Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-12-22

s1an+ad them butchered. hear the en ral,
vi oIosh and cIatter of the noofs OF tno oh
lonine steeds on the way to DamaS Sorsahack
do YOU think that proud man on n There
can ever become a Christian .h1nderclsp
IL a voice from heaven ike .1ord the
ntter;no two words, the secono W." am.
same az the first, but uttered WIN mo H., have
nbasis 80 that the proud equestrian SauI I''
no doubt asto whom Is meant pau o-zec,,.
That man was saved, and he was Po-come
tor, and so God can, by HIS grace'
any prosecutor. for Christians
.aayn to have gone by. The bayonI3.Io
Napoleon I. pried open the mr..
ana let the rotr1ng wretches our. dov
ancient dungeons around Rome are ~ rrhe
mere cuffosities for the travellers. ,os
Coliseum, where wild beasts useu 10 80
up the life OF the martyrs Wh1le the emPd
watched and Lola Paulina sat Win eIhe 20,
adornments worth 60 900 900 sesterees, cisg
ING her hands as the Christians died nh Er1
the nav and the tooth of the lion-tnat Cot-
iseum Is a ruin now. The scene % US
Smithf1eld fires is a haymarker. Inc Joy 20
fire and sword for Christians seems ~ i.i.
gone by, But has the day OF persec9IikSnn.
ceased? No. Are you not car1catured ~.
your religion? In proportion as you a. ,-on
serve God and be faithful to HIN, are YOU
not sometimes maltreated! ..;o,,
That woman finds it hard TO bea Chris'ian
as her husband talks and jeers whiIe sue 20
trying to say her prayers or read tn9 - D+
That daughter finds 1t hard to be y f i
with the whole family arrayed against hei
father mother. brother and sister MAKING
her the target of ridicule. That young nun
finds il hard to be Christian in the snoP VI
factory or store when his comrades Jeer az
him because he will not go to the ganolln8
hell or other places Of inlquity.. ,o.
Oh. no, the days OF persecution nave I nc
world. But oh. you prosecuted ones, no'
time that YOU began to pray for your pef9e-
cutors? They are no prouder, no mercer, ~
more set in their way than was TINS Pe,Se
cutor of the text. He fell. Ihey VIII la i;
Christ from the heavens grandIy anu III
ouslv looks out on them. God can Dy NE
grace make a Renan believe in the dlVlnltS vi
Jesns and n Tyndall in the worth of prayer.
Robert Newton stamped the ships deck La
derisive indignation at Christianity only
little while before he became q Chrlstid az:
.'Out of my house." said father u Vas tas
daughter, ''if you will keep praying. liz t
before many months passed the iaIn7l tba
Lord Jesus Christ is willing to LOOK out ir1ut
heaven upon that derisive opponent Oh ~"
Christian religion and address MIN, Io' III
gIitterin2 generalities, but calling MN oy
name: "John! George! Henry !-oau''
Saul. why persecutest thou Me 1885,,
Again, / learn from tulS SuDiOCt 'A'N'
Is hope for the worst offenders. 1t was par
ticuIarly outrageous that Saul should nave
zone to Damascus on that errand. JESUS
Christ had been dead only three years, anu
the story of his kindness and MS gehefo9ny'
and mis- love filled all the air. 1t was mol a"
old story, as it is now. 1t was new Sloi =.
Tesus had only three summers ago been IN
ihese very places, and Saul every day IN
jerusalem must have met people VINO Hht"
CIR St people with good eyesight WDoih
Jesus had cured of blindness, people VINO
had been dead and who had been resurrecten
hy the Savior, and the people VINO couiu 'eAt
Paul all the particulars OF the cruclnxTl41r
lust how Jesus looked in the last hou -
how the heavens grew black in theh II
the torture. III
He heard that recited every day by e
who were acquainted with all the GI.@
stances and yet in the fresh memory OF lhat
scene he goes to persecute Christ dlscpi6e,
impatient at the time it takes to feed me
horses at tn . inn, not pulling at the snaff1e,
but riding with loose rein faster and 1astef'
Oh, he was the chief of sinners No outbreak
OF modesty when he said that. He was a
murderer. He stood by when Stephen died
ana helped i'll the execution Of that gooi
mar.
When the rabble wanted to be unimpe lie
in their work of destroying Stephen an Il
wanted to take off their coats, but did not
dare to lay them down lest tIey be sto en-,
Paul said. "I'Il take care Of the coats an |
they put them down at the feet of Paul. an /
he watched the coats, and he watched the
horrid mangling Of glorious Stephen. Is II
a wonder that when he fell from the horse he
did not break his neck-that his foot did not
catch somewhere in the trappings OF the
saddle, and he was not dragged and Kicked
to death? He deserved to die mserably,
wretchedIy and forever, notwithstanding all
his metaphysics, and his eloQuence, and his
logic. -
He was the chief of sinners. He said VIZ
was true when he said that. And ye. the
grace of God saved him, and 50 II will YOU
1tthere is any man in this house who thinks
he Is too bad to be saved and says, Il have
wandered very grievously from God; do
not believe there is any hope for me" tell
you the story of this man in thetext who was
brought to Jesus Christ in spite of his sins
and opposition. There may be some here
who are as stoutly opposed to Christ as Paul
was There may be some here who are cap
tive OF their sins as much SO as the young
man who said in regard to his disspatng
habits: II will keep on with them. know
am breaking my mothers heart. and /
know am killing myself and | know that
when l die I shall go to he'll, but it is now
too late to stop"
The steed on which you ride nav be
swifter and stronger andhigher melted than
that on which the Cilician prosecutor rode.
but Christ can catch it BY the bride and bt1rl
it back and hurl it down There is mercy
for you who say you are too bad TO be saved,
You say you have put off the matter 50 long;
Paul had neglected it great while You
say that the sin you have committed has
been among the most aggravatng circum-
stances that was so with Paurs
You say you have exasperated Christ AMI
coaXed your own ruin so did Paul And
yet ne sits to-day on one OF the highest of
the heavenly thrones. and there is mercy
for you, and good days for you, and glad
ness for you, if you will only take fp8 same
Christ which first threw him down and then
raised him up. 1t seems to me as if can
see Paul to-day rising up from the highway
to Damascus, and brushing off the dnSt from
his cloak, and wiping the sweat of excite-
ment from his brow, as he turns to us and
all the ages, saying, This is a faithful cav
ing, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of
whom 1 am chief" "a
once more, learn from this subject that
there Is tremendous reality in religion IF
H mad been mere optical delusion on the
road to Damascus, was not Paul mot the
man to find it out? If it had been cham
and pretense, would he not have pricked the
DuDDleI he was a man of facts and ar071
ments, OF the most gigantic intellectual ma
ture, and not man of halIucinations And
when L see him fall from the saddle, blinded
-A wv L shy luoIo must have
been something in 1t. And, my dear brother,
you will find that there is something IN re-
llgIon somewhere. The only question is,
Where?
There was man who rode from sten-
lord to London, ninety-five miles, AYE
hours on horseback. Very swift. fTIaere
was woman OF Newmarket who rSaeHon
horseback thousand miles in a thousand
hours. Very swift. But there are those
n.ere-aye, all OF us are speeding On at ter
Ioid mat velocity, at a thousand fold that
f fso toward eternity. May Almighty God,
IRON the opening heavens, flash upon your
Soul TINS hour the question of your eternal
uestlhy, and oh, that Jesus would this hour
1 9a r you with His pardoning mercy as
n ne STANDS here with the pathos of broken
heart and sobs into your ear II have come
i iTa tnee. l come with My back raw from
,n;eh ing ! come with My feet mangled
WIN the nails. l come with NV brow ach-
ing from the twisted bramble. I come with
MY heart bursting for your woes: I can
saanu II no Longer. I am Jesus whom thou