The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-09
POVERTY COMES
o. MISCONDUCT
Either Bad Living of,thc Sufferer
IL Of OF Others is
the Source.
CHURCH AND |. BenE E o.. N !!
&Dr. M. Asl,by Jones Discusses
the Relation Of These
s Agencies Of Good.

81 w Dr. N. Ashby Jones, pastor of Leigh
n Street Baptist Church, preached yesterday
All morning on the Relation Of the Church
u 10 Benevolence. closing as interesting
( series on the relation Of the church to
certain great problems and institutions.
sE5 The text was: "But that We may Know
II that the Son Of Man hath power on eartf
i8&to forgive sins (,e said unto the man
a sick or the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed
land 20 unto thy house. Matthew, lx:o.
Wv DR.. Jones said in part:
5S In saying that the mission OIL me
church is to spread the kingdom OF heav-
&55en on earth, We are saying that me
3Ts church Is TO manifest to mcn. the spirit,
a purpose and method OF Jesus OF Nazareth.
Y ii, accomplishing this great task, lot us
never forget that the heart OF the christ
H must throD ut the very center OF az
8 church activity. Indeed, church agencies
N and activities be but the hands ana 1ect
~ or the mind and heart of the Master.
I'm approaching the question Of the
M relation OF the church tolthe3 great prob
58 lens Of benevolencc, let us keep this IN
s. mind. The attitude Of the ichurch toward
I'D hc needy ones or the world must be the
attitude of Jesus She must see the
ii Neariness, weakness and wickedness or
" men with His eyes Turn togthe record OF
5H5Jfis life When he beheld the multi
Z tudes look into His eyes now, for they
G. a re s. warm and tender with the compass
|8& sIon of mothcrhood: because they We're
list ressed and scattered as Sheep having
sSS no Shepherd Here is the spirit OF the
y Master as He looked upon LIES incompe-
G5 tents. the unskicd. the nn,rained' me
RI urdevclopcd OF tho world. Or recall that
A scene when He stood over tho prostrnte
form Of that poor cpleptic, exhausted
blythe stormy passion OF his dlstenper.
The face OF this great physician, mobile
Il wit N pity is the face Of the sympathizing
"a friend as He turns with softened tones
Msto the heartbroken parent'and asks ldoW
~ long has he been thus? Again the pic
ture is OF the Master and multitude
At the close Of q long, weary day or
4 Teaching and healing, His disciples would
Shirk the responsibility and send the
:rowd away into the villages to buy
bread But lie says: Don't send them
away. You feed them But could any
81 scene be more characteristics than that
A when He bends tenderly over the fallen
M woman, and Will, the echo OF the re-
u treating footsteps of her hypocritical &C
y cusers5 still In His cars, says with win
4 rome warning: Neither do i condemn
b !lec; go, and sin no more
3s But perhaps we think Of him oftencst
3$ as he stands with a babe wooed from
Its mothers breast nestled against his
S,& great heart, while his other hand ten
AZ derby toys with the love-locks of the
wee ones who cluster and cling about his
@ knees. And as VIC look We hear nm
saying once more. Suffer the little chill
drcn to come unto me and forbid them
.s not. for Of such is the Kingdom Of lIeav-
5s en- Every form of need found a SYM
Il pathetic response in the heart of Je-
sus. And certainly a church which Is
not permeated with this spirit has no
right to be even called by his name,
ss.5 Source Of Poverty.
But when Jesus comes to deal with
s5lthcse cases of need. wc may discover
the underlying purpose Of his heart.
When they lay the palsied man at His
feet, His first words are, Man, thy
sins are forgiven thee His deepest
anxiety is for the chara cter of the man.
The true physician knows that pain
8ts only Il symptom Of disease. He would
f relieve pain. but the disease underneath
Il is his first thought, Jesus came to save.
X not from suffering. but from sin. a SUI
perficlal sentiment cries out. feed the
y hungry" But God says, stop; don't
Sss feed them at the expense Of their char
acters. Out. Of such false feeling grows
"
PEERLESS; the short-sighted Institutional
ism which PUSHES in where angels fear
to tread, destroying family ties and re-
s$1ieving OF wholesome and divine rcspon-
and the vicious sentimentalism
which takes the unfortunates OF the world
for Its plaything We need to have
ever before us the picture OF that Young
n!7n in the wilderness. worn out BY the
K long fast Of forty days. and hear him
4 answe, TO the suggestion that He coin
( His character into food Man Shall not
E live by bread alone No food for the
body at the expense of the character
II we study Just the one item OF poverty.
which challenges the help OF society, tho
u best statistics disclose the fact that 9l3
n per cent. of all poverty comes from The
IS misconduct of the people themselves
II The remaining AZ per cent is the result
oY the Misconduct or those who arc the
natural support OF the poor or that
AZ these dependents are the victims of So
cial wrongs. ]
Poverty, then, with all OF It's accom-
Danying evils, IS character problem
D The purpose OF the church Is to be the
purpose Of the Master. She Is not merely
4 to alleviate pain. but going deeper than
q that she is to save the individual and
society from their sin.
Now note the method OF Jesus. "Thnt
III ye may know that the Son OF Man hath
h power on earth to forgive sins (IIe said
unto the man With the palsey), Arise,
take up thy bed and go unto thy house,,
Men carried him there on litter but
Il he walked away. The saddest and most
n dangerous thing about poverty is not Its
# hunger and cold. but the fact that 1t
q tncapactates man for meeting his re-
Al probabilities. Character cannot grow
III without the weight OF obligation, Those
who are carried through life are cheated
out OF their opportunity for manhood
sE conceive 1t to be q part of the mission
OF the church to teach men the method
PM Of the Master 70 lift men VINO have
fallen In poverty. sickness and Ignorance
4 to their feet, and then teach them TO
bear their burdens. There IL to be n
# personal work OF infinite wisdom and
patience, with the victim of his own mis-
v conduct, Then there Is to be the larger
work In behalf Of tbs victims OF social