The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-03-29
DR.. TALMAGE In THE WEST
REFORMATION FROM EVIL HABITS,n
HIS SUBJECT IN CHICAGO.

HIS SUBJECT IN CHICAGO.
Power in Gods Grace to Overcome the
Force of Moral Gravitation-Few Peo-
pie Understand the Gospel That Is in
a Hearty Handshake.
CHICAGO, March 25.-The Rev. T. De-
Wit Talmage, DID,, pastor Of the Taber-
nacle, Brooklyn, N. Y, preached here
this evening. His subject was: "Refor-
nation from Evil Habits" and his text,
Proverbs xiii, 35: when shall awake2
/ will seek it yet again." He said:
With an insight into human nature
such as no other man ever reached, Solo
mon, in my text, sketches the mental
operations of one who, having stepped
aside from the path of rectitude, desires
to return. With wish for something
better, he says: "When shall / awake?
When shall come out of this horrid
nightmare of iniquity?' But. seized
upon by uneradicated habit, and forced
down hill by his passions, he cries out;
81 will seek it yet again. will try it
once more"
Our libraries are adorned with an ele-
CANT literature addressed to young men,
pointing out to them all the dangers and
perils of life-complete maps of the voy=
age, showing all the rocks, the quick
sands, the shoals. But suppose man
has already made shipwreck; suppose he
is already of the track; suppose he has
already gone astray, how is he to get
back2 That is field comparatively un-
touched. / propose to address myself
this evening to such. There are those in
this audience who, with every passion of
their agonized soul, are ready to hear
this discussion, They compare them-
selves with what they were ten years
ago, and cry out from the bondage in
which they are incarcerated. Now, If
there be any in this house, come with an
earnest purpose, yet feeling they are be-
yond the pale of Christian sympathy, and
that the sermon can hardly be expected
to address them, then, at this moment,
give them my right hand and call them
brother. Look up. There Is glorious
and triumphant hope for you yet.
sound the trumpet of gospel deliverance.
The church is ready to spread a banquet
Mt your return and the hierarchs of
heaven to fall into line of hammered pro-
cession at the news of your emancipa-
ton. So far as God may help me, l
propose to show what are the obstacles
of your return, and then how you are to
surnount those obstacles.
The first difficulty in the way Of your
return is the force Of moral gravitation
Just as there is q natural law which
brings down to the earth anything which
you throw into the air, 30 there is cor
responding moral gravitation. In other
words, it is easier to go down than it is
to go up; it is easier to do wrong than it
is to do right. Call to mind the comrades
of your boyhood days-some of them
good, some of them bad, Which most
affected you2 Call to mind the anec-
dotes that you have heard in the last five
or ten years-some of them are pure and
some of them impure. Which the more
easily sticks to your memorya During
the years of your life you have formed
certain courses of conduct-some of them
good, some of them bad. To which style
of habit did you the more easily yield?
All! my friends, we have to take but a
moment of self inspection to find out
that there is in all our souls force of
moral gravitation. But that gravitation
may be resisted. Just as you may pick
up from the earth something and hold it
in your hand toward heayen, just so by
the power Of Gods grace soul fallen
may be lifted toward peace, toward par
don, toward heaven. Force of moral
gravitation in every one of us, but power
in Gods grace to overcome that force of
moral gravitation.
The next thing i4 the way of your re-
turn is the power OF evil habit. know
there are those who say it is very easy
for them to give up evil habits. lido not
believe them. Here is a man given to
intoxication. He knows it is disgracing
his family, destroying his property, ruin
ing him, body, mind and soul. II that
man, being an intelligent man, and loy-
ing his family, could easily give up that
habit, would he not do soa The fact
that he does not give it up proves it is
hard to give it up. It is a very easy
thing to sail down stream, the tide carry
| ing you with great force; but suppose
| you turn the boat up stream, is it SO easy
then to row ita AS long as we yield to
| the evil inclination in our hearts and our
| bad habits, we are sailing down stream +;
but the moment we try to turn, we put
our boat in the rapids just above Mia
gara and try to row up stream. Take
q man given to the habit Of using to.
bacco, as most OF you do, and let him
resolve to step, and he finds it
very difficult. Twenty=ons years ago
1 quit that habit, and | would
as soon dare to put my right hand In the
fire as once to indulge in it. Whyg Be-
cause it was such terrible struggle to
by his physician to give up the use of to-
| bacco. He goes around not knowing
| what to do with himself. He cannot
add up line Of figures. He cannot sleep
nights. 1t seems as if the world has
turned upside down. He feels his busi-
ness is going to ruin. Where he was
kind and obliging he is scolding and fret
| full The composure that characterized
him has given way to fretful restlessness,
and he has become q complete fidget.
What power is it that has rolled Q waye
| of woe over the earth and shaken por-
tent in the heavens? He has tried to stop
smoking. After a while he says: 81
am going to do as please. The doctor
doesn't understand my case. Tm
going back to the old habit. y
And he returns. Everything assumes its
usual composure. His business seems to
brighten. The world becomes an at
tractive place to live in. His children,
seeing the difference, hail the return OF
their fathers genial disposition. What
wave of color has dashed blue into the
sky, and greenness into the mountain
foliage, and the glow of sapphire into tbs
sunset? What enchantment has lifted !
world of beauty and joy on his soul? He
has gone back to smoking. Oh, the fact
is, as we all know in our own expert
ence, that habit is taskmaster; as long
as we obey it, it does not chastise us; but
let us resist, and we find we are to be
dashed with scorpion whips, and bound