The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-09-05

and destroy all the great lighthouses
ON the dangerous coasts-the Barnegat
lighthouse, the Fastnet Rock light
house, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the
Longship's lighthouse, the Hollyhead
lighthouse-than to put out Gods
great ocean lamp-the Gospel. Woe
to those who swing false lanterns on
the beach till men crash into ruin.
Castawaysl Castawaysl
THE swooP OF THE TEMPEST!
By talking with sea captains l have
heard also that sometimes ships come
10 this calamity by the sudden swoop
OF tempest. For instance, vessel
is sailing along in the East Indies,
and there is not single cloud on the
sky; but suddenly the breeze fresh
ems, and there are swift feet on the
ratlines, and the cry is "Way, haul
away therep but before they can
square the booms and tarpaulin the
hatchways, the vessel is groaning and
creaking in the grip of tornado, and
falls over into the trough of the sea,
and broadside it rolls on to the beach
and keels over, leaving the crew to
struggle in the merciless surf. Cast
awayl Castawayl And so have to tell
you that there are thousands of men
destroyed through the sudden swoop
of temptations. Some great induce
ment to worldliness, or to sensuality,
or to high temper, or to some form OF
dissipation, comes upon them. If they
had time to examine their Bible, If
they had time to consult with their
friends, If they had time to deliberate,
they could stand Il; but the tempta-
ton came SO suddenly-an euroclydon
on the Mediterranean, wEirwind of
the Caribbean One awful surge of
temptation and they perish. And so
we often hear the old story: 81 hadn't
seen my friend in q great many years.
We were very glad to meet. He said
l must drink and he took me by the
arm and pressed me along, and filled
the cup until the bubbles ran ever the
edge, and in an evil moment all my
good resolutions were swept away,
and to the outraging of God and my
own soul, / fell 7" Or the story is: II
had hard work to support my family
thought that by one false entry. by
one deception, by one embezzlement,
might spring out free from all my
trouble; and the temptation came
upon me SO fiercely could not de-
llberate | did wrong and having
done wrong once, could not stop"
y, 1t 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, it 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 southwest
winds; but the wind changing to the
northeast, they are driven helpless and
go down. 0 that God would have
mercy upon those upon whom there
comes the sudden swoop of temptation,
lest they perish, becoming castaways!
castawaysl
THE SIN OF RECKLEssNEss.
By talking with sea captains, have
found out also that some vessels come
to this calamity through sheer reck-
lessness. There are three million men
who follow the sea for q living. 1t is
simple fact that the average of hui
man life on the sea is less than twelve
years. This comes from the fact that
men by familiarity with danger some
times become reclzless-the captain,
the helmsman, the stolser, the man on
the lookout become reckless, and in
nine out of ten shipwrecks, it is
found out that some one was awfully
to blame. So | have to tell you that
men are morally shipwrecked through
| sheer recklessness. There are thou
! sands 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 hullss 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 theo-
logy. Drifting in their habits.
Drifting in regard to all their future.
No God, no Christ, no settled antici-
pations of eternal felicity; but all the
time coming nearer and nearer to a
dangerous coast Some of them are on
fire with evil habit, and they shall
burn on the sea, the charred hulk toss
cd up on the barren beach. Many of
them with great troubles. financial
troubles, domestic troubles, social
troublesi but they never pray for COM
fort. With an aggravation of sin
they pray for no pardon. They do
not steer for the lightship that dances
in gladness at the mouth of heav-
ems harbor; reckless as to where they
come out, drifting further from God,
further from early religious influen-
ces, 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 viii all go. Yet no anx-
iety. AS unconscious of danger as
tho 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 will have attended the last levee,
and whirled in the last schottische.
They do not deliberately choose to be
ruined. neither did the French fri
gate Medusa aim for the Arguin
banks, but there it went to pieces.
wish I could wake you up. The perils
are SO augmented, you VIII die just as
} certainly as you sit there unless you
J bestir yourself. Are you willing to
become a castawaya You throw out no
} oar. You take no surroundings You
watch no compass. You are not cal
: culating 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
sslnds have perished there, and you
are driving In the same direction.
Ready abontl Down helmi Har';
. |
| You listen and you look. A vessel i
in trouble. The distress gun is soupd
ed, or a rocket is sent up, or 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, yoa must lift {
distress signal The publican liftet
, the distress signal when he cried
"God be ruercifll to me a sinner r