The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-02
SAM JONES AND H1s PREACHING.
r. 8. G. Gives an Account OF What he
= Saw and Heard OF It---A Column
Well Worth Reading.

= Saw and Heard OF Ht-..A Column
Well Worth Reading.
DUE West. April 23rd, 1888.
We heard Sam Jones at Anderson G. h. on
three occasions last Sabbath. How low were yon
were held in the elegant new Methodist
church. The crowds that focked to hear him
could not get into the building Every door.
window and aisle was jammed, and then they
were denied admittance. We only heard the
last part OF the morning service. and that
from window. In the evening the gentle
manly ushers gave ms a seat well TO the front.
The church is built In modern design, ra-
ther in the shape Of g cross; Above the pn,;;.
| pit was the motto, "Christ the Lord Is Rsen."5
The roof of the building ts yanlted, the win,
dows Of stained glass and "Eolied Cath ed ral;
The seats are circular and the building will
seat comfortably about 600. On Sabbath
night there was perhaps Thousand tammed
In 1t. There was other preaching 10 the town.
The cost Of the church so far Is about Is 700.
| It is built OF brick.
Sam Jones has certain hour to begin and
when that time arrives he commences. On
ed before the hour. At precisely o'clock tho
mnisser Tatse ia tse ape ae s Coat sn.
ds m h sa ny the IL ssa d S w aap
God he shgll know OF the doctrine"
He started out by saying that the Jews were
here doubling. questioning, and probing the
"If any man shall do the will Of Him he shall
know Of the doctrine." After speaking on this
point some bit he announced ."The proof OF
tianity could be tested, could be demonstrat-
ed Just as mathematics. France. and Swttzer-
land wanted to tunnel miles through the
set OF engineers pushed. the tunnel through
/ from one side and another set from the other.
/ They met in the heart Of the mountain and
did not miss each other the sixteenth part Of
christianity can be tested In the same way
and he went on to do go He handled the
skepticism of the nineteenth century with
he exclaimed, awake snakes, dayis a break
Ing" When his audience looked shocked he
said that was good sign for "you can't shock
In Hanntsvilie n Alabama, and the intidel agreed
| that IL he could cure him OF int1delity, he
might try. They agreed. He told the infdeI
the first thing he had to do was TO sput pad;
him what he had to do, "but" said the infidei
didn't tell you 70 keep that mouth shut, In
terrupted Jones he finally got the paddock on
it" time and again, and he listened to what
he had to say and was a converted man. He
said my Christian brothers takeon religions.
genuine case Of hnt IT, yon us yod teae R
thing on the hill will have it. Pointing and
hs finger at bs man nd n ns
course he said, men were dissatisfied with
what God told them to T: do: He would Won Illus.
farming. Planting, plowing and hoeing.
Then raining and shining. There aint one Of
you but what would swap sides With God and
and you the raining and shining. At another
point in his discourse he said what does re-
pentance mean? will tell you Quit your
We have given these illustrations simply to
show something Of his style and manner OF
preaching. His originality In putting and
manner OF saying III all lost however In put
audience audi c for or hours and Kept them alternately
laughing and crying. The interest never dag.
gins. You object to this making you laugh
In church. still you are drawn towards this
at him in spite Of yon, and you SIT wondering
what kind OF man is he. and a burst Of elo-
quence will come or he dWelis on some divine
truth and you feel the cold chills creeping up
your back bone and running over your whole
frame. - = - n
In one part Of his discourse he said 1t was ON
are sitting here crlticising me now, the news
papers crfticise Sam Jones, and II criticism
would kill would have been dead long ago.
The newspapers say they made Sam Jones:
me me. They can't answer. Now will tell you
why. They are out of dirt (Meaning the
| kind that Sam Jones Is made of0
this sermon he raised 500 for the Methodists
to iiouidate the debt ON the building. His
methed was this: to call on all those who
would give SO each. When the responses be-
gan to cease he sent out men through the
audience 10 pick up subscriptions here and
there of $40. Then he took up IS subscriptions
| and then general collection.
He preached again at O'Clock sabbath
creased in numbers: When he entered the
they ms she
| ID fandarafhy tOwlrd1 life N 40,
| that pnrsueth evil tendeth to death"
This was grand aermon-there was no ele-
| ment OF mirth in 1t. Nothing that could Of
fend the taste Of the. most fastidlous. What
eloauence! What bursts OF oratory! In
what matchless manner are the grand truths
of our holy religion presented The audience
sit breathless and wrapped In IN tears ana. over.
have ever been moved SO. We have never
seen an audience SO swayed and powerful
ly wrought on. What tenderness, and pathos
com come s Christians and What powerful ilIustra-
The channel OF thought in the discourse ran
about this way: Sin kills the anectlons OF
his will powers, sin kills his body. Finally
sin kills his soul, Each Of these points were
dwelt on separately. At times all the IRE
enthSsed aS sSI, YOU. S' We felt that it was great
privilege to hear such q man.
At the close OF this service he stated that he
Georsia eo and tsat ali expenses for their food,
clothing and education passed through his
hands. He supported the whole thing. That
any one who felt an interest In such cause
CENTS CENTS cents, I or 81 90 II they liked and II not
he would be glad to shake their hands any
way and receive their we'll wishes. We have
never seen people press forward so eagerly
and with one consent to give money. Nor
have we ever seen such q scene In church as
during the delivery OF this sermon. Strong
%sre WeSP1p be audience at w m
this discourse mirth and laughter had fed
away. There was no trace OF 1t; But the peo.
pie listened TO the most powerful powerful gospel ap
eoneiseness Of language. originality OF
and powerful oratory. All sought TO press the
pure truths Of the gospel on t meitng nder neadts
President Brown Of the Anderson National
Bank, good Baptist, said that he would ride
10 Charleston to hear Sam Jones'
In the morning, as we listened to the evan
gelist, we could not help thinking as he now
convulsed the people with laughter and then
melted them to tears, that he resem6led the
image in the Bible that WAS partly clay and
partly i-on-ho was partly weak and partly
strong, But the grand revivalst stood fully
revealed that night In all his beauty ana
strength. When he began to speak Of heay-
grave, of meeting his little daughter Annie
and many "up there" the scene was o:erpow.
ering; There was no shouting or any thing OF
Sam Jones certainly has his field and we
think 1t different from that Of any other mill
ister We half suspect that his coarse jokes
and homely sayings are INDUCED In TO attract
house OF God, and then he plies them with d.
vine truth.
He impressed us as a man desperately In
and an IN Of his
being away from home and added there Is