Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-10-05

thev can get it,
Comparatively little effort as yet has
been made to save that large class OF per
sons in our midst called skeptics. and ne
who goes to WORK here will not be build
ing upon another mans foundation: There
is large number of them. They are
afraid Of us and our churches, Tor the rea-
son we do not know how TO treat them,
One OF this class met Christ and heard
with what tenderness and pathos ana
beauty and success Christ dealt with HIM:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, ana
with all thv mind, and with all thy
strength. This is the first and great
commandment. and the second is likeunto
it-namelv. I nou shalt love thy neghbor
as myself. There is none other com
mandment greater than these And the
scribe said to Him. 'Well. Master, Thou
hast said the truth. for there IS one God.
and to love Him with all the heart, and
all the understanding. and all the soul,
and all the strength is more than, whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices" And when
Jesus saw that he answered discreetly lie
said unto Him. "Thou art not far from
the kingdom of God" So skeptic was
saved in one interview. But few Chris
tian people treat the skepuc in that way.
Instead Of taking hold of him with the
gentle hand Of love we are. apt to take
him with the pinchers of ecclesastlclsm.
You would not be so rough ON that man
it You knew how he lost his faith IN Chris
tianity. have known men skeptlcal from
the fact that they grew up in houses where
religion rs overdone. Sunday was the
most awful dav in the week They had
religion driven into them with trip ham,
mer: they were surfeited with prayer
meetings; they were stuffed and choked
with catechisms; they were often told
that they were the worst bows the parents
ever knew because they liked to ride down
hill better than to read Bunyan's Phi
grim's Progress"
Whenever father and mother talked OF
religion they drew down the corners o!
their mouth and rolled up their eyes. IL
any one thing will send boy or girl to
ruin l,oner than another that is it,. Ii |
had such a father and mother l fear L
should have been an infdel:
The first word that children learn is
generally papa or mamma. think the
first word | ever uttered was why" l
know what it is to have a hundred mid
nights pour their darkness into one hour.
Oh, skepticism is a dark land! There
are men who would give thousand
worlds, if they possessed them, to get
back to the placid faith of their fathers
and mothers, and it is our place to help
them and we may help them. never
through their heads, but always through
their hearts.
These skeptics, when brought to Jesus,
will be nightly effective, far more so than
those who never examined the evidences
of Christianity. Thomas Chalmers was
once skeptc Robert Hall a skeptic,
Robert Newton skeptic, Christian Evans
a skeptc But when once with strong
hand they took hold of the chariot of the
gospel they rolled it on with what mo-
mentuml
If address such men and women to-day
/ throw out no scott ! implead them by
the memory of the good old days when at
their mothers knee they said, low l
lay me down to Sleep" and by those days
and nights of scarlet fever in which she
watched you giving you the medicine IN
Just the right time, and turning your phi
low when it was hot, and with hands tha1
many years ago turned to dust soothed
away your pain and with voice that you
will never hear again, unless you JOIN her
in the better country, tod you to never
mind, for YOU would feel better by and
by. and by that dying couch where she
looked so pale and talked so slowly, catch
ing her breath between the words, and you
felt an awful loneliness coming over your
soul-by all that | beg you to come back
and take the same religion.
1t was good enough for her; it is good
enough for you. Nay, / have better plan !
than that. plead by all the wounds and |
tears and blood and groans and agonies |
and death throes of the Son of God, who |
approaches you this moment with torn |
brow and lacerated hands and whipped
back and saying, Come unto Me all ye1
who are weary and heavy laden, and will
give you rest"
Again, there is a field OF usefulness but
little touched, occupied by those who are
astray in their habits. All northern ma.
tions. like those of North American and
England and Scotland - that is, in the
colder climates-are devastated by alco-
holism. They take the fire to keep up
the warmth. In southern countries, like
Arabia and Spain, the blood is so warm
they are not tempted to fiery liquids. The
great Roman armies never drank any
thing. stronger than water tinged with
vinegar, but under our northern climate
the temptation to heating stimulants Is
most mighty and millions succumb.. When
a mans habits 90 wrong, the church drops
him, the social circle drops him, good in.
lluences drop him-we all drop him. Of
all the men who get off the track but few
even get on again.
Destitute children of the street offer a
field of work comparatively unoccupicd.
The uncared for children are in the ma
jority in most of our cities. When they
grow up, if UNIFORMED they will outvote
your children, and they will govern your
childrea.
The whisky ring will hatch out other
whisky rings, and grog shops will kill
with their horrid stencil public sobriety
unless the church of God rises up with out
stretched arms and infolds this dying pop
ulation in her bosom.
Public schools cannot do it. Art CALLER
les cannot do it. Blackwell's Island can
not do it, Almshouses cannot no it.
Jails cannot do it. Church of God, wake
up to your magnificent missionl You can
do it, Get somewhere, somehow to work!
The Prussian cavalry mount by putting
their right foot in the stirrup, while the
American cavalry mount by putting their
left foot into the stirrup. / do not care
how you mount your war charger if you
only get into this battle for God and get
there soon, right stirrup or left stirrup
or no stirrup at all The unoccupied fields
are all around us, and why should we
have heard of what was called the "thun-
dering legion" 1t was in l79 part of the
Roman army to which some Christians
belonged, and their prayers, it was said,
were answered by thunder and lightning
and hail and tempest which overthrow
an invading army and saved the empire.
And I would to God that our churches
might be so mighty in PRAYER and work
that they would become laundering le-
yion before which the forces of sin might
be routed and the gates Of hell might
tremble Launch the gospel ship for an.
other voyage. Heave away now, ladsl
Shake out the reefs in the foretopsall
Come, o heavenly wind, and fill the can.
vas! Jesus aboard will assure our safety
Jesus on the sea will beckon us forward.
Jesus on the shore will welcome us into
narbor.