Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-08-30

a. oil going 10 be saved. every one of
US. But stop. How did Paul intro
duce his statement which had come
from God? He turned and pointed his
finger at those trembling sailors and
said: Men, the reason you are in your
present plight is because you would
not heed my advice in the beginning
L told you not TO loose from Crete.
told you we would get into difficulty IL
you did. But you wanted To hasten on
and get to Pheniee and spend the win
ter there in sin and carouSal. You have
made one mistake. Now will you make
onother?" And, my friend, you and L
can never preach Jesus Christ Alright
unless we are first brave enough to
point out TO men the errors of their
past life We cannot teach men to
come to Christ unless we, like Paul,
are first faithful in warning men
against the sinful acts OF their bygone
years.
1t does not take very much grace to
go and compliment n man on his vir-
tues and praise him when he is do
ing right. But it takes lots of grit to
put your finger upon the weaknesses
of a mans life and tell him when he
Is doing wrong. 1t takes lots of grit
for Nathan to stand up and say to
King David, Thou art libertine and
a murderer" 1t takes lots of grit
for the members of privy council of
King Solomon to sey to the young
prince Rehoboam: "Thou art wrong.
Comply with the requests of the peo-
- 4
when they said it they knew that their
advice would cost them their official
positions. 1t takes lots of grit for a
young preacher like Henry Ward
Beecher to he at the head of n church
In Indianapolis, where most of its
members are antagonistic TO the aboli-
ZIONIST movement, and stand up and
defy n whole community and say, 1.-THE
slave ought to be free" 1t takes lots of
grit for young clerk, when he is
asked TO do something dishonest, TO
say to his employer: NO, sir. 1 will
not do it, because it is wrong" 1t
takes lots of grit for young girl who
loves Il young man devotedly to say to
that young man: Harry, / love you.
love you with all my heart, and yet
il you are not true to your better self,
and if you do not turn your back upon
your evil associates, l must turn my
back upon you" In other words, it
takes lots of grit to come to your
friends and neighbors and place your
finger upon the weak spot of their
mental, moral and spiritual life and
say: "Here, you must change. In or
der to do right for the future you
must rectify this wrong of the past"
Are you willing as a friend to point
out to your friends the weaknesses Of
their lives. rs Paul warned the sailors
of the AleXandrian corn ship?
A Story of Edward Livingston.
For my own part 1 can think OF no
greater joy than that which would
come to us if we were to go to those
we love TO warn them of their sins
and weaknesses, which are threaten
ing TO destroy them. There is a beau
tiful story told about the great Ed
ward Livingston. Perhaps he was the
greatest of all the great men who have
borne that family name. But few
men have been greater from Il worldly
standpoint than he. He was represent
ative in congress. mayor of New York
city, United States senator from Loui-
siana, secretary Of state and minister
to France. One day in his old age n
friend said TO him, Senator what was
the supreme moment of your life?"
Without moments hesitation, he re-
piled: Some years ago that supreme
moment came when ! was delivering
an address ut the dedication OF the
Masonic temple at New Orleans.
was speaking upon the duty Of man
loving man. Among other things /
said: My brethren, have you searched
your hearts? Do you find any lurking
animosity against Il brother? Have
you the felicity never to have cher
ished or are you so happy as TO
have banished all envy at his prosper
ity, all malicious joy at his misfor-
tunes? II you find this is the result
OF your scrutiny, enter with confidence
the sanctuary Of union. But If the
examination discovers either ranking
jealousy or hatred long concealed, or
even unkindneSs or offensive pride, i
entreat you, defile not the altar OF
friendship with your unhallowed of
fering, but in the language of Scrip.
ture, First be reconciled to thy broth
er and then come and offer thy gift"'
AS result Of that plea, two brothers
whom we all knew, who had been
estranged from each other for years,
arose and rushed toward each other
and with mutual sobs flung them
selves into one ianother's arms
Do you wonder that Edward Liv-
ingston looked upon that victory as the
supreme moment of his life? With the
arm, gentle touch or friend he placed
his finger upon the weak spots of two
brothers lives and said: Here, you
must change. Here, you must be puri-
fed. Here, you must be true to your
nobler and better selves" Cannot we
do thus toward those who come in con-
tact with US in life? Shall we not
cease to make it our first concern to
please our friends and try rather to
benefit them: Shall we not be true to
those who are about US by warning
them OF the mistakes OF their past
lives, as Paul did with the sailors OF
the AleXandrian corn ship when he
said, ''SirS, We should have hearkened
unto me and not have loosed from
Crete and to have gained this harm
and loss"
a Gospel to Live BY.
But there was still another reason
why Paul captured the minds and the
hearts Of the sailors OF this AIexan-
drian corn ship. Paul was man of
gospel visions, but he was more than
that. He was man OF fine Christian
common sense lie kneX that tho 70