Milford chronicle., 1895-03-08

perisheQ IN that earthquake ana IN the AIT
er rising of the Tagus so stirred his sym
pathies that he threw up bis belief in the
I goodness of God
Dark Land.
Others have gone into skepticism from
a natural persistence in asking the reason
why They have been fearfully stabbed
+ of the Interrogation point. There are so
many things they cannot get explained
They cannot understand the Trinity or
how God can be sovereign and yet man a
free agent. Neither can !. They say u
don't understand why a good God should
have let sin come into the world. A"
Neither do J. You say, Why was that
child started in life with such disadvan-
tages, while others have all physical and
mental equipmentY' / cannot tell. They
60 out of church on Easter morning and
say, THAT doctrine Of the resurrection
confounded me. " So il is to me a mystery
beyond unravelment. understand all the
processes by which men get into the dark.
know them all. I have Travelled with
burning feet that blistCred way The first
word which most children learn to utter
Is Papa, or Mamma" " but / think the
first word ever uttered was "Why2" l
know what it is to have a hundred mid
nights pour their darkness into one hour
Such men are not to be scoffed, but helped
Turn your back upon a drowning man
when you have the rope with which TO pull
him ashore and let that woman in the
third story Of a house perish in the flames
when you have a ladder with which to
help her out and help her down, rather
than turn your back scofflngly ON a skep-
tic, whose soul is in more peril than the
bodies Of those other endangered ones pos
sibly can be. Oh skepticism Is a dark
land There are men in this house who
would give a thousand worlds, II they pos
sessed them, to get back to the placid faith
of their fathers and mothers, and it is our
place to help them, and we may help
them, never through their heads, but al
ways through their hearts These skep-
tics when brought to Jesus, will be might
lily effective, far moro so than those who
never examined the evidences of Chris
tianity
Thomas Chalmers was once a skeptic
RI! Fan a skcptic, Robert Newton a
SKI ptic, Christmas Evans sbeptic. But
when once with strong hand, they took
hold of the chariot Of the gospel they rolled
Il on with what momentum If address Z
such men and women today, I throw out
no scof. mplead them by the memory
of the good old days when at their moth.
err S knee they said, Now lay me down
to sleep, and by those days and nights Of
scarlet fever in which she watched you,
giving you the medicine at just the right
time and turning your pillow when itwas
hot and with hands that many years ago
turned to dust soothed away your pain,
and with voice that you will never hear
again, unless you join her in the better
country, told you to never mind, for you
would feel better by and by, and by that
dying couch, where she looked so pale and
talked so slowly, catching her breath be-
tween the words, and you felt an awful
loneliness coming over your soul-hy all
that I beg you to come back and take the
same religion. 1t was good enough for
her. It is good enough for you. Nay,
have better plea than that. plead by
all the wounds and tears and blood and
groans and agonies and death throes Of the
Son of God, who approaches you this mo-
ment with torn brow and lacerated hand
and whipped back and saying, Come unto
me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Some Bad Cases.
Again, there is a field of usefulness but
little touched, occupied by those who are
astray in their habits All northern ma
tions like those of North America and
England and Scotland-that is, in the
colder climates-are devastated by alcohol
ism. They take the fire to keep up the
warmth. In southern countries like
Arabia and Spain, the blood is so warm
they are not tempted to fiery liquids The
great Roman armies never drank any
thing stronger than water tinged with
vinegar, but under our northern climate ,
the temptation to heating stimulants is
most mighty, and millions succumb. ,
When a mans habits go wrong, the church
irops him, the social circle drops him,
good influence drops him, we all drop
lim. OF all the men who get eff track,
lut few ever get on again.
Near my summer residence there is a
ife saving station on the beach There
Ire all the ropes and rockets, the boats the
for getting people off ship
wrecks. One summer I saw there o or
10 men who were breakfasting after hav- ,
ng just escaped with their lives and moth
ng more. Up and down our coasts are ,
)uilt these useful structures, and the mar
ners know it, and they feel that If they ,
ire driven into the breakers there will be ,
lpt from shore to come a rescue The
hurches of God ought to be SO many life
aving stations, not so much to help those 4,
Who are in smooth waters, but those who !
lave been shipwreckod Come, let us run i
ut the lifeboatsl And who will man d
hem? We do not preach enough to such !
nen. We have not enough faith in their !
elease Alas, if when they come to hear
is we are laboriously trying to show the ,
Inference between sublapsarianism and
upralapsarianism, while they We thou {
and vipers Of remorse and despair ooiling J
round and biting their immortal spirits :
'he church is not chiefly for goodish sort !
f men whose prOclivities are all right, 4
nd who could set to heaven praying and ;
lnging in their own homes. 1t is on the !
each to help the drowning. Those bad n
asos are the cases that God likes to take .
old or He can save a big sinner as well
S a small sinner, and when a man calls N
--- --..--'4s--
lrnestly to God for p he will go out to T
silver such one. II it were necessary,
Cd would como down from the sky, fol- Z
wed by all the artillery of heaven and a .
illion angels with drawn swords. Get 7
10 such redeemed men in each of your
lurches, and nothing could stand before y
lem, for such men are generally warm
3arted and enthusiastic. No formal pray .,
s then. No heartless singing then. No Il
I'D oonventionalisms then.
Get to Work. q
Furthermore, the destitute children Of 4,
10 streets offer fold Of work compara- -
vely unoocupied. The uncared for chill q :,
'en are in the majority in most of our -
ties. Their condition was well illustrat-
by what boy in this city said when he =,
as found under a cart gnawing a bone,
I'd some one said to him, Where do you ,
7ef" and be answered. Don't live no =
here sir" Seventy thousand of the chill =,
'en of New York city can neither read n
II write. When they grow up, if unre- =,
rmed, they win outvote your children, =
I'd they will govern your children. The !,
hisky ring will hatch out other whisky =
ngs, and grogshops will kill with their -
,rrid stencil public sobriety, unless the -
urch of God rises up with outstretohed y,
ms and enfolds this dying population in ~
# bosom. Public schools cannot do it, q
rt galleries cannot do it. Blaokwell's is q.
nd cannot do it. Almshouses cannot do -
New York Tombs cannot do it. Sing J.
ng cannot do it. People of God wake n n
} to your magnificent mission You can =,