The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-12-22

III,
how much force and gospel there is in a
good, honest haud-shaking Sometimes
when you have felt tho need of encourage
ment, and some Christian man has taken you
heartily by the hand, have you not felt
thrilling through every fibre of your body,
mind and soul, an encouragement that was
lust what you needed. You do not know
ANYTHING st all about this, unless you know
when man tries to return from evil courses
of conduct he runs against repulsions lnnu-
merable We say of some man, he lives
block or two from the church or half mile
from the church There are people in our
crowded cities who live a thousand miles
from church. Vast deserts of indifference
between them AMI the house of God!, The
fact is, we must keep our reliability,
though thousands and tens of thousands
perish. Christ sat with publcians and sin
ners But if there come to the house Of God
q man with marks Of dissipation upon him,
people almost throw up their hands in horror,
as much as to say: Isn't it shDcking" How
these dainty, fastidious Christions in all our
churches are going to get into heaven l don't
know, unless they have an especial train OF
cars, cushioned and upholstered, each one
car to himself! They cannot go with the
great herd of publicans aud sinners. Oh ye
who curl your lip of scorn at the fallen, i tell
YOU plainly, if you had been surrounded by
the same influences, instead of sitting to-day
amid the CULTURE, 49,. me refined, ana tne
Christian, you would have been crouchlng
wretch in stable or ditch, covered with hlth
and illumination. It is not because you are
any better, but because the mercy
of God has protected you. Who are you that,
brought up in Christian circles, and watched
by Christian parentage, you should be so
hard on the fallen? think men also
are often hindered from return by the fact
that churches ara too anxious about their
me nbership and too anxious about their de-
no nination, and they rush out when they
see a man about to give up his sin and return
to God, and ask him how he is going to be
baptized, whether by sprinkling or INNER
sion, aud what kind Of church he is going to
join. o, my friends! 1t is a poor time to
talk about Presbyterian catechisms, and
Episcopal liturgies, and Methodist love feasts,
and baptistries, to man that is coming out
of the darkness of sin into the glorious light
Of the gospel Why, it reminds me of man
drowning in the sea, aud lifeboat puts out
for hi n, and the man in the boat says to the
man out Of the boat: "Now, if get you
ashore, are you going to live in my street"
First, get him ashore and then talk about the
OF religion. Who cares what
church he joins if he only joins Christ and
starts for heaven! 0, you ought to have,
grip for every one that tries to turn from
his evil way. Take hold of the same book
with him, though his dissipations shake
the book, remembering that he that
converteth sinner from the error Of his
ways shall save soul f.om death, and hide
q multitude Of sins. Now. have shown you
these obstacle; because want you to UNDER
st nd know all the difficulties in the way;
but am now to tell you how Hannibal may
8 ale the Alps and how the shackles may be
and how the paths of virtue for
saken may he regained. First Of al, my
brother, throw yourself on God. Go to him
frankly and earnestly, and tell Him these
habits you nave, and ask Him if there is any
help in all the res ources Of omnipotent love,
10 give it to you. Do not 60 with long
rigmaro:e people call prayer, made up OF
'sohs'' and ''ahs" and "forever and forever,
amensm Go to God and cry for help! help!
help! and ii you cannot cry for help, just
look and live. Irene .nber in the late war I
was at Antietam, and went into the hospi-
tails after the tattle, and 1 said to man:
Where are you hurt" He made no an
swer but held up his arm, swollen and
splntered. saw where he was hurt. The
simple fact is, when a man has a wounded
soul, all he has to do is to b Did it up be-
fore sympathetic Lord and get it healed. 1t
does not take any long prayer. Just hold up
the wound. o, it is n, small thing when
man is nervous and weak and en-
10 feel that God puts two omnipotent
arms around about him and says:
Young man, I will stand by you. The
mountains may depart and the hills be re-
moved, Tut will never fail YOU" Aud then,
as ths soul thinks the news is too good to be
true, and cannot believe it, and looks up in
Gods face, God lifts his right hand and takes
an oath, an affidavit, saying: "As l live,
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of him that dieth." Blessed be God
for such a gospel as this! Cut the slices
thin," said the wife to the husband, or there
will not be enough to 60 all around for the
cut the slices thin" Blessed be
God. there is a full loaf for every one that
wants it; bread enough and to spare. No
thin slices at the Lords table. re-
member when the Master Street Hospital,
in Philadelphia, was opened during the
war, q telegram came saying: There will
be 800 ouude1 men tonight, be ready to
take care of then;" and from my church
there went in some twenty or thirty men
and women to look after these poor wounded
fellows. As they came, some from one part
of the land. some from another, no one asked
whether this man was from Oregon. or from
or from Minnesota, or from
New York. There was a wounded soldier,
and the only question was how to take of
the rags most gently, and put on
tho bandage, and administer the cordial
And when soul comes to God,
He does not ask where you came
from OF what your ancestry wa. Healing
for all your wounds Pardon for all your
guilt Comfort for all your troubles. Then,
also, I counsel you if you want to get back,
to quit all your bad ssociations. One unholy
,u,n 1xxith
temper 1t all the ages of the church, there
has not been an instance where a man kept
one evil associate aud was reformed.
Among the !, 400, ,000, 900 Of the race, not
ono instance. Go home to-day, open your
desk, taSe out letter paper, stamp and en-
velope, and then write a letter something
like this; "My old companions: I start
this day for heaven. Until am parsnaded,
you will Join me in this. farewell"
with the first post. Give up your ba COM
panions, or give up heaven. 1t is not ten bad
{ companions that destroy man, nor five bad
nor three bad companions; but
one. What chance is there for that young
man I saw along the street, four or five young
men with him, hating in front of grog-
shop, urging him t. go in, he resisting, vio-
lently resisting, until after while they
forced him to 60 in! Itwas summer night,
ana CQe OOOT was ltlU ~ eu, duu Sd"
the process They held him fast, and they
put the cup to his lips, and they forced
down the strong drink. What chance
is there for such young mani
l counsel you also. seek Christian advice.
Every Christian man is bound to help you.
If you find no other human ear willing to
listen to your story Of struggle. come to me,
and will, by every sympathy Of my heart,
and every prayer; and every toll of my
hand, stand beside you in the struggle for
and as hope to have my own
sirs foroiuan and hn. q To ha aclIlifted al