The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1891-04-11

! says: There Is man yet hanging to TIL
iigSing. Pull away, my lads! pun awavn
! They come up, and he says: Hold ncv
there i've minutes and we will save YOU
| Steady! steadyl Now give me your hand
Leap! Thank God, he is saved! Thank God
he is saved"
SO there are men now in the breakers
They have made shipwreck OF life Will
We come out to save them. some are swept Cd
swept Off before we can reach them-aiC
there are Others still hanging on. SteIdy
there among the slippery places, Ste idy
Leap into this lifeboatl Now is your chanc,
for heaven! This hour some of you ara so
ing to be saved. Far away from God, YOU
are going to be brought nigh. "Other sheeI
have l which are not of this fold"
You are now this hour in the tide OF
Christian influences You are going to be
swept in; your voice is going to be heard in
prayer; you are going to be consecrated to
God; you are going to live life of useful
ness, and your deathbed is going to be sur.
rounded by Christian sympathizers. and de-
vout men Will carry you to your burial when
your work is done, and these words will be
chiseled for your epitaph: precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.r
And all that history is going to begin to-
day. ''Other sheep have which are not Of
TINS fold"
Again l remark the Heavenly Shepherd
is going to find many of His sheep among
those who are now reiecters of Christianity
do not know how you care to reject Chris
tianity. do not know whether it was
through hearing Theodore Parker preach or
whether it was reading Remains ''Iife of
Jesus or whether it was through some
skeptic in the store or factory. y: it may be
probably is the case-tha5 you were dis
gusted with religion aGd disguised with
Christianity because some man who pro-
feSsed to be n Christian defraudel you and
he being a member of the church, and You
taking him as representative of the Chris
tan religion, you said, "Well, if that's re-
liSion, don't want any of it."
do not know how you came to reject
Christianity, but you frankly tell me YOU do
reject it; you do not think the Bible is the
word of God, although there are many
things in it you admire; you do not think
that Christ was a divine being, although you
think He was a very good man. You say,
IF the Bible be true-the most of the Bible
be true-l nevertheless think the earlier part
of the Bible is an allegory." And there are
lieve. Nevertheless they tell me in regard to
you that You are an accommodating, you
are an obliging person. If should come to
you and ask Of you favor you would grant
it if it were possible. It would be Joy for
you to grant me a favor. If any of your
friends came to you and wanted an accom-
mediation and you could accommodate them,
how glad you would be!
Now l am going to ask Of you a favor. ]
want you to oblige me. The accommoda-
ton will cost you nothing, and you will give
me great happiness. OF course you will not
deny me. / want you as an experiment to
try the Christian religion. II it does not
stand the test, discard it; if it does, receive
it.
If you were very sick. and you had bs.n
gwen up OF the DOCTORS ana 1 came to v.u.
and took a bottle of medicine from nv
pocket and said. Here is medicine I am
sure will help you; it has cured fifty people
you would say, "Oh, haven't any conf
ience in it; they tell me all these medicines
VIII fail me- WELL" say, Twill you not,
Just try itp' "Well" you saw. II have M
objection to trying it; IL it will be sny sat.
sfaction to you I will try it." You take it.
Vow you are sick in -disquietude, sick in sin.
You are not happy. You laugh sometimes
vhen you are miserable There come surpes
u unhappiness over your soul that almost |
wamp you. You are unhappy, struck
trough with unrest: Now, will you not try
ms soiace, this febrifuge, this anodyne, thS
'Oh," you say, II haven't any faith in it.n
Is matter Of accommodation, let me in.
reduce you to the Lord Jesus Christ the |
treat Physician. why" you say, II
aven't any faith In Him" Well now. will
on not just let him come and trv His mower
n your soul! Just let me introduce Him to
on. do not ask you to take my word for
/. do not ask you take the advice of cler.
ymen Perhaps the clergymen NAV be
reJudiced; perhaps we may be speaking
perhaps we may give YOU
rong ADVICE; perhaps We are morbid on
rat subject; so do not ask you to take the
vice Q. cergymen. l ask you to take the
lvice OF very respectable laymen such as
,iiiiam Shakespeare, the dramatist: as
nIiam w lloerforce, thestatesman; as Isaac
ewton, the astronomer; as Robert BOYLE.
10 philosopher; as Locke, the metaphysi.
an: as Morse, the electrician.
ihese men never preached-thev never
,etended to preach-but they come out, and
itting down, one his telescope. and another
70 electricians wire, and another the n.r.
amsntary scroll-they come out, and thew
Christ as comfort to all the peo-
e. Christ that the world needs, NowI
not ask you to take the advice oh clergy.
en-. Take the advice Of these laymen. IL
YES not make any difference to me at this
ncture what you have said against this
c,ei IL ooes not maze any difference to me
tnis !uncture how you may have carica.
req religion. Take the advice Of men who
o prominent in secular affairs. as these
en- whom have mentioned and Others who
occur to my mind. You see I
not scoh at skepticism. / never scoffed
skepticism. Ihave been a natural skeptic.
10 not know what ths first word was that
uttered after entering the world, but I
INK it must have been "whyr
Ihere were times when doubted the exist.
&c OF God, when doubted the divinity Of
lr1st, when doubted the immortality Of
Q soul, when doubted nv own existenca
len doubted everything. I have been 4
rough the whole curriculum of doubt and
can tell me nothing new about it
We come out from great Sahara desert
% the calm, warm, sunshiny land of the /,