Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-20
SAM JONES, AGAIN.
he cRir1crsRs his cRIrgcs'

eem< More or sht Great HevsvS
.,.-msue Tsushs-The Man Who Comes
a. ssee,ius 70 Help Hs Fes'isss.
fcsscinnau Enquirer1
An old newspaper stenographer,
those soul is Theoretically encased In
tough rsw.hide, remarked yesterday
RAJ in the course of his career he bad
heard thousands Of political orators
regiments Of preachers and battalions
81 lecturers speak, but he never heard
: man talk as Interestingly as Sam
Jones. Yesterday morning he preached
a Wesley chapel. AT the close of his
sermon quite number Of people arose
10 ask for prayers, and several pro-
fessed conversion.
Rev. Jones read for his text from the
10th Psalm What shall render
unto the Lord for all His benefits to.
ward mey" 81 will take the cup OF
salvation and call upon the name oil the
Lord" 81 will pay my VOWS unto the
Lord now in the presence OF all his
neon,e.r "oh, Lord, truly | am Thy
servant and the son Of Thine hand
maid Thou hast loosed my bonds"
.wbat shall render unto the LORD
for All His benefits toward meT"
This question is in the mouth ana
heart of the man who wants to do
something. | like to see q man reach
the point in his life when he feels
swell, sure enough, | ought to DO
something; | can do something; VIII
do something. Lord, tell me what that
something is" Now, if you notice
This Question, it is not what shall the
church render, nor what shall the
preacher render, unto the Lord for all
His benefits. nor what shall cities and
States and worlds do, but it is narrowed
down to the personal pronoun |. What
shall / render unto the LordY Graft
tude is the noblest sentiment that
ever stirred human heart. They
tell me that q man and snake
are the only two creatures in the uni
verse that are capable of iDgratltude.
The farmer took up the frozen snake, as
we read in .Esop's Fables, and put the
frozen reptile into his bosom to warm
il back to life, and with the first re-
turning life and strength the snake
drew back its fangs and plunged them
into the life-blood Of the man who
brought il back to life. We have re-
ceiyed a great many things from the
Lord. and am astonished every day
that we have received so much. and that
we continue to receive anything. be-
lieve the best way to get things from
God that we need is to be thankful for
those we have already received, and the
best way to show your gratitude for what
YOU have already received is the right use
Of what you now have. A grateful
spirit: You can't do too much for that
sort of a man-grateful and they have
a thousand ways in which they show
their gratitude. Sometimes when 90
home | get little present for this one
and the next one, and the next one, and
the next one. My train gets in about
midnight. and when | wake up next
morning the first thing that greets my
ears from the next room is the talk OF
nv children: "Just look what papa
brought me. lie is the best papa
in the world" And the next one
will speak up, "My present is
prettier than yours. Papa loves me
best" And | listen to the little fell
lows and say " wish in my heart
/ had $4,000 worth of presents to
bring to these little fellows. They are
so grateful" The Lord has been bring.
ing midnight and midday blessings to
us all our lives. Wonder if He has
ever sat down in another world and
heard His children say; 1.-The Lore
has given me such a good wife, such
good children lie has crowned my life
with loving kindness and tender mer
cies. Oh, how good God has been t.
me !" The Lord is not in another
world. He is in this room. present
with His children this morning.
| love to see man who feels indeed
that the Lord has done something fol
him, and who feels as though he no7
must do something for the Lord. l
we had q servant at our house VIII
treated US just as we treat the Lord
we would settle up with him to-nigh
and let him 60. When you joined To
church Eve or ten years ago, you said
"Here an, Lord. Save my soul, an,
i will do everything you ask Of me-
The Lord said, Go to church. Al
right, will CO." "Join the Sabbat
school" "All right, enroll m,
pame." "Pray in your family!
"Oh, no, l won't do that.
"Wby? Haven't you got sens
enouphY" Eyes" Haven't you got
family to pray TOP" I" Yes, sir.
"Don't you think your wife ought t
be prayed for" "Yes." " The
why don't you do it?" "Just be
cause" Right there you are maxim
An issue with God Almighty on tn
most sacred promise you ever mad
70 God. Do you know every head of
family in the Methodist Church, Soutl
IL he doesn't pray in his family is
erea, big walking lie? No man eve
sot into the Methodist Church withor
promising to pray in his family. Go
may not damn you for not praying
your family, but he will damn 20
for lying about it. / have no cont
dence in q religious man who has n
served rights. My religion is like tn
man who found the pearl Of great prize
and sold all he had and put the pre-
ceeds into the pearl Of great price.
have no confidence in the man VIII
says some things he will do and SON
things be won't do. Brethren, let u
reach the point where / say lord,
j don't get to heaven it won't be m
fault. am going to do everything IN
God and my family impose upon mt
/ am going TO do the clean thing"
You cay, "What church do you b.
long TOP" Oh belong to Trinity.
What does . man mean when he say
81 belong to the Church ~ There Al
. great many Of you who caucus in yo'
monthly meetings, and any one listei
ing to you would imagine the Chur'
belonged to you. There is not one in
hundred who belongs to the Church