Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-03-26
On, TALMAGE IN THE WEST
REFORMATION FaoM EVIL HABITS
HIS SUBJECT IN CHICAGO.
Power In Gods Grace to OyrrCom. the
Force of Moral Gravitstion--Few People
Understand the Gospel That Is in
Hearty Handshuke.

Understand the Gospel That Is in q
Hearty Handshake.
CHICAGO, March 2j.--The Rev. T. Dewitt
| Talmage. ID. D., pastor OF the Tabernacle
| BROOKLYN, v Y, preached here this morning
| HIS subject was, Reformation from Evil
| Habits and his text, Proverbs xiii, 35
..When shall awakef will seek it YET
again" He said:
With all insight into human nature such
| as no other man ever reached, solomon, i'll
| nv text, sketches the mental operations OF
| one who, having stepped aside from the path
| of rectitude, desires TO return. With a wish
| for something better, be 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: Il
| will seek it vet again | will try ii once
more"
Our libraries are adorned with an elegant
| literature addressed to young men, pointing
Out To them ali the dangers and perilS OF life,
complete maps of the voyage, showing all
| the rocks, the quicksands, the shoals. But
suppose IA man has already made shipwreck
suppose he is already OFF the track; suppose
be has already gone astray, how is he TO set
hack. That is a field comparatively un-
touched. 1 propose 10 address myself this
| evening TO such There are those in this sau'
dieuce wbo, with every passion OF their
agonized soul, are ready to bear this discus.
SION They compare themselves 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 al earnest purpose, yet feeling they are
beyond 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 banquet at Your return and the
hierarchs OF heaven to fall into line of ban
nerei procession at the news o. your emaDci-
patton. So far as God may help me- pro-
pose to show what are the obstacles Of your
return and then how YOU ARE 10 slIrmornt
thoSs obstacles.
The first difficulty in the way Of your re-
turn is the force OF moral gravitation. Just
as there is a natural law which brings down
to the earth anything which YOU throw into
the air, so there i a corresponding moral
gravitatior. In other words, it is easier to
90 down than IL Is to 20 up; It is easier to do
wrong than il is 10 do right. Call TO mind
the comrades Of your boyhood days-Soine of
them good. some of them bad. Which most
affected YOU. Call 10 mind the anecdotes
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
10 your memory. During the years OF your
lifa You have formed certain courses of con-
duct-SOme of them good, some Of them bad.
To which style of habit did you the more
easily yield! Abi my friends, We have 10
take but moment of self inspection To fiud
out that there Is in all our souls a 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 heaven, just sa, by the power
of Gods grace. a soul fallen may be lifted
toward peace, toward pardon, toward heaven.
Force of moral grsvitation in every one OF
us, but power in Gods grace 10 overcome
that force Of moral gravitation.
The next thing in the way of your return is
the power of evil habit I know there arc
those who say it is very easy for them to give
up evil habits do not believe them. Here
IL
is diSgracing his family, destroying his prop
erty, running him, body, mind and soul. IL
that man, being au Intelligent man, and low
ing his family, could easily give up that
habit, would he not do so. The fact that he
does not give it up proves it is hard to giveit
up. 1t is very easy thing TO sail down
stream, the tide carrying you with great
force; but suppose you turn the boat up
stream, is il 30 easy then 70 row It'll As long
as we Yield TO the evil inciina,ions 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
Niagara, and try TO row up stream. Take
man gwen 10 the habit nj using tobacco, as
most OF you do, and let him resolve TO stop.
and he finds it very difficult. Twenty-o
years ago | quit that habit, and l would
as soon dare Ia put mr right hand in the fire
rs once to indulge in it, Why, Because il
WAS such a terribl. struggle to set over it.
Now, let a man be advised by his physician
to give up the use Of tobacco. He goes around
not knowing what TO do with himself He
cannot add up line OF figures. He Cannot
sleep nights. Ii seems as if the world had
turned upside down He feels his business is
going to ruin. Where be was kind and
obIging, he is scoldinS and fretful The com
posure that characterized him has given way
to fretful restlessness and he has become a
fidset. What power is it that has
rolled wave Of woe over the earth and
shaken a porteDt in the heavens! Hr
has tried TO stop smoking. After while
he says: Il am going TO do as l please
The doctor doesAit understand my case
In going back TO the old habit And
he returns, Everything assumes its usual
conposure. His business seems to brighten.
The world becomes an attractive place
to live in. His children, seeing the diff
ference, hail the return OF their fathers genial
disposition. What wave Of color has dashed
blue into the sky, and greenness into the
foliage, and the glow OF sapphire
into the sunsetf What enchaptrnent has
lifted n world Of beauty and joy on lis soul
He has gone back 10 smoking. Oh, the fact
Is, as We ali know in our own experience, that
habit is a tassunnster; as hong as We obey 1t.
il does not chastise US; but let Us resist, and
We find that we are 10 be lashed with scorpion
whips, and bound with ship cable, and thrown
INTO the track of bone breaking Jugsernauts.
,r. fire just above Niagara Falls, and then,
l'Oet lLoni lNs Llooi A,o, " Ou !
iown through the night, and tossed over !
he falls. Ii was said TO have been a |
Gene brilliant beyond all description. Well, |
here are thousands OF men on fire of evil |
labit, coming down through the rapids and |
through the awful night of temptation to- |
ward the eternal plunge. Oh, how hard it
$ TO arrest them. God only can arrest them.
suppose a man after five, or ten, or twenty |
ears of evil doing resolves 70 do right |
Yhy, all the forces of darkness are allied 1
gainst him. He cannot sleep nights. He |
,ets down on his knees in the midnight and !
ries: God help me!n He bites his lips He |
,rinds his teeth. He clenches his fist in de-
ermination to keep his purpose. He dare
lot look al the bottles in the windows Of a
vine stor". Ii is one long, bitter, exhaustive,
and to .and fight with inhamed, tantaliz-
nS and mercilesS habit When he