The Penn's Grove record., 1895-03-08

I0bY WbIo hlohi48 pms wy H
and useful pins. So the spirit OF exclusive |
ness has practically written over the outside |
door OF many a church, "No admittance; !
And II the stranger enter he finds pracslcany :
written over the second door, mo adml..
tance," and II he goes in over all the pew
doors seems written, "No admittance, while
the minister stands In the pulpit, hammering
out his little ~nieet:es OF belief, pounding out
the techniealities OF religion, making pins.
In the most practical common sense Way ,
and LAYING aside the nonessentials and the
hard definitions of religion, go out on tne
God piyeu mission, telling the people wnat
they need and when and how they can get u.
Comparatively little effort as yet has been
made TO save that Large Glass Oh pesson ~ ~
our midst called skeptics, and he who goes
to work here will not be building upon
another mans foundation. There Is q great
multitude of them. They are atraid OF US
and our churches, for the reason We 90 not
know how to treat them; one o. .nas class
| and pathos and beauty and success Christ
| dealt with him: tsThou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, n with au my
| soul, and with all thy mind, and with au my
| strength. This is the first commandmsn
| and the second Is like to this-namely, thou
shalt lovethy neighbor as thyself. There IL
| M other commandment greater than TINS.
And the scribe said to Him, "Weli, MASTER,
Thou hast said the truth, for there Is one
God, and to love Him with an tne near,'
I Inn NJ III uu10L5tL10Ah6 1@
and all the strength. is more than wnoie
burnt offerings and sacrifices" And when
Tesus saw that he answers discreetly be
Iatd unto him, tsThou art not far from tne
Kingdom of God" So . skeptic was sassa
treat the skeptic In that way. Instead 81 tax
Ing hold Of him with the gentle hand ofIove,
Ne are apt to take him with the iron pincners
Il ecclesiasticism.
You would not be 80 rough on mat mar
u - - L.. ~-I~1 zrnnaau hn had IOQf MIS-
taith in Christianity. I have known men
skeptical from the fact that they grew up IN
houses where religion was overdone. sun
lay was the most awful day OF the week.
they had religion driven into them with q
aip hammer They were surfeited WITH
,raver meetings. They were stuffed and
smoked with catechlsms. They were often
old they were the worst boys the parents
syer knew, because they liked to ride down
hill better than to read Bunyan's 'Pngrims
Progress" Whenever father and mother
, ;alked Of religion, they drew down the cor
aers Of their mouth and rolled up their eyes.
, II auy one thing will send a boy or girl TO
! ruin sooner than another, that Is It. II !
had such a father aud mother, l fearl should
!. have been an minded. When l was a boy In
I sunday-school, at one TIME we had a teacher
: who. when we were not attentive, struck US
' over the head with a New Testament, and
: there is q way Of using even the Bible 50 as
i 10 make 1t Offensive.
n Others Wor8 Lrlppou up Ol skuPtolom -
q being grievously wronged by some man VINO
professed to be q Christian. They had a
partner In business who turned out to be q
r hrst-class scoundrel, though q PROGRESSED
It Christian. Many years ago they lost all faitn
10 by what happened In an oil company Wnlcn
d was formed amid the petroleum excitement;
3. The company owned no land, or il they oio
8 there was no sign Of oil produced, but the
ID President of the company was q presbyterian
ID elder, and the treasurer was an Episcopa
d vestrynan, and one director was q Metnools
q class leader, and the other directors promt
nent members Of Baptist and Congregations
90 churches. Circulars were gotten out tellins
ID what fabulous prospects opened before I'M
il. company. Innocent Emen and womel
es who had q little nsAfey to invest, and tna
nj about this company, but so many good me-
= ara ri the head OF it that 1t must be excellent
Is and taking stock in 1t must be almost q
20 good as joining the church"
ng 80 they bought the stock and perhaps ~
cd ceiyed one dividend so as to keep them still
he ! but after awhile they found that the CON
,of pany had ~reorganized and had q dtneren
nd president and different treasurer and dtnel
emit directors. Other engagements or
health had caused the former officers OF u
,se company. with many regrets. to resigi
are And ali that the subscribers ofthat STOCK ma
nd to show for their Investment was a beaut
fullv ornamented certificate. Sometimt
len that man looking over his old papers COM
q 4 across that certificate, and 1T is so suggesti'
sen that he VOWS hs wants none OF the relgio
TO that the presidents and trustees and dire
tors OF that oil company professed. !
al course their rejection Of religion on SUI
hey grounds was unphilosophical and unw1se.
Am told that many of the United States arm
desert every year, q there are tn q -
IN ANYTHING against the United States Go
no eminent that swore them in? A.
IL a soldier Of Jesus Christ desert, Is tn
ANYTHING against the Christianity viii
hes he swore to support n aeieno. no%
tide you judge OF the currency OF sountlyt
q countsrfeit bill? Oh, you must have I
r M Hence with those who have been swindled
D In religious pretenders. Live In the presence
are others q frank, honest, earnest Christian Il
its that they may be attracted to tne same 81
9TH Our upon whom your hopes depend.
ads. Remember skepticism always has so
ybs' reason. good or bad. for existing. Goeth
irreligion started when the news came
Germany Of the earthquake at Lisbon, n
i Of /, 1775. That $1,000 people should n:
orn. rising of the Tagus so stirred his sympatn
re. that he threw up bis belief in the goodnes'
wed God.
ised Others have gone into skepticism iron
/ In natural persistence In asking the reason w
They have been f~earfully stabbed OF the
one. terrogation point. There are so many thi
The thew cannot get explained. They cannot
derstand the Trinity or how God can Pc 8
hero ereign and yet q man q free agent. Melt
the canL. They say: 81 don't understand '
time a good God should nave iet SIN colng nv
The world. Neither DO h xou say WY
doe that child started in life witt such disadv
sariy tages. while others have all physical
,ce.h mental equipment" I cannot tell. Tney
here out Of church on Easter morning and
three .sThat doctrine 81 the resu. l mv9tsrv
ding founded me-" 30 1t Is tome . mgseery
busy yond unravelment. understand all the
ne to cesses by which men get into the DARK
ne OF know them all. I have travelled with purI
allen feet that biistered way. The first word WI
time most children learn to utter Is; "Papa,
n the .sMamma. but I think the first word I
/. saw uttered was: "Why?" I know what II
here have a hundred midnights pour t
10 Of darkness into one hour. Such men are
rwho to.be scofed, but helped Turn your !
look upon a drowning man wnen you nave
In the rope with which TO pun MIN asno.ei ~
that woman in the third story oil a ~
NV perish In the flames when you have 2 Ia
| ire. with which to help her out and he'll
cease down. rather thar turn your back scom
N as on a skeptic whose soul IL In more Perit
great Inc bodies OF those other endangered
bgr al possibly can be. Oh, skeptfcism Is a
"a xe land. There are men In this house
would give Q thousand worlds u they
ntsid. sasssd them to get back to the placid TAI
Of ouf their fathers and mothers, and 1t Is our ]
ut the TO help them, and we may help them, 2
dian through their heads, but always thr'
'nisr their hearts. These skeptics, when bro
a to Jesus, will be nightly effective, far
~ pa 80 than those who never examines the
dences of Christianity.
my Of i,
sol raonas Clatnsrs was onss q sk'
to Robert Hall a skeptic, Robert Newton
/. and liz. Christmas Evans a skeptic. Bat
know onse with strong hand they tooS noia 9
d And chariot Of the gospel they rolled It on
Is We Whit unconventional II I address such
sim and wonen to-day, I throw out no SEQ
3 need impiead them by the memory OF the
Christ old days, when at their mothers NEE
4 now. aid. sNow I lay me down to sleep, az
borate those days and nights Of scarlet lev
. aitei which she watched you, giving you
q the medicine at Just the right time and ~
United your pillow when i was hot, ana wisa a.
Ion =. away YOUR pain, and with voice that 70
never hear again, unless you join her !
tns better country, told you to never MIN
whsea YOU would feel bstter by and by, ana p
u a. diving couch, where she looked 50 pab
tue H*lkad ~ alowIv- catching her breatn De-