The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-03-21

He goes through life's journey with US
as our friends do who survive US, Dut
they must part with uS as we bid them
the last farewell; but He, of :Whom
the Psalmist speaks, 1.-THE Lord my
shepherd" He dies with me, is buried
with me; He goes to Paradise with
my soul; He will be with me at the
last great day, and if 1 have been
loyal and true to Him, He VIII wei
come me to His everlasting blessing;
He will be my advocate and plead Ills
sacrifice to take away my sins.
Observe that the religion which
Jesus gives US embraces the whole OF
life. There is no other religion that
does. You may divide them into relig-
ions that appeal to pleasure, 1.-The lusts
of the flesh" and the religions that ap-
peal to the pride Of intellect. TAKE
the ancient Saduceeism, the medieval
Mohammedanism, and the present-day
Mormonism. They are the flesh in
religions. They cannot begin to tell
upon mankind until passion shall de-
velop in manhood and womanhood.
Take the intellectual systems of Greece
and the PHILOSOPHERS Of the present day
that appeal to the intellect, and q
man is almost half way upon the
journey of life before they touch him.
Take Christianity; where does 1t be-
ginY With conception, with birth, in
fancy, childhood, youth, manhood, in
health, in sickness, in death and the
resurrection and the life eternal III
the presence Of the great White
Throne. Christianity embraces the
religion of life. Does it appeal SIM
ply to the body? No. But 1t appeals
to the body, the intellect and the soul.
Remember the declaration OF St
John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved"
He says: THE Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among US, and we beheld
His glory, as Of the glory of the only
begotten of the Father, full Of grace
and truth, He embraced the whole
Of man. The Word was made flesh,
but with that was intellect and spirit,
and so He was q complete and perfect
man. This morning we were Joined to-
gether hand in hand in the prayers OF.
fered by your rector, but when we
come to the creed. how Is it? The hus-
band drops the hand of the wife, the
father Of the child, the friend Of the
friend, and each for himself, as in
the Day of Judgment, stands on his
own feet and says, II believe" 1t is
q personal act. "The Lord Is my
shepherd; therefore can I lack moth
ing" There is n element Of wealth
on which we can rest, and which will
enable US to say 1--WE shall lack moth
ing" Without our Saviour we shall
lack everything when we come to die,
l care not who we are or whether we
have been clad IN the purple Of kings
or the splendor Of jewels, we shall be
stripped stark naked and 60 up naked
into the presence of God. We shall
lack nothing if we can say from the
depths of u soul, 'The Lord is my
Shepherd. Then when the end comes
we shall be able to say: "Thy mercy
and loving kindness-Thy mercy for
forgiveness; Thy loving kindness for
my needs-shall follow me all the days
of my life, and I shall dwell in the
house Of the Lord forever" There is
no dwelling place here. I was once q
| rector in Brooklyn, but where are my
parishioners now? Most Of them are
gone. Within the last two months
two Of my classmates in Columbia are
gone. And there are but few Of those
I / knew in the lecture room left. There
is no dwelling place here. 1t is a cheat
we put upon ourselves when we talk
of houses as dwelling places. They
are not. God grant, my brothers, that
it may be our lot to Dwell together
forever in the house Of the Lord"
which will be u eternal home.