Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-04-28


heads. but throu n their hearts. When
these men really 10 cone into tae Kingdom
az Cos, they viii Oe worth Tar more 10 toe
cause Oh Christ than cn0se ~no never e&-
amIned the evI Lelces OF Christianity
Thomas Cbaimsr- once a sEeptic: Robert
Hail once skeptic; Christmas EvaUs once
a skepuc. tut when they did iay noid o. the
gospel caarlor, how they MAZE II speed
ahead!
If therefore [ stand this morning before
men and women WAC nave drltted away
into sGeptlcism l throw out 90 scoH. i
rather impiea1 you by the memory OF those
cool oil times when YOU knelr at your
mothers knee and said your evening prayer.
AMI those other days OF sickness wden she
watched AL night and gava you the madi-
cines at just the right time and tu-nei the
pillow when it was hot, .nd vita hand long
ago turned TO dust soothed your pains, and
with that voice you will never hear again
unless YOU join her in the better country
told you never mind-you would be better
by and by, and by that dying couc b, where
she talked so slowly, catching her breath
batween the words-by all tcose memories
ask YOU to come and take the same relig-
ion It was good enough for her-it is good
enough for YOU.
Ave. make better pea by the wounds
and the death throes Of the Son of Col, who
approaches you this morning with torn brow
and lacarated hands and whipped back cry
ing: lone unto we All We VINO are wear,
and heavy laden, and / will give you rest.
Other persons apologize for not entering
the Christian life because Of the incorrigi-
biiity of their temper. Now, we admit 1t Is
harder for some people to become Christians
than for others, but the grace OF God never
came t. a mountain that it could not CHINO.
or to abyss that it could not fathom, or
to a bondage that it could not break. TIE
widest horse that ever trOd Arabian sands
has been broken to bit and trace. The mad
est torrent tumbling from mountain
shelving has been hlrHessed 10 the milf
wheel and the factory band, setting a thou
sand shuttles all a-buzz and a-cla tier, and
the widest, the hauyntieSt. the most UNI
gOverna5le man ever create by the grace
Of GO1 may be su01u91 AMI sent out on
ministry OF kindness, as God sends an
August thun terStOrm ID wafer the wild
flowers down in the grass.
Good resolution, refocmatory effort, will
not effect the chang. 1t takes a mightier
arm and a mi ghtier han1 to bend evil
habits than the hanl that bent the bow OF
Ulysses, and it takes a stronger iaSso tan
ever held the buffalo on the prairie. A man
cannot 90 forth with any human weapons
AMI contend successfully against these
TitaDs armed with upt0rn mountains. Bus
you have known men into wlOSe spirit the
infu 9nce OF the gospel OF Christ came until
their disposition was entirely changed. So
It was with two merchants N New Ork.
They were very antagonistic. Thay had
done all they could to iIjure each other.
They were IN the same line OF business. One
of the merchants was converted to GOD.
Having been converted, he asked the Lor
to teach him how to bear himself toward
that business antagonist, AMI he was inl-
pressed with the fact that it was his duty
whea customer asked for a certain kin of
goods which he had not, but which he knew
his opponent had to recO amen him to 60
to that store. l suppose that Is about the
hardest thing the man could do, but being
thoroughly c0nverGe to Go h reSO.v4i TO
do that very thing. and being asked fOc a
certain kind OF goods whicn be had not he
said, You 60 to such AMI such a store and
YOU will get it." After awhile III 9rcha15
No. found these customers coming SO
sent. and he found alsD that merchant No. l
had Oeen brought TO God, aud he sought the
same religion. Now they are goot Triends
and good neighbors, the grace OF God en-
tlrely changing their disposition.
son. says some one, II have rough
jaggeI /, impetuous nature, and religion ant
10 anything for me- Do you know tlat
Martin Luther and Robert Newton and
Richard Baxter were imQetuOus, all con-
Stunning natures, yet tde grace Of God turnel
them into the mightiest usefulness? Ga,
how many who have been pugnacious AMI
hard to please and irascibl9 and more both
cred about the mote in their neignb0r'5 eye
than about the beam like snip timber in
their own eye have been entirely changet
by the grace of God and have founi out
that ''godliness is pro liable for the life that
now is well as for tie lie walcl is to
come"
Peter with nature tempestuous as the sea
that he Once tried 30 walk, at one LOOK OF
Christ went out and wapt bitterly. RiCl
harveSts Of grace may grow on the tiptop of
the Jagged steep, and hOcks of Christian
gracas may fin pasturag9 in fields Of bram-
bic and rock. Thou gh your disposition NAV
be ali a-bristle with fretfulness, though you
have temper a-geam with quick lie bt-
II a Ike n
the horse-leech. crying, Give" though
damnaOle impurities have wrapped you in
all consuming fire, Col can drive that devil
out OF your soul, and over the chaos and the
darkness He can say, Let there be light"
Converting grace has lifted the drunHard
from the ditch and snatched the knife from
the hand OF the ass ASSN AMI the false keys
from the burglar, and in the pastlferous
lanes OF the city met the daughter of sin
under the dim Iampligbt am scattered h r
sorrow and her guilt with tle words, "Hhy
sins are forgiven-5o and si2 no more For
scarlet sin a scarlet atOnem ent.
Other persons apologize for not entering
the CnriStiou life because OF the incolsisten.
cleS Of those who profess religion. There are
thousands OF poor farmers. They do not
know the nature OF soil no" the proper rota-
ton of crops. Their corn is shorter in the
stalk and smaller in the ear. TAey have ten
less bushels TO the acre than their nai ghOors.
But who declines being a farmer because
there are so many poor farmers.
There are thousands OF incompetent mer-
chants. They buy at the wrong time. They
get cheated in the sale of their goods. Every
bale OF goods is to them disaster. They fail
after while and go out OF business. But
who declines to merchant because
there are SO many incompetent merchants?
There are thousands o. poor lawyers. Tney
cannot draw a declaration that Will stand
the test. They cannot recover jusC dam
ages. They cannot help defenaent escape
from the in justice of his prosecutors. They