Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1873-11-08

these changing forces u circumstance and 90.
cieiy. we surely need something to anchor us.
No one has power enough 10 make headway
against The influences, or skill 10 avoid. or
helf-conifol 10 withstand The Temptations but
every one needs religion 10 bold Themselves
sicadfsl-c.g q Cardinal Woolseys soliloquy.
ii. Religion Is an nnchOr that may hold US.
There Afe those who think that their inn
pulses are their safeguards. The generous,
and open-bcarled, on one side, and the eau.
ti0us on the other. The refined ard gentle,
and The blunt and pain.hearted, have i'm.
pulses which they depend upon, but they al.
ways find that there Is weakness on the op.
posiie side. Impulse, let loose. viii often
plunge man into frenzy. Impulse, alone,
will rush like torrent with Tie siuicc gates
open, and the only safeguard 10 a man is that
there have been planted somewhere IN mans
history, barriers iO restrain him. A mothers
prayer, a fathers instructions, influences of
family, honor, lfrspect-soIncihing beside
impulse, must hold us; and Notwithstanding
these, we must keep ourselves in check sll the
time Keep the 'hatchways" down or passions
will fse 10 mutiny We hardly know what
we are guarding against, when we lay hold of
the divine power, and enter into religious ex.
ercises, but there will come times, when we
shall need all the religion we have, and then
we shall find that little David, with sling in
hand trusting to the Lord, is better able to
slay the giant Iniquity, than if he had ever
so much armcr on, without any such trust.
There are times when ii seems as If all moral
distin c.iOns were oblteralcd, and the stand.
ards were thrown down, and men can hardly
find the foundation stones, but the religious
instincts are always true. The polar.star. pie
ty, alwayspoins 10 where God is Many trim
their sails to catch the popular breeze. some
are always throwing out feclers after public
sentiment, and try 10 fasten them, but they al.
ways drag anchor, and are often wrecked on
the bar
Napoleon, in his Egyptian campaign, saw
the combined fleet of the enemy at anchor in
Alexandria Bay. He knew that his men-of
wal could sail where they could float There
fore, waiting until the wind was of. shore he
sailed between them and land, and drove them
out to sea and gained victorY. So, if we an
chor out at sea, we shall find that Satan, our
enemy, wiR come. between us and safety and
overcome us. Our only hope then, is in that
"anchor. That is.fxed within the vail"
III. We may see why religion holds us. 1t
is divine strength supplcmenling our human.
"The bondage of the soul is not cancelled by
the will in its temporal sell-determnations-
this IS done only by the redecming efficiency
of the spirit OF Christ" Reconciling us to,
God, introducing us to the new relationship
giving us the spirit of adoption, abiding in us
by his presence, Christ has given us an an
chorage. There is no power of seCredemp-
ton, no progressing from bad to better, but
we may "lay hold of the hope set before us"
no longer flying wildly over the seas in rebel
lion, restless, storm tossed but dnct9red in
Christ, We have peace with God and in our.
selves.