Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-10-27

lived I'm Christ's place many of the sih-
ners and the outcasts with whom ne
talked you would never have spoken
to for fear of defilIng your garments.
Many of the thieves and robbers ana
the pbertines and the moral lepers I
whom he lifted up out of their sins you
would never have touched. You would
have said: 1T Is useless. They are de-
generates. They are Ephralms welded
TO their sins. Leave them alone" You
had better be careful when you refuse
10 scatter the gospel seed in the shrlVel'
cd heart of an outcast Even there |
Christ will bless your seed planting
Yes. he will bless you when you plead
with devil possessed Mary, or with q
libertine and a murderer like David, or
with q hard hearted tax collector ike
Zacchaeus, or with even an adulteress
like the woman of Samara. Your gos-
pei seed planting will never go astray.
No matter how unprOmlsing the human
field which you SOW, those seeds VIII
never be lost. "Cast thy bread upon
the waters, for thou shalt find 1t after
many days"
! Among the lowest and most depraveu
characters there is always hope or sal
vation If we 20 forth with faith IN
Jesus Christ and scatter the right seed.
Has not Christ saved many who, ike
Paul. have been the chief of sinners!
Cannot he then save others from their
sins? An impressive parable found
among the Hindoos is the following:
Many years ago a thief was captured
with stolen money in his hand and
sentenced to die The night before his
execution he devised this novel plan
for rescue: He called the jailer into his
cell and said "Go tell the king that II
| can come to him can tell him how
to grow gold" The intelligence was
carried to the king, and he said, Let
the culprlt be brought before me- y
When the thief entered the royal pres
ence he produced a piece Of gold ana
said: "Your majesty, If this piece OF
Lgold be planted in the soil 1t Will grow
into tree, every branch Of which VIII
be laden with gold, as an orchard with
fruit. But this golden seed must be
PLANTED by a hand which has never
been stained by dishonest act. vi
course | am a thief and cannot plant
this seed. My hand is not clean. SO
pass it to your majesty" The KING
looked at the gold a moment; then he
said: 81 would plant 1t If could; Dut
alas. my hand is not clean! / will pass
it to my prime minister" The prime
; minister's hand was not clean, so he
nassed IT to the governor Of the citadel
The governors hand was not clean
and he passed it to the high priest
The high priests hand was not clean
and he passed it on to another.
> An Ancient Legend.
!. Thus the golden seed went IRON
!, hand to hand Then the thief sald
"Your majesty, if no mans hand Il
: clean. why should l alone die for I'M
= crime?v You are right" said TN
:; king. "If you are to die, then mus
die also" Then the conscience strick
on king pardoned the culprit becaus
- he and his officers were all sinners
;, alike Issthe story a mere legend
- fable? think not. We say certain
- men are degenerates and beyond tn
g pale of gospel hope. Are theyF AT
- our own hands morally cleanI HaV
- we always been pureI Have we neye
!, sinned? Are we not SHINING nowF VI
:, my Lord and my God, If thou cans
=, save lis the chief of sinners. cans
- thou not save even the lowest and tn
- vilest with whom we come In contaC
- in our daily life? Yes, even the low
= est and the yilest the Lord Jesus ca
=, save Cast thy bread upon the WI
,s ters. for thou shalt find 1t after man
a days"
o. But the next unpronllsing field Il
n. gospel seed planting to which my min
m turns naturally is the bitter hearts
the persons who for years and yea
have been identified with Chrlstla
work whose abors were unapprecla
VI ed by their contemporaries and WI
'u have been cast out, or, rather, froz'
Ie' out of the churches with which tht
" were identified. Some Of these me
Al. and women now are among the mo
,, bitter of all enemies of the churche
'e There are hundreds and thousands.
hu mon and women who despise 4
ou church of God because some Chrlstl'
vi friend or some church has proved tai
lo' 70 them. For years they gave th'
iMei M time. their money, their whole SOUL
ile church work. They used to be at eve
gu nraver meeting. every Sunday sch(
ho gathering and every Sunday seryi'
ire Rut IN that church perhaps there W
lot some man or woman who wished 10
an ecclesiastical boss. So by fair
y nnfair manipulations he caused the
ou neonle TO be voted out Of the Sund
'au school superintendency or the pre-
lns DENTAL chair of the Ladies AID SO
Jul ETY. or from a seat in the session
'el the trustee board, or be may ha
us' made an unjust charge against th'
'm people. claiming that they dishones
VI used the church moneys. What
III been the result7 They have not OF
u left their official positions, Dut II
not have left the church, and they hs
or? N"'0
0 never gone back again into Gnu
the work or church service. They deSp
'ast the church of God, which they ol
and loved, because some man or Dody
" men has been unappreciatiye OF IL
for loyalty and self sacrifice. Now
life friends. it is your duty and my d
ears to 20 after these delinquent Gnu
# a members. We must go after tn
hen We must harness them up to the
say: pel chariot again and get them to p
he'll I know it will be hard work to or
ave them back. l know it is an unprol
to,v ing field for gospel seed planting
49, If we 20 forth in the right spirit' v