
those mountains shall weigh their anchor
age of rocks and move away from the
earth before loving and sympathetic God
will move away from us II we love and
trust Him. Oh, II we could realize that
according to my text We may bound up
| with tnat Uou, now lnuePouuonI ~ "0uiu
make US of things that now harass aud an
noy and discompose and torment US! In
stead OF grasshopper being q burden,
world OF care would Ee as light as
feather, and tombstones would be marble
stairs TO the Kings palace. and all the
giants of opposition we would smite down
hip and thigh with great slaughter.
| Know, also, that this bundle OF life will
be gladly received when 1t comes to the
1 1oo - = ba 10 xuhinh II M hon nd
and plainly directed. With what alacrity
and glee we await some package that has
been foretold by letter, some holiday pre-
sentation, something that will enrich and
ornament our home, some testimony OF ao-
miration and affection! With what glow
OF expectation We unite the knot and take
off the cord that holds it together In safety,
and with what glad exclamation we un-
roll the covering and sea the gift or pur.
chase in all its beauty OF color and proper
| tion. Well, what q day 1t will be when
your precious bundle OF lie shall be opened
| in the "house OF many mansions" amid
sanity and angelic and divire inspectionl
| The bundle may be spotted with ths marks
OF much exposure, 1t may bear inscription
after Inscription to tell through what or.
| deal It has passed, perhaps splashed OF
wave and scorched OF fame. but all 1t has
within undamaged OF the journey. And
WlCu Wutl SuOulS VI yOS tuo VI A.AS
will be greeted by all the voices OF the
| heavenly home circle.
In our anxiety at last to reach heaven
| we are apt to lose sight OF tie Rlee or well
come that awaits US II we get In at all. We
all have friends up there. They will some
how hear that we are coming. Such close
and swift and constant communication Is
| there between those uplands and these
| lowlands that We will not surprise them by
~
pect our, coming visit and ure at the depot
with carriage to meet US, surely we will
| be met at the shining gate by old friends
! now sainted and kindred now Slorlhed. IL
| there were no angel OF God to mees US and
show US the palaces and guide us to our
| everlasting residence, these kindred We I'D
show US the way and point out The
splendors and guide US to GU. eeles;
tial home, powered and fountained and
arched and ilIumined by a san that never
| sets. Will It not be glorious, the going In
and the ssttling down after all the moving
about and upsettings OF earthly experience?
| We will soon know all our neighbors, king
| ly, queenly, prophetic, apostolic. seraphic.
archangelic. The precious bundle OF lie
| opened amid palaces and grand marches
and acelamations. They will all be so glad
we have cot safely through. They saw US
down here in thes struggle. They saw US
when we lost our way. They knew when
we got off the right course. None OF ithe
thirty-two ships that were overdue at New
York harbor In the storm OF week before
| last was greeted so heartily by friends: on
the dock or the steam tugs that went out
to meet them at Sandy Hook as we
| will be greeted In the heavenly
world II BY the pardoning and pro.
tecting grace OF God we come to celestial
| wharfage. We shall have to tell them OF
the many wrecks that we have. passed on
| the way across Wild seas and amid Carib-
| bean cyclones. It will be like our arrival
some years ago from New Zealand at Sgd
ney, people surprised that we got In at all,
| because we were two days late, and some
OF the ships expected had gone to the bot.
tom. and we had passed derelicts an l
| abandoned crafts all up and down that aw-
| full channel--our arrival In heaven all the
more rapturously welcomed because OF the
doubt as to whether We would ever get
| there at all.
Once there It will be found that the
safety OF that precious bundl9 o. llfe was
assured because 1t was bound up with the
| life OF God in Jesus Christ. Heaven could
not afford to have that bundle lost because
1t had been said in regard to its transporta-
tlon and safe arrival, "kept by the power
| OF God through faith unto complete saliva
| tion." The Veracity OF the heavens Is In
volved in its arrival. If God should fail
| to keep His promise to just one ransomed
soul, the pillars OF Jehovah's throne
would fall, and the foundations OF the
eternal city would crumble, and Infinite
poYerties would dash down all the
chalices, and close all the banqueting halls,
| and the river OF life would change Its
| course, sweeping everything with desola-
| ton, and frost would blast oil the Gardenss
and immeasurabls sickness slay the I'M
mortals, and the new Jerusalem become
an abandoned city. with no chariot wheel
| on the streets and no worshtppers IN the
| temple-a dead Pompeii OF the skies,
| buried Herculaneum Of the heavens. Lest
any one should doubt, the God who cannot
lie smites his omnipotent hand on the side
| OF his throne and takes affidavit, declaring,
GAS live, saith the Lord God, have
| no pleasure in the death Of him that dieth."
Oh, cannot tell you how feel about 1t,
the thought is 80 glorious. Bound up with
| God. Bound up with infinite mercy. Bound
up with infinite joy. Bound up with In
finite purity. Boundup with infinite might.
| That thought is more beautiful and Rlorl-
| Gus than was the heroic Abigail, who at
the foot OF the cra2s uttered, bound IN
the bundle OF life with the Lord thy God!'
Now, my hearer and reader, appreciate
the value OF that bundle. See that II IS
bound up with rotning mean, but with the
unsullied and the immaculate. NOT with a
pebble OF the shifting beach, but with the
kohinoor of tho palace; not with some
fading regalia OF earthly ponp. but with
the robe washed and made white IN the
blood OF the Lamb.