Richmond planet., 1889-07-27

band. "or there will not be enough to 60 al
around for the children; 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. | remem.
ber when the Master Street hospital, in Phila,
delphia, was opened during the war, tele
gram came saying, "There will be three hun.
dred wounded men tonight, be ready to take
care of them;" and from my church there
went in some twenty or thirty men and
women to look after these poor wounded fel
lows AS they came, some from one part OF
the land, some from another, no one asked
whether this man was from Oregon or from
Massachusetts,, or from Minnesota, OF
from New York There was a wounded
soldier, and the only question was how
to take off the rags most 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 an
cestry was Healing for all your wounds.
Pardon for all your guilt. Comfort for all
your troubles.
Then, also, counsel you, if you want 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
ter life and say Wen az sha Hfnes awgke beFs
But, seized on by their old habits, cry: ~
will try yitonce more; | will seek it vet againl''
| Years ago there were some Princeton stu
dents who were skating, and the ice was very
thin, and some one warned the company back
from the air hole, and finally warned them
entirely to leave the place But one Young
man, with bravado. after all the rest had
stopped, cried out: "One round morel" He
swept around and went down, and was
brought out corpse. Ny friends, there are
thousands and tens of thousands of men
losing their souls In that way 1t is the one
round more
have also to say that If man wants to
return from evil practices society repulses
him. Desiring to reform he says, "Now. l
will shake off my old associates, and | will
find Christian companionship And he ap-
pears at the church door some Sabbath dav.
and the usher greets him with a look, as
much as to say, ''Why, you heref You are
the last man ever expected to see at church,
Come, take this seat right down by the
door" IDstead of saying, ''Good morning;
am glad you are here. Come; I will give
you first rate seat right up by the pull.
pit" Well, the prodigal, not yet discour-
aged, enters the prayer meeting, and some
Christian man with more zeal than common
sense, says, "Glad to see you. The dy-
ing thief was saved, and I suppose
there Is mercy for you'll" The young
man, disguised chilled, throws himself
back on his dignity, resolved he never will
enter the house of God again. Perhaps not
quite fully discouraged about reformation.
he sides up by some highly respectable man
he used to know going down the street, and
Immediately the respectable man has an
Ofh III
prodigal, wishing to return, takes some mem.
Der Of Christian association by the hand.
or tries to. The Christian young man looks
at him, looks at the faded apparel and the
marks Of dissipation, and instead of giving
him warm grip of the hand, offers him the
tip end of the long fingers of the left hand,
which is equal to striking man in the face.
Oh, how few Christian people understand
how much force and gospel there Is in
good, honest handshakingl Sometimes, when
you have felt the need of encouragement and
some Christian man has taken you heartily
by the hand, have you not felt that thrilling
through every fiber of your body, mind and |
soul, an encouragement that was Just what /
you neededf You do not know anything at |
all about this unless you know when man
tries to return from evil courses Of conduct |
he runs against repulsi ms innumerable. We
say Of some man, he lives block or two
from the church half mile from the
church. There are people in our crowded
cities who live a thousand miles from the
church. Vast deserts of indifference between
them and the house of God The fact is, we
must keep our respectability, though thou
sands and tens of thousands perish. Christ
sat with publicans and sinners But If there
comes to the house of God a man with marks
of dissipation upon him, people throw up
their hands In horror, as much as to say,
"Isn't 1t shocking" How these dainty,
fastidious Christians in all our churches are
going to get into heaven I don't know, un
less they have an especial train of cars, cush
ioned and upholstered, each one a car to him
selfl They cannot go without the great herd
of publicans and sinners Oh, ye, who curl
your lip Of scorn at the fallen, I tell YOU
plainly, If you had been surrounded by the
same influences, instead of sitting today amid
the cultured and the refined and the Chris
tian, you would have been a crouching wretch
In stable or ditch, covered with filth and
abominationl 1t is not because YOU are
any better. but because the mercy
Of God has protected you Who are you
that brought up In Christian circles, and
watched by Christian parentage, you should
be so hard on the fallen2
/ think men also are often hindered from
return by the fact that churches are too
anxious about their membership and too
anxious about their denomination, and thev
rush out when they see man about to givt
up his sin and return to God, and ask him
how he Is going to be baptized, whether b1
sprinkling or by immersion, and what kind
Of a church he is going to join. Oh. nv
friendsI 1t Is poor time to talk about Pres
byterian catechisms, and Episcopal nturptes.
and Methodist love feasts, and baptisteries tc
q man that is coming out of the darkness of
sin into the glorious light of the Gospel
Why, it reminds me Of a man drowning In
the sea and lifeboat puts out for him.
and the man in the boat says to the
man out Of the boat: "Now, If / get
you ashore, are you going to live in my
'treetT First get him ashore, and then talb
about the non-essentiels of religion Who ,
,ares what church he joins, If he only join
Christ and starts for heaveni Oh, you ought
% have, my brother. an nlumined face, and
/ hearty grip fRr every one that tries to turn
rom his evil way! Take hold of the same
book with him, though his designations shake
he book, remembering that he that convert,
th sinner from the error of his ways shall
ave soul from death, and hide multitude
# sins
HOW THE SHACKLEs MAY BE LoosED.
Now, | have shown you these obstacles be-
ause wait you to understand know all
he difficulties In the way; but am now to
ell you how Hannibal may scale the Alps
nd how the shackles may be unriveted. and il
ow the paths of virtue forsaken may be rA "
aimed. First of all, my brother, throw your.
sf on God. Go to him frankly and earnestly,
fall him %haSa habits voI1 hava oeb