The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-07-31
left hand, which is equal to striking a


| couragement 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 encour-
! agement that was Just what you needed?
| \ lou do not know anything at all about
! this unless you know when man tries to
return from evil courses of conduct he
| runs against repulsions innumerable. We
say of some man, he lives block or two
| from the church or half a mile from the
church. There are people in our crowded
cities who live a thousand miles from
the church. Vast deserts OF Indifier-
ence between them and the house of
God. The fact is, we must keep our
responsibility, though thousands and tens
of thousands perish. Christ sat with
| publicans and sinners. But il there comes
| to the house of God man with marks OF
dissipation upon him people throw up
| their hands with horror, as much as TO
say: Isn't it shocking?" How these
! dainty, fastdious Christians in all our
churches are going to get into heaven |
| don't know, unless they have an especial
train of cars, cushioned and upholstered,
each one a car to himself. They cannot
90 with the great herd of pubicans and
sinners. Oh, We who curl your lip OF scorn
at the fallen, tell you plainly if you had
/
instead of sitting to-day amid the cul
tured and refined and the Christian, you
would have been crouching wretch in
stable or ditch, covered with filth and
abomination 1t is not because you are
naturally any better but because the
mercy of God has protected you. Who
are you, that brought up in Christian cir
cles and watched by Christian parentage,
you should be SO hard on the fallen?
[ 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 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 bap-
/ tiZed, whether by sprinkhng or by INNER
sion, and what kind of a church he is
going to join. Oh, my friends 1t is
poor time to talk about presbyterian cate
chisms and episcopal liturgies and meth
odist love-feasts and baptisteries to man
that is coming out of the darkness of sin
into the glorious light of the gospel.
| Why, it reminds us of a man drowning in
| the sea and & life-boat puts out for him,
and the man in the boat saws to the man
out of the boat: Now if | get You
ashore are you going to live in my street ?"
| First get him ashore and then talk about
the non-essentials of religion. Who cares
what church he joins if he only joins
| Christ and starts for heaven? Oh, you
| ought to have, my brother, an Illuminated
face and hearty grip for every one that
tries to turn from his evil way Take
/ hold of the same book with him, though
/ his dissipation shake the book, remember
/ ing that he that cOnYerteth a sinner from
4 the error OF his ways shall save a soul
/ from death and hide a multitude OF sins.
Now, have shown you these obstacles,
/ because | want you to understand | know
/ all the difficulties in the way; but | am
now to tell you how Hannibal may scale
the Alps, and how the shackles may be
unriveted, and how the paths of virtue
4 forsaken may be regained. First of all,
my brother, throw yourself on God. Go
/ to Him frankly and earnestly and tell Him
| these habits you have and ask Him, if
! there is any help in all the resources Of
/ OmnIpotent love, to give it to YOU. Do
not 90 with long rigmarole people call
prayer, made up of "ohs" and "ahs" and
forever and forever, amens." Go to
/ God and cry for help, "helpl" "helpp'
and if you cannot cry for help Just look
and live. / remember in the war / was at
Antietam, and | went into the hos
pitfalls after the battle and l said to
a man: Where are you hurt?' He
made no answer, but held up his arm,
! swollen and splintered. / saw where he
was hurt The simple fact is when a man
has a wounded soul all he has to do is to
| hold it up before a sympathetic Lord and
get it healed. 1t does not take any long
prayer. Just hold up the wound. Oh, it
! is no small thing when a man is nervous
and weak and exhausted, coming from his
evil WAYS, to feel that God puts two ON
nipotent arms around about him and saws
Young man, will stand by YOU The
mountains may depart and the hills be re-
| moved, but l will never fail YOU" And
then, as the soul thinks the news is too
good to be true and cannot believe it and
| looks up In Gods face, God lifts his right
hand and takes an oath, an affidavit, say
ing: As / live, saith the Lord God, l
have no pleasure in the death of him that
dieth."
Blessed be God for such a gospel as
| this "Cut the slices thin" said the wife
to the husband. cor there will not be
| enough to 20 all round for the children !:
cut the slices thin" Blessed be God,
there is a full loaf for every one that
wants it, bread enough and to spare. No
| thin slices at the Lords table. | remem-
| Der when the Master-st. hospital in Phila-
delphia was opened during the war a tele-
| gram came saying: There will be 800
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 fellows
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
or 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 soul comes to God He does
not ask where you came from or what
your ancestry was. Healing for all your
wounds. Pardon for Your guilt. Com
fort 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 church there has not been an instance
where man kept one evil associate and
was reformed. Among the j, 40O, 000, 900 of
the race not one instance. Go home to-
day, open your desk, take out your letter
paper, stamp and envelope, and then
write letter something like this:
"MY OLD CoMPANIoKs-I start this day
for heaven. Until am persuaded you
will join me in this, farewell"
Then you sign your name and send the