Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-08-04

grafton, of the iniquity of the fathers,
visited upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation? So that
the text comes today with the force OF
a projectile hurled from miehtiest cat
apult, Whose son art thou, thou young
man." Well, says some one, that
theory discharges me from all respon-
slDlllty. Born of sanctified parents we
are bound to be good, and we cannot
help ourselves. Born of unrighteous
parentage, we are bound to be evil,
and we cannot help ourselves" Two
inaccuracies. AS much as if you should
say, THE centrifugal force in nature
mas tendency to bring everything to
the center, and therefore all come TO
the center. The centrifugal force in
nature has tendency to throw every
thing to the periphery, and therefore
! everything will go out to the periph-
: cry" You know as we'll as
| know that you can make the centri-
! petal force overcome the centrifugal,
and you can make the centrifugal over
come the centripetal. As when there
is mighty tide of good in family that
may be overcome by determination to
evil, as in the case of Aaron Burr, the
iibertine, who had for father President
Burr, the consecrated; as in the case
of Pierrepont Edwards, the scourge of
New York society eighty years ago,
VINO had Christian ancestry, while,
on the other hand, some of the best
men and women of this day are those
who have come of an ancestry of which
1t would not be courteous to speak in
their presence. The practical and use
ful object of this sermon is to show
you that If you come of a Christian
ancestry, then you are solemnly bound
10 preserve and develop the glorious
Inheritance,
First, accost all those who are de-
scended OF Christian ancestry. | do
not ask If your parents were perfect
There are no perfect people now, and
do not suppose there were any perfect
people then. Perhaps there was some
times too much blood in their eye when
they chastised you. But from what
know or you, you got no more than you
deserved, and perhaps a little more
chastisement would have been salu-
tary. But you are willing to acknowl-
edge, | think, that they wanted to do
right. From what you overheard in
| conversations, and from what you saw
at the family altar and at neighbor-
mood obsequies, you know that they
mad invited God into their heart and
their life. There was something that
sustained those old people supernat-
| uraIly. You have no doubt about their
destiny You expect if you ever get
to heaven to meet them as you expect
70 meet the Lord Jesus Christ That
earthly association has been a charm
for you. There was time when YOU
got right up from house of iniuuity
and walked out into the fresh air be-
| cause you thought your mother was
looking at you. You have never been
very happy in sin because of a sweet
| Old face that would present itself.
Tremulous voices from the past accost-
ed you until they were seemingly aud
1ble, and you looked around to see who
spoke. There was an estate not men
toned in the last will and testament,
vast estate of prayer and holy exam
pie and Christian entreaty aud glorious
memory. The survivors of the family
gathered to hear the will read, and
this was TO be kept and that was to be
sold, and it was share and share alike"
But there was an unwritten will that
read something like this: I'm the name
OF God, amen. / being of sound mind.
beQueath TO nay children all my prayers
for their salvation; | bequeath to them
all the results of lifetime's toll; be-
queath to them the Christian religion,
| which has been so much comfort to me,
and / hope may be solace for them: |
bequeath to them hope of reunion
when the partings of life are over.
Share and share alike may they in
herit eternal riches. / bequeath to
them the wish that they may avoid my
errors and copy anything that may
have been worthy. In the name of God
who made me, and the Christ who re-
deemed me, and the Holy Ghost who
sanctifies me, / make this my last will
and testament. Witness all you hosts
of heaven. Witness time, witness eter-
nifty. Signed, sealed and delivered in
this our dying hour Father and Moth
err" You did not get that will proved
at the surrogate's Office, but | take it
out today and l read it to you. l take
it out of the alcoves of your heart. |
shake the dust off it. | ask IL you will
accept that inheritance, or will you
break the will?
Oh, We of Christian ancestry! You
have a responsibility vast beyond all
measurement. God will not let you
off with just being as good as ordn-
airy people when you had such ex-
traordinary advantage. Ought not a
flower planted in dollhouse be more
thrifty than a flower planted outside
in the storm? Ought not a factory
turned By the Housatonic do more work
than factory turned by thin ami
shallow mountain stream? Ought net
you OF great early opportunity be bet
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