Newspapers / The Christian Sun (Elon … / Feb. 15, 1900, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
I ESTABLISHED 1844. ELON COLLEGE, N. 0., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15,1900. VOLUME LIII: NUMBER 7 Christian SUr\ PUBLISHED WEEKLY. The Official Organ ol ltit) .Southern Chris tlsu Convention. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. 1. The Lord Jesus la the only Hesd of th< church. 2. The name Christian, to the exclusion of all party and sectarian names. 8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures ol the Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule of faith and practice. 4. Christian character, or vital piety, th only test of fellowship or membership. ft. The right of private judgment, and the liberty of conscience, the privilege and duty of all. Reflections. Not all the English are in sympathy with the attitude of Eagland in forcing the present war upon the Boers, as is evi denced by the (act that at a re cent me.eting of the House of Commons a resolution was in troduced urging that the South African war should be brought to a close on the basis of recog nition ol the independence of the South African Republic and Orange Free State? Some “hot” speeches were made against the government’s policy by influen tial members, and there were 56 votes cast in favor of the resolu tion and 368 against. It is now claimed that ten cent cotton is almost in sight. We don’t know whether it will reach this mark or not; but if it does, it will be too late tor nearly all the farmers, we are sorry to say. In fa<5t, nearly all of them had sold before the seven and a half cent price was reached. It now, however, the farmers will not rush headlong into big crops again this year, possibly the price may be kept, if not at a big price, at least at a living fig ure. The most successful far mers say that they do the best when they raise enough of every thing else for home consump tion, and then put their extra time on cotton. And the experi ence of the exclusive cotton raisers for the past tew years has proven the wisdom of this course. _ The following from our Wash ington correspondent will be read with pleasure by all our readers] who are anxiously look ing torward to the day when no immoral man shall be able to se cure election for an office of any kind: “Washington correspond ents have in the past, fostered the idea that Congressmen, as a rule, were given over to habits of riotous living while at the Na tional Capital. Removed from tne restraints ui huluc iuubcuww, there is no doubt that a number of Congressmen have laid them selves open to serious charges, and prostituted their high office by their scandalous living, but, I am glad to say, that this type of Congressmen is fast disap pearing, and today in both the House and the Senate, there are many men who live lives of the strictest morality, and frequent ly assist the churches and charit able organizations of Washing ton in the good work in which they are engaged. Every one in Washington is famil iar with the Congres sional Temperance Society, over which the late Nelson Dingley, Jr., presided for many years. Its meetings in the different church es of the city were always largely attended atjd the .greatest inter est tor the cause of temperance shown. Missourians have just reason to be prbtrd of their rep resentatives. Two of their statesmen, the Hon. Champ Clark and the Hon. James T. Lloyd, delivered addresses on Sunday evening, February 4, on the occasion of the nineteenth anniversary ot the founding of the Christian Endeavor Society. The Hon. Mr. Clark accupied the pulpit of the Rev. E. B. Ragby, pastor on the Ninth St. Christian church, and delivered a strong address on the subject of “Richer than Golconda.’’ The *Hon. James T. Lloyd spoke at the Vermont Avenue Christian church, of which the Rev. F.. D, Power it the pastor. The writet had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Lloyd and was much im pressed by his address. His words were eloquent, as are al ways words born of earnest con viction and flowing from a no ble heart. He had a message. He exhorted his fellow pilgrims along thgfpath of life to greater faithfulness—to the sublimity of a Christ like life. It is always a pleasant sight to see a Congress man take time from the pressing cares of his public life, to assist in the cause of Christianity, and everyone who knows these gen tlemen believe that they repre sent the highest type of Chris tian statesmen.” We have written some , talked more, and thought a great deal about the needless expenditure to which ndarly everybody goes when they bury their dead. It is customary, it is is true, to spend about all the money you can afford at the time, in giving your loved one an “elaborate burial”, and for what purpose? “To show your love for them while they were living, and to honor their memories now that they are dead, of course.” But what a useless custom! How much more good that money could be made to ac complish through some channel of the church, or some charity organization, institutions that think more about the living. The following incident from a recent article of “Bill Arp’s” is timely and to the point: ouiuuiuu says ; rx nviug uuj; is better than a dead lion.” That may be so in a worldly sense, but the dead lion costs the most money. I was just reading an itemized statement of how much it cost to bury Sena tor Morrill. Of course he was buried at the Government ex pense, but it seems to me he could have been put away for less money. The sum total foots up $3,442. The casket cost $400, cedar shipping case $90, embalming $60 , carriages $108, special train from Washington to Springfield $782, Springfield to Montpelier $117, fares for at tendants from Troy to Washing ton $347, Pullman cars $300, commissaries $78. These are the largest items. There is a full page of smaller ones. Then there is decoration of the Senate chamber $100, and crape and gloves and regalia and flowers $280, advertising program $113, music $40, etc. But the largest item is $5,000, a year’s srlary after he died. This went to his son. That is the rule. It a member dies while in office his salary goes on for a year. But Vermont was not so very far away. If a member from California or Oregon dies the cost of transportation for the remains and the escort rubs up into the thousands. Ah, m> country ! Where the carcass is the eagles will be gathered to gether. That is the reason I reckon why the eagle is our na tional emblem, for the treasury is the carcass. Was I uiniuaiiug grand parade over the burial of public men—the expense of it— the glitter and show of it, for at the last it is a junket, a frolic that members of Congress like and they scheme to get on the grand excursion. Booker Wash ington says that the negro is never happier than when going to a funeral. White folks set them the example, special ly in the towns and cities. The truth is that a common man who barely supports his family and is struggling along to educat^his children can’t af lord to die, for the funeral ex penses take all he has left and leaves the family penniless. Poor Tom Brumby had no wife or children but for years had been supporting a poor old mo ther and educating an orphan niece. He had when he died j $700 in the bank and it took that—the last dollar—to bury I him. If he could have spoken he would have said : “Oh ! give it to my mother. A $400 casket 1 will do me no good.” The last letter he wrote to her from Ma nila said: “If I do not live to get back there are $700 in bank for you.” The Pulpit. THE LAME MAN HEALED. BY REV. P. H. FLEMING. [Preached at'Liberty, Randolph county, N. (1., before tile Weateru North Carolina Conference, Nov. 14,1899, and published by request of that body.] Text: “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.” AeU'dr.ll. [Continued from Last Issue. Of the 975,000,000 people classed as non-Christians all may be called heathen, except the Jews and the Mohammedans. They profess God*, but reject Tesus Christ. Their rejection of Jesus Christ places them with the class known as non-Christian people. Their acknowledge ment of God takes them out of the class of people known as heathen. This division gives us those classed as Christians, Mohammedans, Jews, Heathen, 425.000. 000 170.000. 000 10,000,000 755.000. 000 Which gives us again the total population of the globe as per our estimate, 1,400,^00. We might say in round numbers that 800,000,000 are heathen. This is a term that is applied to all idolaters. Ol the 800,000,000 about 200,000,000 are Pagans, that is, rude and uncivilized idol aters. I might as well say here that we must remember that the best statistics, as to the above enumeration and classification are largely estimates, and at best only approximate the truth. And as to the heathen being civilized or uncivilized, I regard all people, and individuals, loo, as to that, who reject Jesus Christ, as uncivilized in the true and highest sense. Christianity is the civilizer of nations and of individuals. Christ is the Light of the world. And that individ ual*or people who sit in darkness without the Light is not and cannot be civilized, enlightened, until the Light doth shine in and dispel the darkness. I do not see how a man or a people can be very civil when the only sal vation for the race is rejected. The Scriptures clearly teach us that there is no salvation in any other than Jesus. For there is none other name under heav en given among men, whereby we must be saved. With this in mind let us remember that Chris tians are those who accept Christ. All those who reject Him are unbelievers and heathen as far as salvation through Jesus is concerned. Now, taking those people who accept Jesus Christ in their sys tem of faith, and hence are Christians, or nominally so, we have Protestants, Roman Catho lics, and the Greek Church amounting to 425,000,000. Those people who reject Jesus Christ in their system, or in oth er words, those who have no Jesus Christ in their system of faith, are, Buddhists, Moham medans, Brahmins, Guebers, and Jews, and all others not in cluded in the above, amounting to 975,000,000. From these figures compiled by considerable research and with much care we find only about one-third of the popula tion of the earth acknowledging, in a degree,.Christianity in their system ot faith. Indeed, the calculation shows that it is a little less than one-third. The two-thirds, and even a little more than two-thirds, leave Christ out entirely. Another estimate places the 1 population of the globe at 1,356, 000,000 and identifies only about one-fourth with Christianity. While from another source I found the earth’s population stated at about 1,400,000,000. and that estimate says about one-third of them profess the Christian religion. Another estimate places the population at 1,479.729,151 and says 477, 088,158 are Christians; that gives 1,002,640,993 as- non Christians. These statistics are not very satisfactory—hardly agreeing among themselves— yet they’ do agree that not more than one-third of the world’s population in any way acknowl edge Christianity. Now let me give you the reason tor hazarding statistics in a sermon. I want to show to you the result, or product of the Christ name and power as seen in the^ffairs of the world today. Do you not see the one-third that acknowledge Christ leading contrOling and shaping the des tiny of the two-thirds that have no Jesus, the Christ, whatever in their religious system. England, United States, Ger many, France, Russia, Spain, Ttaly, and others that in some form accept Christianity—these are the people that virtually rule the world. How is it, do you ask ?" I answer that* if is the product of the Christ power that has been infused in the peo ple, that enables the one-third to lead and to control the two thirds. How else can you ac count for it? Let us divide again. Take from the 425.000,000 people that accept Christ in their system Qf religion the Greek Church, for, in my mind, they do not keep close to the Christ in practice ; and the Roman Catholics, whom we believe pervert the doctrines and worship of Jesus Christ, and we have, left 140,000,000 Protes tants, that we believe walk more closely with Jesus than any oth ers professing Him in their faith, but even they follow too far off to receive the full benefit ot Christianity. What influence has this 140,000,000 upon the rest of the world? The answer is, it leads in inventions, in dis coveries, in commerce, in busi ness, in education, in benefiting and blessing man. Here we see, then, something, like one tenth of the population of the globe leading in all the walks of life. By what power, by what name is this done? I answer it is the result, or product, of the name and power of the Christ in the hearts and minds of man kind. And could we follow this thought further, we would find that the power is not in those who simply profess, but that it is in those who actually follow Christ. I saw a statement a year or two ago like this: “Of the thirty six reigning Sovereigns of Christendom, ten are nominally Roman Catholic, two belong to the Greek Church, and the re maining twenty-four are Prot estants.” England is classed as a Chris tian nation. She is Protestant in her faith as a government. What do we see in her power as a government? She rules 237, 000,000 people. 139,000,000 of them are Hindoos; 40,000,000 Mohammedans. A great major ity of her subjects are neither Protestants nor Roman Catho lics. She is said to rule more Mohammedans than she does Protestants. The Hindoos and Mohammedans together in her realm number 179,000,000. That leaves only 99,000,000 to be di vided amoDg all other creeds and sects. Yet England is Protestant, and she rules. We have not time to enter farther into details, but take a glance at the world today -and you will readily see that those nations that accept Jesus Christ are the purest and best, and the foremost in every good word and work. There we find man kind the most contented and happy. Therejwe find man en joying the greatest blessings be stowed upon earth by Jehovah. This leads us to assert that whatever man is is the product of his religion. Examine the nations today and see if youffi can find aught against the cures Christianity has made. There is no arguing against a fact. Changed lives, transformed men and nations are invincible proofs of the re ligion of Jesus the Christ. See our forefathers—the An glo-Saxons of some two thou sand years ago—as they lived in the dense forests and gloomy marshes of a bleak land—the wilds of Germany. A fierce, powerful, brave, hospitable, rest less, ferocious race. Their re ligion encouraged bravery and even death in battle. For only those who fell by the sword could enter Walhalla, the heav en of the great god Woden ; and there mouhted on the rainbow, they would'fight and feast for ever. Those who died of illness and old age went to a land of ice and fogs. Such was the be lief of our great-grand-fathers and mothers of some two thou sand years ago. Then they had not a book. Knew nothing of writing. “They shouted their savage war songs to the uproar of rude drums and great blasts on the painted horns of wild bulls.” They planted them selves in -Britain, enslaved or drove back the few natives who survived the horrors of invasion. They took with them their old time traits' and customs. We retain in the names of the days of the week some of the names of the chief gods of the Anglo Saxons. Christianity was in troduced by St. Augustine dur ing the reign of Ethelbert. See them today'. The descendents of the worshippers of Woden. Thor, Sun, Moon, and the pow ers of nature,, well nigh masters of the world. And Wherever they go, since their conversion, they carry the Bible and the name of Jesus, the Christ. See them in commerce, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, in inven tion, learning and in all the arts beneficial and useful to man, they, they the Anglo-Saxons, the English speaking race, the Protestants, are leaders and rulers. An African prince sent to Queen Victoria an embassy to learn the secret of Britain’s pow er. “Tell the prince (said the most noble Queen) that this (the Bible) is the secret of England’s great success.” By what power, in whose name hath this change been wrought in the Anglo-Saxons? I answer, in the name and by the power of Jesus Christ. Chris tianity hath wrought it. The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ brought about the change. Applying the Christ name and power to individual heart and life,I know of no example more illustrious than that of Saul of Tarsus. He is spoken of as the chief of sinners before his con version ; but after conversion he was a new man, and no one in dividual perhaps, except Jesus, hath ever done more to bless, elevate and save humanity than Paul—the Saul ofTarsus. What was it that wrought this change in him? It was the name and power of Jesus. It was Chris tianity. An illustration nearer home are the hearts and lives that have been changed right in our midst. It is you who love the Christ today. An example of a changed heart and life stands before you today. The one who speaks to you. Do you ask, by what power and by what name I am made to stand and to praise God. I answer, by and through the name and power of Jesus ot Nazareth I declare unto you that the bloody ot Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth from all sin. Wherever Christianity has been accepted the most barbar ous individuals and nations have become civilized. This is going on today. Men right in your midst, wild in sin and crime, have been tamed and cleansed by the Christian religion. You have seen such clothed and in their right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. Eighty-five years ago, or thereabout, Christianity was fora bidden in India. fn 1892 there were in India 671,000 Protestant Christians. Burma a little less than 100 years ago had not a Christian. In 1896 it was re ported as having about 100,000. In China in 1842, alter thirty seven years of toil, there were reported only six converts. Now that empire is said to have some 50,000 or more adherents to Christianity. The Figi Islands some 65 or 70 years ago had not seen a missionary. They were can nibals. Now out of a popula tion ot about ,120,®oo it is-said that 102,000 are regular wor shippers in churches. Note how rapidly Japan is coming to the front, and the in fluence ot Christianity in that empire within the last decade. What do we ever see in the wake of Christianity? In the instances given and in all others that accept Jesus? We see the uplifting^ efevation of individuals and nations, physically,“morally, intellectually, spiritually. In fanticide, patricide, religious torture, and a'host of concomit ant attendants disappear when and wherever Christianity is ac cepted and obeyed. A noted example is the South Sea Is lands. There are thirty-nine groups of these islands, and some 2,000 of the islands are in habited. When Capt. James Cook, the English navigator, visited these islands a little over ioo years ago, he said of the in habitants : “There is a scale of sensuality to which these people have decended wholy unknown to every other people, which no imagination can possibly con ceive, and it is not likely they will ever be evangelized.” Capt. Cook circumnavigated the globe. He had seen many people, and these people of the South Sea Islands he placed lowest in the “scale of sensuality” a sensual ity “which no imagination can possibly conceive.” A people which he thought “not likely to ever be evangelized.” That was a little over ioo years ago. To day fourteen groups are reported as practically evangelized, and other groups partially so. What hath wrought this change? It was the lesson of the Christian Missionary—the lesson of Christ and his love. i>iauy oilier msiauics ungui be cited, but a sufficient number have been mentioned for you to see clearly tfie mighty changes wrought in individuals and in nations by the name and power of Jesus. In view of this, what is our duty? The lame, the afflicted sinners are all about us. What shall we do as individual? As a church? , As Christians? It becomes our duty as we see and hear their cry, 3ee their distress, to take them by the hand and lift .them up. It is our duty in the name oi Jesus and by his power to help them see Jesus. Take them by the hand and show them Jesus. I like that personal touch of the hand of faith to the hand of the afflicted. Before every sinner there stands open the beautiful door of life. All who will may enter, but sin must be left behind. Jesus is the Door of Life and all who enter by repentance and faith into that Door, find heaven be gun below. A blind girl who had never seen her mother’s face, nor gazed upon the beau ties of nature, by a skillful oper ation of her physician, was made to see ; and as she looked into her mother’s sweet face, and saw for the first time the beau ties of nature, exclaimed : “Mother, is this heaven?” Ev ery* sinner healed by Jesus hath some such feeling of heaven be gun on earth, and it is no won der that they walk, leap and praise God. It is no wonder that when asked, by what power or by what name is this change wrought, that the answer comes every time, by the name and power of Jesus of Nazareth. And the enemies of the cross, seeing the healed individuals and nations, standing under the shadow of the cross, made whole, standing with Jesus and his dis ciples, they—the enemies ^ of Jesus—can sayr nothing against the name and the power by which individuals and nations are healed, made clean ajid saved from sin. & sP _ Contributions. ! WHY AKE YOU SOT A CHRISTIAN! BY VV, F. PRICE. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.’’ Acts 4: 12. After a few months’ absence from these columns, dear Mr. Editor, with your kind permis sion, I will again have a little talk with my old friends—the readers ol this paper. And this j time I wish to have only a plain, simple, common sense talk with the unconverted—those who for some cause or other, under the boundless mercies ot the ever loving Father, have been spared to come down to the present good hour without taking into their hearts and lives the loving influences of the blessed Christ. For every prominent jtand taken in the moral or spiritual world, and even in the . material world as well, there should ex ist a reason. And this reason should be stripped of all its fal lacies and obscurities, and should be as important in its bearing on the ,cas,e as the re sponsibility of the posifibn taken .may demand. Christianity is the most important of all living questions, as well as the greatest of all existing facts. The stand taken for or against it, therefore, should be accompanied by the very best and highest reasons, since our very position in the the matter decides for our future happiness in this vforld and our destiny in the next. To those who are not followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, there fore, let me come with the simple question, Why? In the name of Him before whom we all shall soon have to appear at the judg ment bar, have you any excuse except your own negligence or disobedience in not being an humble follower of the meek and lowly Nazarine? Have you not felt the impulses of God in your heart day after day,' month after month and year after year, call ing you to a higher, nobler and better titer ana yet you nave gone on in the same old way, as if there were no death, no judg ment, no God, no heaven,” no hell, or no soul to be saved or lost, or eternity to be spent in peace and happiness, or misery and wretchedness and woe. “How shall we escape if we neg lect so great a salvation ?” Realizing all this as . being true, dear reader, (and you know it is) if you are still out of Christ and have made no pro fession of faith in Him, but are living in your sins and in the blindness of your strength, car ing nothing for His great suffer ings for your sake, nor his church, nor cause in the world ; let me again ask you the ques tion, Why? In the name of your soul’s best interest, and every high and holy impulse, Why? The dictates of common sense, intelligence, reason and judgment ask you why? The tongues of ten thousand golden pages touched by the linger of love, which is the finger of God, say, Why? The voices of mil lions of martyrs who have given up all, even life itself, for the dear Master’s cause, and the testimonies of millions upon millions more of God’s living, loyal and loving followers who have tasted and are now tasting the comforts and joys and sweets of the Christian’s religion, asks you, Why? O, why, poor un believer, are you still but of the ark of safety and out of Christ? Is it because you are afraid of ridicule and ot whatever others may say of you? Re member, the Saviour says: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh with the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38. There is no profession higher, grander and nobler in this life than that of a Christian, and no name half so sweet, It is the name borne by the whole fami ly of earth and^heavep, Eph. 3 : , 15. “Ashamed ot Jesus, th&t dear friend, in whom jour hopes and joys depend?” ?<oue was so kind, loving and sympathetic toward the poor, erring sinner as he ; none so ready to forgive. His every smile and touch and whisper was but to gladden and heal and comfort the bereaved and broken hearted. And while others mocked and scoffed and defamed and ridiculed the bless ed, tender, loving Christ, even scourging him, and spitting up on him, and at last cruelly- nail ing him to the awful, rugged cross “he opened not his mouth.” lCooclBil«d ue.il we«k.\
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 15, 1900, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75