The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-08-10

| faith of men. Me- cannot serve God and
mammon is true forever. Can this evil b.
overcome, and how? l believe that it can,
and the way to overcome it is to satisfy
men that we are living in a moral and splr.
itual world in which God is present and
in which He makes His demands. PROBES
! sor James. of Harvard, speaks of tn uni
| versatility of religious experience opening
up a new world which science has hitherto
scoffed at, but which must be recognized
if we know by our own experience that
there is a realm of thought, OF love, OF
| conscience, Of righteousness, toward which
things our hearts yearn: We know more
| than ever the laws of this department Of
life, how, under God, beneHcence and
growth and power are added to life by
their obedience, and how injury and weak.
ness and suffering are the resultants OF
disobedience to the individual and to the
nation and the race. Men believe in these
things, because they see them. If they, DO
not believe in their power as you and l.,
dear Christian friends do, it is because
they have been hindered by other things
from looking at them seriously enough. Ii
they can be turned from the craze of the
age, which is selfshness, they will be able
to see and appreciate the workings OF this
real kingdom of love and Christ IN our
midst. If the church is to help men it
must open its doors and heart to such men
It must not refuse their admission or re-
tard them by insulting them when they
come. If a man is looking for righteous
ness and anxious to govern his life accord
ing to that inspiration, the church ought
to be ready to give to such an honest man
all he is ready and willing to receive. Let
us not be afraid of our sacraments being
desecrated. Men will not come to them
unless they really want them and believe
in them. We ask too much of men about
what they believe or do not believe. The
working and living Church of Christ is
not that which shall only have n place and
a welcome for those who are fully equipped
with faith in all its sacred doctrines, but
a church which. like Christ, shall draw all
men unto it and gradually, by its spiritual
love and care, nourish men into its highest
privileges and possessions.
If men can believe something of Christ's
revelation of God, if they can say, Lord,
l b,lieve," it becomes then the part Of
every Christian as an individual and of all
Christians as an organization to help their
unbelief until men can enter into the tul-
ness of His message and take for their in
spiration in life. God so loved the world
that he gave His only begotten Son, that
whose believeth on Him might not perish,
but have everlasting life" This is the
Christians message of Gods presence
among us, God loving men, inspiring and
guiding them toward His own ideal Of per-
fectneSs. This is the opening Of the gates
of salvation to men, from. sel6shness and
animalism, into the happiness and encour-
agement of knowing that we are the sons
OF God, for God hath not called us to UNI
~cleanness, but to holiness. When the
churrhes of Christ take this attitude to-
ward men and men shall learn that the
ministration of the church is toward help
ing them out OF their sins and mistakes,
rather than in a constant condemnation of
their faults. I believe they will be found
within its walls, ready to be helped and
led toward a larger knowledge Of God and
His love