The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-13


enemy. In the strength Of Christ go for
ward. God is for you, and IL God be for
you, who can be against you? Remember
that God never puts you in battle but he
gives you weapons with which to fight"
My second word of counsel TO those who
have recently entered upon Christian life
is; Abstain from all perLicious associa
tions; and take only those that are useful
and benehcent. Stay out of all associa-
tions that would damage your Christian
character. Take only those associations
that will help you. A learned man said {:
"If stay with that man Fenelon any
longer / shall get to be q Christian In spite
of myself" In other words there is a
mighty power in Christian associations.
Now, what kind OF associations shall We as
young Christians, seek sfteri / think we
ought to get in company better than ours
selves, never going into company worse
than ourselves. II we get into company
little better than ourselves and there are
ten people in that company, ten chaEces to
one we will be bettered II we get into
company little worse than ourselves, and
there lie ten people in that company, ten
chances to one we will be made worse than
we were before.
Now, when a young Christian enters the
church, God does not ask him to retire from
the world. The anchorite that lives on
acorns is no nearer heaven than the man
who lives on partridges and wild duck.
Isolation is not demanded by the Bible. A
man may use the world with the restriction
of not abusing it But just as soon as you
find any surroundings pernicious to your
spiritual interest, QUIT those associations.
This remark is more especially appropriate
TO the young. Now it is impossible that the
young and untroubled should seek their
associations with those who are aged and
worn out. AS God intended the aged to
associate with the aged, talking over the
past and walking staff in hand along the
same paths they trod, thirty, forty and fifty
years ago, so l suppose he intended the
young chiefly TO associate with the young
The grace of God does not demand that
we be unnatural / do not want you to
take this caution l have given you as
that of a growing misanthrope. hating
hilaTity. For you must have a spring bow
if you want to make the arrow fly. But
while this is so, l want you TO be especially
on guard in this matter, and let the reli gion
of Jesus Christ control you in all your asso-
Citations ! know young people who have
meant well enough, but they have floated
off into evil influences and they have asso-
ciated day by day with those who hated
God and despised his commandments, and
their characters are all depleted. l can see
they are changed for the worse, but they
are not aware of it. o, young man. come
out of that bad association. do not know
what 1t is. do not know to what place you
may have a private key. l do not know to
what place you 90 without the sanction of
those who love you very much. do not
pretend to point out any evil influences,
but are there not some surrounding in
fiuences that are pernicious to your
growth in grace9 Stand back from that
furnace in which so many young Christians
have been destroyed. In this church there
is a large company of young men and young
women consecrated TO Christ. l know OF
no better people than they are. Young
convert, invite you into their friendship.
Contact with them will elevate you. All
hail, young followers of Jesus Christ, my
Joy and my pridel My heart thrills at every
step Of your advancement. | talked with
you in that hour when you first tried to
break from sin, and now rejoice as see
you putting on the arnor Of conflict in
which God will give you present and ever
lasting victory. Stand off from all evil asso-
Citations. A man is no better than the COM
pany he keeps. Go among those who are bet
ter than you are, and you will be made
better Go among those who are worse
than you are and you will be made worse.
My next word of counsel is that you be
actively employed. / see great many
Christians with doubts and perplexities
aud they seem to be proud of them. Their
entire Christian life is made up Of gloom,
and they seem to cultivate that spiritual
dependency, when | will undertake to say
that in nine. cases out of ten spiritual de-
spondency is a Judgment of God upon idle
ness. Who are the happy people in the
church to-day? The busy people. Show
me man who processes the religion of
Jesus Christ aud is Idle, and 1 will show
you an unhappy man. The very first pre-
scripuon that give to a man when 1 find
him full Of doubts and fears about his eter-
nal interest is to go to work for God.
Ten thousand voices are lifted up.
asking for your help. Go and help.
Here is wood full Of summer in.
scots. An axman goes into the
wood to cut firewood. The insects do not
bother him very much, and every stroke of
the ak make them fly away. But let
man go and lie down there and he is bitten
and mauled, and thinks 1t is a horrible
thing to stay in the wood. Why does he
not take an ak and 20 to work2 So there
are thousands of Christians now In the
church who go out amid great annoyances
in hfe-they are not perplexed, they are all
the time busy; while there are others who
do nothing and they are stung and stun1
and covered from head to foot with the
blotches of incidence and inactivity, and
spiritual death.
The first thing, then. you have to do, o
Christian young man, Christian young
woman, is to go to work In the service OF
the Lord If you want to be happy Chris
tian. When an army goes out there are
always stragglers falling of here and there,
some because they are faint and sick, but a
great many because they are afraid to fight
and too lazy to march. After awhile the
lazy men on the road hear the booming of
the guns for hours, and they hear the shout
OF victory, and man on horseback comes
up and says: I'VE have won the dayIo
Then they hasten up. How brave they are
after the battle is over. Poor at fighting
but grand at 'huzza" So there are stray
glers going after the Lords host. There
come days Of darkness and battle Where
are theys We call the roll of the host.
They make no answer, but after awhile
there conner day Of triumph in the church.
and they are all about "Huzza! huzzai
Didn't we give 1t TO themm
l have another word of counsel to give
those who have just entered Christian life,
and that N. be faithful In prayer. You
might as we'll, business man, start out in
the morning without food and expect to be
strong all that day-you might as well alb
stain from food all the week and expect to
be strong physically, as TO be strong with
out prayer. The only way to get any
strength into the soul is by prayer and the
only difference between that Christian that
Is worth everything and that who is worth
nothing is the fact that the latter does not
pray and the other does. And the only
difference between this Christian who is
getting along very fast in the holy life, and
this who is only getting along tolerably ia
that the first prays more than the last. You