The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-08-19

want MN ulsclpuneu IN tne cnurcn. Tney
want him turned out Of the hank. They
come ct him from this side and from that
side and from before and from behind and
from above and from beneath, and he Is
insulted and gibbeted and sued and
dunned and sworn at until he gets the
nervous dyspepsia. gets neuralgia, gets liver
complaint, gets heart disease, gets con-
vulsive disorder, gets consumption.
Now he Is dead, and you say, "Ofcourse
they will let him Alone" oh, no! Now
they are watchful to see whether there are
any unnecessary expenses at the obseQuies,
to see whether there is any useless handle
on the casket, to see whether there Is any
surplus plait on the shroud. to see whether
whether the flowers sent to the casket
have been bought by the family or
donated, to see In whose name the deed to
the grave Is made out. Then they ransack
the bereft household, the books, the
pictures, the carpets, the chairs, the sofa,
the plano, the mattresses, the pillow on
which he died. Cursed be debt! For the
sake Of your own happiness, for the sake
Of good morals, for the sake Of your i'm
mortal soul, for Gods sake, young man, as
far as possible keep out ofitl
But l think more young men are
slaughtered through irreligion Take away
him the prey OF evil. We oil know that
the Bible Is the only perfect system OF
morals. Now, II you want to destroy q
young mans morals, take his Bible away.
How will you do that2 Well, YOU will carl
cature his reverence for the Scriptures,
you will take all those incidents OF the
Bible which can be made mirth of-Jonah's
whale, SIMPSONS foxes, Adams rib. Then
you will caricature eccentric Christians or
inconsistent Christians. Then you will
pass of as your own all those hackneyed
arguments against Christianity which are
as old as Tom Paine, as old as Voltaire,
as old as sin. Now you have captured his
Bible, and you have taken his strongest
fortress. The way Is comparatively clear,
and all the gates Of his soul are set open
In invitation to the sins Of earth and the
sorrows OF death. that they may come in
and drive the stake for their encampment
steamer 1900 miles from shore, with
broken rudder and lost compass, and hulk
leaking fifty gallons tho hour, Is better Off
than q young man when you have robbed
him OF his Bible. Have you ever noticed
how despicably mean 1t Is to take away the
worlds Bible without proposing a substi-
tute? 1t Is meaner than coming to n sick
man and steal his medicine. meaner than
to come to a cripple and steal his crutch,
his crust, meaner than to come to poor
man and burn his house down. 1t is the
worst Of all larcenies to steal the Bible
which has been crutch and medicine and
food and eternal homo to so many. What
q generous and magnanimous business in
fidelity has gone into-this splitting up OF
and taking away OF fire escapes
and extinguishing OF lighthouses! l come
out and l say to such people. "What are
you doing all this for?" "Oh," they say,
'just for fun" 1t is such fun to see Chris
tians try to hold on to their Bibles Many
of them have lost loved ones and have
been told that there Is resurrection, and
1t Is such fun to tell them there will be no
resurrection! Many OF them have believed
that Christ came to carry the burdens and
to heal the wounds OF the world and It Is
such fun to tell them they will have to be
their own savior! Think OF the meanest
thing you ever heard OF, then go down 1000
feet underneath 1t, and you will find your
self at the top Of stairs 100 miles long: go
to the bottom OF the stairs, and you will
find ladder 1000 miles long; then 90 to
the foot of the ladder and look Off preci-
pice half as far as from here to China, and
you will find the headquarters OF the mean
ness that would rob this world OF its only
comfort in life, its only peace in death and
Its only hope for Immortality. Slaughter
young mans faith In God, and there Is not
much more left to slaughter.
Now what has become OF the slaugh-
tered2 Well, some Of them are In their
fathers or mothers house, broken down
In health, waiting to die; others are in the
hospital, others are in the cemetery, or,
-ather, their bodies are, for their souls
have gone on to retribution. Not much
prospect tor young man who started life
With good health and good education and
! Christian example set him. and oppor-
unity Of usefulness, who gathered all his
treasures and put them In one box, and
hen dropped It into the sea.
Now, how is this wholesale slaughter to
20 stopped2 There Is not person who is
not interested In that question. The OBJ
ect OF my sermon Is to put weapon In
zach OF your hands for your own defense.
Nations to protect you or churches to pro-
ect you. Appealing to God for help, take
,are Of yourself.
First, have room somewhere that you
IAN call your own. Whether 1t be the
back parlor OF fashionable boarding
house or room In the fourth story Of
heap lodging care not. Only have that
)ne room your fortress. Let not the dissi-
)ater or unclean step over the threshold.
Z they come up the long flight Of stairs and
Knock at the door, meet them face to face
md kindly yet firmly refuse them admit
ance. Have few family portraits on the
wall, II you brought them with you from
your country home. Have Bible on the
'tand. II you can afford 1t and can play
IN one, have an instrument Of music-harp
)r flute or cornet or melodeon or violin or
piano. Every morning before you leave
hat room pray. Every night after you
'ome home in that room pray. Make that
,oom your Gibraltar, your Sevastopol,
,our Mount Zion. Let no bad book or
newspaper come into that room any more
han you would allow cobra to coil on
,our table.
Take care Of yourself. Nobody else will
AXE care Of you. Your help will not come
ip two or three or four flights OF stairs;
your help will come through the roof, down
rom heaven, from that God who In the
1000 years Of the worlds history never be-
rayed a young man who tried to be good
md Christian. Let me say in regard to
your adverse worldly circumstances, In pass
ng, that you are on level now with those
who are finally to succeed. Mark my words,
ioung man, and think Of it thirty years
rom now. You will find that those who
.hirty years from now nre the millionaires
)f this country, who are the orators OF the
who are the poets Of the country,
who are the strong merchants OF the coun-
try, who are the great philanthropists OF
.he n v---mi iUhtiaat In ohurok md