1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



68 



0a^ JlejiEp. 



Whoso sshall offend one of these littk- ones which 

 believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- 

 stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 

 drowned in the depths uf the soa.— Matt. 18:6. 



'E have just had a revival at our church, 

 and quite a number, young and old, 

 were taken into the church last Sun- 

 day. The ceremony was one of the 

 most sacred and impressive of any I 

 ever attended before. Our minister did not 

 preach any sermon ; in fact, there were so 

 many to be received into the church that 

 there was not time for preaching. But I 

 don't think I ever heard any preaching in my 

 life that struck such heavy blows on the 

 head, and, I trust, on the heart as well, of 

 your old friend A. I. Hoot, as did this service 

 without any sermon. Before me, on the 

 right hand and on the left, were those I had 

 known and worked with, from the age of ten 

 years and up. Among them were quite a 

 number I had prayed for ; and sometimes 1 

 had prayed with a very small amount of 

 faith, I assure you. There were those 

 among the new converts whom I had scarce- 

 ly dared hope would ever stand up publicly 

 before men and accept the cross of Christ. 

 I had not only been well acquainted with 

 these young friends, but the parents of some 

 of them were intimate friends of mine, even 

 before these children came into this world of 

 ours. Some of them had worked for me in 

 years gone by, in the relationship of employ- 

 er and employe, and I had had opportunities 

 of seeing their weak points, and they had 

 no doubt noticed my weak points. A great 

 many times I see faults and failings among 

 those around me, that are of such a nature 

 that it seems to me I can do nothing but 

 pray for them ; and sometimes ( I am asham- 

 ed to acknowledge it) it has seemed to 

 me as though it were no use even to pray for 

 them. 1 am afraid I get into the same atti- 

 tude of mind as did a good old deacon, when, 

 during a severe drought, they met at the 

 church to pray for rain. Our friend was a 

 careful observer of the weather ; and, after 

 stating the points of the case as it lay before 

 them, he gave his deliberate opinion some- 

 thing like this : " Dear brothers and sisters, 

 I am really afraid there won't be any use of 

 praying for rain so long as the wind holds so 

 steadily in the northeast.''' Very likely our 

 good old friend was thinking they had better 

 go home and wait for a more propitious time. 

 Well, I have very often gone off by myself, 

 and prayed, as well as I knew how, for some 

 one who, it seemed to me, was just about 

 absolutely contrary and evil-minded. Some- 

 times I am shocked and pained beyond any 

 thing I can tell you, by hearing that some 

 young friend, in whom! had begun to have 

 considerable faith, had been indulging m 

 profanity, or, may be, in obscene talk. In 

 anguish of soul I have said to my informant, 

 •• Vvhy, dear friend, can it be possible that I 

 have been so misled ? Did sucli words ever 

 pass the lips of this young friend from whom 

 1 had been hoping so mucli V Alas! it 

 was Ijut too true. While I thought 1 had 

 been sowing seeds of purity and godliness, 



the enemy had sown these foul lares, which 

 were taking root and growing and spreading. 



''But, brother Uoot, even if they have 

 united with the church, is it absolutely cer- 

 tain they will ^ive up this bad talk, or these 

 selfish or dishonest practices V '' 



No, my friend, it is not absolutely certain. 

 I shall have to confess that even church- 

 members are sometimes guilty of bad talk 

 and dishonest practices; but do not, my 

 dear friend, I pray you, be in haste to turn 

 your back on the" religion of Christ Jesus, 

 and to decide that it does not cleanse from 

 all sin. Because you have seen a few cases 

 of this kind, do not, I beseech you, say that 

 the Lamb of God does not take away the 

 sin of the world. The act of joiuing tiie 

 church, even tliough the person be honest 

 and sincere at the time, does not, of itself, 

 make sure of this better life whicli we are 

 hungering and thirsting to see ; but I will 

 tell you what jn sure. After these young 

 friends, who are addicted to evil ways, have 

 united with the church, if you can induce 

 them to attend regularly our young people's 

 prayer-meetings, and take part by repeating 

 texts of Scripture, helping to sin^ verses of 

 our inspiring hymns, giving occasional testi- 

 mony as to the progress they are making in 

 Christ's service, and, as they get a little 

 older in the Master's service, taking part in 

 prayer in their own simple language, this 

 sort of thing does save. I have never seen 

 it fail, ft is as sure and certain as that the 

 child at school will, by diligent attention to 

 all requirements, succeed in getting an edu- 

 cation. Yes, it is more certain ; for some 

 pupils may work hard, and yet be so dull of 

 comprehension that they never make even 

 fair scholars (that is, once in a great while 

 we find such cases). But he who tries to fol- 

 low Christ Jesus, never makes a failure- 

 no, never ; and may God be praised that it 

 is so. 



Well, the powerful sermon that the Holy 

 Spirit poured down on mj^ head and into 

 my heart was this ; and it seemed like a 

 voice from heaven, saying, " A. I. Root, on 

 you rests a heavy responsibility ; all the 

 more heavy, because you have, at different 

 times, exhorted these young ones to turn 

 away from earthly allurements, and to 

 choose Christ Jesus for their portion. On 

 you the responsibility rests of watching over 

 these young ones ; of extending a helping 

 hand ; of giving them even now, as oppor- 

 tunity presents, a word of welcome. Tell 

 them just what you think of this act of 

 theirs— this act of their own free choice. 

 Tell them, too, of the work they will have to 

 do ; of the struggles and conflicts, of the 

 discouragements, the falling-down and the 

 getting-up again. Tell them how wily is 

 Satan ; for you know by personal experience 

 and personal conflict, ;/ any one does. The 

 very fact that you have prayed for them 

 makes the obligation and responsibility 

 heavier on your shoulders. If you have 

 planted the "seed, now bestir yourself to 

 watch over the crop, and see that no tares take 

 root and spoil the good work so well begun. 

 There is no escaping the obligation laid upon 

 you. The fact that you note discover that 

 unchristianlike feelings have been lurking 



