Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-07-07

recovery. il the surroun iings in this worie
were crowded OF temptation, the surround
inys Of the next worlt. after the righ,eou,
have passed up and on. will be a fhousan
per cent. more crowded OF temptation.
The Coun OF Cha'eaubriand made his tit
tie son sleep at night at the top o. a cas,i,
turret. where the winds howled. and wher
specters were said 70 haunt the place. AM
while the mother and sisters almost dief
with fright the son tells Us that the process,
gave him nerves that could not tra-nble an
courage that never faltered. Bat doni
think that towers Of darkness and the spec.
trail World swept by sironco and euroclysfor
will ever fl one for the land OF eternal sun
shine. wonder what is the curriculum o
that college OF inferno. where. after prop-,
preparation by the sins o. this lie. the can.
dida'e enters. passing on from freshman
class OF depravify 10 sophomor. Of ahan1on
rnenf. and from sophomore to junior. an
from junior TO senior. and dav 0: sraiua-
ton comes. and with diploma signei by
satan. the president. AMI other PROFESSIONAL
denoniacs. aitestin2 that the candidate has
been long enough under their drill. he
passes up TO enter heaven. Pandemoniun
q preparative course for heavenly aimis-
sion! Alb. my frienIs. satan and his cohorts
nave lifted uncount"d millions for ruin. bu,
never ftfe- one sonl for happinessl
| Furthermore, II would not be safe for this
World II men had another cbarra i'm tha
nex'. Iii had been ANNOUNCED that. how
ever wickediy a man might act in this world.
ne "ontd fix II mp all right In the nex.
society would be terribly demoralizad. an |
the human race demolished In a few years.
The fear that II We are bad and unforpiven
here 1t will not be we'll for us in the next ex-
istence Ia the chief influence that keeps civil
izasion from rushing back to semibarhar-
Ism: and semibarbarism from rushing into
mighty sava1ery. and midnight savagery
from extinction. for it ia the astrinpant i'm
preston OF all nations. Christian and
heather. that there is no future chance for
those who have wasted this.
MuNitud"s OF men who are kept within
bounds would say SEC to. now LET me
get all out OF this life there ia in it. Come.
g%luttony and inebriation n uncleanness
and revenge and all sensualities, and wait
upon me. My life may be somewhat short.
ened In this world by dissoluteness. but thar
Will only make heavenly indulgence on a
larger scale the sooner possible. l will over
iak" the saints at last and will enter the
heavenly temple only a little later than
those who behaved themselves here. will
on my way to heaven take "A little wider ex-
'ursion than those who were on earth pious.
and | shall go to heaven via pAhenna and
via sheol." Another chance in the nert
world means free license and wild abandon
ment in this.
suppose you were a party in an important
case at law. and you knew from consultation
with Judges AMI attorneys that it would be
itied twice. and the first trial would be oil
little importance, but that the second would
decide everything. for which trial would You
make the most preparation, for which retain
the ablest attorneys, for which be most anx-
lous about the attendance OF Witnesses? You
would put all the stress upon the second
trial, all the anxiety. all the expenditure.
saying, 'Ihe first is nothing, the last Is
everything. Give the race IN assurance of
"A second and more important trial in the
subsequent life, and all the preparation for
eternity would be post mortem,' post fu-
neral, post sepulchral. and the world with
one jerk be pitched of into impiety and god
lessness.
furthermore, let me ask why a chance
should be given in the next world If we have
refused innumerabie chances In this? SIM
pose you give n banquet, and you invite n
vast number OF friends. but one man de-
ciines to come or treats your invitation with
Indifference. You in the course of twenty
years give twenty banquets, and the same
man Is invited TO them all and treats them all
in the same obnoxious way. After a while
you remove TO another house. larger and bet
ter. and you again invite your friends, but
SEND no Invitation to the nan who declined
or neglected the other invitations.
Are you to blame? Has he a right
TO expect to be invited after all
the indignities he has lone you? God In
this world has invited us all to the BANQUET
OF His grace. He invited US by His proyi-
dence and His spirit 365 days Of every wear
since we knew our right hand from our left.
Ii we declined 1t every time or treated the
invitation with Indifference and gave twenty
or forty or fifty years OF indignity on our
part toward :he %banqueter, and at last He
spreads the banquet In a more luxurious and
v n n n1no0 0~l L~
have we n right to expect Him to invite us
again. and have we a right to blame Him II
he does not invite US?
twelve gates of salvation stood onon
twenty years or fifty, years for our admis- |
sion, and at the end of that time they are
closed. can we complain OF 1t and say |
" These gates ought to be open again. Give
US another chance?" 1.-THE steamer Is TO sail
for Hamburg, and we want to get to Ger |
many by that line, and We read in every |
evening and every morning newspaper that |
II VIII sail on a certain day. for two weeks
have that advertisement before our eyes.
and then We 90 down TO the docks fifteen |
after it has showed OF into the |
stream and say: Come back Give me |
another chance! 1t is not fair to treat me |
IN TINS way. Swing up to the dock again |
and throw out planks and let me come on |
eoard" Such behavior would invite arrest |
As q mailman. |
Auu III. aitef tne SOSpal snip has lain at /
anchor before our eyes for years and wears.
and all the benign voices OF earth and |
heaven have urged US to get on board. as
she might sail way at any moment. and
after awhile she sails witho1 1t us. is it
common sense to expect her to come back? |
You might as we'll so out on the highlands |
nj Navesink and call TO the Majestic after
she has been three days out and expec. her |
10 return as TO call back an opportunity for
heaven when it once has sped away. All
heaven offered US as a gratuity. aud for a
we refuse to take il, and then
rush on the bosses OF Jehovah s buckler de
banding another chance. There ought to
be, there can be. there will be. no such
'hing as posthumous opportunity. Thus
our common sense agrees with my text. III
The tree fall toward the south or toward the
north, in the place where tho tree falIe,h
.here Ii shall be-
lou see this idea lifts this world w f-on
m uninportans way station 10 IA p~ldtu-no
,tfin~adoUs 'sstas IN ~r-4s - |
Thirl around this hour. But one trial for
'nich all the preparation must be made in
MS world or never male at all. That piles
~ all the emphases AMI all the clinaaxes and
II the destinies into life here. No other
nance On. how that augm.uts the vaIu. |
nj Importance offhis chance |