The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1900-10-11


patients; 1--WE have three important
cases here, and we are attending to
them, and when we are not positively
busy with their wounds it takes all
our time to keep the flies Off" In this
awful battle with sin and sorrow.
where millions have fallen on millions,
do not let us spend all our time in TAX
ing care of few people, and when the
| command comes: go into the world"
say, practically: "No, cannot go; 1
have here a few choice cases, and m
busy keeping off the flies" There are
multitudes to-day who have never had
any Christian worker look them in the
eye and with earnestpess in the ac-
centuation say: Come" or they would
long ago have been in the kingdom.
My friends, religion is either a sham
or great reality. If it be a sham, let
us disband our churches and Christian
associations. If it be a reality, then
great populations are on the way to
the bar of God untitled for the ordeal.
Comparatively little effort as yet
has been made to save that large
class of persons in our midst called
skeptics, and he who goes to work
here will not be building upon an
other mans foundation. There is
large number of them. They are
the reason we do not know how to
treat them. One of this class met
Christ. And hear with what tender
ness and pathos and beauty and sue
cess Christ dealt with him: Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart and with all thy soul and
with all thy mind and with all thy
strength. This is the first and great
commandment, and the second is
like unto it, namely, thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. There is
none other commandment 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 an
swered discreetly He said unto him:
Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God" So a skeptic was saved in
one interview. But few Christian
people treat the skeptic 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 &C.
clesiasticism.
You would not be so rough on that
man if you knew how he lost his
faith in Christianity. l have known
men skeptical from the fact that
they grew up in houses where reli-
gion was overdone. Sunday was the
most awful day in the week. They
had religion driven into them with
a trip hammer. They were surfeited
with PRAYER meetings. They were
stuffed and choked with catechisms.
They were often told that they were
the worst boys the parents ever knew,
because they liked to ride down hill
better than to read Bunyan's Pill
grim's Progress" Whenever father
and mother talked of religion, they
drew down the corners of their
mouth and rolled up their eyes. If
any one thing will send a boy or
girl to ruin sooner than another,
that is it. If had such a father and
mother l fear 1 should have been an
infidel.
Others were tripped up 70 skepti-
cism from being grievously wronged
by some man who Hrofessed to be a
Christian. They had partner In
business who turned out to be first
class scoundrel. though a professed
Christian. Many years ago they lost
all faith by what happened in an oil
company which was formed amid the
petroleum excitement. The COM
pany owned no land. or if they did
there was no sign of oil produced;
but the president of the company was
a Presby terrain elder. and the treas
urer was an Episcopalian vestryman,
and one director was a Methodist !
class leader and the other directors |
porminent members of Baptist and |
Congregational churches. Circulars |
were gotten out telling what fabulous |
opened before this company. |
Innocent men and women who had a |
little money to invest. and that little
their all, said: Il do not know any
thing about this company, but so
many good men are at the head of it |
that it must be excellent, and TAX
ing stock in it must be almost as
good as joining the church." So
they bought the stock and perhaps
received one dividend so as to keep