The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1893-11-09
IT Is AN OLD, OLD STORY.
ONE OF THE MANY INCIDENTS
THAT OCCUR IN THE TWIN CITY.
MFR. BIS. Reasons for Not Attending
Church-A Lesson Full OF Prac-
ficaI Christ ianity.

tfC2I CnrlSttanity- -
o the Editor of The Sentinel.1
This is not a new story which L C
lave to tell. Indeed, it is one which 9
many Of you probably have heard
before, and, but for the fact that the ,,
Incident occurred in this city-a city :
which is so richly jewelcd with hand
some temples dedicated to diety-and |
that the actors daily go in and out {
among you, l should not withheld
their names even here.
Not great while since-perhaps a
wear ago-a good man whom | shall
call Mr.. A. and who is well-knoWn Tor
his generosity and good deeds, espe-
cially to the needy and destitute, on
one occasion met an honest, labOrlng
man whom l shall designate as MT. b.
on the street, and it came in MI. a.
way to ask Mr.. b. why he did not at
tend church, stating that the reason
he asked him was because he IeIU IN
terested in his spiritual, as well as his |
temporal, welfare Mr.. B. hesitated |
a moment, glanced timidly down at
his soiled, well-worn garb, then look
ing slowly up at Mr.. A. We'll, to be
frank with you," he said, I'm not
able
'.Not able to go to church, Mr.. A.
repeated in surprise. II IN sure you
look like an able-bOdied man, and
| see you've been hard at work, too.
The next Sabbath one of the long,
vacant seats in the church of which
| Mr. A. was member, was occupied,
/ on time, by the Veritable Mr. Is. COM
! pletely metamorphosed as it were, for
he was genteely clad from the top OF
| his head to the sole CT MS 1eeU IN
brand-new suitable apparel, and
throughout the ministers entire dis
course no one in that Intelligent con-
| Jrepation was more attentive than he
| or seemed more appreciatlyc, not only
of the good sermon, but of the upllft-
| ing sense of the physical man com
! bined with the genial influence OF ms
surroundings. And what was the
after-result of all Mr.. AS the good
| Samaritans' practical manifestation
of the brotherhood of man." Dld MI
B. get his good clothes and then stop
| attending church? Not bit OF 1t.
| He not only became a regular attend
ant himself, out soon his wife and
children came with him, and finally
three of his five children were con-
verified and joined the church, ana al
| became regular attendants upoH INC
Sunday school.
There's practical christianity for
YOU: there's practical illustration of
| that unSelffShneSS which Is the key
that unlocks the door to happiness,
and puts one in possession OF those
riches which even death cannot re-
move: for after all, the secret of true
living is not in possession but IN
disbursement. Whether the accumu-
lations are of mind, purse or other
possessions, man lives as he shares.
He exists in proportion as his posses
sions sand between him and his
neighbor All, sympathy, genuine
sympathy, that safeguard OF the
human soul against self1Shness'
Would to God we had it more abund
| antly Mr.. A. could have just as east
.Iv said to Mr.. b.: "Weu sir, / don't
approve of your course. You should
| come to church regardless of you
shabby clothes and dilapidated shoes
| God does not excuse you on that &C
count, and | dent feel disposed t
help you for l feel that | should b.
SHINING against God if | did. l know
the Bible teaches that God is NJ
respector of persons, but it is neces
sary for me to robe myself in '.purpl
and fine linen to sustain my 3ignlt.
and position. Now you go your wa.
for YOU are not in favor with on
church people, but God will certainl
punish you for not going to hear tn
gospel preached, even in rags an
thread-bare clothes" Well, We ma
preach such doctrine as that to til
sinner and the back-slider and thOS
whom we care to reach till the crac
of doom. and sit back well fed an
we'll CARRIED in comfortable pewS an
enthusiastically sing bringing in tn
. Sheaves,'' but, until we carry out tn
example set by the Master Ito see
and save those who were lost, t
preach the Gospel to the poor, to hef
the brOken-hearted. to preach llDert
to the captive, and opening the prise
to them that are bound, and to con
fort all that mourn" All the beaut
y full theory in the world Will not nav
feathers weight with them. Al
} we must have faith in men if we wis
's to reclaim them, to save them, =
men are saved by faith in more sense
than one: the world is familiar wit
the idea that the greatest saying p0I
Y er is faith in God, but it has yet
" learn the saving power of faith G.
a. pressed by another in the man wi
p stands in sore need of being SaYe'
N There is a wonderful tonic in the co
az seriousness that Others believed in u
Id see something aspiring and noble
d, US, discern the possibility of recoVe
10 in US. DiScOuragen.ent and deSpa
IL are the words in which men thrO
| UhCluSCIN1S away iLlol IllSli al IA 80
oo ly lost to themselves and to SOcie
he in the hour when no human beiI
zee seems to believe in them than at al
ed other time. 10 make man reali
IA that, despite all his sins, sOmebot
:. still finds in him ground for conffden
and material for hope, is often to I
- viye his dying spirit and give hi
courage for one more struggle wit
l. his temptations. When eyeryboC
IL gives him up as lost, he is general
lost. Faith is the vital spirit of gre
achievements, but faith finds
X resting-place in man as well as
~ God; one must inspire his fellow vii
its sublime sympathy as well as i
spire him with its sublime hoE
- There is no limit to the divine tie
Ir derness and love expressed in t
= words and works of Christ, and the
is therefore no limit to the divi
1913 faith in the recuperatlye power of t
m human soul;for the unWearied seeki
ar of those who are lost is meaningle
:. unless behind the search there
We faith in the power to find and succt
i've We ought to believe in each other
the blacklist times because God
lieved in US. The time to give up sc
as lost never comes in this world: q
,or never deserts men, however they m
sp- desert him. Faith expressed by g
ing other in such an hour has often be
10 the door through which lost m
al has come back to himself again and