The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-01-19


to God and ask Him to give us strength
to bear them. AS the sentinel on the
battlement of some lalg &c castle ia ever
on the lookout for enemies, so should
the human soul eyer be looking out
for the enemies of darkness and at the
first sign of their approach be ready to
flee to God.
IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
At IL o'clock pastor Vann preached
from Psalms 1l9 :11-"Thy word haze
I had IN mine heart, that I might not
SIN against thee"
The theme was "Private Reading
of the Bible" The three leading d.
visions were:
l. The best thing-God's word. 2.
The best place to keep tin the
heart. 3. For the best reason-to
keep from SHINING.
Referring to the sermon of Sunday
before, which was on private prayer, it
was shown that private prayer and
private reading of the Bible 60 hand
In hand. They are the pillars that
bear up Christian lite. Men may live
ouLwardly good life but no one can
live christian life without prayer and
the reading of the Bible,
The neglect of reading the Bible
was dwelt upon. Gods word is the
best thing in the world and yet it is
so much neglected. 1t is the guide
book to heaven yet sometimes not
opened for months. Guarded by Gods
own special care it has been preserved
for us through the very flames of trial,
until now the Bible is within reach OF
all, but wofully disregarded.
Crosses and emblems count for
naught unless the word is hid in the
heart. Christ himself bids us search
the Scriptures time to do it.
The speaker drew beautiful picture
of Jesus studying the Scriptures in his
youth whereby in his active ministry
he could answer the tempter, "What
saith the Scriptures?" or at is written"
Every housekeeper and business
man-all can generally get time to do
what they really desire to do; but peo-
pie say they have no time Tor reading
the Bible. "Oh, thou mighty liar W
he exclaimed, "You do not even be-
lleve your own words" No one can
keep out of SIN without reading the
Bible. What winding is to a clock Bible
reading is to a Christian life. Old
Jackson put down United
States banks but knew not why he did
it. Once afterwards when he heard
A Douglas speak, ackson thank
ed him and told him he did not know
before why he had put down United
States banks. The spirit of liberty
had so sutfused itself through Jackson's
life it manifested itself in this form of
freedom. So the reading of the Bible
so fills one with the spirit OF truth that
he cannot go tar astray under its holy
influence. Any kind of book will
shape life. Yates mind was turned
towards heather lands by reading the
life of Ann Haseltine Judson.
In the midst of lite one Is upheld by
the power of the word OF God, and in
death it is his comfort and stay.
"After awhile one will read the Bible
over your coffin, and if he has one
word OF hope for your future life, it
will be because of this Bible which you
have made the man of your counsel
and the guide of your life."
At night Mr.. Vann preached from
Isaiah % Is: "And her merchandise
and her hire shall be holiness to the
Lord"
The sermon was addressed to
BUSINESS PEOPLE.
A graphic description of the city of
Tyre was given, the sources of her
wealth noted and her resources dwelt
upon. Tyre was known as 'the mer-
chant city" and her merchants were
called princes, which gives us the
phrase merchant prince" Tyre had
ruled the nations of the world in her
splendor and the prophet, who had
foretold her downfall, spoke OF her ris-
ing again. The speaker drew no sharp
lines between classes, but spoke of all
classes of persons who deal one with
another as business people; but said
that by the term "business men" the
world generally means those who trade
and traffic, and not professional men.
Merchants belong to an ancient class
of men and are entitled to support. If
the merchant prospers more than some
others we ought to remember that he
puts more in his life's work than some
others. He puts in his goods, time,
labor, skill, capital and risk. He stands
close to all others-the laboring man
needs the business man and the busl-
ness man needs the laboring man.
Three things are necessary In the
business mans life to bring the proph-
3cy to pass-holiness to God:
l. A merchant must be holy In
order to make holy merchandise.
2. The business must be the right
kind.
3. The business must be run cor
'ectly.
Holy merchant The business man
must be of clean life and holy before
ne can make his business such. He
must be Gods merchant, Gods lawyer,
Gods book-keeper and be greater than
1is business.
Holy business A business must be
he right kind. A good man can not
make bad thing good. There are
'ome tests OF good business
(a) No kind OF business is right and
proper unless it helps the world.
Hardly can any business be neutral.