The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-08-21
want them. Oh that in this matter of aecu-

mutation we are as wise in the matters Of the
soul as we are in the matters Of the worhi
How little common sense In the reading OF
the Scripturesl We get any other book and
we open it and we say: ''Now, what does this
book mean to teach me? 1t is book on as
tronomy; it will teach me astronomy. 1t Is
book on political economy; it viii
teach me political economy" Taking
up the Bible, do we ask ourselves what
it means to teach? It means to do just
one thing; get the world converted and get
us all to heaven. That is what it proposes to
do. But instead Of that, we 60 into the
Bible as botanists to pick flowers, or we 60 as
pugilists to got something to fight other
Christians with, or we go as logicians trying
argument, and we do not like this about the
Bible, and we do not like that and we do
not like the other thing. What would you
think of man lost on the mountains? Night
has come down; he cannot find his
way home and he sees Light in mountain
cabin; he goes to it, he knocks at the door;
the mountaineer comes out and finds the
traveller and says: "Well, here have a Ian
tern; you can take it and it will guido you
on the way home;" and suppose that man
should say: "I don't like that lantern, Idon't
like the handle Of it, there are ten OF fifteen
things about il I don't like; If you can't give
me better lantern than that won't have
any" "
Now, God says this Biblc is to be a lamp to
our feet and o lantern to our path, to guide
us through the midnight of this world to the
gates of the celestial city. We take hold Of
It in sharp criticism, and deprecate this, and
deprecate that. Oh, how much wiser W.
would be If by its holy light we found our
way to our everlasting home! -.
Then we do not read the Bible as we read
o4bor boo1,e Wa II INC f01rr fiVs
minutes just before we retire at night. W.
are weary and sleepy, so somnolentwe hardly
know which end Of the book is up. We drop
our eye, perhaps on the story Of Sampson
and the foxes, or upon some genealogical table
important in its place, but stirring no more
religious emotion than the announcement
that somebody begat somebody else
and he begat somebody else, instead
of opening tho book and saying: Snow !
must read for my immortal life. My eternal
destiny is involved in this book"
prayerl We say: .'Oh, Lord, give me
this,n and "Oh Lord, give me that" and
''Oh, Lord, give me something else" and we
do not expect to get it, or getting it.
we do not know we have it. We have
no anxiety about it. We do not watch
and wait for its coming. -. .
As merchant you telegraph or you write
to some other city for bin Of goods. You
say: "Send me by such express, or by such
steamer, or by such rail train. y, The day ar
riyes. You send your wagon to the depot or
to the wharf. The goods do not come. You
Immediately telegraph: "What is the matter
Send them right away. Wewant them now,
or we don't want them at all" And you keep
writing and you keep telegraphing, and you
keep sending your wagon to the depot, or to
the express office, or to the wharf, until you
get the goods. .s........
In matters Of religion we are not 50 wise
as that. We ask certain things to be sent
from heaven. We do not know whether
they come or not We have not any special
anIsty as to whether they come or not.
Ws may get & them o5dd and may not get on;ns them;
saying: stHnve I got that blessing p
al. Ii o'clock MONDAY, asking: "Haye
I got that blessingP at o'clock in
the evening saying: t:Haye received that
bhssingp and not getting it pleading,
pleading-begging, begging asking
until you get. Now, my brethren, is not
that common sense? II we ask thing from
God, who has sworn by His eternal throne
that He will do that which we ask, is it not
common sense that we should watch and
wait until we get it? '
But remark again: We want more COM
mon sense in doing good. How many people
there are who want to do good and yet are
dead failmesl Why Is it? They do not e1-
erclse the sanle tact, tho same ingenuity, the
same stTataSem. the same common sense N
the work of Christ that they do in worldly
things Otherwise they would succeed In
this direction as well as they succeed
in the other. There are many men
who have AN arrogant way with
: them, although they may not feel arrogant.
Or they have patronizng way. They talk
seems to say: 'sDon't you wish you were as
good as 7 amp Why, I have to look clear
down before can see you, you are so far
bennth me-" That manner always dis
gusts, always drives men away from the
kingdom OF Jesus Christ instead OF
bringing them in. When I was q
Lad was one day in O. village store, and
there was large group of young men there
full of rolichng and fun, and Christian
man came IN, and without any Introduction
of tho subject, and while there were In great
hilarity, said to one of them: ''George, what
is the first step Of wisdom?" George looked
up and said: "Every man to mind his own
business" We'll, it was very rough enswer,
but it was provoked. Religion had been
hurled in there as though il wers bomb
sholi. We must be adroit in tie presenta-
ton of religion to the world.
Do you suppose that Mary ia her conver-
sation with Christ lost her simplicity? or
that Paul laundering from Mars Hill, took
the pulpit tone? Why is it people cannot
talk as naturally in prayer meeting end ON
religious subjects as they do in worldly
circles? For no one ever succeeds in any
kind of Christian work unless he works
naturally. We want to initiate the Lord
Jesus Christ, who plucked q poem from the
grass of the field. We all want to
initiate Him who talked with
farmers about the man who went
forth to sow, and talked with the fisher
men about the drawn net thab brought in
fish of all sorts and talked with the vino
dresser about the idler in the vineyard, and
talked with those newly affianced about the
marriage supper, and talked with the man
cramped in money matters about the two
debtors, and talked with the woman about
the yeast that leavened the whole lump, and
talked with the shepherd about thelost sheep.
Oh, we might gather even the stars Of the
sky and twist them like forget t-me-nots in the
garland Of Jesus. We must bring every thing
to Him-the wealth of language, the tender
ness Of sentiment, the delicacy Of morning
dew, the saffron If aoating cloud, the tangled
surf Of the tossing sea, the bursting thunder
guns of the storms bombardment. Yes,
every star must point down to Him, every
heliotrope must breathe His praise every
drop in the summer shower must flash His
glory, all the tree branches of the forest
must thrum their music IN tho grand march
which shall celebrate world redeemed.
Now, all this being so, what is tho common
sense thing for you and for me to do? What
we do think will depend npon three great
facts. The first fact that sin has ruined us.
It has blasted body, mind and soul.
sinners. Any man who is not willing
to acknowledge himssf an imperfect
and a sinful being is simply fool and not to