The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1893-05-10
4 the old people. not th- gloom which


but the sunshine of celestial
peace, and he will say, "Why, /
wonder if that isn't the same peace
that shone out on the face of my father
and mother when they lay dying?' And
then there viii come damlness in his
eyes through which he can hardly see,
and he will close his eyes to imprison
the emotion; but the hot tears will
break through the fringes of eye-lashes
and drop upon the coat sleeve. He will
put his head on the bach of the pew in
front and sob, Lord God of the old
people help me-" We ought to lay
plot here for the religious capture of all
the young people in Brooklyn.
Yes, sympathy for the old. They
have their aches and pains and dis
tresses. They can not hear or walk or
see as well as they used to- We must
be reverential in their presence. On
dark days we must help them through
the aisle, and help them find the place
in the hymn-book. Some Sabbath
morning we shall say, "Where is Father
So-and-so to-day?" and the answer will
be, What, haven't you heard? The
Kings wagons have taken Jacob up to
the palace where his Joseph is yet
alive"
Sympathy for business men. TWEEN
tv-four wears of commercial life in New
York and Brooklyn are enough 20 tear
ones nerves to pieces. We want to-
make our Sabbath service here a rescue
for all these martyrs of traffic, a fore
taste of that land where they have no
rents to pay, and there are no business
rivalries, and where riches, instead OF
taking wings to fly away, brood over
other riches.
Sympathy for the fallen, remember
ing that they ought to be pitied as
much as a man run over with rail-
train. The fact is that in the tempta-
tions and misfortunes of life, they got
run over. You and l, in the same cir
we should have done worse, perhaps.
If you and | had the same evil sur
roundings and the same evil parentage
that they had, and the same native
born proclivities to evil that they had,
you and | should have been in the peni'
Tertiary or outcasts of society. NO"
says some self-righteous man. II
couldn't have been overthrown in that
way" You old hypocrite, you would
have been the first to fall!
We want in this church to have sym
pathy for the worst man, remembering
he is a brother; sympathy for tbs worst
woman, remembering she is sister.
If that is not the gospel, do not know
what the gospel is. All! yes; sympathy
for all the troubled; for the orphans in
their exposure: for widowhood with it,
weak arm fighting for bread; for the
household which erst resounded with
merry voices and pattering feet, now
awfully still-broad-winged sympathy,
like the feathers of the Almighty
warm-blooded sympathy, everlasting
sympathy-sympathy which shows it,
self in the grasp of the hand, in the
glittering tear of the eye, in the con-
selling word of the mouth-sympathy Of
blankets for the cold, of bread for the
hungry, of medicine for the sick, of res
cue for the lost. Sympathy!
Let it thrill in every sermon. Let it
tremble in every song. Let it CLEAN in
every tear and in every light. SYM
pathy! Men and women are signing
for sympathy, groaning for sympathy,
dying for sympathy, tumbling off into
, uncleanliness and crime and perdition
for lack of sympathy. May God give
it to us. Fill all this pulpit with it
from step to step. Let the sweep of
these galleries suggest its encircling
arms. Fill all the house with it, from
door to door, and from floor to ceiling,
, for it, and it shall overflow
into the street, and passer by
on foot and in carriage shall feel
the throb of it's magnificent benedic-
ton. Let that be our new departure as
a church. Let that be my new depart
ure as pastor. Sympathy. Gratitude
to God demands that this morning
mention the fact that during all these
twenty-four years have missed but one
service through sickness. When l en-
tered the ministry was so delicate
did not think | would preach three
5 MONTHS but preaching has agreed with
, me. and think the healthiest thing in
all the earth is the religion of Jesus
, Christ. Bless the Lord, o, my soul
, What ingrates we are in regard to oul
health.
: must, in gratitude to God, also men
, ton the multitudes to whom l have
: been permitted to preach. 1t is simply
miraculous, the attendance morning 10y
s morning, night by night, and year by
( year, and long after it has got to be al
2 old story. / known some people are
f dainty and exclusive in their tastes. A.
{ for myself like big crowd. would
I like to see an audience large enough t.
E scare me! If this Gospel is good, the
D more that get it the better.
: Many have received the Gospel here
: but others have rejected it. Now,
1 tell you what l am going to do with
Y some of my dearest friends who have
!. hitherto rejected the Gospel You are
4 not afraid of me, and am not afraid o.
4 you, and some day, o brother, will
e clasp your hands together, and will
a turn your face the other way, and
e will take hold of your shoulders, and
while you are helpless in my grasp
1 will give you one headlong push int
}. the Kingdom of God. Christ says W.
: must compel you to come in. l viii
v compel you to come in. Can consen
: to anything else with these men, whc
t are as dear to me as my own soul?
/ will compel you to come in.