Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-21
SAM. JoNEs'S SERMONS.
CORNELIUS THE DEvoUE.

Fvssshiss 60 the Preachers : we'isious
Cysaks-The subject sf Pew Rents.
We make extracts from another OF
Sam. Jones's sermons as reported In
the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
invite your attention--your prayer
ful attention. for ! trust that this shall
be . service in which there shall be
more pray ing than preaching, and that
We shall receive more than we give out.
For the text i shall read the second
verse Of the tenth chapter of the Acts
OF tho Apostles. We read the first
verse in connection with the second :;
"gheIe was certain man in Cesarea
called Cornelius, centurion ofthe band
called the Italian band. A deyout man,
and one that feared God with all his
house, which gave much aims to the
people, and prayed to God always"
The first century Of the Christian era
produced some of the most remarkable
characters in this worlds history, and
perhaps the most remarkable character
in this century Of characters was this
man Cornelius. His character was re-
markable in that it was symmetrical,
well rounded. 1t presented perfect
whole. know great many men who
are pre-eminent in leading character,
but when | look at this Scriptural portrait
Of this man. character, at this portrait
of C0rpelius-this heather mani am
ashamed Of myself, and | am ashamed Of
every man alive on the face OF the earth
to-day. Amid ali the requirements,
improvements, and Of the infinite re-
sources of this nineteenth century Of
gospel light and scientific research, this
century does not produce the equal of
this heather man Cornelius. | said his
character was glorious in that it was
symmetrical, and simply present to
you the scriptural picture Of this man,
and let you look, and let you repent,
and let you resolve, you and |, to-day,
by the grace Of God 81 intend to get
out of the position in which am"
Have you ever seen a man, a thor
oughly religious man, religious man
anywhere, q religious man everywhere,
a religious man in anything, and a reli-
gious man in everything? | am ready
10 say in my place this morning, that q
man that is not religious everywhere is
not religious really in anything; a man
who will do thing in New York city
he would not do in Cincinnati, is a
hypocrite. o God, give us the Chris
tianity that is as clear as crystal and as
bright as the sun, shining everywhere,
and that all men may be impressed be-
fore Him in the presence Of the Chris
tian.
A devout mana thoroughly re-
ligious man. If you have got to run
the fearful risks along here between
this and the grave they say; " You will
be misunderstood !" They misunder-
stood my Lord. "You will be mis-
understood :" They misunderstood
every disciple that followed in Christ's
footsteps. d" We will be perse-
cuted :" They prosecuted my Lord
and they prosecuted those who
walked closest to him. "You will
be misrepresented J." They misrep-
resented my Lord, and they will mis-
represent every man that follows in his
footsteps. You are afraid Of the
criticisms Of this world affecting you :"
That's with a Christian these years
What difference will it make with me
at the judgment what Cincinnati says
about me to-day? Whose whispering
criticisms will be heard beyond the
grave? And, oh, how soon we will
pass the grave
II man gets to be thoroughly reli-
gious they will criticise him and say
she's a crank and / verify believe
there are Christian cranks. | know
there are merchants who are cranks. |
know we have some cranks Of the first
water at the bar in this country argu.
ing law. know we have some cranks
in politics that would shame the devil
himself, but I'm not in position to say
that Christianity is free from cranks;
but let -FOUR crankiness and religion be
such that you can be consistent and
earnest, and let your religion be as
pure and as clear as the best the world
ever saw. Let everything foolish you
do be done in perfect harmony with
this God.blessed book, and you must
stand by the book, and not by revela-
tions and visions. There are some
Christians in this city who are ever
lastingly having visions and revela.
tions; but / can eat pound Of pork
meat for supper and so to bed and have
more visions in daylight than you will
have in ten years in your religion.
You don't need to say you're fight
ing sects and crowds and all that sort
of thing, but you want to get sensible
religion--that's it. | never fight any
sects, and never fight any denomina-
ton, any creed but, brethren, above
all things, let's mix all the good, hard
sense we've got up with our religion,
for religion and good, hard common
sense make grand compound. No
doubt about that. A deyout man,
thoroughly religious, well rounded,
symmetrical, want to be intensely re-
ligious, and ! want TO be sensibly
religious. | want the kind of
religion can talk practically
from. / want my religion to
manifest itself in my works and in my
character before a community; and
brother, you can always be safe, be-
cause the history Of grace was written
in the single sentence where we are
told "He went about doing good"
and as long as you run that schedule
you are intelligently and practically re-
iigious. A devout man! A devout
man. A well-rounded man In
tensely religious And the next thing
we see Of this man Cornelius's charac-
ter is that he was not only personally
religious, but he feared God with all his
household.
IL you notice here, there's great
deal in each word sometimes in the
text. Cornelius q deyout man, and
one that feared God. You notice how
inspiration rounds off this mans charac-
ter. Cornelius devout man, and one