Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-08-02

with intiamed, tantalyzing and merciless
habit. When he thinks he is entirely
free, the old inclinations pounce upon
him like pack of hounds with Their
muzzles tearing away ut the TANKS OF
one poor reindeer. In Paris there is 8
sculptured representation Of Bacchus,
the god of revelry. He is riding en- a
panther at full leap. Oh, how sugges-
tive! Let every one who is speeding on
bad ways understand he is not riding a
docile and we'll broken steed, but he is
riding monster. wild and bloc dthisty,
going at a death leap.
How many there are who resolve on a
better life and say: when shall I
awaken" But, seized on by their old
habi is, cry: Il will try it once more; 1
will seek it yet again!" Years ago there
were some Princeton students who were
skating, and the ice was very thin, and
some one warned the company bac k
from the air hole, and finally warned
one young man, with bravado, after all
the rest had stopped, cried out: cone
round more!" He swept around and
went down, and was brought out q
corpse. My friends, there are thousands
and tens Of thousands of men losing
their souls in that Way. 1t is the one
round more.
1 have also to. say that if man wants
to return from evil practices society re-
pulses him. Desiring to reform he says,
Now. will shake off my old associates.
and I will find Christian companion
ship" And he appears at the church
greets him with look, as much us to
say, why, you here? You are the
last man lever expected to see at church.!
Come. take this seat right down by the
door!" Instead of saying, Good morn
ing; 1 am glad you are here. Come;
will give you a irst-rate seat, right up
by the pulpit" Well. the prodigal, not
yet discouraged, enters the prayer meet
ing, and some Christian man with more
zeal than common sense, says, Glad to
see you. The dying thief was saved,
and 1 suppose there is mercy for you!"
The young man, disguised, chilled,
solved he never will enter the house of
God again. Perhaps not quite fully dis
courased about reformation, he sides up
by some highly respectable man he used
to know going down the street, anu i'm
mediately the respectable man has an
Grand down some other street! Well,
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 dissipa-
ton, 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 man in the
face.
Oh, how few Christian people under
stand how much force and gospel there
is in good, honest handwriting!
\ of w how ok ho
of encouragement and some Christian
man has taken you heartily by the hand.
have you not felt that thrilling through
every fiber of your body, mind and soul,
an encouragement that was Just what you
needed? You do not know anything at
all about this unless you know when q
man tries to return from evil courses of
conduct, he runs against repulsions in
Vulnerable. We say of some man, he
lives block or two from the church or
half q mile from the church. There are
people in our crowded cities who live
thousand miles from the church. Vast
and the house of God. The fact is, we
must keep our responsibility, though
thousands and tens of thousands perish.
Christ sat with publicans and sinners.
But if there comes to the house of God
man with marks of dissipation upon
him, people throw up their hands in
horror, as much as to say, Isn't it shock
ing?" 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 a
car to himself! They cannot go without
Oh, ye, who curl your lip of scorn at
the fallen, I tell you plainly, if you had
been surrounded by the same influences,
instead of sitting to-day amid the Gull
tured and the refined and the Christian,
you would have been q crouching wretch
in stable or ditch, covered with filth and
abomination! 1t is not because you are
naturally any better, but because the
mercy of God has protected you. Who
are you, that brought up in Christian
circles, and watched by Christian parent
age you should be SO hard Oh the fallen?
think men also are often hindered
from return by the fact that church are
too anxious about their membership and
too anxious about their denomination,
and they rush out when they see man
about to give up his sin and return to
God, and ask him how he is going to
be baptiz ed, whether by sprinkling or
by immersion, and what kind of church
he is going to join. oh. my friends! it
is poor time to talk about Presbyterian
catechisms, and Episcopal liturgies. and
Methodist love feasts, and baptisteries
to man that is coming out of the dark
ness of sin into the glorious light of the
Gospel. Why, it reminds NE of man
drowning in a sea and lifeboat puts
out for him, and the man in the boat
says to the man out of the boat: Now,
if I get you ashore, are you going to live
in my street,, First get him ashore,
and then talk about the non essentials
of religion. Who cares what church lie
joins. if he only joins Christ and starts
for Heaven? Oh, you ought to have,
my brother, an illumined face. and
hearty grip for every one that tries to
turn from his evil way! Take hold of
the same book with him, though his
designations shake the book. remember
ing that he that converteth n sinner
from the error of his ways shall save
soul from death, and hide multitude of
sins.
Now, I have shown you these obsta-
Giles because want you to understand
know all the difficulties in the way: but
am now to tell you how Hannibal may
scale the Alps, and how the shackles
NAV be unrivited, and how the maths Of