The Forrest City times., 1888-09-22
MAKE A CHAIN"
@ASHAMeNTAl DAY AT THE
 TABERNACLE.

osotoing and Instructive Theme, ''Tha Shain of Irhuences"-The Needs of Earlv Iraining Graphically Portrayed.
 bhooKLrN September 16-Todav was sSefamental day at the Tabernacle. and in. move than four thousand communleap, meuoers were joined by thousands from all parts oi this country and from other lands in u,e. rue sacred eommemorat'on. The Rev. T De- "'' iannage, ID. D-, preached from Ezekiel VII ~o' Make champ He said:
 Al sehool and in college in announcing the ,neehahleai powers, We glorlded the "Fer' tne pulley, the inclined plane the scteN, the axle and the wheel, but my text calls us to study the philosophy of the chain. lhese links of metal, one with another. at. raeted the old Bible authors, and we hear tbe chain rattle and see its coil all the way through from Genesis to Revelation. flashing as an adornment, or restraining as in cap. tiylty, CT holding in conjunction as fin case of machinery. To do him honor, Pharaoh hung senalh oi gold about the neck of Daniel. The nigh priest had on his breast.plate two GDalhs oi gold. On the camels, necks as the isnnaeiltes drove up to Gideon, jngled chains of gold.
 The Bible refers to the Church as having sueh glttering adornments, saving; Thy neck IS comedy with chains of gold.n On the other hand, chain means captivity. David ths psalmiss exaits that power had been gwen over his enemies. to bind their kings With chains" The old missionary apostle erles out: For the hope of Israel, 1 am pound with this chain.n In the prison where Peter is inesreerated, you hear one up great crash at the fsiiing of or ms chains St. John saw an angel come uown From Heaven to manacle the DOW. CTS of darkness, and having "a great chain 10 ms hand, aud the fallen angels are repre- sented as reserved in everlasting chaits while in my text for the arrest and limjtstion oI the lnlqulty of his time, Ezekiel thunders oult Make chainln
 what wish to impress upon myself and upon you is the strength in right and wrong uneetions, ol consecutive forces, the superior power or a chain Of influences above one iu- nuence, the great advantage of congeries oi hnks above one link and in all family govA ernment and in all effort to rescue others and ID all attempt to stop iniquty take the sug- gestion oi my text and make chain
 mat which contains the greatest impor- tance, that which encoses the most tremend. Ous opportunities, that which of earthly things Is most watched by other worlds, that when has beating against it's two sides all the eternltles, Is the cradle. The grave is nothing In importance compared with it, for that is only gully that we step across in a second. put the cradle has within 1t new eternity. just born and never to cease When three or four years ago the Ohio River overlowed US banks and the wild freshets swept down Wlth them harvests and cities one day was found floating on the bosom of the waters a cradle with child in 1t all unhurt, wrapped up snug and warm, and Its blue eyes looking Into the blue of the open heavens. It was mentioned as something extraordlnary But every cradle is with It's young passepger -W " sfrr FoN.fa of q deep calling to deep, 0hios and St Law rences and Mississippis of influence bear ing 1t onward. Now what shall be done with this new life recently iauncheds Teach him sn evening Wayeri That is important, but not enough. Hear him as soon as he can recite some gospel hymn or catechismi That Is important, but not enough Every Sabbath afternoon read him a Bible storyi mat Is important but not enough. Once in while lesson, once in while A prayer, once In while a restraining infuencel All these are important but not enough. Each one Of these influences Is oniy link, and it will not hold him in the tremendous emer- gencles of life. Let it be constant instruc- iion, constant prayer constant application or good influences, long line of consecutive Impressions reaching from his frs year to his fifth, and from his fifth year to his tenth, and from his tenth year to his twentieth Wake a ehainln
 spasmodic education paroxysmal dlscl- Y, V. You can as easily hold an anchor by one link as hold child 10 the right by isolated and intermittent faithfulness The example must connect with the instruction. The conyersa- ton must combine with the actions. The weekday consistency must cOnioin with the Sunday worship Have family prayers by all means; but be petulant and inconsistent and unreasonable in your household and your family prayers will be blasphemous farce. So great in our times are the temptations of young men to dissipation, and young women 10 social follies, that 1t is most important that the first eighteen years of their life be charged with a religious power that will hold them when they get out of the harbOr of home into the stormy ocean of active life. There is such thing as mpressing children so powerfully with good, that sixty years will have no more power to efface it than sixty minutes. What rough time that young man has in doing wrong, carefully nurtured as he was His father and mother have been dead for years, or over in Scotland, or England or Ireland: but they have stood in the doorway of every dram-shop that he entered and under the chandelier of every house of dissipation, saying; "Ny son, this is no place for you. Have you forgotten the old folksl Don't you recognize these wrinkles, and this stoop in the shoulder, and this tremulous hand! Go home, my boy, go homei By the God to whom we consecrated you, by the cradle in which we rocked you, by the grass grown graves in inc old country churchyard, ty the heaven where we hope yet to meet you, go homel Go home my boy, go homew And some Sunday you will be surprised to find that young man suddenly asking for the prayers of the church. Some Sunday YOU will see him at the sacrament aud perhaps drinking from the same kind of chalice that the old folks drank out of years ago when they com memorated the sufferings of the Lord Yes, my lad, you do not have such fun in sin as you seem to have. l know what spells your fun. You cannot shake oil the influences of those prayers long ago offered, or of those kind admopitions. You cannot make them go away, and you feel like saving; Father, what are you doing herei Mother, why do you bother me with suggestions of those old en timesp but they will not go away They will push you back from your evil paths, though they have to come down from their shining homes in heaven and stand in the very gates of hell, and their backs scorehed Of the fiery blast and with their hand on your shoulder, and their breath on your brow, and their eyes looking straight into yours, they will say: "We have come to take you home, 0, son of many anxietiesw At last that young man turns through the consecutive influences of a pious pareDtage, who out of prayers and facilities innumerabe, made chain. That is the chain that pulls nightly this morning on five hundred Of you. You may be too proud 10 shed tear, and you may. to convince others of your mperturbil- ity. smile to your friend beside you, but there Is not SO much power in an Alpine avalanche after 1t has slipped for a thousand feet and having struck lower elf is taking its second bound for fifteen hundred feet more of plunge, as there is power in the chain that pulls you this moment toward God and Christ and Heaven. 0hl the almighty pull Of the long chain of early gracious influences
 But all people between thirty and forty years of age, yes, between forty and hfty- ave. between fifty and sixty years, and all septuagenarans as well, need surrounding couiunetion of good influences. In Sing Sing, Auburn, MoysmeHsing, and all the other great prisons. are men end women who went wrong in mid life and old age. We need around us cordon Of good influences. We forget to apply the welLknown rule that chain Is no stronger than it's weakest link II inc chain be made up of thousand links and nine hundred and nneiy-nlne are strong, but one is weak the chain will be in danger or hreaking at that one weak link. We may be strong in a thousand excellences and yet have one weakness which cndsngers us. That Is inc reason that we sometimes see men dls- tingulshed for whole round of virtues col lapse and go down. The weak link in the otherwise stout chain gave way under the pressure. ,. e..
 The first chain bridge was built in Scot land. Walter Scott tells how the French imi- tsted 1t in a bridge across the river Seine. But .I~ -nfa in hat