The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-10-18

the t'ef fiipfea that were sting. .Thoy
shall $be mine" saith the Lord, "in

Sin uDounucu grace shall much more
abound. The carbon becomes the sol
itairc. "rhc crystal cannot equal it.n
Now, / have no liking for those peo-
| pie who arc always enlarglng in
| Christian meetings about their earlv
dissipation. DO not go into the par
ticulars, my brother. Simply say
| you were sick, but mako no display
| Of your ulcers. The chief stock ih
trade of some minis ters and Chris
I, tian workers seems to DO their early
crimes and dissipations. Tho nuns
Der Of pockets you picked and tho
number Of chickens you stole mako
very poor prayer meeting rhetoric.
BESIDES that, it discouragcs other
Christian people who never got drunk
or stole anything. But it is pleasant
to know that those who werc far
thcst down have been brought high
est up. Out Of internal serfdom into
eternal liberty. Out Of darkness into
light. From coal to the solitaire.
"The crystal cannot equal It,"
But my friends, the chief trans
forming power Of the Gospel will not
be seen in this world, and not until
Heaven breaks upon the soul. When
that light falls upon tho SOUL then
you will sec the crystals. What q
magnificent setting for these Jewels
OF eternity! ] sometimes hear people
representing ISaaven in way that
is far from attractive to me. 1t
sccms almost u vulgar Heaven as they
represent it, with great blotchcs OF
color and bands Of music making o
deafening racket John represents
Heaven as cxquisitcly beautiful.
Three crystals! In one place he says:
''Hcr light was like precious stone,
clear as crystal" In another place
he says: 81 saw n pure river from
under tho throne, clear as crystal"
In another place ho says: Before
the throne there was u sea Of glass
clear rs crystal" Three crystals!
John says crystal atmosphere. That
means health. Balm Of eternal June.
What weather after the worlds east
wind No rack Of stormclouds. Ono
breath Of that air will cure the worst
tuherc!e. Crys!a! light Oh all tho
leaves. Crystal light shimmcring on
the topaz Of the temples. Crystal
light tossing in the plumcs Of tho
cquestrians Of Heaven on whito
horses. But "thc crystal cannot
That means joy. Deep and ever roll
ing, Not one drop Of tho Potomac
or the Hudson or the Rhine to soil
1t. Not one tear Of human sorrow
to cmbittcr it. Crystal, tho rain out
Of which it was made. Crystal, tho
bed over which it shall roll and rip
pie. Crystal, its infinite surface. But
"the crystal cannot equal it." John
snys crystal sea. That means multi
tudinously vast. Vast in rapture.
Rapture vast rs the sea, deep as the
sea, strong ms tho sea, ever changing
as the sea. Billows OF light. Billows
Of beauty, blue with skies that were
never cioudcd and green with depths
that were never fathomcd. Arctics
and antarctics and Afcditcrrancnns
and Atlantics and Pncilics in crystal
line magnificcncc. Three crystalsi
Crystal light falling on crystal river.
Crystal river rolling into crystal
sea. But "the crystal cannot equal
it,"
"Ob," says some one, putting his
hand over his eyes, "can it be that
who have been in SO much sin and
trouble will ever come to those crys-
tals?" Yes, it may bet will be.
Heaven we must have, whatever we
have or have not, and we come here to
get it. "How much must pay for it?"
you say. You will pay for it just as
much as the coal pays 10 become the
diamond. In other words, nothing.
The same Almighty power that makes
the crystal in the mountain will change
your heart which is harder than stone,
for the promise is: 81 will take away
your stony heart, and l will give you
q heart Of flesh"
"Oh," says some one, "it is just the
doctrine ! want. God is to do every
thing, and I am to do nothing" My
brother, it is not the doctrine you
want. The coal makes no resistance.
1t hears the resurrection voice in tho
mountain and it comes to crystalliza-
ton; but yonr heart resists. The
trouble with you, my brother, is the
coal wants to stay coal.
l do not ask you to throw open the
door and let Christ in only ask that
you stop boiling and barring it, My
friends, we will have 10 get rid of our
sins. I will have to get rid OF my sins,
and you will have to get rid Of your
sins. What will we do with our sins
among the three crystals? The crys-
tal atmosphere would display our pol
luton. The crystal river would be be-
fouled with our touch. TRANSFORMED
ton must take place now or no trans
formation at all. Give sin full chance
in your heart and the trans formation
will be downward instead Of upward.
Instead Of crystal it will be cinder.
In the days Of Carthage, Christian
girl was condemned 0 die for her faith,
and boa was bedaubed with tar and
pitch and filled with combustiblcs and
set on fire, and the Christian girl was
placed in the boat, and the wind was Off
the shore, and the boat foated away
with its precious treasure. No one
can doubt that boat landed at the
shore Of Heaven. Sin wants to put you
in fiery boat and shove you or in an
opposite direction-oif from peace,
Off from God, OFF from Heaven, ever
1astingly of, and the port toward
which you would sail would be port
Of darkness, and the guns that would
greet you woulQ be tho guns Of despair,
and the flags that would wave at your
arrival would be the black flags Of
death. Oh, my brother, you must
either kill sin or sin will kill you! 1t
is no exaggeration when say that any
man or woman that wants to be saved
may DO saved. Tremendous choiccl A
thousand people are choosing this mo.