Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-05-20
RELIGIOUS FARMING.
Sam Jones on Powerful Conversions
and the Right Kind of Farming.

sam Jones on Powerful Conversions
and the Right Kind of Farming.
Sam Jones preached at the Franklin
Street Presbyterian Church, Baltimore,
last sunday morning. The church was
crowded. Mr.. Jones said:
81 heard bishop say once that the only
business a Methodist minister had on
earth was to go about worrying people
into heaven. Don't let it be necessary for
you to be so worried into heaven. Don't
think you won't succeed. l grant you,
some men have chosen the profession
OF the law, and have utterly failed; they
We're good reasons why they didn't sue
coed. just so in preaching, in farming,
i'll business. But whilst there are thou
sands who don't succeed there is no rea-
son why you shouldn't. You may feel
frightened at first. 1 got skeered thirteen
years ago, and l never got over that skeer,
and | want to keep skeered aud never feel
safe as long as Pm outside the gates of
heaven. Begin with fear and embling,
but take courage and make up your mind,
BY the grace of God / will succeed
There's great deal of nonsense and
fO0lishness in the relation OF Christian ex-
perience; the way some people do it. Pve
heard men say when they related their
experience that The trees looked greener
and the little birds warbled sweeter than
before they were converted. Well, if all
that's SO, [ guess Pve never been con-
Verted. The trees don't look to me any
greener now than they did 10 years ago,
and the little birds don't MARBLE any
sweeter. The Book don't say anything
about trees and birds in connection with
powerful conversions Don't be troubled
because you haven't had some great big
experience Ike others. l don't expect to
be saved by my experience; l amt de-
pending on my experience, but on my
lite of obedience. Let's do our duty
down here and wait till we get to heaven
before we expect the enioyments.''
snow, in farming il don't make any
difference how much you start with, but
how much you end up with. Laughter
Many mans started with millions ana
wound up in the pOorhouse. Many a
mans got 1-acre lot of religion, and, oh,
my, how he works that field to perfection.
Amt his corn high, and, oh, how big
those ears Of corn are! But those ears
never get a chance at completion. The
children all eat 'em while they're roasting
ears, aud he don't have single hard ear
of corn lett, and it's buy, beg or steaP
with him till next corn time. My friends i,
there's good deal OF religious farming.
Some of you people say: That
Jones has got too much provincial
ism,' because L use these comparis-
Ons. Why, bless you, faint my pro-
vincialism, It's your ignorance. Laugh
ter. When talk about farms you say
Pm talking 'backwOOds.' BackwOOdsl
That's where your father came from.
Laughter. An acquaintance once took
ine over his farm aud showed me all his
fields, nodding and blooming with all the
promise OF a bOunteous harvest. He
wanted me to return home through the
woods, but persisted in going another
way, and there found a field full OF bum
be bee cotton so called because a bum
ble-bee can stand on the ground and suck
the blossoms. The stalks never shoot,
and il they did they miss. We've got
good deal OF that sort of thing in religion.
"Religion isn't a sort of sentimental
something to run a prayer meeting with.
Ii a man eats wisely, drinks wisely,
bathes wisely, dresses wisely" ne
walked over to the other side OF the pulpit
and gaLed long and fiXedly at the army OF
new b0nnets and new dresses before him.
After "A little silence he continued slowly,
dropping his voice. "Ah, dresses wisely
Many woman now rOtting in her grave
would to-day have been well and hearty
if she had dressed wisely. If ever my
wife and my daughters were to dress as
some women dress, my wife could only
come lDLO my mousse as sOut OtNtE mani
wife, and my daughters Couldn't come
into my house at all. 1 wish the whole Of
YOU had said Amen to that. But then,
i forgot, you're Presbyterians; you don't
say Amen; you don't SPEAK out in
meeting.
40 return, if man eats wisely, drinks
wisely, bathes wisely, dresses wisely, he's
physically religious. II he reads wisely
he is intellectually religious. If be takes
care of his moral nature, obeys the ten
commandments, and lives up To the prin-
ciples and precepts Of the sermon on the
Mount, he's morally religious. And
there's no salvation outside of that.
II often bear men at the altar praying
for more religion more reIgiOn; take
care: see first what kind it is you've got
now. Maybe you've got enough now to
damn you, il it amt the right sort. fits
the kind that permits theatres, cards, and
the like, you don't want none of that sort.
Say TO Him, Lord, give me pure religion
You say yo1're liberal enough 10 allow
progressive euchre. That's "A dangerous
Kind Of 'lberalness.' But il you've got
the pure religion, and your spiritual farm
isn't biz enough, then throw your fences
out and take IN more ground, but don't
take ~ more than you can till. And IL
YOU tind big, rugged rocks OF human ma
lure in some Of those fields, cover them
over vita the ivory and woOdbine or
Christian virtues, shedding be e uty and
fragrance and love everywhere, forever
ana forever"