The national leader., 1889-08-31

uuu 10 bne OuUraglng or GOd and my own
soul, / fell" Or the story is: II had hard
work to support my family. | thought that
by one false entry, by one deception, by one
en1bezzlement, might spring out free from
all my trouble; and the temptation came
upon me SO fiercely I could not deliberate.
| did wrong and having done wrong
once, | could not stop" o,
it is the first step that costs; the
second is easier; and the third; and on to the
last. Once having broken loose from the
anchor, 1t is not so easy to tie the parted
strands. How often it is that men are
ruined, for the reason that the temptation
comes from some unexpected quarter. As
vessels lie in Margate Roads safe from south
west winds, but the wind changing to the
northeast, they are driven helpless and go
down. y that God would have mercy upOn
those upon whom there comes the sudden
swoop Of temptation, lest they perish, becom-
ing castaways! castaways!
by talking with sea captains I have found
out also that some vessels come to this cal
amty through sheer recklessness. There are
three million men who follow the sea for
lying. It Is simple fact that the average
of human life on the sea is less than twelve
years. This comes from the fact that men
by familiarity with danger sometimes be-
come reckless-the captain, the helmsnan.
the stolzer, the man on the lookout become
reckless, and in nine out of ten shipwrecks, il
is found that some one was awfuilv
to blame. So l have to tell You that
men are morally shipwrecked through sheer
recklessness There are thousands who do
not care where they are in spiritual things
They do not know which way they are sail
ing and the sea is black with piratical hulks
that would grapple them with hooks of steel
and blindfold them and make them walk
the plank" They do not know what the
next moment may bring forth. Drifting in
their theology. Drifting in their habits
Drifting in regard to gil their future
pations of eternal felicity; but all the time
coming nearer and nearer to dangerous
coast. Some of them are on fire with evil
habit, and they shall burn on the sea- the
charred hulk tossed up on the barren beach.
Many of them with great troubles, financial
troubles, domestic troubles, social troubles;
but they never pray for comfort. With an
aggravation of sin they pray for no pardon.
They do not steer for the lghtship that dances
in. gladness at the raouth Of heavens
harbor; reckless as TO wnere rney
come out, drifting further from God, further
from early religious influences, further from
happiness; and what's the worst thing about
it is, they are taking their families along
with them, and the way one goes, the proba-
bility is they will all go. Yet no anxiety. AS
unconscious Of danger as the passengers
aboard the Arctic one moment before the
Vesta crashed into her. Wrapped up in the
business of the store, not remembering that
soon they must quit all their earthly pos
sessions. Absorbed in their social po-
sition, not knowing that very soon they win
have attended the last levee, and whirled in
the last schottishe. They do not deliberately
choose to beruined; neither did the French
frigate Medusa aim for the Arguin banks
but there it went to pieces. wish I could
wake you up. The perils are SO augmented,
you will die just as certainly as you sit there
unless you bestir yourself Are you willing
to become castaway? You throw out no
oar. You take no surroundings. You watch
no compass. You are not calculating your
bearings while the wind is abaft,
and yonder is long line of foam
bounding the horizon, and you will
be pushed on toward it, and thou
ing in the same direction. Ready about
Down helm! Hard down! Man the life boat
Pull, my lads, pull! "He that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall be sud-
denly destroyed and that without remedy"
But some of you are saying within your
selves: What shall dor Do? Do? Why,
my n brother, do what at any ship does when zen
the sea there is fash and a boom.
You listen and you look. A vessel is
in trouble The distress gun is sounded,
or rocket Is sent up, or q blanket
is lifted, or a bundle of rags-any-
thing to catch the eye of the passing
craft. So If you want to be taken of
the wreck of your sin, you must lift dis
tress signal. The publican lifted the dig
tress signal when he cried: ''God, be
merciful to me sinnerm Peter lifted the
distress signal when he said: Lord, save
me, 1 perishr' The blind man lifted the
distress signal when he said: "Lord, that my
eyes may be opened" The jailer lifted the
distress signal when he said: What must
do to be saved?' And help will never come
to your soul until you lift some signal. You
must make some demonstration give some
sign, make some heaven-piercing outcry for
help, lifting the distress signal for the
churchs prayer, lifting the distress signal
for heavens pardon. Pray Pray! The
voice of the Lord now sounds in your ears:
"In Me is thy help" Too proud to raise
such a signal, too proud to be saved
There was an old sailor humping about in
a small boat in a tempest. The larger vessel
had gone down. He felt he must die. The
surf was breaking over the boat and he said: !:
'sI took off my life belt that it might soon be
over, and l thought somewhat indistinctly
about my friends on shore and then l bid
them good-by like, and / was about sinking
back and giving it up, when / saw bright
star. The clouds were breaking away, and
there that blessed star shonc down on me,
and it seemed to take right hold on me; and
somehow, cannot tell how it was, but some
how, while was trying to watch that star,
it seemed to help me and seemed to lift me-"
o, sinking soul, see you not the glimmer be-
tween the riffs of the storm cloud? That is
the star of hope.
Deathstruck, ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly a star arose,
1t was the star OF Bethlehem!
If there are any here who consider them
selves castaways, let me say God is doing
everything to save you. Did you ever hear
of Lionel Luken2 He was the inventor of the
insubmergible life boat All honor is due to
his memory by seafaring men, as well as by
landsmen. How many lives he saved by his
invention. In after days that invention was
life boat, the Northumberland, ready at