The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-06-14

| whose salary is 9ZOUU per year. MY pros'
perity will be my defeat unless | am care
full. l find now that [ am constantly
| thinking of business and scheming to IN
crease my riches" and then the tears
| started as he said, 81 question il / am as
happy as when / was on a small salary and
| lived in very simple way"
| Second-The church needs men and the
work of God cannot be accomplished with
| out 1t has always been Gods way to
work through instruments sometimes as
humble as the rod which Moses held IN
his hand and yet as important as Moses
| himself. God means to win men through
| men, and if the men Of the day absent
| themselves from the church of God for the
loss of the souls of other men they are held
responsible at the day of judgment.
Third-Men ought to attend church be-
cause of the intellectual culture that is
there gained. The average man has little
time for reading, little opportunity through
the week for reation and lectures and
it is the opinion of this distinguished bust
ness man that the average sermon will be
stimulus to his intellect. Remember, it
| is not SO much what you hear as the i'm
preston it makes upon you and the after
effects upon your life. Men may have forget
ten the Greek they learned in college, and
the principles Of the higher mathematics,
but no man could pass through college
without coming out stronger and better
in every way if he were true to his educa-
ton, and the effect of a sermon rightly
heard and received is to make the life
purer, the mind clearer, the character
stronger.
Fourth-The example of church going af-
fords an important means of promoting
the good order of the community. The re-
hex influence upon oneself is of the very
best, and the influence upon others is con-
ducive to regular habits and good order.
Fifth-The idea Of recreation in church
attendance is one Of the most important
"Surely," writes a distinguished man,
Church going viii afford this" A change
of occupation is rest and working man
who feels that he must sleep through the
hours Of the morning because he has
toiled faithfully through the days of the
week, will find that he is beginning his
week duller than if he had been true to
God; while the business man who reads
through most of the hours of the day be-
cause he feels that to attend church would
be a sense of WEAKNESS would find that he
begins the week more weary than if he
had been loyal to Christ.
Sixth-Another writes, eve ought to
attend church in order to become ac-
ouainted with the saving power of Jesus
Christ; men ought to attend church to be
good and then they will be good for some
thing.
There are certain facts which we must
remember in our efforts to reach and to
help others.
First-There is a worshiping faculty in
man, and it is the climax of all his other
faculties. For the exercise of his voice
man has the air, for his feet he has the
earth, for hunger he has food, for thirst
he has water, but for mis- soul he must
have God. John Stuart Mills was one of
the greatest men, and he had one of the
greatest minds we have known in these
latter days, but his early life, his father
blood and his education had drawn him
away from the church. He tried to kill all
faith, and yet he could not kill the de-
mand for something to worship. He eulo-
| liZed his wife until he worshiped her, and
the seven and half years they lived to-
gether were the happiest years of his life.
When she died the light of his life went
out. There never was sadder closing to
mortal life than his.
Second 49, Men have misunderstood the
| spirit of the church. Criticism has been
made that the church is a class institution
existing for the favored few, but this is
not true. The existence of the st. Bar
tholomew Mission House in this city,
where people by the thousands have been
reached and blessed; the presence of the
Madison Square Church House, so recently
dedicated to the glory of God and the
helping of all classes of people is an argu-
ment which directly meets this disposition
on the part of the unchurched. Not long
ago man went about through the
churches clad as a poor man, plainly
| dressed, and found that he was repulsed
by no one and welcomed by nearly all.
The church is the greatest factor in the
world, but its work is first and foremost
with the soul and its needs. Men have
been disposed to censure us because we do
no do what the club does, nor what the
lodge does, but it should be remembered
that the church is not a charity institution,
nor an educational institutions; it is a
place for regeneration, conversion and eter-
nal salvation. The church has a social
mission, it is true. but first of all it has a
saving mission. We must keep first things
first. The lodge may have its place in the
ranks of men, but woe be to that man who
allows it to usurp the place of the church
in his life.
After Rossini had rendered William
TelP' for the five hundredth time a COM
pany of musicians came under his window
in Paris and seranaded him. They put
upon his brow cold crown, and in the
midst of the cheers Rossini turned to a
friend and said, 81 would give all of this
just for a day of youth and love-" and
there is many an old man in New York
who has passed his Sundays IN the xouse
of God who knows more OF real JOY be-
cause of this than the man whose name is
famous throughout the world and counts
his money by millions
In the Yellowstone Park there is ia
nous point where on one of the peaks of
the Rocky Mountains the falling waters
seem to hesitate for moment as if to say,
Which way shall L go?' This point is
the Continental Divide, and gust of wind
determines whether the water shall flow
east to the Atlantic or west to the Pa
citic. / doubt not but some one is reaching
a decision as to what his true relations to
the church may be, and if he decides
against the church he is to be pitied,
while if his decision is in favor Of the
church all will be well.
First - His individual life vii be
strengthened, he will meet temptation.
but overcome it; he viii meet trial and
rejoice in it; he will have the approval Of
his own conscience, and this always makes
q man courageous.
Second-His social life will feel the i'm
petus of his decision. Mems lives ccurt
for evil. DIR. Munhall, the celebrated evan
gelist, says that before he became a min
kn L.