The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-08-02


esties In the vesfibule OF the church ms they
go In and sit at the communion. Having con-
cluded the sacrament they get up, wips the
wine from their lips, go out and take up
their sins where they let of. To ssrvs the
devil Is their regular work to servs Col, a
sort OF play spell. With n Sunday sponge
they expect to wipe of from their business
slate all the past weeks Inconsistencies. You
have no more right to take such mans life
as n specimen OF religion than you have TO
take the twisted irons and split timbers that
lie on the beach Mt Coney Island rs a speci-
men OF an American ship. II IL time that we
drew line between religion and the frail-
ties of those who profess It.
Again, there may be some OF you who. In
the attempt after n Christian life, will have
TO run against powerful passions and APP
petites. Perhaps II Is disposition 10 anger
that you have to contend against, and per-
haps, while In very serious mood, you
hear OF something that makes you feel that
you must swear or die. know OF Chriz.
tian man who was once so exasperatei that
he said TO mean customer, al cannot swear
nt you myself, for 4 am n member OF the
church, but II you will go down stairs my
partner In business will swear at you" All
your good resolutions heretofore nave been
torn to tatters by explosions OF temper.
Now, there Is no harm in getting mad IL you
only get mad Mt sin. You need to bride
and saddle these hot breathed passions, and
with them ride down injustice an 4 wrong.
There nre thousand thin0a In tha world
that We ought to be mad ut. There is no
harm In getting redhot IL you only bring to
the forge that which needs hammering. A
man wno has no power OF righteous indig-
nation is an imbecile But be sure II is n
righteous indignation aud not a petulancy
that blurs and unravels aud depletes the
soul.
There Is n largo class OF persons in midllie
who have still IN them appetites that were
aFata afsH i'm urik atRs.r.A
tney prldcd themselves on being little,
fast, ;" "high livers " ''iree and easy" ''haii
fellows well met They are now paying In
compound interest lor troubles they collect.
ed twenty years ago. Some OF you are try.
ing TO escape. anu yoe viii, YET very mar
rowly, "is with the skin OF your teeth"
God and your own soul only know what the
struggle Is. Omuipotent grace has puilcd
Out many soul tnut was deeper IN the
miro than You arc. They line tho roach oi
heaven. tho mutitrln whom Go has res-
cued from the thrall OF suicidal habits. II
You this dny turn your hacS on the wrong
and start anew. Go will help YOU. Oh, the
weakness OF human help! Men will sym.
pathize for n while AMI then turn YOU on.
II YOU asS Tor their parlon, they will give
II and say they will try you again; but. fall
ing away again under the power 81 t"mptG-
ton. they cast Won OF forever. But Col
forgives seventy times sevsn-van. seven
hundred times-va,. though this he the ten
thousandth time Hc is moro earnest. more
sympathetic, more hepful this last time than
when you took your first misstep.
II. With AL the influences favorable for n
right life. men make so MANY mistakes, how
much harder II IL when. for instance. some
appetite thrusts it's iron grapple into the
roots Of the tongue anil pulls n man down
with hands OF destruction II unlqr such
circumstances he break away, therB will bo
no sport in the undertaking. no holiday en-
ioymont, but struggle In which tho wres-
tiers move from side TO side AMI beni and
twist and watch for an opportunity to get in
heavier stroke until. with one final effort.
In which the muscles are distondei. and tho
veins start out. and the blood starts. the
swarthy habit falls under the knee OF the
victor-cscaped at last as with tho skin OF his
teeth.
In the last day Il will be found that Hugh
1atimer and John Knox and Huss and Rid
ley were not tho greatest martyrs, but Ch-iis-
tian men who went up incorrupt fropi the
communications and perplexities OF Wall
street. Water street. Pearl street. Broai
street, State street. Third street. Lombard
street md the hogrse, On earth thoy were
called brokers or stock 10 bbars or retailers 81
importers, but In heaven Christian heroes.
No fagots were heaped about their feet. no
inqnsition demanded from them recanta
tion, no soldier aimed a spike at their heart,
but they hal mental tortures, compared
Win Wnlcn All pUystchl CONSUMING u " kue
breath OF spring morning
l find In the community n large class OF
men who have been so cheated, so lied about,
so outragrously wrongei that they have lost
faith in everything. Ina world whers every
thing seems so topsy turvy thev 10 not SEQ
how there can be any God. They are con-
founded and frenzied and misanthropic.
Elaborate argument to prove to them the
truth OF Christianity or thetruth OF anything
else touches them nowhere. Hear me, all
such men | preach TO YOU no rounded
periods. no ornamental discourse, but put
my hand on your shoulder AMI invite you
into the peace Of tho gospel. Here is rock
on which you may stand firm. though the
waves dash against II harder than the At
lan'ic, pitching its surf clear above Eidy-
stone lighthouse. Do not charge upon God
all these troubles OF the world. "A long ns
the world stuck 10 God. God stuck 10 tho
world but the earth scceded from His gov
eminent. and hence all these outrtgrS and
all these woes. God ia good. For many
hundreds OF years He has been coaNing the
world 10 come back TO Him. but the more IIe
has co9xed the more violent have men been
in their resistance, and they have stepped
back and stepped back until they have
dropped into ruin.
Try this God, ye who have had tho blood
hounds after you, and who have thought
that God had forgotten you. Try Him and
soc II He will not help. Try Him ana see II
He will not pardon. Try Him and see II He
will not save. The flowers OF snring have
no bloom so sweet rs the Towering OF Christs
affections. The sun hath no warmth CON-
pared with the glow OF His heart. The
waters have no rsireshment like the foun-
tain that will slake the thirst oil thy soul. At
the moment ths reindeer stands with MS lip
and nostril thrust into the cool mountain tor
rent the hunter may be coming through the
thicket. Without cracking a stick under
his foot he comes closo by the stag, aims his
gun, draws the trigger, and the poor thing
rsars in Its death agony and falis backward,
its antlers crashing on the rocks but the
painting heart thar drinks from the water
brooks of Gods promise shalt never be Ia
tally wounded and shall never die.