Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-07-19
that store and perhaps driven into
future of crime.
sinking an EVIL Past.

But though 1t Is so difficult for man |
to lead Christian life who has had an |
evil past, yet If there are any such here
today | bring to you the salutations OF
the saints in Caesars palace. | want to
encourage you with the fact that, just
as some OF the greatest of moral heroes
have been physical weaklings, so some
Of the greatest Of Christian heroes
have been those who have sinned even
worse than you have sinned. Harry
Monroe, who for years has run the Pa
ci6c Garden mission Of Chicago and
who has been instrumental In saving
thousands OF souls, was-whatE A
college graduate? A member of
Christian church and a Christian
home? No. He was converted gam
bier. Jerry McAuley Of New York,
who did so much for the slums of New
York, was a drunkard and a prize
fighter. John Newton was once yilely
dlssolute and depraved, though In after
life he wrote the noted hymn:
saw One hanging on a tree
In agony and blood,
Who fixed his languid eyes on me
AS near the cross l stood.
Sure never till my latest breath
Can / forget that look;
II seemed to charge me with his death'
Though ne'er a word he spoke.
John Newton said that when he first
saw Christ hanging there upon the
cross he himself was wallOwing In the
lowest depths Of sin. John Bunyan
the dreamer was John Bunyan the
blasphemer. John Summerfeld the
saint about whom we have already
spoken, was John Summerfield the de-
praved. Saul the chief Of sinners be-
came Paul the martyred saint. On,
my brother, il the grace Of God could
come into such sinful lives and recreate
and sustain them, surely the grace OF
God is sufficient to recreate and sus-
tain us, no matter how black may have
been our dlssOlute past.
And | bring to you who have an evil
past this message from the saints IN
Caesars palace because the man who
has publicly slnned. the man who has
been loathsOmely vile, is the man who
has an especial mission TO save souls
for Jesus Christ You know as no one
else knows how awful is the power OF
temptation. You know as no one else
knows how difficult II IS for one WHO
has been Il social Outcast to try to live
again among respectable social sur
Magdalene could speak. You can plead
as st. Della could plead. who was once
the noted Blue Bird, the tend OF the
New York slums. Although St Della
had such an evil past, yet her life. un-
der the power of the Holy Ghost, be-
came so pure and sweet and intuen-
tial that the rich and the poor, the pure
and the depraved alike, the old as well
as the young, sobbed over her casket.
You can speak from the heart. as John
B. Cough spoke to the drunkards, be-
cause you yourself have seen the phan-
toms Of delrum tremens moving them
selves Alright in the cup until Mt last
they would bite like serpent and sting
like an adder. Struggling Christians,
YOU who have had an evil past, you
can plead for Christ in the highways
and the hedges OF sin as the saints
who had an evil past could speak III
Cesar's palace. Those saints today
are now placing their hands Of holy or
dnation upon your head that you may
go forth and save your sinful fellow
men.
Encouragement For the Unfortunate.
would also encourage today those
Christians who are compelled by force
Of circumstances to live and work with
evil associates. Perhaps the young
man who is standing behind the same
counter with you in the store is an in
fidel: perhaps some Of your classmates
at school or in college are out and out
scoffers against the word of God; per-
hans your own father and brothers are
unbelievers and every day your faith
I'm Jesus Christ is made an object or
ridicule; perhaps. what Is tn, worst OF
nil. YOU find that you are married to
man who never neglects an opportu-
nity to ridicule your Bible. You have
found out also that your husband IS
having a pernicious and spiritually de-
stroying influence over your children.
What are you going to dO-leaye these
evil associates? Sometimes such a
course is possible; sometimes it is not.
1t evidently was not possible for the
nncIent saints to have left Caesars pal
nee. else they would have done so. 1t
is most natural to suppose that those
raints would have instantly fed from
the Roman capital during the time OF
Nero's persecution If they could have
un away with honor and self respect.
But In all probability most of those
saints said to themselves something
like this: mo; | cannot. will not, go!
1t would be cowardly for me to desert
my Lord and Master will stay here
and keep on testifying for Christ II
need be. until my body Is burned at
the stake or eaten by the wild beasts
one OF the arenas. And stay II
Rome these saints did, and die mar
tyr's death most of them also did. 81
it may be your Christian duty to keel
on living for Christ and testifying o
his love In place of persecution an'
among companions who make Chris
an object of daily ridicule, as did th'
prosecuted young Roman officer who's
epltaph can still be read in one of th'
Roman cemeteries in these words: HI
lived long enough to shed his blood TO
Christ"
Now, / want you, my Christian
friends, you who are experiencing
these daily prosecutions, to fully real
!. ize that not one drop Of blood which
fell from the Christian martyrs o.
CRsar's ancient palace was ever shet
! In vain. From those prosecutions th'
great influence Of the church of Jesus
Christ was started. From those per
secutions were lighted the gospe
. torches which are today shedding
their glorious rays all round the world
From those prosecutions came not 81