The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-01-30

she octo-s x'pce tac t2l- o. -" 4
Plus. Ee obirinE and Jnst c!aHe tAe
experiment. lEyoua arc aot acquainted
ei:h TIE ordinary rloGcs 0: prayer, say
IN substance: 20 Lore Jesus, this is
strange t:s:nc fer r.e % CO. l know
nothing s;0L. t&a to.2.l. as OF re,i-
c;oa. These Ch-istiaa people have been
talking so long aoout wha: thou canst
Go for ne an ready to do whatever
thou commancest NE. II there be any
power in religion. as these pecp,e say.
let ne have the advantage of it," Will
you rot Try that experiment?
co rot now say there is anything
in religion. Do not take r,y counsel
or the couase! OF any c!e-gyu2a, for
you may dislike c,e-evme2. Perhaps
we may tax professionally. Perh.>s
we may be preju6iced il the matter.
Perhaps our advice is not worth tax
ing. Then take the counsel c: some
very respectable ,ayn2aa. as John Nil
ton. the poe; as William Wilber:crce.
tie enanc;p2;or: as Isaac New;o2, the
astronomer; as Robert Boy-e. the phil
oSopke7; as Locke. the metz a2hvs!c;a1;
IS Morse the telegraphsr; as Washing
ton, the statesman. They never
preached or pretended 70 preach. yet,
putting Gown one his telescope an6 au
ether his parl!amenIariaa's scroll and
another his electricians wire. came
forth and commended the religion Of
Christ as the best thing fer the cure
o. the worlds woes. If you vii! not
,ake the recommendation Of ministers
ofthe Gospel, take The recommendation
Of highly respectable layuen.
Oh, men, skepticaI and struck
through with unrest. beg you TO
come off that great Sahara desert o.
eouh. into tie bright and lu5uriant
land OF Gospel hope and peace. You
do not wan. your children to come
up in tha: skep,icism. II you do not
believe in anything else, you believe
in Iove-a fathers love. mothers
love, wife's love, a cli!G's love. Then
let NE tell you that Gcd loves you
more than al these together. The
great heart o: Christ aches 20 have
you come in, and He locks into your
ewes this moment, saying: Other
sheep I have which are not OF TINS
fold"
Again, remark that the Heavenly
Shepherd IS going te f2d great
Macy o. the sheep among those who
have been fa,l Of evil habit. They
were al. cheated into sin. The spider
does rot say to tie fy: Come into
the web whore I Kill insects" Oh.
10. The spider says: Dearest fly,
como AID talk q morning walk with
ma on this suspension bridge OF ges-
saner eitteriag with diamonds Of
dew" Do zot he hard on sheee gone
eseSay. Il nskes me sad to see Chris
tisa people give up procigsl as lost.
There are those who talk as though
the grace Of God were a chain OF 40
or so links ard that when they had
run out there was nothing left to
touch bad case. II they were hunt
ing sad got of the track OF the deer,
they would look longer among the
brakes and bushes for TIE lost game
than ,hey would look fer that lost
soul.
They talk about the catacomls Of
Naples AID the cataconhs OF Rome
and the catacon1bs OF Egypt. n
great burial places under the city
where is the dust OF many genera
tons passed on. but ! tel: you New
York has It's ca,aconbs and Washing
ton its catacoInes and ali our ciues
their cataconbs. They are under
ground liquor dives, full OF dead mems
bon-s and all unc: cleanliness. There IS
no need OF going into the art gallery
to see in sllillfui sculpture that Won
derful representation OF man and
his sons wound round with serpeats.
There are families represented here
to-day that are wrapped in the mar
tyrdon OF fang and scale and venom.
g living Laoeoo1 Of ghastHness and
horror.
There IS only one class OF persons
about whom I am disheaStened, ard
they are the Gospel hardened. They
have been faithful in attendance at
churches for 2e, 30 aa6 - years, yet
never have surrendered themselves to
God. AS Christ says: "Pubicans and
harlots go into the kingdom Of heav-
en- before them They have resisted
all the importantly OF divine mercy
and have gone through most power
ful earthquakes Of religious feeling,
and they are farther away from God
than ever. After awhile they wiz lie
down sick, ard some day It viii be
told that they are dead. No hope!
But turn to outsiders with an ez-
pectation that thrills through me,
bo6y and soul. Other sheep l have,
which are not OF this to.d." You are
zot Gospel hardened. You have not
heard many sermons during the last
few years. You feel the Holy Ghost
this moment in your heart, You do
not weep, but the tear is not far IF.
You sigh, and you have noticed that
there is always a sigh in the wind be-
fore the rain falls. There are those
here wto would give anything il they
could fnd relic; in tears. They say:
"Oh. my wasted lie! Oh, the bitter
past! On. tne graves over which I
have stumbled Whittier shall l fy?
Alas, for the future! Everything is
SO dark, so very dark! God help me!
God pity me-" Thank the Lord for
that last utterarce. You have begun
TO pray, ard when man begins to
petition, God steps in and beats back
the hounds Of temptation to their
kennel and round about the poor
wounded soul puts the covert of his
pardoaing mercy. Eark! hear
something fall. What wss that? It
is the bars OF the fence around the
sheepfo!d. The Shepherd lets down
the bars. and the hunted sheep Of the
mountain bound in, some Of them
their fleece torn with branbles. some
OF them their feet lamed with the
dogs, but bounding in. Thank Godi