The Atlanta constitution., 1894-05-14

! wood, vinegar and red pepper: IL the re-
| ligion that is presented to us be a depres-
| sion, we will get along better without it.
| If it be joy, let it shine out from your
face, and from your conversation If
| man comes to my house to talk of religion
with lugubrious countenance and manner
full of sniffe and dolorousness, l feel Ike
+! up the silver before he steals something"
! l have found it an invariable rule that men
| who profess themselves at the same time on
| their SanctimonOuSneSS always turn out
| badly. | never knew an exception. While
| those who are the most consistent, the
most useful and the most consecrated have
perfume in their conversation and heaven
in their face.
The happiest Christians that have ever
known have been persons from sixty to
eighty years of age. BY that time people
get over the shams and pretenses OF So
cety, and have longer any patience with
anything like imposture, in, religion. O
Christian! how dare you be gloomy? Is not
God your Father? Is not Jesus Christ your
Savior? Has not your path all through
life been strewn with mercies? Are you in
sensible to the fact that there are Slories
awaiting you in the better land ?--doX ologies
Of Celestial worship, eternal chorals tear
less eyes, songs that resound under arches
of strength and hosannas that clap their
nothing to you that all the hills of heaven
are radiant with the faces of those who
have gone up from you, and who are wait-
you eternal holiday? Is there nothing in
songs that never cease, in hearts that never
ache. in splendorS that never die, to make
YOU glad? Then take more mercy at
the hand of thy God! Give back the mar
riage ring of Eve and Jesus put on your
more of the flowers of heaven where
there ought to be nothing but nettles and
nigh tShade!
Make the Church Cheerful.
We try to make this church cheerful
church A man, on Saturday afternoon,
stands in his store, and says, How snail L
meet these obligations? How can l endure
this new disaster that is coming upon me-?
He goes home. Sabbath morning finds him
in the house of God. Through the song
through the sermon, through the prayer,
the Lord Jesus Christ says to that man,
90 man! L have watched thee; L have seen
all thy struggles. 1t is enough; Will see
thee through; l will stand between thee
and thy creditors. 1 will make up IN
earthly treasures. Courage. man! courage!
Angels of God, | command you to clear the
track for that man; put your wings over
his head; with your golden sceptres strike
for his defense: throw around him all the
defenses of eternity" What is the conse-
quence? That business man IS stfehSthen-
ed. He goes to the store next day teeilnS
that God is with him and ready to deliver
That same Sunday there is a poor old
woman in the church hearing the gospel
oh! how shrunken she is! She wears the
same dress she wore twenty-years ago.
How faded it is, and now out of date! She
sits and listens as well as she cam her
eyes are dim she cannot see halfway
across the church. Her ear is so imperfect
that she only catch occasionally note
of the psalm d word of the preacher
some one sitting next to her gives her
book and finds the place for her she says,
THANK you, miss thank you!' She holds
the book close up to her eyes and with
voice all full of tremors, sings:
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let to Thy bosom fly
While, the bilows near n me : roll. roll.
While the tempest still IS high;
Hide me, O, my Savior hide,
Till the storm of life is past.
Safe into the heaven guide
Oh! receive my soul at last.
And Jesus says to her, Mother, are you
very tired" Jesus says Mother, are you
poor" And she says, Yes, L am very
poor. cannot sew any more; cannot la.'t
knit any more. l am very poor" Jesus
says to her, Mother, would you like to
rest?' She says, Yes, Lord, that IS What
600 Gqgra$s t6ar &c mo!heF She sass sass
home The next morning, in the tenement
house. some one dwelling on another floor
The door is opened She is dead The
night before, the chariots of God halted at
promise. He said that he would give, her
rest and he has given her rest. Glory
be to God for the height, the depth, the
length and the breadth of such Christian
coaifor;! On, that we might have such
JOY as that which inspired the men at the
battle of Leuthen. They were singing
general said to the king: 'Shail [ stop those
peopIe singing?' mo said the king men
that sing IKE tnaC can nSul Woult
that We had a singing church, joyful
church, a jubilant church, a comforting
church; for then we would have d trum-
phant church.
| remark, further, that we have here
tried to build church abreast of the times,
1t is all folly for US to try to 90 things the
way they did fifty a hundred years ago.
We might as we'll be plowing with EllJahS
crooked stick so into battle with SauIs
srmor, or prefer a canal boat to an express
train, as to be clnging to old things. What
we most need now is a Wlde-aWake churcn.
People who are out in the World al the
week, jostling against this IghthlnG-Io0ted
century, come into the church on the Sab
bath, and go right to sleep, unless they
have a spirited service Men engaged in
literary callings all the week, reading pun
gent, sharp writings, cannot be expected to
come and hear our eccleslaSucal hlmdrlm;
reads the newspapers, 1t IS because me the
newspapers are mort interesting. We need,
my brethren. to rouse up and stop hunting
with blank cartridges. The church of God
ought to be the leader, the Interpreter, the
nspirer of the age. 1t is all folly for US
to be discussing old issues-arraiGning Nelo,
hanging Absaom, striking the Philistfnes
WITH Shamgar's ox-goad-when all around
about US are niqulues to be SIAM
Ahead of the IJmes.
Did 1 say that the church ought to be
abreast Of the times? | take tnat back.
The church of God ought to be ahead OF the
times-aS far in advance as the cross OF
Christ is ahead OF al human n IN laVe4tQn, On
day in which he lived. The sWlft-tooted
years that have passed since Luther died
have not yet come up to Luthers grave
Give iniquity 1000 years the start, and the
feet of Christianity are so nimble that if
you will but give it full swing it will catch
up and pass it in two bounds The church
of God ought to be ahead of the times.
| remark, further, that We have tried
here, in the love and fear of God, to build
a church that would be characterized by
conversions. 1 have heard Of very good
people who could preach on for fifteen, or
twenty years, and see no conversions, but
yet have faith. 1t takes very good man
to do that do not know how a man can
keep his faith up if souls are not brought to
the Lord Jesus Christ. That church that
does not bring men and women to the feet
of the Savior is a failure. I care not how
fine the building or how sweet the music, or
how eloquent the preaching, or how elegant
the surrOundings-it is failure. The
church of God was made for just one thing
to get men out of the world into the king
dom of heaven The tendency in churches
is to spend their time in giving fine touches
to Christians already polished. We keep
our religion too much indoors and under
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