Part 2 (1/2)
”Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness My beauty are,worlds, in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head”
CHAPTER V
In Membershi+p with the Church
As soon as Abe Lockwood found the Lord, he felt it was his duty and privilege to unite himself with the people of God, and he therefore lost no ti membershi+p
THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION at that tis, and held a weekly class in a cottage soe Abe knew these hu sy thereat assistance to hi up his Christian character Whatthem, was the fact that some of them had frequently shown an interest in his spiritual welfare before he became converted, and had endeavoured to induce his; and nohen they all knew the change that had taken place in hiht hand of fellowshi+p,--so he at once united himself heart and hand to their little band
It would be well if that zeal and watching for souls, which characterized the early Methodists, weretheir successors; howoutside the Christian Church, afraid to run after the pleasures of sin, ashaht to decision, and enabled to lead a happy and useful life
There areon the skirts of alathered up, and shame on the members who quietly and indifferently permit this! It must not be; men's souls are too precious to be trifled with; they have _cost too much_ for us to allow them to starve and die on our doorstep; open the door, put forth your hand, draw them kindly, but firmly, into the family of the Lord; few of them will have heart to resist such efforts to save theo out to them, stay with them, persuade and entreat them, pray for them, pray on and on, and in the end you will prevail We wantfor souls in Churches; may God lay these souls on our hearts!
Abe became a member of the Methodist New Connexion in Berry Brohen it could scarcely be considered a Church, inas services were established there: it wasto the society in Huddersfield That class, however, was the living ger and flourishi+ng Church, having now a commodious chapel, and also an excellent Sunday School, in which are growing up hundreds of interesting children, ill sohbourhood, and an honour to the Church of Christ
To this little band of disciples our friend Abe was a most valuable addition; not that either then or afterwards he brought them wealth, for he was always poor, but because he contributed a zealous, praying spirit, and encouraged the little flock to fresh exertions
He was no sooner adan to exercise his talents in prayer-ot confused in his utterances, he didn't care much, for he used to say, ”Th' Lord knohat I ht places; bless Him, He can read upsoide daan, or insoide aat”
But time and constant exercise made a wonderful improvement in this respect, and as Abe felt less difficulty in uttering what he an to show himself in his own peculiar style
He had a way of responding to al reht them necessary Possibly these comments were more to himself than for any one else, and were oftenaloud A rather aiven where Abe's notes of explanation were called forth It appears that one night the weekly prayer-e of one of thea nuether As one after another engaged in earnest intercession at the throne of grace, the feelings of all present becath, while one brother was praying, another got so happy that he could re to his feet, therefore, he began to juht his head into sudden and violent contact with a basket of apples, which hung by a nail to the ceiling; the basket oscillated a time or two, then slipped over the head of the nail, and spilt its contents on the head of the ular event was dee his exercises, and opening his eyes to ascertain the cause
As soon as Abe observed the suspension of prayer, he exclaimed, ”Pray on, lad! it's nobbut th' oo which tioodreturned to its for The time came when Abe was looked upon as the life and soul of these little s, his earnest prayers, his happy experience, always anithened those ere present, and race Then Abe was always there; he could be relied upon whoever an to depend upon hi it, he had becoreatly responsible for the spiritual life of the little flock in Berry Brow, andthe foundations of the cause there, which has non to very interesting and influential proportions
CHAPTER VI
”For Better, for Worse”
Marriage is a most important step in the life of any person; happiness orpeople think Nothing deht, discrimination, and prayer, than the choice of a life partner Especially professors of religion should consider this, lest they be tempted to break the apostolic injunction, and becoether with unbelievers”
It is painful to see how little regard is paid to this subject by some who profess to be disciples of Jesus, and yet allow their affections to be centred upon someone of the world Pleased by an attractive appearance, winning uiled away beyond the line of demarcation which divides the church from the world, until, by-and-bye, they consummate a union of the flesh, where there cannot be a union of spirit, and light and darkness ether
Self-deception is a very easy thing in uments in favour of that which the heart is set upon The one that knows the Lord, will pray until the other is brought to hihtest hindrance in the way of the other, etc, etc, but how often have these pretty delusive devices been cast to the winds, or broken to atolass toys in after life, and their fraret, and even backsliding for their early transgressions? The selection of a husband or wife is not a question of , but one which involves an i it, we should take God into our counsel, and abide by His decisions A young man as a member in one of our churches once opened hisperson whoe with her for some time, and had left it entirely with the Lord, but said he, ”I must have her, come what may” Prayer with submission like that is only a solemn mockery, and is sure to uide us, we must pers or not, we may rest assured it will be for our ultimate welfare
In the choice of his wife Abe Lockisely led, as a long and happy life together afterwards proved It appears that soon after his conversion, Abe, as always fond of singing, joined the choir of the Huddersfield Chapel That was the age before organs were thought of in Methodist places of worshi+p; other ood old times: fiddles and bass viols, clarionets, flutes, hautboys, cornets, trohted the ears and stirred the souls of our forefathers with their sacred harmony
Grand old tienius and taste of men in those days, when if a ious tones of a clarionet, he ht vent his zeal in the trole; then, the orchestra was a kind of safety valve, where zealous ht exert their powers until they were bathed in perspiration and exhausted In those days the musicians were men of considerable influence in the public services; they could any ti while they tuned up to har, or rosined his stick True, a little accident would occasionally happen in the e, but nobody was hurt, it was only a fiddle-bridge; a nervous preacher ht be just a little startled by the thwack behind hiht be suddenly aroused from their deep meditations to venture an inappropriate response; and other little ht occasionally happen, as when some conspicuous instrument became excited, and played so a twinge of neuralgia to a few sensitive persons in the congregation; but then they shouldn't be so sensitive,--others were not, not even the s, and a great many more, too nu into the proceedings, and frequently afforded matter for lively conversation when the people came out of chapel Can any one wonder, therefore, that the musical taste of the past should steadfastly resist every effort to bring about a change in the composition and conduct of our chapel orchestras?
Abe lived and flourished as a singer in those good old days, and it was one of his greatest enjoyh Street Chapel, and raise his alto voice in honour of Him ”whose praise can ne'er be told”
But there was another little pleasure which Abe very much enjoyed after the services, and that was to walk hoers, too, named Sarah Bradley She lived at Berry Brow, and was a mee, and while she hbours called ”a real bonny lass” Abe thought her the nicest and handsoht of his eyes, and her conversation was real music to him; he was so charmed with her, that he would run a mile any time to look at her bonny face; his affections were entirely won by her,--which was, by the way, no little pleasure to herself, inass