The Progress., 1896-09-05

! all the huZZing around about their Sc /,
amounted to nothing. They conqu"re
them, and. above all, they conquarc'
themselves. co. YOU say, that's
very good theory to preach on a ho
day. but il won't work. 1t will Wor.i
Christian grace we win. You know
there are fruits which we gather il
/ June, and others in July. and others il
| August, and others in September. an'
! still others in October, and have tC
| admit that this grace Of Christian for.
| GivenesS is about the last fruit Of TIC
| Christian soul. We hear a great !yH'
| about the bitter tongue, and the sarcaS-
| tic tongue. ana the quick tongue, and
tie singing tongue; but we know very
little about the soft tongue hat
! breaketh the bone" We read lIudib"ls
and Sternc. and Dean Swift, and the
uther apostles of acrimony, but give
little time to studying the example of
nm who was revlcd and yet reviled
not again. that the Lord, by his
Spirit, would endOw us all with "thc
soft tongue that breakcth the bone"
pass now to the other thought that
| desire to present. and that is, kind
ness as means Of usefulness. In all
communities YOU find sccptical men
Through early education. or through
the maltreatment Of professcd Chris
tan people. or through prying CuriOs-
ty about the future world. there are
great many people who become ;cepti-
cal in religious things. How shall YOU
capture them for God? Sharp argu-
ments and sarcastic retort never won
single soul from scepticism to the
Christian religion. While powerful
books on "The Evidence of Christiani-
ty' have their mission in confirming
Christian people in the faith they have
already adopted, have noticed that
when sccptical people are brought in
to the kingdom of Christ. it is through
the charm OF some genial soul, and rot
by argument at all. Men are not cavcd
through the head; they are saved
through the heart A storm comes cut
of its hidingrlacc. 1t says: Nov
well just rouse up all this sea-" and it
makes great buster, but it does rot
succeed. Part of the sea is reused up
one-half of it CT one fourth
Of it, After awhile the calm moon.
placid and beautiful. looks down, end
the ocean begins to rise. 1t comes up'j
to lligh-watcr mark. 1t embraces The |
grcah hcadIands. II submerges the |
beach OF all the continents. It is The i,
heart-thrOb Of one world against the |
of another world. ana | |
nave to tell you that while al YOl,r
storms of ridiCue and storms Of sar-
2aSm may rouse up the passion OF an
immortal nature, nothing less than The
attractive power of Christian kind
less can ever raise the deathless spirit
o happiness and to God. have more
aith in the prayer OF child five years
I'D. in the way Of bringing an infdel
)ack to Christ and to heaven, than
lave in all the Kissing thundcrboltG of
controversy. You can
lot overcome men with religious arsu-
If you como at a sceptical
nan with an argument on behalf of the
christian religion, you put this man
N his mettle. He says: 81 see that
nan has carbine. I'll use nv car
ine. III answer his argument with
az argument But if you come To
hat man, persuading him that YOU &C.
ire his happiness on earth and his
ternal welfare in the world to Gene
e cannot answer it.
What I have SAID is as true ia the
Exclamation of the openly vicious. Did
on ever know a drunkard to be saved
through the caricature of drunkard7
our mmicry of the staggering stem
nd the thick tongue, and the disgust
X hiccough, only worse maddens his
rain. But if you come to him in kind
ess and sympathy; if you show him t
lat you appreciate the awful I
rip of a depravcd appetite. ,
you persuade him of the fact that (
louSands who had the graphing
ooks OF evil inclination clutched in
,eir soul as firmly as they now are in {
is. have been rescued, then a ray of =
ght will fash across his vision, and It
i'll seem as II supernatural hand
ere steadying his staggering gait. A =;
sod many years ago there lay in the .
reefs Of Richmond, Va, man dead
'unk, his face exposed TO the blistering :,
>onday sun. A Chris ian woman pass :,
along, looked at him, and said.
cor fellow. She took ner handker-
lief and spread il over his face, and
Used on. The man reused himself \
from his debauch and began to look .
the handkerchief, and, 10. Oh it was c
&c name Of a highly respectable I
tristan woman of the city of Rich il
oAd. He went to her, he thanked her p
+ her kindness; and that one little J
ed saved him for this life, and saw S
HIM for the lie that is to come. He t.
Is afterwsrd attorney general OF the a
1ited States; but, higher than all, he |,