The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-21

SIpuiclltIS OF uedu SulpS, QdlhneSS O,VuV
feet deep and more thousands Of feet
long and wide That is the kind of wake
that bad man leaves behind him as
he plows through the ocean of this life
toward the vaster ocean of the great flu
ture.
Fate of the Scofcr.
Now. suppose a man seated in a corner
grocery or business office among clerks
gives himself to jolly skeptieism He
laughs at the bible. makes sport Of the
miracles. speaks of perdtion in jokes and
laughs at revivals as frolic, and at the
passage of a funeral procession. which
always solemnizes sensible people, says,
Boys let's take a drink" There is in
that group young man who is making
great struggle against temptation, and
prays night and morning. and reads his
bible, and is asking God for help day
by day. But that guffaw against Chris
tianity makes him lose his grip OF sacred
things. and he gives up Sabbath and
church and morals. and goes from bad
TO worse, till he falls under designations,
dies In a laZar house and is buried in
the pOtter's field
Another young man who heard that
jolly skepticism made up his mind that
1T makes no difference what we do or
say, Tor VIC VIII all come out at last at
the right place." and began as a consc-
quence To purloin. Some money that
came into his hands for others he applied
TO his own uses. thinking perhaps he
would make il straight some other time.
and all would be well even if he did not
make IT straight. He ends i'm the peni-
Tertiary. That sCoffer who uttered the
jokes against Christianity never realized
what bad work he was doing. and he
passed on through life and out of it and
into a future that / ann not now going to
depict.
l DO not propose with a searchlight to
show the breakers of the awful coast on
which that ship is wrecked, for my bust
ness now is to watch the sea after the
keel has pluwed it, No phosphorescence
in the wake of that ship. but behind 1t
two souls struggling in the wave; two
young men destroyed by reckless Skep-
ticism. an unilumined ocean beneath
and on all sides of them. Blackness Of
darkness.
You know what a glorious good man
the Rev. john Newton was the most Of
his life but before his conversion he was
a very wicked sailor. and on board the
ship Harwich instilled inidelity and vice
i'm the mind of a young man, principles
which destroyed HIM. Afterward the two
met. and Newton tried To undo his bad
work. hut in vain. The young man be-
came worse and worse and died prof
ligate. horrifyiug with his profanities
ments.
Better look out what bad influence you
start. Tor YOU may not be able to stop it,.
1t does not require very great force TO
ruin others. Why was il that many
years ago a great flood nearly destroyed
New Orleans? y crawfish had bur-
rowed into the banks of the river until
the ground was saturated. and the banks
weakened until the flood burst.
The Path That sinner.
But 1 find here a man who starts out
in life with the determination that he
will never see suffering but he will try
10 alleviate it. and never see discourage
ment but he will try to cheer it, and
never meet with anybody bat he viii
try To do him good Getting his strength
from God. he starts from home with high
purpose Of doing all the good he can
possibly do in one day.
Whether standing behind the counter.
or talking I'm the business office with
pen behind his ear. or making a bargain
with a fellow trader, or out in the fields
discussing with his next neighbcr the
wisest rotation of crops, or in the shoe
makers shop pounding the sole leather.
there is something i'm his face. and in his
phraseology, and in his manner that
QtulOllSlt dlt5 tll- tAt VI NriQ III MS
heart. He can talk on religion without
awkwardlv dragging ii i'm by the tars
He loves God and loves the souls of all
whom he meets and is interested in
their present and eternal destiny.
For fifty or sixty years he lives That
kind OF a life and then gets through
with it and goes into heaven a ransomed
soul But / am not going to describe
the port into which that ship has en-
tered. ! am not going 10 describe the
Pilot who met him outside at the tight
ship
am not going TO say anything about
the crowds Of riends who mot him on The
chrystallinc wharVes up which he goes
on steps Of Chrys0praseS. For God i'm
His words 10 job calls me TO look a the
path Of foam in the wake Of that ship
and ] tell YOU 10 is all agieam with splen-
doris Of kindness done and rolling with
illumined tears that were wiped away
and adash with congratulations. and
clear out 10 the horizon in all directions
is the sparkling. flashing. billowing rhos-
phorescence Of Christian life lie
maketh a path to shine after him."
And here / correct one Of the mean
notions which at some time takes pos
session OF all Of us, and that Is as to tie
brevity of human life. When l. bury
some very useful man. clerical or law
i'm his thirtieth or fortieth year, / say:
What waste of energies, II was
for Christian work. for he had 80 soon
To- quit it But the fact is that I may
insure any man or woman who does any
good on large or small scale for life
on earth AS long as the world lasts
Sickness. trolley car accidents. death IT.
self, can no more destroy his life than
they can tear down one Of the rings of
Saturn. You can start one good word
one kind act ono cheerful smile on "A
mission that will last until the world
becomes a bonfire, and out of that blaze
1t viii pass into the heavens never to
halt as long rs God lives.
Influence of Good Deeds.
There were in the seventeenth century
men and women whose names You never
heard Of who are today influencing
schools, colleges. curches. nations You
can no more measure tho gracious re-
suits Of their lifetime than you could
measure the length and breadth and
depth Of the phosphorescencc last night
following the ship Of the White star line
100 miles out ar sea. How the c0ur-
age and conservation Of others inspire us
10 follow. as general i'm the American
army. cool amid the FIXING bullets. in
spired a trembling soldier. who said ar
terWdrd. y was nearly scared To death,
but ] saw tho old mans white mustache
over his shoulder and went on" Aye. we
arc All following somebody either in
right or wrong directions.
few days ago ! stood beside tho gar
landed casket ~ gospel minister and
~ my remarks had occasion to- recall a
snowy night In a farmhouse when / was
a boy and ara evangelist spending night
az my fathers house who said something
$50 tender and beautiful and impressive