The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-12-09


! He is riding on O panther at full leap. On,
how suggestivei Let every ono who IS
SPEEDING on bad ways understand he is not
| riding q dociIe and well broken steed, but he
! IS riding a monster, wild and bloodth1rsty,
/ going at a death leap. How many there are
| who resolve on a better life and say: W hen
/ shall l awake" but, seized on by their old
habits, cry: II will try it once more; 1 win
seek it yet againF" Years ago there were
some Princeton students who were skating,
and the ice wos very thin, and some one
warned the company back from the air hole,
! and finally warned them entirely to leave the
! place. But one young man with bravado,
! after all the rest had stopped, cried out; "One
round mcrel" He swept around, and went
down, and @as brought out corpse. My
friends, there are thousands and tens of thou
sands of men losing their souls in that way.
It is the one round more.
have also to say that if man wants to
return from evil practices society repulses
him. Desiring to reform, he says: ''Now, I
viii shake off my old associates, and 1 viii
find Christian companionship.n And he ap-
pears at the church door some Sabbath day,
and the usher greets him with look, as much
as to say: ''Why, you here9 You are the last
man ever expected to see at church, Come,
take this seat right down by the doorr in
stead of saying: ''Good morning; glad
you are here. Come; will give you first
rate seat, right up by the pulpit. 4" Well,
the prodigal, not yet discouraged, en-
ters a prayer meeting, and some Chris
tian man, with more zeal than common
sense, says: "Glad to see you. The dying
thief was saved, and suppose there is mercy
for your The young man, disguised, chilled,
throws himself back on his dignity, resolved
he never viii enter the house of God again.
Perhaps not quite fully disguised about
reformation, he sides up by some highly re
spectacle man he used to know, going down
the street, and Immediately the respectable
man has an errand down some other street,
WE'LL the prodigal wishing to return, takes
some member of Christian association by
the hand or tries TO. The Christian young
man looks at him, looks at the faded apparel
and the marks of dissipation, and instead of
giving him warm grip of the hand offers
him the tip end of the long fingers Of the left
hand, which is equal to striking a man in the
face.
Oh, how few Christian people understand
how much force and gospel there is in good,
honest handshaiIingi Sometimes, when you
have felt the need of encouragement, and
some Christian man has taken you heartily
by the hand, have you not felt that thrilling
through every fibre of your body, mind and
soul, an encouragement that was just what
you needed! You do not know anything at
y
tries to return from evh courses of conduct
he runs against repulsions innumerable. We
say of some man, he lives a block or two
from the church or half a mile from the
church There are people in our crowded
cities who live 900 miles from church. Vast
deserts of indifference between them and the
house Of God. The fact is, we must keep our
respectability, though thousands and tens of
thousands perish. Christ sat with publicans
n
of God a man with marks of dissipation upon
him, people almost threw up their hands
in horror, as much as to say: "Isn't
it shocking" How these dainty, fastidious
Christians in all our churches are going to
get into heaven don't know, unless they
have an especial train Of cars, cushioned and
upholstered, each one car to himselfi They
cannot go with the great herd of publicans
and sinners. o ye, who curl your lip with
scorn at the fallen, tell you plainly, if you
had been surrounded by the same influences,
instead Of sitting to-day amid the cultured,
and the refined, and the Christian, you would
have been a crouching wretch in stable or
ditch, covered with filth and abominationl
1t is not because you are naturally any bet
ter, but because the mercy of God has pro-
tected you. Who are you that, brought up
IN Christian circles, and watched by Chris
tien paIentage, you should be SO hard on the
fallen!
1 think men also are often hindered from
return by the fact that churches are too
anxious about their membership, and too
anxious about their denomination, and they
rush out when they see a man about to give
up his sin and return to God, and ask him
how he is going to be baptized, whether by
sprinkling or immersion, and what kind of
church he is going to join. o, my friendsl it
is poor time to talk about Presbyterian
catechisms, and Episcopal liturgies, and
Methodist lovefeasts, and Baptistries, to
man that is coming out of the darkness of sin
into the glorious light of the gospel. Why,
it reminds me of man drowning in the sea,
and life boat puts out for him, and the man
in the boat says to the man out of the boat:
"Now, if get you ashore, are you going to
live in my street?" First get him ashore,
and then talk about the non-essentials of re-
Iigion Who cares what church he joins, If
he only joins Christ and starts for heavenl
o, you ought to have, my brotheri an
llumined face, and a hearty grip for !
every one that tries to turn from |
book with him, though his designations shake
the book, remembering that he that con-
vertsth a sinner from the error of his way
shall save soul from death, and hide multi |
tude of sins.
Now, have shown you these obstacles be-
cause want you to understand l know all |
the difficulties in the way; but 1 am now to
tell you how Hannibal may scale the Alps, |
and how the shackles may be unriveted, and
how the paths Of virtue forsaken may be
regained.
First Of ell, my brother, throw yourself on
God. Go TO him frankly and earnestly, and
tell him those habits you have, and ask Him
if there is any help in all the resources of ON
nipotent love, to give it to you. Do not go
with a long rigmarole people call prayer,
made up of "ohsn and "ahsn and forever and
forever amensi" Go to God and cry for
helpl helpl helpl and if you cannot cry for
help just look and live 1 remember in the
late war l was at Antietam, and went into
the hospitals after the battle, and l said to a
man: "Vhere are you hurtp He made no
answer, but held up his arm, swollen and
splintered. 1 saw where he was hurt. The
simple fact is, when man has wounded
soul, ell he has to do is to hold it up be-
fore q sympathetic Lord and get it
healed 1t does not take any long prayer.
Just hold up the wound OIL it is no small
thing, when a man is nervous, and weak and
exhausted, coming from his evil ways, to
feel that God puts two omnipotent arms
arms around about him and says: Young
man, will stand by you. The mountains
may depart and the hills be removed, but will
never fail you" And then, as the soul thinks
the news is too good to be true, and cannot
believe it, and looks up in Gods face, God
lifts his right hand and takes oath, an
saying: "As live, saith the Lord
God, I have no pleasure in the death Of him
that dieth."
Blessed be God for such a gospel as thisi
aCut the slices thin,' said the wife to the
husband, cor there will not be enough to go
all around for the children; cut the slices
thin.n Blessed be God there is a full loaf for
Every on4 that wants it; bread enough and