The Forrest City times., 1888-03-31


 tue house of God The fact Is we must keep our responsibility, though thousands aud tens of thousands perish. Christ sat with publt- csns and snners But if there came to the house Of God man with marks Of dissipation upon him, people almost threw up their hands in horror, as much as to say: 'Isn't 1t shock ing" How these dainty fastidious Christians In sll our churches are going to get into heaven, 1 don't know, upless they have an especial train Of esfs ctsh- ioned and upholstered each one ear % himself They cannot go with the great horde of pubiicsns and sinners Ohiye who curl your lip of scoru at tue fsllen, tell you plainly U you had been surrounded by the same influences instead Of sitting to-day amid the cultured, and refined, and the Christian, you wonld have been a crouching wretch iu the stable or ditch. covered with filth and abomination. IL Is not because you are naturally any better, but because the mercy of 6od has protected you. Who are you that brought up Ia Christian circles and watched by christian parentage, you should be so hard on the falleni
 think men are ctisu hindered from return by the fact that churches are too anxious about their membership and too anxious about their denomination, and they rush out when they see man about to give up his sin and return to God. and ask him how he is going to be baptized, whether by sprinkllng or immersion, and what kind of a church he Is going to Join. Oh my friends. 1t Is poor time 10 talk about Presby terian catechIsrn, and Episcopal lltutgies, and Methodist lovefeasts, aud baptistres to A mau that IS coming out of the darkness ot sin into the glorious light of the Gospel Whr, it reminds me of man drowning in the sea, Snd a life-boat puts out for him, and the man in the boat says to the man out ot the boat; Now, if get you ashore, are you going to live on my streetf First get him ashore and then talk about the non essentials of rel zion. Who cares what church he joins, 1T he only joins Christ and starts for heaveni Ohi you ought Co have my brother, an ilumIued face and hearty gtip for every one that tries to turn from his evil way. Take hold Of the same book with him though hls dissipa- uons shake the book, remembering that he that convereth a sinner from the error Of his ways shall save soul from death and hide a multitude of sins. |"
 Now, 1 have shown you these obstacles be- cause l want you to understand I know all the difficulties 10 the way; but l am now to tell you how Hannibal may scale the Alps, and how the shaekles may be unrlvlied, and how the path of virtue forsaken may be regained. First of all my brother throw yourself on God Go to Him frankly, aud earnestly, and tell Him these habits you have and ask Him if there is any help in all the resources Of om- nipotept love, to gve it Co you. Do not go with s long rigmarule people cal prayer, made Of 'ohs, ," and "ahs,H and forever and ever, Amensir Go to God and cry for helpi helpi helpi and if you cannot cry for help just look and live. l remember, fin the late war, l was at Anuetam, and went into the hospitals after the battle and said to a man; Where are you hurtP He made no answer but held up bis arm, swollen and spllntered. l saw where he was hurt. The simple fact is. when a man has wounded soul all he has 10 do Is to hold it mp before a sympathetic Lord and get It healei. It does not take any long prayer. Just hold up the wouni. Oh, 1t Is no small thing when a man is nervous and weak nI eYi sfal fran hfa fl n feel that God puts two omnipoteDt arms around him, and says. Young man l will stand by you The mountains may depart, and the hills be removed. but ] will never fail you.n And then as the soul thinks the new is too good to be true, and cannot believe it. and looks up in Gods face, God lifts Ills right hand and takes an oath, an affidavit saying: As live, saith the Lord God, l have no pleasure in the death of hlm that dieth." Blessed be God for such Gospel as this. 'Cut tue slices thin" said the wife to the hush nd, ''or there will not be enough to go all around for the ehiidreu; cut the slices thin" Blessed be God there is full loaf for every one that wants it. Bread enough and to spare. No thin slices at the Lords table. l remember when the Master Street Hosp, tai, in Philadelphia, was opered during the war, a tel egram came, saying; "There will be tbree hun dred wounded men to night: be ready to take care of them;n sni from my church there went iu some twentf or thirty men and women to look aitpr tDcse poor WOunuel leiiONs. AS tney came some from one part of the land, some from another, no one asked whether this man was from Oregon, or from Massachu useites, or from New York There was a wounded sol dier. and the only question was how to take of the rags he mos gently, and put on the bandAge, and administer the cordial. And when A soul comes to God, He does not ask where you came from or what your ancestry was Healing for all your wounds. Pardon for all your guilt. Comfort for all your trou bles.
 Then, also, 1 counsel yon. if you waut to get back, to quit all your bad associations. One unholy intimacy will fill your soul with moral distemper In all the ages of the church there has not been an instance where a man kept one evil associate and was re- formed. Go home today, open your desk, take out letter paper, stamp and envelope, and then write letter something like this:
 My Old Companions: start this day for heaven: Until sm persuaded you will join me in this, farewell"
 Then sign your name, and send up your bad companions or give up heav- en. 1t is not ten bad companions that de- stroy a man, nor five bad companions, nor three bad companions, nor two bad compan- ions, but one. What chance is there for that young man l saw along the street, four or five young men with him, hating in front of a grogshop, urging him to go in, he listing, violently resisting, until after while they force him to go inf It was summer night and the door was left open, and saw the pro- cess. 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
 I 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 10 me and I will by every sympathy of my heart, and every prayer, and every toll Of my hand, slRud beside you in the struggle for reformation; and as l hope to have my own sins forgiven and hope to be acquitted at the Judgdment sest of Christ, l will not betray you. First of all, seek God, and then Christian counsel Gather up all the energies of body, mind and soul, and, appealing 10 God for success declare this day everl sting war against drinking habits all gambling practices. all houses of sin. Half and half work will amount to noth- ing; 1t must be a Waterloo Shrink back now and you are lost. Push on, and you are saved. A Spartan general fel at the very moment of victory, but he dipped his finger in his own blood and wrote on rock near which he was dying; Sparta has conquered" Though your struggle to get rid of sin may seem to be almost a death struggle, you can dip your fin- ger in your own blood and write on tbe Rock of Ages: Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" Ob what glo- these young men 10 send home to their par ents in the country They 70 to the postof- flee every day or two to see If there are any letters from you. How anxious they are to hear Nothing would please them half SO much as the news you might send home to- morrow that you have gwen your heart to God I know how II Is in the country. The night comes on. Tue cattle stand under the rack through which bursts the trusses of hay. The horses just having iri-ked up through the meadow at the ght fall, stand knee-ieep in the bright straw that invites them to lie down sud rest The perch Of the hoyel IS full of fowl their feet warm under the feathers. In the old farm house at night no candle ls lighted, for the flames clap their hands about the great backlog, and shake the shadow Of the group up and down the wall. Father and moth r sit there for half all hour, sa Ing noth' ing. 1 wonder what they ale thinking Of. Afier while the father breaks the silence and says; "Wcll. l wonder where our boy Is in town to- onight; and the mother answers; ''ln no bad place l warrant you, we always could trust hiIn when he was home, and since be has been away there have been so many prayers offered for him We can trust him still. T Then al eight o'clock for they retire early in the counrF--st eight o'clock they kneel d wn and commend you to that God wbo watches