The Penn's Grove record., 1889-08-10

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his teeth. He clenches his fist in a de-
termination to keep his purpose. He
dare not look at the bottles in the win
dows OF a wine store. II is one long,
bitter, exhaustive, hand-to-hand fight
with an infiamed, tantalizing, and mer-
CHESS habit. When he thinks he is en-
tirely free , the old inclinations pounce
upon him like a pack of hounds with
their muZzles tearing away at the TANKS
of one poor reindeer. In Paris there is
a sculptured representation of Bacchus,
the god of revelry. He is riding on a
panther at full leap. Oh, how sugges-
tivel Let every one who is speedingon
bad ways understand he is not riding q
docile and well:broken steed, but he is
riding a monster, wild and blood-thirsty,
going at q death leap.
How many there are who resolve on q
better life, and say: "When shall l
but, seized on by their old
habity, cry: 81 will try it once more:
l will seek it yet againl" Years ago,
there were some Princeton students
who were skating, and the ice was very
thin, and some one warned the company
back from the air hole, and finally
warned them entirely to leave the
place. But n young man with braya-
do, after all the rest had stopped, cried
out: "One round more!" He swept
around, and went down, and was
brought out a corpse. My friends,
there are thousands and tens OF thous-
ands OF men losing their souls in that
way, 1t is the zone round more"
l have also to say that if man wants
to return from evil practices,
SOCIETY REFUSES HIM.
Desiring to reform, he says: "Now !
will shake off my old associates, and !
will find Christian companionship."
And he appears at the church door some
Sabbath day, and the usher greets him
with a look as much as to say: "Why,
you here? You are the last man / ever
expected to see at church, Come, take
this seat right down by the door," in
stead of saying: "Good morning; ! am
glad to see you here. Come;I will give
you a first-rate seat, right up by the
pulpit" Well, the prodigal, not yet
discouraged, enters a prayer-meeting,
and some Christian man, with more
zeal than common sense, says: "Glad
to see you; the dying thief was saved,
and l suppose there is mercy for YOU"
THE DUN MAN, DIsaUsTED,
chilled, throws himself on his dignity.
resolved he will never enter into the
house of God again. Perhaps not q
fully discouraged about reformation, he
sidles up by some highly respectable
man he used to know, going down the
street, and immediately the respectable
man has an errand down some other
street. Well, the prodigal, wishing to
return, takes some member of a Christ
ian association by the hand, or tries to.
The Christian young man looks at him,
looks at the faded apparel andthe marks
of dissipation; instead of giving him a
warm grip Of the hand, he offers him
the tip ends of the long fingers of the
left hand, which is equal TO striking a
man IN the face! Oh, how few Christ
ian people understand how much force
and gospel there is in a good honest
Misunderstanding! Sometimes, when you
have felt the need of encouragement,
and some Christian man has taken you
heartily by the hand, have you not felt
thrilling through every fibre of your
body, mind, and soul an encouragement
that was just what you needed? You do
not know anything at all about this I'M
less you know when a man tries to re-
turn from evil courses he runs against
REPULsIoNs NNUMERABLE.
We say of some man, he lives a block
- a,o tla ahnrI or ha1f n ra.1o
from the church. There are people in
our crowded cities who live a thousand
miles from church. Vast deserts of in
difference between them 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 il
there come to the house of God q man
with marks of dissipation upon him,
people almost throw up their hands in
horror, as much as to say: "Isn't il
shockingl" How these dainty, Jastid-
ious Christians in all our churches are
going to get to heaven, 1 don't know,
unless they have an especial train of
cars, cushioned and upholstered, each
one a car to himself. They cannot go
with publicans and sinners.
OH We who curl your lip OF scorn at
the fallen, l tell you plainly, if you had
been surrounded by the same influences,
instead of sitting to-day among the cul-
tured, and the refined, and the Christ
ian, o would have been d crouching
wretch in stable or ditch, covered with
filth and abomination. 1t is not be.
cause 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 parentage you should be SC
hard on the fallen?
/ think men also are often hindered
from return by the fact that churches
are too anxious about their member
ship, and too anxious about their de-
nomination, and they rush out when
they see a man about to give up his sir
and return to God, and ask him how he
is going to be baptised, whether by
sprinkling or immersion, and what kind
OF q church he is going to Join. Oh,
my friends, it is
A POOR TIME TO TALK
about Presbyterian catechlsms, and
Episcopal liturgies, and Methodist love.
feasts, and baptisteries to a man that is
coming out of the darkness of SIN into
the glorious light of the Gospel. Why,
it reminds me of a man drowning in
the sea, and a life-boat puts out for
him, and the man in the boat says to
the man out of the boat: "Now, if
get you ashore, are you going to live on
my street," First get him ashore, and
then talk about the non-essentials of re-
ligion. Who cares what church he
Joins, if he only joins Christ and starts
for heaven? Oh! you ought to have,
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 dis.
si~pations shake the book, remembering
that she that converteth a sinner from
the error of his ways shall save q soul
from death and hide a multitude Of
sins"
Now, l have shown you these OBJ
stacies because / want you to under
stand I know all the difficulties in the
but l am now to tell you how Han
nibal may scale the Alps, and how
THE sHAcKLEs MAY BE UsRrvETED,
and how the paths of virtue forsaken
may be regained. First OF all, my