TM E K IN G 'S B U S IN E S S
149
Illustrations
D. W . W h ittle told of a m an w ho cam e to Mr. F in n ey a n d said : “ I d o n ’t believe in th e existence of a devil.” “ D on’t y o u ? " said th e old m an. W ell, y o u resist him fo r a w hile a n d y o u w ill believe in it.” If y o u go to W a rtb u rg th ey w ill show y o u a d a rk sp o t on th e old w alls w hich th ey say w as caused by th e b re ak in g of th e in k b o ttle th a t M artin L u th e r th rew a t th e Devil. Now, 1 k now th a t people aay I* w as n o t th e Devil, b u t ra ts in th e w all th a t L u th e r h e ard . B ut this th in g 1 k n ow : L u th e r th o u g h t it w as th e Devil, a n d h e ju st let it drive. I w ish th e re w ere m o re m en to d ay w ho w ould fling th eir in k a t th e Devil, w h e th er by th e bottleful o r in d ro p s from th e p e n ’s p o in t.” T h e old G reek m asters h a d o n e w ord- w ith w hich th ey could ro u se th e ir audi- ences to a tte n tio n . T h ey w ould stop a n d c ry M a rath o n !’ T h e re is o n e w o rd w ith w hich w e o u g h t to be ab le to rouse th e slum bering energies of th e p e o p le ; th a t w o rd is “ C h rist a n d H im C rucified.” P re a c h n o m ere sum m ary of th e Gospel, no m ere p h ilosophy of th e C h ristian re ligion, n o m ere p o e try of a rt, b u t th e G od-C hnst, a n d dep en d u p o n th e p re s ence a n d su stain in g p ow e r a n d trium p h a n t e n erg y of th e living G od.” A n old ra ilro ad m an of little edu catio n u t o f ru g g ed c h a ra c te r a n d fe rv e n t spirit w as w o n t to e n te r in th e m arg in of his Bible m any rich a n d strik in g notes. In som e of these n o tes th e w o rd S atan o c c u rre d , a n d it w as in v arialy spelled S-a-t-i-n. A frien d seeing th is called his a tte n tio n to it. “W hy, how do y o u spell It? ask ed th e ow n e r of th e Bible. S -a-t-a-n,” w as th e reply. “W ell, w h at w o rd sP e»> ” “ It spells sa tin .” j ’ -T- replled th e °ld m an, “ le t it stand. T h a t’s th e w ay h e is dressed w hen he com es to m e.” A m in ister say s: In one of m y early p a sto ra te s I ask ed o n e of m y p a rish io n e rs
how she w as g ettin g a lo n g in h e r C hris tian life. S he rep lied : “ V ery p o orly. My life is a disgrace to m e a n d to th e C h u rc h ; it is a d isg race to Jesu s C hrist. I d o n ’t u n d e rsta n d w hy it is.” “ Do y o u study y o u r Bible e v ery d a y ? " I asked. “ O h, n o ; b u t I stu d y it occasionally, w hen I have tim e.” A little baby w as lying in a baby c a rria g e n e a r b y a n d 1 said : “S uppose y o u sh ould feed th a t b ab y once in tw o h o u rs to d ay a n d once in six h o u rs tom o r row , th en let it go w ith o u t e atin g a t all fo r th re e o r fo u r days b ecau se y o u w ere busy, a n d th en go b a ck a n d feed it every tw o h o u rs th e n e x t day, a n d k eep u p th a t p ro c ess; do y o u th in k th e child w ould g ro w ? " “N o,” she said; “ I th in k th e child w ould die u n d e r th a t tre a tm e n t.” A n d y e t th a t is ju st th e w ay y o u a re tre a tin g y o u r soul.” A college fra te rn ity b ro th e r a t W es leyan U niversity, w ho is now a successful M ethodist p a sto r in V erm ont, w as telling one day w hen h e h a d re ac h ed his senior y e ar, of th e stru g g le he h a d w hen a fresh m an to e a rn m oney to get th ro u g h th e y e ar. H e h a d b een g ra n te d a tu itio n sch o larsh ip a n d a little o th e r outside help, b u t even w ith th a t aid h e said h e su b sisted fo r m ost of th e y e a r on o atm eal a n d b read . By sp rin g his m eag er resources h ad becom e exhausted, a n d h e b eg an to feel th e p in ch of real p o v erty . H e m ade his g re a t n eed a m a tte r of e arn e st p ra y e r a n d endeavor, b u t conditions seem ed to g row w orse. A t length, finding him self w ith n o th in g to eat, a n d too p ro u d to tell of his plight, h e decided to leave college a n d go to w o rk . T h a t nig h t, w hile h e w as p a c k in g u p his books, th e re w as a click a t th e le tte r slo t in th e d o o r a n d a n envelope w as d ro p p e d in to th e room . hiUe n T h a t b ?Ilf°f“j j e? cl° Sed a five' d °U ar bill. T h a t bill tided him o v e r th e tu rn - a J l *7 h *s 1,fe* f.°* it gave him cour- ag e a n d help to com plete th e college y e ar. H e h a s n e v er discovered w ho gave him h e UV ° th e h e received *r * ,h- ~ » •
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