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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN.
fiArmnAv, JrSK a. i**
GROWING A SOUL "GROW IN GRACE"-II PETER, iii:l8
:
=PASTOR=s
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
In small .pace here are two great
life word*—"grace" and "grow." Placed
in their relation they make an epitome
■ ’f iho contribution of Chrlatlanlty to
the philosophy of character. They are
the working worda of the moat Impor
tanc problem of hitman life.
What la the greateat bualneaa of a
raan'e life? Tor the narrow apace of
th - world what la the greateat work a
man can put hlmeelf to? I think the
text tuiiwera that very old human
out itlon. The great bualneaa of man
In titla world la to grow a eoul—to
m ow In grace.
Jeaua Christ, It eeeme to me. placed
thla fact beyond challenge whan He
. aald, "What ahall It profit a man If he
r lose hla own eoul and gain the whole
‘ world, or what will a man give In ex-
1 change for hie soul?" Socrates In hla
apology aald: '1 do nothing but go
about persuading you all. old and
y young alike, not to take thought for
your persona or your properties, but
that and chiefly to care about the
greateat Improvement of the eoul."
It la a aad commentary upon tha
moral backwardness of our age that a
pagan philosopher who lived before
i 'hrlet bed come to leach all that he
ixueht on thla subject, should have
tenlined the value of growing a soul so
much more than we do. Let me repeal
It. The great business of a man In thla
v ->r!d, In America, In Atlanta, la to
grow a soul, or aa the text phrases It,
to grow In grace! Do you believe that?
■ In-nter than building railroads or
writing books or ruling a nation la to
v• >w a great soul. When you start
• mu In the morning, will you dare to
look at your taw office, your store,
your bank, your bualneaa. and aay:
•The Improvement of my soul la a
i.ia tier of more Importance than this?"
It ts tha truth. If it ware not true
this world would not be lit to live In
r tr an hour. If anything Itaa than
Hits la tha supreme Ideal of life. If the
paltering concerns, the Inanities of *o-
11. ty and the vanities of secular am
bition are the roal things to live for
satisfactions for the senses, then
universe and Its order are below the
wisdom and the character of a Crea
tor who Is worthy of worship. I saw
h picture In Brussels which represents
God aa about to begin the creative
act.. The Almighty arm la outstretched
t > create the world, when an angel
lays a restraining Anger upon the Cre
ator's arm. "If about to make such n
m..rid," the canvas seems to say, "stay
Thine hand." But we know better
then that. Socrates knew better.
Christ left no standing room within
Intelligence for the men who doesn't
know that Sod's highest thought for
man was about his soul.
The Planting.
What la meant by growing a soul?
What does the apostle mean py grow
ing In grace?
It le profitable sometimes to throw
aalde theological definitions and get
fresher terms for (ruth.
The word "grace" le the greatest
word In the Bible. It le found In the
New Testament one hundred and
twenty-nine times. It meant so es
sentially all that comes from Sod to
man that It was employed to repre
sent many Ideas relating to Ood'a deal
ing with human life. Whatever was
good was of grate. Every gift of
sod was a grace given. Every con
trary aril was defined as not of grace.
The Kingdom of Sod waa condi
tioned upon grace. WUh most of these
meanings we have nothing to do In
the text. The common definition of
trace, for Instance, le In the formula,
’The free and unmerited favor of Sod
to the unworthy." Plainly, we cannot
grow In that grace. We cannot grow
In the favor of Sod. No Increase Is
possible In Sod's grace toward us. Sod
will love ue no better because we are
tetter.
Another Idea of grace le met with In
Christian teaching—the conception of
grace as a elate or condition of those
who are saved. But that Is not "grace"
as the text means II. We cannot grow
lntu grace, Into the state of salvation.
To grow In grace Implies that the eoul
has already been rooted In grace.
To tha man who Is willing to realise
business It Is most Important not to
stumble at this point. Srowlng In
grace la not salvation by character,
though certainly It la trus that there
la no salvation without character. I
would say to the man who brings me a
rare flower he means to grow, "First,
plant It, sir." 1 would aay to the man
who wants to make the most of his
eoul, "Firs!, get It planted In the right
eoll.” To this end Christ gave Ills
great teaching about the vine and the
branches. ''
Christianity places a miracle at the
basin of the soul's growth. It would
be no better than any other philosophy
of life If It did not. Men are striving
to Improve their aoule In all landa and
under all religions/ There la no quar
rel with them on thla account. You
have discovered already that I have no
heart for quarreling with Rocimtes.
Paganism had Its saints But the dif
ference liotween Paganism and Chrle-
tlanlty, between Socrates and Christ,
In tha growing of souls, Is a difference
wall Illustrated by what we see In na
ture. It la the difference between a
rock and a flower. The rock may be a
diamond, but K cannot grow. It lacks
the life principle. Paganism le the-
religion of spiritual tailoring. It dresses
the soul up and then shows off Us
clothes. There Is nothing wonderful
about It at all.
Christ came saying something that
Socrates did not dream of, “I am the
life." “I came that they might have
life.” “Ye must be born again." He
put life In I he eoul, gave It a new
vitality, and rooted It In Himself and
then He said, “Abide In Me and grow
and bring forth." Take a rock In one
hand and a fruited vine In the other.
There le a world of difference between
them at the vital point. One Is life
less, the other has life. A young lady
cams to me, much disturbed, to ask If
1 agreed that tha morally upright and
clean non-believer waa to be placed In
the aame category with the vicious
and Immoral man. It both were In the
aame sense unsaved sinners before
God. Have you not questioned and
doubted at that point? I told her.
Tea, they are In the same state be
fore God, though not In the earns con
dition and degree." One of them Is
beautiful like the diamond, the other
rough and lusterless like charcoal, but
both are carbon, both In the last true
analysis black and dead etuff. Neith
er has the eternal life In Him. In the
White heat of eternity those who are
clothed In lovely robes of virtue, but
know nothing of the Imparted life
which comes to the broken and sur
rendered heart, though they chine
among men as paragons, will be melted
down to the level of their real spiritual
fact.
I have aald the most Important thing
that can be said about growing a soul.
To grow In graca Is not possible except
you are rooted In grace. A college
president once said that over every
laboratory, aclenco hall and lecture
room should be written these words for
those who were there for self-improve
ment:
“Ye must be born again. 1 '
The Deed Line of Progress
Now let ue look at the text with the
emphasis placed upon the other word,
the word written In the Imperative
mood, the word "grow."
Here Is where to many people fall.
REV. OR. JOHN E. WHITE.
cording to the legend. "Quo Vadls,
that Peter waa In Rome and turned to
flee from the fires of persecution. A;
[ he fled across the Campagna the le
I ge.nd says he met Christ with His face
toward the city.
"Lo, on the darkness broke a wander.
. Ing ray.
1 A vision flashed along the Applan
■ way;
Divinely on the pagan knight It shone,
A mournful face, a figure hurrying on:
Though haggard and dishevelled, frail
and worn,
A King of David’s Uncage crowned
with thorn.
'Lord, whither farestr Peter wonder.
Ing cried.
To Rome,' raid Christ, To be recrucl-
fled.'
Into the night the vision ebbed like
breath.
And Peter turned and ruahed on Rome
and death." ✓
They believe In grace. In salvation by
grace, but they do not put much em-
phasli on growing In grace. A little
girl wra tenderly asked why aha had
fallen off the bed. Between her sobs
she replied, T reckon I went to sleep
too close to the edge when I got In."
That la the trouble In the church. So
many people hare made* their peace
with God and gone to sleep.. It would
lit the moral facta of tha case If we
would put beds at the door of tbe bap
tistry In our churches. The man who
raid, “Grow In grace," le the man of
all (he apostles who could ray It.
Oscar Wilde, the disgraced English
writer, gave the world as he came out
of prleon hie lost contribution to liter
ature. The book wa* entitled "Do Pro-
fundle.” He wrote It from the depths
of dishonor and shame. It Is a literary
curiosity. So far as we know, the
words of our text are the lost words
from the pen of the Apoetle Peter. He
wrote It as the warning and the en
treaty of hie life against backsliding.
He wrote from the depths of sorrowful
memory. Poeslbly he wrote from the
"•In of the last Impendlng'trlal of his
th. For It woe about this time, ac-
Whether the legenil be true or falee,
these lost worda of Pater's epistle are
warm with sympathetic understanding
with all hard-pressed and tempted
souls. “Beware,'’ he rays. "Beware,
lest ye also, being led away with the
error of the wicked one, fall from
your own steadfastness. But grow In
grace and In the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Thol
was to. say to every man like himself
subject to weakness, that the safety of
the soul from the overthrow of eln le
to be found only In growing: that to
escape failure In - the faith one must
make progress continually.
Experience, Peter's, mine, yours,
proves the truth of It. It Is the plain,
common sense of life, he well as of
Christian experience. The moving,
progressing, growing. Increasing force
thrusts failure from the path. Roll, a
coin across the floor; so long os It
goes forward It remains upright.
Throw a ball Into the air; so long ae
It persists In Its upward progress It
conquers the downward pull of gravi
tation. In the experience of the eoul
there threatens ever to come an hour
when the forces that Influence us are
balanced equality. That Is the critical
hour. From such an hour the history
of every backsliding begins. T6 refer
to backsliders Is simply to mark the
fact that Christians have ceased to
grow In grace. No one can estimate
the extent of the check which the
cause of Christ suffers on account of
backsliding. But the terrible thing
about It Is not In what the churches
and the cause of the kingdom suffers.
the
but the appalling decay of soul
falling away of Christian character,
the leprous spots of spiritual disease,
the drooping and dying of love In thu
heart, the moral rotting of soul fibers,
the burdensome accumulation of brok-
• n \, w „ an*! f. , iriit*‘‘l ('hi I J t inn h-m-ir.
the mglfrarani
■ ■ .in I -• ;il- ‘I !>v -■'-.li-iiin Ho . at
a don't make flies like carpenters
make things, taking 'em and putting
'em together. He Just says, 'Let there
be flies nnd there Is flics."' B ut n „,
so with the development of a soul, it
grows. It grows by laws of solrltn a
disregard of faith growth. God never made a a
pivukcu un i -*ai*-u ay solemn rite, nt fint or.,.- „ rnnt . . . ** ni n y
all of which the world point* Us taunt- ; **.. , gr * at »*ouls submitted to the
Ins sneer, “See these Christians!" co #afu on * of growth. Christ thrust
This Is the sorrow and the tragedy of His hand Into the heart of truth and
the Church. Let the backslider look drew forth a Illy, "Consider th* mi*,
at hlmflelf. He ought to look at him- bow they _ w Tl ,«r„ I * * ,*
self and realize what he repre.-em-. " .l o\ " not ' ne, "”' r
The Comtosss de (VstlsUana. uhn d ? tbey *P |n ,yet Solomon, la all his
Cl IV, was not arrayed like one „r
The Comtesae de Csstlglione, who
died In Paris two years ago, was one
of tbe most renowned beauties of the
regime of Louis Napoleon, during the
second empire. When her beauty be
gan to vanish her anguish of mind was
intense. She possessed a full length
portrait of herself MftMaf by a mas
ter which represented her In the day
of hfr glory. One day It was noticed
that the picture had disappeared from
the walls of her drawing room. The
comtesae had fretted over the fact that
every day she was growing uglier,
growing more and more unlike the ex
quisite creature on the canvas, and In
a lit of rage she had one day furiously
attacked the picture and with her scis
sors had cut it into ribbons.
How strongs It I* that one should
regret gray hairs and fading beauty
of the body and care so little that the
soul Is uglier day by day. Let the
backslider look at himself. Let every
man look at the backslider. That Is
the fate of those who do not grow In
grace. They decline Into spiritual dis
grace. The dead line In the ministry
of which we hear much Is the line at
which a preacher ceases to study and
aspire. The pathos of the old preacher
whom nobody wants to hear Is ever
before my eyes. It Is a sad fate. But
there Is something In reality sadder
far. It Is the dead line of the soul.
There Is a place at which the Christian
life halts, energies relapse, enthusiasm
abates, the sense of duty subsides, the
soul ceases to grow. Old men In the
church are often backsliders without
realising It.
Consider the Lilies.
| There is myttery. but no necromancy
about growing a soul. Two young boys
sitting In tfis sun. One of them caught
a fly In his hand. “Look at him! Look
at his legs. Ain't he funny? How
does God make flies?” "Why,” said
the ruminant philosopher In reply.
these.” The Interesting thing about
the Illy Is "how it grows." It |. not
by trying to grow', but by abiding i n
the conditions of growth. Sooner than
her sisters of the garden the Illy
droop If torn from the conditions of its
growth. We can none of us Increa/n
our statue by striving. We can grow
and we will grow In grace If we will
n U rt" 1V ,7. ln .* he rl * ht r * ,tt,l °n
with God. It Is important then for
Christians to watch, Int they lose
the right relation. "Abide In me" Is
Christ s practical word here. It meam
Prayer, it means love, it means ser-
vice. There are so many Imperfect at-
tschmenta. to Christ, so much partial
allegiance and consequently so much
stunted life In the church. Souls do
not grow If they will not abide. But
Christ’ 1 Kr ° W if th * y WlH nblde ,n
There are no known limits to the
soul’s capacity for growth. "It doth
not yet appfar what we shall be." Who
can estimate the realms of victory and
achievement that Ue out before us If
we will give oqr souls a chance. We
can annihilate the power of our lower
desires. We can come at last to the
place of freedom In which the soul
holds the body in subjection. Then
we are ready for the day, fully readv
when the soul shall ware doctors and’
nurses aside and fling the body back
upon the death couch and leap forth
beyond the circle of loved ones and be
at last freed.
"Build thee more stately mansions, oh,
my soul!
As the swift seasons roll; leave thy
law vaulted past.
Let each new temple nobler than the
lost, shut thee from heaven,
With a dome more vast, till thou at
length art free,
Leaving thine outworn shell by life's
unresting sea.”
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
JESUS AND THE CHILDREN
By DR. GEORGE A. BEATTIE.
Jstua and the children! Matt. II: 1-14,
Golden text: Jt Is not |hs will of
your Father which Is In heaven that
•>tic of these little ones should perish.
Mall. II: 14.
The Inrldent In this lesson occurred
In the latter part of our Savior's min
■•try. Though the disciples had beei
w 1th Him for two and one-half years
they had not yet caught the eplrlt of
the Master.
They had nnt ae yet been transfig
ured. Pride and setflrhneaa, and am
bition had not been eliminated. They
thought that Christ was going to es
tablish an earthly kingdom, and In
■ ise He did they expected to have
prominent positions In It. The mat
ter was discussed among themselves as
to who should be the greatest. Christ
wUI reprove them with an
Object Lesion.
It was in this way tbs most of his
teachings were given.
At one time It Is a bird, at another
a flower. Again a man going out to
s »w, and again one of the temple
lights. On thla occasion It was a little
child.
Ws learn there wars a great many
children In the crowds that flocked to
Jesus. Many of them, no doubt, taken
by the mothers because they could not
leave them at home. If the mothers
went they had lo lake Ihs children,
on one occnalon. and It might have
been one of many, the mothers desired
to take their children to Jesus that
Us might lay Ills hands upon their
mile heads and Mess them. The dis
ciples forbade them, and then Jeaua
uttered those memorable word*. "Suf
fer little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not, for of such Is the
kingdom of heaven.”
Jetut a Lover of Children.
W# have every reason to believe that
ths children, whose Intuition for read
ing character Is much greater than
wo aro wont to credit them with,
wore by His countenance anil manner
and gentleness drawn lo Jesus. The
children ran to Him and trot from Him.
And now In this house at Caper
naum, It might have been Peter's, lie
«ill take a child for his text, and
. preach a sermon to His disciples. It
would be one they never could forget,
for every child a-ould remind them of
It Would that It might have the um«
.•feet on all of us. He would teach
them how to be grraL and tbe way to
enter the kingdom. So railing a little
child. He placed him In the midst, and
said: “Except ye he converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not
enter Into the kingdom of heaven."
The Greek word Is nowhere else
translated "converted." It means to
turn. Turn, right about face, from
your ambitious, self-seeking spirit, or
ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven
H iinUii belnga.
I know there aro some who deny the
doctrine of natural depravity, and oth
ers who Indignantly combat It. Point
ing us to a sweet, beautiful. Innocent
child that kneels at Its mother's knee
to lisp Its evening prayer, or as 11 en
twines Its dimpled arm* around that
mother's neck and lings Itself (o sleep
on her bosom, they ray, who can fancy
- such a creature ss that as being en
mity against God? Yet who could
fancy that the time woafll aver come
when that little child would drive Bor
rows, sharper than any arrows. Into
that mother's bleeding heart; that th*
time would ever come, when th* moth
er would wish her child had died, when
she hung la tears over the little life
that seemed trembling In the balance?
And yet that happens. And many an
other thing happens that fancy would
never point.
In the springtime there are seed* In
every furrow BO minute the keenest
eye of bird cannot detect them, that
only await the summer’s sunshine and
shower lo develop Int* a rank growth
of weeds! Ho In the heart of every
child, no matter how sweet and beau-
m
mill stone wer» hung about their neck,
and then cast Into the sea.
Christ knew that If His church would
be established on earth, the children
must not be neglected. A church that
has no Sunday school or other means
for training and holding the children
will soon become extinct.
The Old Farmer and the 8heep.
An old farmer who had great suc
cess In raising sheep was once asked
what was the secret of his success,
and he replied; "I take care of the
lambs." The statistics of all the
churches will show that the great ma
jority of those who are member* of
th* church today, were brought It
while they were young. Dr. Alsxan
der, of Princeton, said near the close
of his life: “It I had my life to live
over again, I would pay more attention
llfuL and Innocent it may seem, are to the children." And that Is the
seeds of sin that unless eliminated by
grace, may develop Into crime and eln.
Ho held up the little child, not as
a model of sinlessness or Innocence,
but of faith and humility.
A self-seeking, ambitious spirit does
not produce greatness, but It dwindles
and dwarf* Into littleness. Men who
might have been great, become mere
pigmies. They might have been a
blessing lo th* race, but with all Ihslr
affections, aspirations and actions cen
tered on self, they go down to their
graves, "unwept, unhonored and un
sung."
Suppose you are forgetful of self,
mindful of others, considerate of their
feelings, ever ready to speak a loving
word, nr do a kindly deed, your pres
ence will carry sunshine wherever you
go, that th* would woQld not exchange
for the datsle of a hero.
Goodness and greatneu are synony
mous. He Is greateat who renders the
most service. Better to go through the
world like a single sunbeam, dispelling
darkness, or a drop of water allaying
thirst mill giving refreshment, than
like a sponge, absorbing everything
and giving nothing In return.
"He that would he greatest among
you, let him be your servant." This
was t’hrlsl's motto for Ills own life.
He condescended to gird Hlmeelf and
wash His disciples' feet. There I*
ifothlng menial, when the service Is
rendered for others. He that humbletli
himself shall be exalted.
Christ's Car* for th* Children.
In the treatment of children He gives
a promise to those that receive them,
saying that He will regard It the same
though done to Himself, and n
warning to those who would be n
■tumbling block In their way; for the
latter It would be belter tor them If a
reflection of every paator.
After an absence of twenty years,
I ones returned to a city ebureh of
which I had been pastor. I found one
whom I left a pupil In th* Infant Clara
now teaching It. The choir waa com
posed of children who had been gath
ered In, and many of the officers of
the church twenty years before were
pupils In the Sunday school. Many of
■ny Sunday school boys are preaching
the goepel today In thla and foreign
lands. You never know what poral-
bllltea and potentialities are wrapped
up In the child. Whet be shall be
largely depends upon ths Impression
mads while the heart Is tender and
receptive.
Churches Toe Conservative.
Churches are too conservative about
receiving children Into membership.
As soon as a child can comprehend
and accept the plan of salvation, re
gardless or age. It Is old enough to
mako a public profession of fallh. Sta
tistics show that those who corns In
early are moat apt to remain steadfast
and faithful, and make the most active
and useful members. Whits Jesus has
been saying. "Let the little children
coma unto Me," the parents, like tbe
disciples did, have forbade them.
A little girl only eight years old
once came before tha motion of a
church, making application for mem
bership. The mother thought she was
ton young, perhaps did not billy un
derstand the step she was taking, and
came with her. After all the examl
nation questions had been sstlsfac.
torlly answered, she wanted to ask
her child when she first tovsd Jesus,
and tooktng up Into her face, she re
lied. “Why, mamma, I learned lo
Jesus Just as I learned to love
pltei
love
you." From her earliest childhood the
A Petition
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
(Copyright, 190$, by American-Journal-Examlner.)
LORD, give the mothers of tha world
Mora love to do their part:
That love which reachea not alone
The children made by brlth their own,
But every childish heart.
Wake In their souls true motherhood
Which alma at universal good.
Lord, give the teachers of tha world
More love, and let them see
How baser metals In their store
May be transformed to precious ore
By love's strange alchemy.
And let them dally seek to find
The childish HEART beneath the mind.
Lord, give the preachers ot the world
More love to warm the word
They speak for tender souls to hear;
Too long old dogmas based on (ear
The human race has heard.
Inspire Thy ministers to feed
Their flocks upon a loving creed.
I/ord, give the Christians ot the world
More love for dally use;
And show them simple ways to prove
They do not keep tbe Rule of Love
For homilies abstruse.
But live each day Thy golden law
As If Thou dwelt on earth aad saw.
mother 1 had held up Jesus before the
child, and she had fallen In love with
Him. From that day to this she has
been an earnest, active worker In the
church.
For the soul winner, no Held prom
ises so much as work among tbs chil
dren. The great object of every teach
er In the Sunday school should be to
lead the child to Christ. Ths seed
sown may lay dormant for years, and
then ripen Into fruition.
The Shipwrecked Child.
Some years ago a California miner
was shipwrecked In eight of land. He
had put on a life-preserver and was
buckling hit belt of gold dust- about
him, when a little girl-cams up, and
looking up Into hts face, said: "Please,
can you rave .mo?" There was a mo
nism's hesitation and a struggle In his
mind. He felt be could not save the
child and his bog of gold, his savings
for years, and which ha expected to
carry to his Eastern home. He quickly
unbuckled his belt and flung It out
Into th* waves, and then stooping down
told ths little girt to put her arms
about his neck, and then struck out for
the shore, but Just before he reached It
a huge wave tore hie precious burden
from him, and cast him senseless on
the rocks. He was rescued by some
who hdd reached the shore, and when
he came to consciousness tbe first ob
ject h* raw was the beautiful child he
had saved. A similar experience may
be our*. When ws dess our eyee In
death and open them In glory some of
the dear children we have tried lo rave
may be the first to meet us and great
us on the heavenly shore.
What the Savior meant by the hand
or foot causing ue to stumble Is, that
It Is better to have sternal life here,
to b* a trus Christian, and enter Into
heaven without enjoying th* things
that caused us to sin, than to enjoy
them hers and then bo lost.
Hell Firs.
Literally, "the Gehenna of Are.” Ge
henna waa a valley south of Jeruea-
lem, a former scene of Moloch wor
ship. and later a place where garbage
of the city wa* burned with perpetual
Ursa. We are not to understand from
this and similar passages that Christ
intended to teach that there Is a literal
hell Are, where the eoul* of the lost are
burned. He use* It only as a type or
symbol of the sufferings they w ill .en
dure. It would be as reasonable to
suppose that the streets ot heaven are
literally paved with gold, and the gates
are massive pearls, as to suppose that
hell will be a lake of fire and brim
stone. This waa the conception of the
artist who painted scenes of the Judg-
ment day on the walls of one of the
churches at Rome. In which devils are
represented as pitching the aoula of
the lost over Into euch a lake. Heaven
la represented as a place of everlast
ing holiness and happiness, and hell
as a place of everlasting misery. Each
will go. by spiritual gravitation, as It
were, to hie own place—the place for
which he le fitted, where hie cot
Ions will be most congenial, and
he can be the happiest. So w* can
write over the gates of hell, ae over the
gatee of heaven: God Is love; God la
merciful. . . .
But the condition of each will be
eternal. Once raved, raved forever.
Once lost, lost forever.
Dents'* Inferno.
Dante had Scriptural authority for
writing over the gate* of hi* Inferno;
“Let him who enters here leave all hope
behind." .. .
How much Christ thinks of us and
how anxious He Is to rave us He Illus
trates by ths Shepherd who leaves the
ninety and nine to go out and find the
one that is lost. He I* not willing that
any should perish, but that all should
come unto Him and have everlasting
life. None will be excluded from heaven
rave those who exclude themselves.
All who find th* gates of heaven closed
against them will find that th* bolts
and bar* are all on the outside, and
that they have been forged and driven
by their own hand*.
He I* able and willing lo rave unto
the utlermoet all who com* to Him.
ARE YOU GOING AWAY?
If so, have The GeorgUn mailed to
you. Mailed to city subscribers while
away from home for the summer
months at the regular rate of ten cents
g week—no charge tor mailing. Bent
to any address In the United State* or
Canada. Foreign postage extra.
THE RELIGIOUS WORK DONE
AMONG FEDERAL PRISONERS
Mere Isolation from all the world
will accomplish nothing In 1 the reform
ation of those who have become crimi
nals.”
That la the text from which the of
ficials of the United States penitenti
ary, near Atlanta, preach. They are
attempting to do much In their rela
tions with tha wayward and the un
fortunate who have become their
charges.
They have accomplished—
Well, there Is no standard of meas
urement of the spiritual and moral
good done a roan, so nothing but gen
eralities can be raid as to what they
have accomplished.
The prayer masting congregation ot
th* Central Presbyterian Church Is one
of the most active In religious work
and religious thought In the city ot
Atlanta. Recently It requested C. C.
McCIsughry, who Is deputy warden at
the federal prison, to give a talk on
the religious work dona at that Insti
tution. HI* address, which created so
much favorable comment, was as fol
lows:
I have been asked by your commit
tee to tell you something of the re
ligious work which Is being attempted
out at the United States penitentiary,
where I am employed.
1 do not ray what la being accom
plished, for I would not In any way
Induce you to believe that we are
boastful In a matter concerning which
It was said so many hundred years ago,
"So then neither Is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth;
but God that giveth the Increase."
Every Sunday morning at * o'clock
their religious freedom had been pre
served—on Impression which Satan
puts Into the hearts of people outside
of prison* sometimes. Why not coll It
by Its right name, lrreglllous freedom,
for it Is the same Impression and spirit
that forbids the reading and study of
God’s word In the public schools of so-
called Christian communities, and
largely through political sophistry and
manipulation, preserves to a certain
element In some of our lerge cities the
right—If w* must so call It—of com
ing home late from some concert gar
den on Sunday night with wife and
children redolent with beer and steeped
In that spirit of anarchy which de
mands license for liberty and which
makes easy for many the pathway to
crime? So, while the seed Is scattered
from our prison pulpit much of It falls
upon ground which Is hard and stony
because of the resistance which Satan
puts Into the hearts of these earthly
mortals.
The Reason Why.
Some of my colleagues in prison
management In other Institutions disa
gree with me on this matter of com
pulsory ch'apel atendance, claiming
that It does no good to force a man to
hear religious services; but who can
tell when a hymn, or a prayer, or some
passage from the Scriptures may not
awaken In the heart memories and
fsellngs long forgotten and bring life
to the hope some mother had away
back In the dim put? I look Into my
■art and know that one
sung away back yonder In my
hood, ha* a far more potent effect upon
me than many a splendid voluntary I
have since heard. And I know, too,
that from a certain college chapel,
. .. . . - . . when. alto, attendance was compul-
the gong In the corridor between the sory, there come to mo today th* sa
lvo
at cell houses rings, and some
roomy chapel.
Then follows a service In which, with
prayer and sermon and hymn, It 1* en
deavored to sow the seed of God'a
truth In the heart* of those who as
semble there. "The Book"—as our
Covenanting Scotch forefathers loved
to call It In the days of their testify-
naa almost saia -to tne listening ana
attentive throng”—and, perhaps. I
ought to ray so j et, for the men do give
fair attention and apparently listen
well, but It must be remembered that
these *00 men and their keepers alt
quiet under a compelling discipline.
Attendance I* Compulsory.
Attendance upon this service le com
pulsory. It It were optional It' le prob
able that a large number ot these men
would choose to remain In their little
S by 9 cells, nursing evil or Idle
thoughts under th* Impression that
cred echoes of psalms, and prayer-hal
lowed memories of the closed eyes and
earnest faces of gny-halred saints
long gathered to thslr fathers, which I
would not b* without today.
Anyhow I know that the Increase Is
In God's hands, and that our duty Is
with the seed-corn and not with the
harvest.
*■ Th* Sunday School.
Now, after the regular chapel serv
ice come* our Sabbath school. At
tendance upon this service Is not com
pulsory, and as the 500 march out from
the chapel at 10 o'clock, on the way
back to their cells, about 1*0—or about
ISO when our total prison population
was 6*0—fall out of the two line* ot
moving men, and, marching around by
the outer aisles, return to the front of
the chapel where they mass for tho
opening hymn with which the Sabbath
school service begins. After this hymn
the men form Into eight classes,-In
cluding one Catholic class—ana ' ss
many gentlemen from your city greet
&eir§e§
"The heavena declare Hie righteousness and all the peo
ple sec His glory.”—Psalms 97:6. '
When from beneath the cloud appears
Rain drops falling as many tears.
Could not this be our Fhther weeping
O'er sinner* (till in bondage sleeping?
When lightnings flash behind the cloud,
And thunder rolls to very loud.
Could not this be our Savior speaking
To let na know Hla heart la breaking?
When wind* from cut to west do blow
And clouda are tinged with radiant glow,
Conld not thla be oar Father’* love, -
To anger we rile tinners drove?
Then Inter on, when nil la calmed.
That all be raved and none be damned.
I’m sure, thus saith the Spirit's voice,
"Reflect, repent, believe, rejoice.”
A. M. STEAD.
Sunday, June 17, 1906.
them and begin the study of the les
son from quarterlies which are pro
vided through the generosity of some
good 1 friends. While your Uncle Sam
provides us with a-chaplaln and with
coplea of the Bible, he goes no farther,
for he wants to be strictly non-secta
rian In order to be popular with all hi*
children.
Now, while.we are getting a larger
feentage of growing grain In thla
itherlng than In the preaching ser
vice I have before described, these 110
men do not all represent wheat, as yet,
for, strange as It may seem, some nt
the worst "tares" we have come to the
Sabbath school. But In' the fact that
they voluntarily como there Is hope, for
who can tell In what clod or under
what stone the myetery ot germination
may not take place?
Your beloved pastor visited last year
the bedside of a .prisoner who was
serving hi* fourth term In prison,
against whose name there were writ
ten former charges of robbery and
murder Rnd over whose head yet hung
charges unanswered: whose early con
duct in the prison had been a bold de
fiance of everything religious or right,
and yet who was, at the time of tha
visit, firmly reliant on .Christ’s atone-
mtnt. and whose last words to me be
fore he died, contained hla hope that
wo might meet "Over There," and the
earnest request that I would not neg
lect to pray every night This from a
man who had once gloried In being a
Western tough ot the cowboy pattern,
and who hsd once replied. In answer to
an announcement of services to be held
In the prison chapel, "I may be In hell
before that time." The shattered wreck
of his earthly life lies In the soil nf
Louisiana, hut his soul has escaped
the fate which once It challenged.
Ray of Hops In Many Facts.
As I sit each Bunday and watch
closely the work of these classes In our
Sabbath school I see many earnest
faces and I believe that many are on
the road to that poace which the Great
Teacher left with us. The closest at
tention Is given by nearly all to His
representatives, who give with glad
ness a portion of their precious rest
day to this service, and I ’ray precious
rest day' advisedly, for these teachers
are not ktd-gloved Christians, people of
wealth and leisure. All but one are, I
believe, Christians who work hard with
their hands and brains during the six
labor days; salesmen, machinists, pat*
tern-makers, and so on.
Through the efforts of some of our
friend* we have obtained. In addition
to the quarterlies, copies of various
religious papers and magaxlne*. which
are distributed to the pupils of the Sab-
bath school each Sunday, and tr*
eagerly received. Letters from som#
of our teachers to the editors of some
of th* Christian publications, describ
ing our needs and the work, have
brought donations ot papers.
“Red Letter” Testaments.
Another recent Innovation, to whies
a gentleman sitting near me was *
large contributor, was the purchase of
a number of "Red Letter" Testament*
In which Christ's words stand out la
figurative and veritable letters of flame,
and burn their way Into the attention
and, we hope. Into the hearts of maw
of the men. With these men the us*
of these books was an experiment.
Observation had led us to bellev*
that the ordinary men who wa* at flr«
not religiously Inclined wa* apt«» oi*»
the black-letter Bible without sped"
aim and with Indifferent attention, H
he opened It at jdl, and what was need
ed was something that would catch »>•
eye and turn his attention quickly J®
what was most essential for him t»
grasp. If you have never opened on"
of thee* “Red Leter" Testament'. J"®
Christians who carry well-thumbM
Oxford Bibles, Just buy yourselves c. p
lee and try the experiment on your
selvae, and see If you do not
a new fascination In th* sacred wrHjj*
Then Imagine how, If the New Test*
ment was an unexplored and unknown
volume to you. these flashes of lit”
would brighten the path to you.sna
lead you on. "What did He ms •
-Why did Ho say that?" “J' ba ‘
the disciples or others raldT * “ »
be the natural order and aaqusnc* .
the questions which would Sri** a
lead you Into the context.
Requests for Testaments.
Now, wa did not give these Te*'»*
ments out ss boys give yon hand-ttw
on the streets. The teacher*—ev'P*
Continued on Oppoeito Pago