The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-07-11

A SUNDAY DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
PAsToR.EVANcELlsT.


Some Reasons Given by Nom Coors-
The Value Of Sympathy - Spiritual
Happiness Found IN Gods Love.
NEW YORK CtrY.-The Rev. DIR. J. VIII
bur Chapman, the popular pastor-evangel-
ist, who is now preaching TO overlooking
congregations In this city, has furnished
the following eloquent sermon TO the
press. IL was preached from the text
And the man said. The woman whom
Thou gavest TO be with me- she gave me
OF the tree, and / did eat" Geneds o. -.
This may be counted q strange text for
a sermon with such a theme as this and
yet we will all agree, ! am sure that all
men are the sons of Adam in this respect
as well as in others, for there is always a
/ disposition to excuse self and place re-
/ sponsiblliy upon some one else for wrong
| doing and failure. / have sent out letters
| through some personal friends asking those
| who were non-attendants upon church to
| give me the reasons for their position and
! / have been amazed 90 see how many have
! found fault with the church, and how
/ very many with the ministry and how re-
/ markably few with themselves. / shall
| give you THESE excuses as they have sent
! them to my friends and yet / doubt not
| but if men were perfectly honest they
/ would say that they were away from the
] house of God because of something in
i their own heart and life which made
church attendance a constant rebuke to
! them.
This is an important question we have to
! consider. More than half the inhabitants
of our country do not attend church; of
| the non-church gOers the majority are
| men, and there are actually millions OF
| men in this land Of ours who have no con-
nection with the church whatsoever A
few of this company attend occasionally,
some OF them are employed and cannot
| come, but the vast number have become
Indifferent. In New York City not more
than three per cent. of the male population
| are members of the Protestant churches
and of the church membership it is said
three-fourths are women. Not only is this
true IN the cities, but in the rural districts
as well. All classes of people today seem
to have become affected with this disease,
for there are Christless rich as we'll as
Christless poor. It is true that a crowd is
not the only thing to be considered in church
attendance. 1t Is easy to get crowd; a
balloon ascension always draws a crowd !;
if the minister is sensational he usually
has a crowd about him, but there is this to
be said about sensational preaching, while
It draws it does not hold, and yet crowd
is necessary to consider, for there is great
inspiration in a great company Of people,
However, let us not forget that some OF
the greatest sermons in the worlds history
have been preached to the few. Jesus
spent an evening with one man and
preached on regeneration as no man has
ever preached, and Nicodemus became a
child of God. He must needs 90 through
Samaria and stops at the well curb OF
jacob because there is one poor woman
there, and she had her life transformed by
His teaching.
One cold rainy night in England years
ago a minister said, Il do not think ]
shall attend the church tonight, for no
one will be there" and when finally he
did go he found a scattered few through
the peWs. He was then almost persuaded
to give up the preaching; when finally he
did 60 on a boy up the gallery heard the
text 1 ID began to live, and the boy was
the preacher who led $4,000 people into
his own church and drew a multitude tc
Christ the wide world round. His name
was Charles H. Spurgeon. Yet l am per
suaded that what is needed to-day is moi
so much ministers that will draw, that is
what we hear on every side, but rather
churches that will hold the people that at
tend hold them by their sympathy, hole
them by their manifestation OF the Spirit
of Christ. These are the reasons which
men have suggested to me for non-ehurcl
attendance.
First-One man wrote, 81 am out of the
habit of attending church" 1t is a very
easy thing to form any kind Of a habit
but If once broken it IS difficult to begir
again, especially if it be habit to d.
J good. Our large cities are remarkable il
this respect in these days, for with owe
thousands of people in them professional
church members who do not frequent thu
church, they lower the spiritual atmos
phere of the city and their last state i
frequently worse than the first.
Second-Another man wrote that he wa
not a church attendant because he hat
never been trained to it in his youth, anC
this is certainly true. for the homes hav
{ changed for while it used to be that tn
father and mother and the children at
tended church. now the children are con
spicuous for their absence. | can remem
} Der in my own boyhood's days that nj
one Z the ildren, however young 0
however old, mad the right to stay ava,
from the house of God. 1 tremble whel
j. / think Of the next generation Of non
2 church goers unless the church reform
! speedily.
Third-One young man writes that h
has come to believe that it is noe mani
< to attend church. That is a reflection
upon the family life, for the father of tn
house ought to so reflect Christ in hi
: home life that the children could easil
a say, "Of all the good men in the worl
. my father is the BEST and if church al
tendance can produce such character
4 shall never be absent"
e Fourth-"I do not attend church" say
/ another, because I am too tired" and j
. many respects this is the most reasonabl
excuse presented I believe the time
0 coming when the business life of our larg
cities must be adjusted so as to give thos
. who toll more time on Saturday, thereb
goy e 'ng obn od 0 gpd yef oge On Of "
i. busiest men in this country, with whol
it was my privilege for number of year
o to be associated, the Hon. John Wan,
+ maker, who attends church every Sunda
from early morning until late at night d
elares that .1 vests him and that he b