The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-03-29
DIR. TALMAGEIN TIE WEST
REFORMATION FROM EVIL HABITS
HIS SUBJECT IN CHICAGO.

Il
Power in Gods Grace TO Overcome the
| Force of Moral Gravitation-Few Poo
/ pie Understand the Gospel That Is in
| a Hearty Ha,.dshake.
| CHICAGO, March %. The Rev. 7. De
Witt Talnlasse, 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 awake
will seek it yet again. He said:
With ali insight into human nature
such as other man ever reached, Solo,
mon, la 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 saws: when shall / awakei
When shall come out of this horrid
nightmare of iniquity?" But. seized
upon 10y uneradicated habit, and forced
| down hill by his passions, he cries out:
81 will seek it yet again. l will try il
| 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 lfe--complete maps of the voy-
| age, showing all the rocks, the quick
sands. the shoals. But suppose a man
has already made sllipwreck; suppose he
is already off the track; SUPPOSE he has
already gone astray, how is he to get
backa That is field comparatively un-
touched. I 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
|
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, I
give them my right hand and call them
brother. Look up. There Is glorious
and triumphant hope for you yet 1
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 hammered pro-
cession at the news Of your emancipa-
ton. So far as God may help me, I
propose to show what are the obstacles
of your return, and then how you are to
surmount those obstacles.
The first difficulty In the way of your
return 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, 80 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 yearsIsome Of them are pure and
some of them impure. Which the more
easily sticks to your memory2 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 heaven, 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 in the way Of your re-
turn is the power of evil habit. I know
there are those who say it is very easy
for them to give up evil habits. do not
believe them. Here is man given to
intoxication. He knows 1t is disgracing
his family. destroying his property, ruin
ing him, body, mind and soul If that
man. being an intelligent man, and low
ing his family, could easily give up that
habit, would he not do sol 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 it2 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 Ma
CARA, and try to row up stream Take
man given to the habit of using to-
bacco. as most Of you do, and let him
resolve to stop, and he finds it
very difficult. Twenty-one years ago
l quit that habit, and would
as soon dare to put my right hand in the
fire as once TO indulge in it. Whyl Be-
cause it was such u terrible struggle to
get over it. Now, let man be advised
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 q line of figures. He cannot sleep
nights. It seems as if the world has
turned upside down. He feels his bust
ness is going to ruin. Where he was
kind obliging he is scolding and fret
full. The composure that characterized
him has given way to fretful restlessness,
and he has become complete fidget.
What power is it that has rolled a wave
of woe over the earth and shaken a por-
tent iii the heavens? He has tried to stop
smoking. After while he says: 81
doesn't understand my case. I'm
going back to the old habit
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 the
sunset? What enchantment has lifted
world of beauty and joy ON his soul2 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. AMI Lound
with snip cable, and thrown into the track
Of bone breaking Juggernauts. During
the war OF 1912 there was a ship set on
fire just above niagara Falls, and then,
cut loose from its moorings, it-came on