Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-08-01

Instead of saying: Good morning; am glad |
YOU are here. Come; / win give you q |
hrst rate seat right up BY the pulpit.S Well, |
tho prodigal, not yet discouraged, enters |
the prayer meeting, and some Christian man, |
with more zeal than common sense SAYS: |
"tilad 70 see you. The dying thief was |
saved, and suppose there is mercy for your |
The young man, Disguised, chilled, throws |
himself back on his dignity, resolved he never !
viii enter the house Of God again. Perhaps |
not quite fully discouraged about reforma- |
ton, he sides up by some highly respectable |
man be used TO know going down the street. |
and Immediately the respectable man has an
errand down some other street, Well, the |
prodigal wishing to return, takes some MEM |
Der Of a 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 a
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
Un, how few Christian people understand
how much force and Gospel there is in a
good, honest handshaking 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 fibre of your body mind and
soul an encouragement that was just what
you needed You do not know anything at
Ill about this unless you know when man
tries to return from evil courses Of conducv,
he runs against repulsions innumerable. We
say Of some man, he lives block or two
| from the church, or half q mile from tho
church. There are people in our crowded cit
| les who livea 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 thousands and tens
Of thousands perish. Christ sat with publ
| D.,ks - klo
| 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 it shock
ingr' How these dainty, fastidious Chris
| tians in all our churches are going to get into
heaven don't know, unless they have an
especial train Of cars, cushioned and up
holstered, each one car to himself They
cannot 60 with the great herd ofpublicans and
inners. Oh, ye, who curl your lip of
scorn at the fallen, tell you plainly, If you
had been surrounded by the same influences,
instead of sitting to-day amid the cultured
and the refined and the Christian, you would
have been q crouching wretch in stable or
ditch. covered with filth and abominationl
It is not because you are naturally any bet
ter, but because the mercy Of God has pro-
tected you. Who are you that brought up
In Christian circles, and watched by Chris
tian parentage, you should be so hard on the
fallen.
I think men also are often hindered from
return by the fact that churches are too anx-
ious 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 sprinking
or by immersion, and what kind Of church
he is going to ioin. Oh, my friends! It is a
poor time to talk about Presbyterian cate
thisms, and Episcopal hturgies, and Metho-
dist love-feasts, and baptisteries to man
that is coming out of the darkness Of sin into
Ehe glorious light of the Gospel. Why, IL
reminds us of man drowning in the sea, and
lifeboat puts out for him, and the man IL,
the boat says to the man out OF the
are you going to live in my streetT'
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 illumihed face, and q
, hearty grip for every one that tries to turn
| from his evil way! Take hold Of the same
! book with him, though his dissipations shake
the book, remembering that he that con
, verteth a sinner from the error Of his wayi
shall save O soul from death, and hide 6
multitude Of sins.
,, Now, I have shown you these OBJ
stacles because I want you to under
,, stand I 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 anc
+ how the paths of virtue forsaken may be re-
+ gained. First of all, my brother, throw
q Yourself on God Go to Him, frankly ant
= earnestly, and tell Him these habits yol
; have, and ask Him, If there is any help in al
! the resources of omnipotent love. to give j
to you. 10 not go with long rigmarol
:, . people call prayer, made up Of ''ohs' AM
= 1'ahs' and forever and forever amens!" G.
! to God and cry for help! help! helpl and i
= you cannot cry for help. just look and live
% Iremember in the war was at Antietar
y y and I went into the hospitals after tn
y battle, and / said to a man, "Wher
y are you hurtT He made no answer
I, but held up his arm swollen and splnteret
:. ~ saw where he was hurt The simple fat
'@e @ is, when O man has wounded soul, all b
~, has to do is to hold up before sympatheti
- - Lord and get it healed. 1t does not tal
y any long prayer Just hold up the wount
!, Oh, 1t is no small thing when q man is ner'
~ ~ GUS and weak and exhausted, coming frol
ts = his evil ways, to feel that God puts two on
W nipotent arms around about him and say
,e se 'Young man, will stand by you! tt
;s ~ mountains may depart and the hills be r
,,e r moved, but will never fail you" And the
ssS as the soul thinks the news is too good to
40 40 true. and cannot believe 1t, and looks up
L. n Gods face, God lifts His right hand and TAX
III III an oath, an affidavit, saying: GAS liv
~ ~ saith the Lord God, have no pleasurei In ii
=" death of him that dieth."
Blessed be God for such Gospel as thi
n "Cut the slices thin," said the wife to Il
- husband Tor there will not be enough to {
:, - all around for the children; cut the slic
y thin" Blessed be God, there is full loaf f
y every one that wants it; bread enough al
~ m cnara No thin slices at the Lords fabI
= : remember when the Master Street he
;s pital, in Philadelphia, was opened during Il
a. war, a telegram came saying: There will
& three hundred wounded men tonight;
= \ ready to take care of them;"s and from n
- church there went in some twenty
~ thirty men and women to look aft
~ ~ these poor wounded fellows. As tn,
y, N came, some from one part Of t
az az land, some from another, no one ask
~ Massachusetts, or from Minnesota, or fro
Ia New York. There was wounded soldit
NJ and the only question was how to take of IL
,s rags most gently, and put on the bandag
and administer the cordial And when
,s. soul comes to God He does not ask whel
you came from or what your ancestry wa
>" Healing for all your wounds. Pardon for q
:. your guilt. Comfort for all your troubles.
= Then, also counsel you, If you want
. One unholy intimacy will fill your soul vii
e moral distemper In all the ages Of q
- y church there has not been an instance whe
:. - O man kept one evil associate and was r
= formed. Among the fourteen hundred mil
= ion Of the race not one instance Go hon
y to-day, open your desk, take out letter pape
~ =, stamp and envelope and then write lett
,e something like this:
a. 2; my old companions: I start this day (,