Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-05-08

get you just where you ara. 1t Is hard for
you now; It will be worse for you amer
dinch or shudder. Come, now, I will tear
OIL from you the last rag Of expectation.
will rend away from your soul the last hope.
will leave you bare for the beating Of the
storm. It Is my business to strip the slain. )"
You are fastening on toward tie consum-
nation Of all that Is sad. To-day you stop and
think, but 1t Is only for moment, and then
You will tramp on, and at the close Of this
service you will 90 ont. and the question
will be, "How did You like the sermon?"
And one man will say, II liked it very well, ,"
and another man will say, II didn't like it
ct all +" but neither CT the answers will touch
the tremendous fact that if impenitent you
are going at thirty knots an hour toward
shipwreck. Yea, You are in battle where
You will fall, and while your surviving rel-
atlves will takei your remaining estate and
the cemetery will take your body the messen-
gers OF darkness will take your soul and
some and go about you, stripping the slain.
Many are crying out. II admit am slain;
admit it." On what battlefield, my broth
ers? By what weapon2 polluted imagtna-
ton" says one man; ''Intoxicating LIQUOR"
'ays another man; my own hard heart"
ays another man Do you realize this?
Then come to tell you that the oinnipo-
sent Christ is ready to walk across this bat
hefield and revive and osuscitate and resur-
rect your dead soul. Let Him take your
and bathe of tho aching, your heart and
uop its wild throb. He brought Lazarus to
ife, He brought Jairus's daughter to life, He
Drought the young man OF Main to life, and
tiese are three proofs anyhow that He can
When the Philistines came down on the
aeld, they stepped between the corpses, and
-''-A over tho dead. AMI they toos
Iwny everything that was valuable. AND so
was with the people that followed after the
kr,,oA oArr H. 1la ns.4.t
Landing and at Stone River and at Atlanta,
tripping the slain. but the Northern and
Iouthern women-God bless them!-came on
he field with basins and pads and towels
Ind lint and cordials and Christian en-
touragement, and the poor fellows that lay
now good that does feel since you dressed
T." And others looked up and said, "Oh,
low you make me think Of my mother!'
And Others said, "Tell the folks at home l
lied thinking about them" And another
looked up and said, Miss, won't you sing
ne a verse Of. Home, Sweet Home before
iie?" And then the tattoo was sounded, and
.he hats were of, and the service WAS read,
II am the resurrection and the life" And
In honor Of the departed the muskets were
.oaded and the command given, "Present-
1rer" And there was shingle set up at the
Lieutenant - In the Fourteenth Massa-
shusetts regulars" or "Captain - In the
Fifteenth regiment Of South Carolina volun-
ieers." And SO now, across this great field
81 moral and spiritual battle, the angels OF
Sod come walking among the slain, and
there was voices Of comfort and voices OF
hope and voices Of resurrection and voices Of
ieaven.
One night saw a tragedy on the corner
y Broadway and Houston street. A young
nan, evidently doubling as TO which direc-
ion he had better take, his hat lifted high
enough so that you could see he had an IN
.elligent forehead, stout chest; he had
.cbust development. Splendid young man.
Cultured young man. Honored young man.
Why did he stop there while go many were
going up and down? The fast Is that every
man has good angel and bad angel con-
tending for the mastery Of his spirit, and
shere were good angel and bad angel
struggling with that young mans soul at
tho corner OF Broadway and Houston street,
"Co ne with me-" said the good angel; 1T
Will take you home; will spread my wings
over your pillow; 1 will lovingly escort you
al! through life under supernatural protec-
ton; Will bless every cup you drink out OF,
every couch you rest on, every doorway you
enters will consecrate your tears when you
weep, your sweat when you toll, and at the
last will hand over your grave into the
hand of the bright angel Of q Christian re-
surrection. In answer to your fathers petit
ton and your mothers prayer I have been
sent OF the Lord out OF heaven to be your
good angel in a voice OF unearthly symphony.
It was music like that which drops from
lutte Of heaven when seraph breathes on It.
mo, no." said the bad angel, "coms with
me; have something better to offer. The
wines pour arefrom chalices of bewitching
carousal; the dance lead is over floor tes-
iellassd with unrestrainei indulgences; there
Is no God to frown on the temples of sin
where L worship. The skies are Italian The
paths tread are through meadows, daisied
and primrosed. Come with me-"
= The young man hestated at time when
hesitation was ruin, and the bad angel
smote the good angel until 1t departed,
spreading wings through the starlight up
ward and away until a door flashed open in
the sky and forever tho wings vanished.
That was the turning point in that young
mans history, for, the good angel flown, he
hesitatet no longer. but started on path.
way which is beautiful at the opening, but
blasted at last. The bad angel, leading the
way, opened gate after gate, and at each
gate the road became rougher and the sky
Eore lurid, and, what was peculiar, as tho
gate slammed shut 1t came to with q jar that
Indicated that II would never open.
: Passed each portal there was grinding
pf locks and n showing of bolts, and the seen.
Fry on either side OF the road changed from
gardens to deserts, and the June air became
"a cutting December blast, and the bright
wings OF the bad angel turned to sac,clo:h,
ind the eyes of light became hollow with
hopeless grief, and the fount aims that a. the
ftart had tossed with wine, poured forth
bubbling tears and foaminS blood, and
on the right side Of the road there was
0 serpent. and the man said to the bal angel,
"What is that serpent?" and the answer was,
"That Is the serpent Of singing remorse."
On the left side the road there was a lion,
and the man asked the bad angel, "Wha: Is
that ion?" ana the answer WIS. "That Is the
lion OF all devouring despair" vu,ture
few through the sky, and the man asked the
bad angel, ''What is that vuiture?" and the
answer was, "That Is the vulture waiting foy
the carcasses of the slain"
And then the man began to try to pull OF
him the folds OF something that had wound
him round and round. and he said to the bad
angel, "What is It that twists me In this aw-
ful convulsion?" AMI the answer was, "That
Is the worm that never dies" And then the
man said to the bad angel: "What does all
This mean? trusted in what you saio at the
:orner of Broadway AMI Houston street;
trusted it all, and why have You thus de-
seived me?" Then the last deception fell oil
the charmer, and 1t said: II WAS sent forth
from the pit TO destroy your soul. watched
my chance for many a long year. When you
hesitated that night on Broadway, I gained
my triumph. Now you are here. Ha, ha!
You are here. Come, let US fill these two
,haiices OF fire and drink together to dark
ness and woe and death. Hail, hail!' On,
Toung man! will the good angel sent forth
by Christ or the bal angel sent forth by sin
get the victory over your soul? Their wings
Are interiocked this moment above you, con-
tending for your destiny, as above the Apen-
hines eagle and condor fight mid-sky. This
>eur may decide your destinv.
-,ah;es do not hear we'll because