The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-06-04

| IO-udN III lily Country nDliiC llCS 4 EhiN
ing from drought and yet. if were to 90
on the hillside anu run I tabe down . little
way into the ground, | should strike a
spring full of water. So God is iull OF
mercy. This is the revelation OF the New
Testament. and whatever Your troubles,
sorrows, sins. YOU can go to Him and ilno
His loving kindness and tender mercy. You
don't find that in anv other religion.
thou not also mercifui"" Put that along
side what can separate man from the love
of God" The distinct characteristic OF
| Christianity is his mercifulness OF God.
A man falls into a pit and cannot get out.
| Presently Confucian comes along and says,
My dear fellow, l am sorry YOU have ial'
len down there. If YOU could only get
out Confucius would snow YOU how to walk
so that you would keep out" Then a Brah-
min sees him and says, IL I'm sorry. but
there IS no help for YOU; you never can get
out. The only chance for you is to tall
into an eternal sleep and forget your mis-
cry" Next comes a Mohammedan. who
says. az am so sorry to see You there; but
| Allah is lust, and you deserve it. He Is
| not merciful, and YOU will never get out.
Last comes n Christian, who says. Il my
| sell have been down there. | tumbled dow
there once. I know just how YOU can get
out" And he gets a rope and pulls the
man out of the hole and puts his feet upon
a rock. That is the difference between the
Christian and the pagan religions. The
Christian religion is the only religion III
the world that offers to help men out OF
| the burden of their sins and the conse-
ouences of their misery. But, o.: the pity
OF it. men don't want it. Napoleon SAD.
Scratch a Russian. and Won will lind 4
Tartar" Scratch a Christian and tou will
find a pagan. 1t seems to me that Chris.
tian congregations are full of paganism. |
receive letters every week from men and
women who never vet have learned that II
they have made a bluuder or committed A
| sin, and perhaps involved Others in peril
because of their mistake. God can take care
! of it all. and they can trust HIM to help,
if only they will turn from their evil ways.
Helpfulness is the secret of Christian the
ologv. So it is the secret Of our Christian
ritual. 1t is at the heart OF all worship.
| We come to church, not driven by fear or
compelled by custom. and not by convic-
ton. WHY? Not to be entertained by All
amusing lecture. Then. why? At the heart
OF it all is this: Some sense OF the truth OF
that message that God is love and that.
| somehow or other, we are dependent on
| His love and have had something from
His love, and we want to give HIM some
| thing in return. | do not say that IS true
of all. but still il it were not for the sense
OF the love Of God and the desire to be
thankful the church would close its doors
| and the chimes cease to ring. What is the
Roman Catholic service! First confession
| and then abso,ution. The same timing OF
| the Episcopal service, and OF the Congre-
| gational. We don't go into the confession
al: we don't stand up as a priest pro-
nounces an absolution. but ID. l.. Moody az
| truly preached abso!ution as any Catholc
| priest or Episcopaiian rector. II yon want
to know what men believe, don't 60 to the
creeds or catechism. Go to the hymn
hooks. They express our faith and real ex-
perience; they are cur creed. sung over
and over and over again. And what does
the hymn book say:
Love divine, all love exceliipg.' Thanks
be to Cod who giveth us the victory
Imagine, this Sabbath morning. a citizen
OF Mars coming down and entering differ
ent churches. He would 60 into a Catholic
church and see the altar and the candies
and the robed priest and the incense, and
he would say, What are YOU dong here,
The answer would be: We are here to
In the Episcopal church he would see no
candles and incense. and would again ask
the question. The answer would be: we
| lave come to praise the Lord Christ, who
hath redeemed us" In the Congregation
al. Baptist or Presbyterian church ne would
see no altar or candles or vested priests;
What are you doing here" he asks. and
| the reply is: w have come here to sing
the praise of the Man of God who hath re-
deemed US" And in the Quaker meeting
house he would see no choir or preacher or
service and hear no singing, but they
would all be sitting still doing nothmg-ao-
solutely nothing. And their reply to the
same question would be: we are giving our
praise to Christ, who hath redeemed us by
| His blood. We cannot find any utterance
| which will express our gratitude, and we
| are simply speaking in the silence OF our
hearts" He would go back and say: lhey
were all drawn together by a sense OF
| Gods love that had given His Son for thelr
makes us one. and only that. was once
in a Catholic church in Paris and after
watching the service for a time | walked
around behind the altar and found there a
| service of deaftand dumb people. The ser,
| vice was the same at heart; the love OF God
inspiring the thanks OF men:
T remember an old English divine begin.
| ming his sermon: II can do all things
and then saving. THAT / deny. But let us
sea. what is this: through Him that
strengthened me- All, that is another
| thing: that I can do" 1t was a quaint way
| of putting it, but it made the text SUCK IN
nv lnlnu. anu L IdNS wv
This is the secret Of the power Of Christian.
itv. Yon will find men say: Thou shale
love the Lord thy God with all tiny
strength" is the summary OF Christianity.
| That is a mistake. Christ gave mat as
| the summary of the Jewish law. When
asked. "What is the chief end OF the Jew
| ish law" He said, Thou shalt love the
| Lord thy God & 50 and thy neighhor as
| thyself," but when He was about to die lie
| left as a legacy to His disciples this: a
new commandment give ! unto you; that
| We love one another as ! have loved You:
| How did He love us? He laid down his
life for US. That is Christianity. Judaism
is Justice; Christianity is sacrifice. What
| makes a Christian nation? Not a creed
written in a constitution. not an estao.
| lished church. an organ or music. what
will make America a Christian ration! we
have about us dependent and inferior races;
Loving our neighbor and the Filipino ana
the negro and making them ~men-nothing
| else will make us a Christian nation. And
| what makes a Christian church! Not me
windows and music. but making the world
wiser and better. What would Christ DO
for your employees and servants: Helpful.
ness and service is Christianity; the heart
and the centre and circumference OF 1t.