Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-08-21
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTEREs Ting THEME BY THE
WASHINGTON PREACHER.
Subject. "RefOrmatIOn of Habits. -

TETT; "when shall I awakep I will seek
Il Yet again"
With an insight into human nature such
as no other man ever reached, Solomon IN
my text, sketches the mental operations Of
one who, having stepped aside from the
path Of reciitude, desires 10 return. With
a.wish for something better he SAYS: "When
shall | awake? When shall come out Of
this horrid nightmare Of iniquiiyf" But
seized upon by uneradicaied habit and
forced down hill by his passions, he cries
out; II will seek il yet again. l will try 1t
once more
Our libraries are adorned with an elegant
literature pointing out all the dangers and
peris Of life-complete mans OF the voyage,
showing all the rocks, the quicksands. the
shoals. But Supposed MAJ has already made
shipwre"S; suppose he is already of the
track; suppose he has already gone astray,
how Is he 10 get back2 That is field com
paratiyely untouched. Ipropose to address
myself this evening TO such. There are those
In this audience who, with every passion of
their agoniZe1 soul, are ready TO hear this
discussion. They compare themselves with
what they were ten years ago, and cry out
from the bondage in which they are incar-
cerated.
Habit ia n task master. As long as we
obey it il does not chastise US; but let us re-
sist, and We find we are to be dashed with
scorpion whips and bound with ship cable,
and thrown into the track OF bone-breaking
Juggernauts. During the war Of 1912 there
was ship set on fire Just above Niagara
Falls, and then, cut loose from its moorings,
II came on down through the night, and
tossed over the falls 1t was said to have
been scene brilliant beyond all descrip-
tion. Well, there are thousands Of men on
fire OF evil habit, coming down through the
rapids, and through the awful night of
temptation, toward the eternal plunge. Oh,
how hard 1t Is to arrest them! God only can
arrest them.
Suppose a man, after FIVE, or ten or twenty
yeats of evil doing resolves to do right
Why, all the forces Of darkness are allied
against him. He cannot sleep nights. He
| gets down on HIS knees In the midnight, and
cries. "God help men He bites his lin; he
. grinds his teeth; he clenches his fist in a
! determination to keep his purpose. He dare
not look at the bottles in the windows of a
1 wine store 1t is one long, bitter, exhaus-
/ tive, hand-tO-hand fight with an intlamed
/ tantalZlng and merciless habit. When he
thinks he is entirely free the old inclinations
pounce upon him Ikea pack of hounds, with
their muzzles tearing away at the TANKS OF
one poor reindeer. In Paris there is scup-
tured representation Of Bacchus, the god of
leap. Oh, how suggestive! Let every one
who is speeding on bad ways understand he
is not riding a doCile and we'll broken steed,
but he is riding q monster, wild and blood
thirsty. going at a death leap.
How many there are who resolve on bet
ter life, and say, "When shall awaken" but,
seized on by their old habits, cry, II will
try 1t once more. | will seek it yet again"
Years ago there were some Princeton stu
dents who were skating, and the ice was
very thin, and some one warned the COM
pany back from the air hole, and finally
warned them entirely TO leave the place.
But one young man, with bravado, after all
the rest had stopped cried out. zone round
morem He swept around and went down,
and was brought out a corpse Ny friends,
there are thousands and tens Of thousands
OF men losing their souls in that way. 1t is
the lone round more"
II a man wants to return from evil prac-
tices, society repulses him. Desiring to re-
form he says, "Now | will shake of my old
associates and 1 will find Christian COM
partnership" And he appears at the church
door some Sabbath day and the usher greets
him with look rs much as to say, why,
you here! You are the last man | ever ex-
pected to see at church! Come take this
seat right down by the door" instead OF say
Ing, "Good morning! l am glad you are
here. Come, will give you a first rate seat
right up by the pulpit" Well, the prodigal,
not vet discouraged enters n PRAYER meetino
and some Christian man, with more althan
common sense, says, ''Glad to see you; the
dying thief was saved and l suppose there is
mercy for you" The young man, disguised,
chilled, throws himself on his dignity, re-
solved he will never enter the house OF God
again.
Perhaps not quite fully discouraged about
reformation, he sides up by some highly re.
spectacle man he used to know, going down
the street, and Immediately the respectable
man has an errand down some other street
Well, the prodigal, wishing to return, takes
some member of u Christian association by
the hand. or tries to. The Christian young
, man looks at him, looks at the faded appare
and the marks Of dissipation; instead OF civ
ing him warm grip OF the hand, he offer.
him the tip ends of the long fingers of the
left hand, which is equal to striking mar
In the face. Oh! how few Christian peopl,
understand how much force and gospp
there is in good honest Misunderstanding
Sometimes, when you have felt the need o
encouragement, and some Christian man ha
taken you heartily by the hand, have yol
not felt thrilling through every fibre of you
body, mind and soul an encouragement tina
was just what you needed You do not know
anything at all about this unless you know
when man tries to return from evil course
' ne runs against repulsions innumerablt
{ we say OF some man, he lives a block O
TWO from the church, or half mile from tn
church. There are people in our crowde
cities who live thousand miles from church
vast deserts Of Indifference between Their
9 and the house of God. The fact Is, we mus
Keep our responsibility, though thousand
and tens OF thousands perish. Christ sa
| with publlcans and sinners. But If Their
: comes to the houseof God man with mark
OF dissipation upon him, the people almos
throw up their hands in horror, as much a
{ to say. "Isn't 1t shocking!" How thes
T dainty, fastidious Christians In all on
churches are going to get into heaven don
; know, unless they have an especial train c
= cars, cushioned and upholstered. each one
@ car to himself They cannot 60 with publ
cans and sinners.
Oh! We who curl your lip of scorn at tn
fallen, tell your plainly, II you had bee
d surrounded by the same influences, instea
| of sitting to-day amid the cultured, and tn
refined and the Christian, YOU would hav
been crouching wretch, covered with fit
7 and abomination. 1t is not because you al
sar y6 bt bee&He sf tie } 9d
up in Christian circles and watched by Chrl,
q tian parentage, you should be so hard on til
= fallen?
u First OF all, my brother, throw yourself o
,. God. Go to Him frankly and earnestly an
B tell Him these habits you have, and ask Hi
If there is any help in all the resources {
" omnipotent love to give 1t to you. Do NJ
= go with long rigmarole people call praye
made up Of "ohs" and "ahsh and "fore v,
!, and ever, amens" Go to God and cry fc
' help! help! help! and II you cannot cry 70
help, just look and live.
l remember in the late war, l was
Antietam, and went into the hospital a
\ ter the battle and said to a man; "Whel
are you hurt2" He made no answer, bl
held up his arm, swollen and splintered.
saw where he was hurt. The simple fact
when man has wounded soul, all he HI
\ to do Is to hold it up before sympatbet
Lord and GET IL healed. 1t does not take al