The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-02-12
(sHURCH ATTENDANCE.
A STRONG SERMON ON AN MP OR
TANT SUBJECT.

4 Discourse Recently Preached by ,he
Ssv. ). l.. stokes. of the =.ossh Caro-
{ ssnas Conference
TszT:-"Not torsakingsthe assembling
Of oarse5ues together HE'S. <, %.
We have but snail congregation at
this place. Ytu remiad me that our
membership is small. But we have
sighty-eight names on our roll, which
;s 8 pretty fair showing. Nor is this al
mere, list of names, uurevised and un-
reliable. The roll was carefully revised
Last year, and toere are not, l suppose,
q half doE-n u; ues oo it OF persons "ut
Scf reach of she cuurcn. You tell De
the country is shiniy populated. But
mot so much so but that eighty eight
names OF msmbers are no" ~nr"iled.
S And We ought u nave, as rule, III oui
couptry places as many at service as We
have sames on our church DO Ks. l
Goubtif We could expect So muca 10
onr city churches, where the cangresa-
lion Is made up almost exclusively Of
sshoae OF our own persuasion Here Ii is
diffsseat. Ou1 Baptist br.fhrcu regu-
larry worship wtn US; we have. or
should have. all the cnurch-goers IN the
commanisy. So shat, while many OF
onr members are provldent'slly sepi
nbMrNh from,
ouSntIo be y sufficient plumber of vlsi-
rurs TO make up for their absence No,
Is isis-asfaiiure ou the part of many OF our
membeEs to attend regularly that gives
EE these vacant seats. know this TO Be
i true, Indeed. I have looked out for
you. Ihsve missed you.
81 You say the explanation Is in the fac,
that our church is not centrally located.
sS know that, and aui willing to Discount
my estimate somewhat On that account,
IL Is, ! Know, not rs couvenleu. tos
some IF you To come Us it wnNlG be II
the church were nearer Bat Is not thi'
the more pertinent fact here, rbus vur
have allowed the Inconvenience of com
s s9g 80 get you into stay-at-hone hauit
,s - .or ,Ass IL Il. You ate noi willing t
criice litcle; to put duty above mere
convenience, you have DO: made the d
tenceuse uooa church services q matter
oi-cou.se. Tnas would solve the prob.
lem. You farmers have long heavy
drive OF it to Bamoerg. It is very in
coovenieut "Trip. Sus you make up youl
minds TO IL; il comes as mat,er-u:
course, and you do NOS mind it. Jus. s
mere. So uave thought II my duty, 4!
bringing home to you the 3erelctloi
s sou are guilty of, and showing you the
God-given reasons for the duty o
aharch attendance.
Bus nssteu to say that these remark
- are nosiu;ended, In their primary appil
sstion at iosst, for q goodly number q
those present. have not found any
where better examples OF Constant az
tendance on the services of the sanc.u
arY. ! n.ed not name those who are al
ways in their places. You kave ,heu
befase suur eyes You know VINO they
are. While on the other baud your pas
tor could mentioned those who are bu
visitors here where they ought to be a
home. Sometimes they are here il al
suits, or the fancy Is on them. Some
times they aFeat home. walking ove,
the crop; or they are our visiting, walk
81 Ing oyer,souebody else's crop. or discus
sing politics or what noe. SO that j
happened, I am most credible info5me;i
several years ago that brother respect
ed aud loved by you al preached at this
church, and his audience was not as
large 80 the company that assembled
s that Vsry day ut neighbos's house.
Yes. come to you. rs your pastor
Ssfn = al nesssge OF seIl5ils IN port to-'Tay
csA you 70 most earnest, prsyettu
study of the demand Of God, aud your
duty IN this mxlse. Isouud my text il
Jour ears as the word of the Lord. i
must be that you have lost sight of thi.
serious aspect Of the case You surely
8 have not felt the sushor!ty OF divine
command behind you here. Otherwise
good men and women could not be 81
negligent.
4ss Us notice some Of the reasons that
mar be given for lshis assembly Of our.
seitea together.
I. The FIRST, in our discusslon, and in
imporsancc, 10 the fact that God ha.
commanded it, az we have seen. This,
indeed, should be the end of all contro-
Tsrsy with us. A ''shus saith the Lord
should settle it. sGive me the book,
cnapterssnd verse my pastor, and 1hs,
10 enough for me-" That should be
your word. A minister was once trsv-
sling on the cars, and sst Immediately in
front Of the brilliant Gen. Robert
Toonbs, who was engaged in an earnest
discussion with 8 fellow-traveller He
noticed that the proposition for which
the General contended ansasonized the
plaia teaching of the Scriptures Fl
nally deciding to enter the debate, be
turned abruptly upon hisseat and said
General Toombs, do you know that your
position is opposed to the Word of God2'
The General Was greatly surprised, but
! answered pleasantly: Good evening,
Professor S. had no idea I Was in
earshot of q preacher! Will you be
kind enough 20 give me your ScrIpture2''
The passage was quoted, and clearly
coetradicted his argument. he at once
8 arose-the man who had sWayed Seoates
and stirred the thought of nation
lifted his hat, and with that cour,ly
manoer for which be was noted, said: II
{ bow, cir, 10 the Word of God" So,
brethren, let us bow to its majestic au-
thority. But this command of God is
not arbitrary. None Of his command
ments IL So. They are grounded in
reason They rest upon sufficient foun-
oasion.
This command rests upon mao's social
constitution. We zee this social ten
dency in the humble orders of animal
life. We zee it as we catch a view of
the cattle upon the bills; or as We ''cOn.
slider the santa" plying busily at our
feet.
rnhia aon;.l S;arsaaitinn /. nrito man;