The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-07-07


and men and women just on the eve OF
realizing their highest ambitions are
snatched from this into another world.
w. The Leaves Fade in Concert Though,
They Fall One by One.
zone cannot count the number Of plumes
which those frosts are plucking from the
| hills" The aisles of the woods will be
covered with beautiful carpet of many
! colors. The Imagination can scarcely COM
prehend the number of leaves that are
falling. The grave is the great city. It
has the largest population, the. longest
streets, the greatest number of hands,
billions of eyes, though they see not.
KingI and queens are there, orators,
statesmen, yea, men of every rank and con-
dition, yet it is the great city of silence.
nor wisdom are there. The multitude OF
the dying and the dead are as the autumn
nal leaves drifting under our feet to-day.
Zone hv one, one by :, we shall soon,
yes soon be there"
V. Let Us Proceed to Inquire, How Do
the Leaves Fade?
/. They fade naturally 1t is what con-
stantly occurs. After the summer is gone
and the fruits are fully ripe, they change
| their co.or lose their interesting hue and
drop in rapid succession to the ground.
| Man that is born o. woman hath but
a short time to live. and is full of misery.
b cometh up. and is cut down like q
flower; he fieeth as it were shadow, and
never continueth in one stay. In the
mids. of life we are in DEATH" and science
teaches that We are more apt to die than
to live, all our tendencies are toward
| keep soul md body together. Where are
| pov,, +ba l,pilJarc of RahalS A hro ha and
his seed? David and Solomon? Daniel, the
prophets, the apostles and the great men
of the past? Only remembered by what
| they have done. They being dead are
still speaking. The serpent comes to the
sinner, coils about his body, presses his
heart tightly, and then comes the awful
sting. The same serpent comes to the
Christian. But oh, how changed! The
Christian, as he looks him in the eyesy
can cry out: "Oh, death, where is thy
sting?" Il have been dying for many
years, now I shall begin to live"
9. They Fade Gradually.
The different periods of life are COM
! pared to the revolving seasons Of the
year. Childhood and youth when life is
| all expectation and hope, are like beauri-
full May morning when the sun shines
brightly, and the dew is upon the flowers,
| Nature is bursting her bars and is giving
| promise of the unfolded splendors of
| summers glory yet to come. But oh, how
quickly time passes by! Th, boys and
girls Of yesterday are the men and women
Of to-day. Then, for none of us is there
such thing as an ever-enduring man
hood. "We pursue our course, from child
hood, with its vigor and beauty, to age
with its feebleness and decay, with the
unfailing continuance Of the rounding sea-
sons. Our march is an uninterrupted one
from the cradle to the grave" But, oh,
how we shrink at the thought of going
cial strength! The ieaves, which few
days ago felt the first touch of the frost
have day by day been changing in tint.
The work was not completed in day.
| No, it has been going on gradually and
after awhile, leaf after leaf, they will fall
to the ground. So with you and me.
From day to day we hardly notice the
change, but the frosts have touched US.
VI There is Greater Beauty and Glory
| Attached to the Leaf in Its Fading
and Dying Condition Than at Any
Time in Its Life.
Along the lake shores and river banks,
and up the slopes of the mountains, there
is an inoescribable mingling Of gold, and
orange, and crimson, and saffron, now so.
bering into drab and maroon, now flaming
into solferino and scarlet" In the morn.
ing the forests look as if they were trans.
| figured, "and in the evening hour -.
as II the sunset had burst and cropped
upon the leaves" Some of the mountains
appear to be all on fire, as Il they were
submerged in the glory Of the Lord. Said
Rev. G.. c. Townsend, as he stood by the
parsonage gate and looked upon the scene:
'Isn't that beautiful? I must bring my
wife up Lere to see that foliage."s How
,ften while driving along the road we no.
tice tree where the leaves have fadel
at the first touch of the frost, all turning
russell brown. mo one stops 20 study
them. They are gathered in no vase.
They are hung on no wall" No one cares
death of the wicked. They do not live
out half their days, but pass away into
blackness, and darkness, and despair with.
out a ray Of light :, cheer the gloom.
But, thank God, such is not the death OF
the Christian, for, 'the path of the just
| is as the shining light, which shineth more
and more unto the perfect day" What
beautiful sight it is behold father and
mother in Israel who have spent their
lives in the service of Christ come down to
cross the river. Oh, what halo of glory
there Is ABOUT tnSIu. w udI "oiuS VI PcdeC
and Joy and comfort proceed from their
lips, and how strangely near the Holy
Spirit is as the Angels gently loose the
silver cord.
'Fade, fade, each earthly joy,
Jesus is Mine"
And the fading body futters and falls
downward as the leaf, while "the spirit
returns to God who gave it, Oh, that in
this sense, too, we may all fade with the
beauty and glory of the leaf.
VII. The Leaves Fall Only to Rise Again.
It is one of the laws OF nature that
nothing is really lost. Things change their
condition. but exist in another form. In
the juice and sap and life of the tree the
leaves will come up again. Next May the
South wind will blow the resurrection
trumpet and they will rise" So with
our loved ones who sleep in Jesus;
They shall not all sleep, but they shall
be changed For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him. For the Lord Himself shall descend
from, beavep with A shout with the voice