The Penn's Grove record., 1889-09-14

\ y Il y 6hNfftAh L.
tbpt hy one false entry, by n decep
tiou. jv Que embezzlement, l nigh
spring out rec from all my trouble; ant
the temptation came upon me SO herceil
/ could not deliberate. l did wrong
and having done wrong once, L coulC
not stop oh. it Is
THE FIRST STRIP THAT COSTS,
the second IS easier; and the third, ant
ON 10 the last. Once having broker
loose from the anchor, it is not so easy
to tie the parted strands. How often il
is that men are ruined for the reason
that the temptation from some
unexpected quarter! As vessels lie in
Margate Roads, safe from southwest
winds; but the wind changing to the
northeast, they are driven helpless sud
| 90 down. oh that God would have
mercy upon those upon whom there
comes the sudden swoop of temptation.
lest they perish, becoming castawaysl
castawaysi
By talking with sea-captains, j have
found out also that some vessels come 10
this calamity through /
SHEER R-ECKLEssNEss.
There are three million men who follow
| the sea for "a living. 1t is n s mple TACT
| that the average of human life on the
| sea is less than twelve ears. This
| comes from the fact that men by fami-
| liarity with danger som"i mes become
reckless-the captain, ;iie helmsman,
the stoker, the man on the lookout, be-
comes reckless, and ia nine out of ten
| shipwrecks, it is found that is
awfully to blame. so | have totell 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 sailing, and
the sea is black with piratical hulks that
would grapple with them with hooks of
$ eel 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 iii
their habits. Drifting in regard to all
their future. No God, no Christ, no
settled anticipations 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 trou-
bles-fnancial troubles, domestic trou-
bles, social troubles; but they never
pray for comfort. With an aggrava-
ton of sin, they pray for no pardon.
They do not steer for the ligntship that
dances in gladness at the mouth OF
| heavens harb0r; reckless as TO where
they come out, drifting further from
God, further from early religious i'll
fuences, further from happiness; and
what is the worst thing about it is they
are taking their families along with
them, and the way one goes, the prob
ability is they will all go. Yet no an
xiety. As
UNCONSCIOUS OIL DANGER
as the passengers aboard the A1ctic 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 posses
sions. Absorbed in their social posi-
ton, not knowing that very soon they
will have attended the last lCvee, and
whirled in the last schottische. They
do not deliberately choose to be ruined;
neither did the French frigate Medusa
aim for the Arguin banks, but there it
went TO pieces. wish L 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 n castaway? You
throw ont no oar. You take no sound |
ings. You watch no compass. You
are not calculating your bearings while
the wind is abaft, and yonder is a long
line of foam bounding the horizon, and
You will be pushed on toward it, and
thousands have persisted there, and You
are driving i'll the same direction.
Ready about Down helm! Hard down!
Man the liie-boat! Pull, my lads, pull!
she that being often reproved harden
eth his neck, shall be suddenly destroy
ed, and that without remedy"
But some of You are saying within
yourselves: "What shall [ do? Do?.
Why, my brother, do what any ship
does when it is in trouble
LIFT A DISTRESS SIGNAL.
i On the sea there is n flash and a
boom. You listen and you LOOK. A
vessel is in trouble. The distress gun
is sounded, or a rocket is sent up, or a
/, blanket is lifted, or a bundle of rags
, anything to catch the eye of the passing
I craft. So if you want to be taken oil
the wreck of your sin, you must lift a
distress signal. The publican lifted the
distress signal when he cried, "God be
merciful to me a sinnerl' Peter lifted
the distress signal when he said, 'Lord,
! save me, | perish" The blind man
) lifted the distress signal when he said,
Lord. that my eyes may be openedl'
! The jailer lifted the distress signal
when he sad, "What must l do to be
saved?" And help will never come to
| your soul until you lift some signal.
o must make some demonstration,
give some sign, make some heaven
piercing cutlery for help, lifting the dis
J : tress signal for the Church's prayer,
! lifting the distress signal for heavens
pardon. Pray! pray! The voice of the
Lord now sounds in your ears: SIN Me
is the helpI' Too proud to raise such a
signal, to proud to be savedl
) There was an old sailor humping
about in
=, A BOAT IN A TEMPEST.
The larger vessel had gone down. He
} felt he mast die, The surf was break
ing over the boat, and he SAID: 81 took
of my life-belt, that it might 500 be
over, and L thought, somewhat indis-
tinctly, about my friends on shore, and
then l bid them goodbye like, and 1
was about sinking back and giving 1t
up when l saw Albright star. The clouds
we're breaking away, and there that
blessed star shone down on me, and it
seemed to take right hold of me; and
somehow, / cannot tell how it was, but
somehow, 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 between the riffs
of the storm cloud? That Is the star
OF hope.
Deathstruck, | ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly q star arose, .
1t was the star of Bethleheml
If there are any here who consider
themselves castaways, let me say God
is doing everything to save you. Did
you ever hear of Lionel Luken? He
was the inventor of the Interchangeable
life boat. all honor is due to his
I law =