The Penn's Grove record., 1897-08-20

@aN N@Aa
pass off as your own all those hackneyed
arguments against Christianity which are
as old as Ton 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 encamplnent.
A steamer 1900 miles from shore, with
broken rudder and lost compass, and hulk
leaking fifty gallons tho hour, is better on
than a young man when you have robbed
him OF his Bible. Have you ever noticed
how d~espicabiy rnean II Is to take away the
worlds Bible without proposing q substi-
tutef II Is meaner than coming to q sick
man nj steal his medicine, meaner than
to come to a cripple n steal his crutch,
meaner than to como to q pauper and steal
his crust, meaner than to come to o poor
man and burn HIS house down. It is the
worst OF all larcenies to steal the Bible
which has been cruteh and medicine and
food and eternal home to so many. What
a generous and magnhnfmous business in
fidelity has gone into-this splitting up OF
lifeboats and taking away Of flre escapes
out and l say to such people, what are
you doing all this for2" .f0h," they say,
Just for fun. = It is such fun to see Chris
tians try to hold on to their Biblesi Many
Of them have lost loved ones and have
been told that there Is n resurrection, and
It 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 1t Is
such fun to tell them they will have to be
their own saviorl Think of the meanest
thing you ever heard of, then 20 down 1000
feet underneath II, and you will find your
self at the top of a stairs 100 miles long; go
- fhA 1NkE1rn ~ fho at0fRa mud ufSN will
ind o ladder 1000 miles long; then &c to
the foot of the ladder and look Oh a preci-
plcc half as far as from here to China, and
you will ind the Headquarters Of the mean
ness that would rob this world OF It's only
comfort In life. its only peace in death and
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,
rather, their bodies are, for their souls
have gone on to retribution. Not much
prospect for a young man who started life
with good health and good education and
o Christian example set him, and oppor-
tunity Of usefulness, who gathered all his
| treasures and put them in one box, and
then dropped 1t Into the sea.
NOW now Is tnis WuOlesai0 w
be stopped? There Is not q person who Is
not Interested in that question. Tho OBJ
ject Of my sermon is to put a weapon 10
ench of your hands for our defense.
Wait not for Young Mems Christian Asso-
Citations to protect you or churches to pro-
tect you. Appealing to God for help, take
care Of Yourself.
First, have a room somewhere that you
| can call your own. Whether It be the
back parlor OF a fashionable boarding
house or q room In the fourth story OF a
cheap lodging / care not. Only have that
one room your fortress. Let not the dissi'
| pater or unclean step over the threshold.
II they comeup the long flight Of stairs and
knock at the door, meet them face to face
and kindly yet firmly refuse them admit
tance. Have a few family portraits on the
wall, Ii you brought them with you from
your country home. Have a Bible on the
stand. II you can afford It and can play
on one, have an Instrument OF ~music-harp
or flute or cornet or melodeon or violin or
piano. Every morning before you leave
that room pray. Every night after you
come home in that o pray. Make that
room your Gibraltar, your S~evastopol,
your Mount Zion. Let no bad book or
newspaper come into that room any more
than you would allow a cobra to coll on
your table. :.
take care Of you. Your help will not come
up two or three or four flights Of stairs;
your help will come through the roof, down
from heaven, from that God who In the
5000 years Of the worlds history never be-
trayed a young man who tried to be good
and q Christian. Let me say in regard to
your adverse worldly circumstances In pass
Ing, that you are on a level now with those
who are finally to succeed. Mark my words,
Young man, and think of 1t thirty years
from now. You will find that those wig
ooi<psy Yearly who are Che orators Of
country, who are the poets Of the country,
who are the strong merchants Of the coun-
try. who are the great philanthropists OF
the couLtry-mightiest in church and
State-are this morning on alevel with you,
not On inch above. and In straitened cir
cumstances now.
There Is no class OF persons that SO stir
my s~ympatlfes as young men in great
cities. Not quite enough salary to live on
and oil the temptations that come from
that deficit. Invited on all hands to drink,
and their exhausted nervous system SEEM
ing to demand stimulus. Their religion
ca~ricatured by the most Of the clerks In the
store and most Of the operatives in the
factory. The rapids OF temptation and
death rushing against that young man
forty miles the hour, and he In n frail boat
headed up stream, with nothing but q
broken oar TO work with. Unless Almighty
God help them they will go under.
Igot q letter one day, only one para.
graph. which / shall read:
Having moved around somewhat, ]
have run across many young men of intel
ligence, ardent ~strfvers after that will-o'-
the-wisp-fortune-and Of n OF these ]
would speak. He was a young Englishman
Of twenty-three or t~wcnty-four years, who
l came to New York, where he had no ac-
| quaintRnces, with barely sufficient to keep
him o couple Of weeks. He had been ten.
derry reared, perhaps | should say too ten
derby, and was not used to earning his
living and found 1t extremely difficult to
get any position hat he was capable Of fill
ing. After many vain efforts In this direction
he found himself on a Sunday evening In
left Of his small capital. Providence seemed
to lead himto your door, and he determined
to go In ind hear you He told me his
| going to hear you nat night was undoubt-
Aedly the turning point In his life, for when
BE went into your church he felt desper-
ztte, but while listening to your discourse
Fas better nature got the mastery. Truly
elieve from what this young man told me
lat your sounding the depths OF his heart
u#tat night alone brought him back to his
It'd whom he was SO near leaving"
Il ahat Is the echo OF multitudes. / am
au<t5 Ereaching an abstraction, but a great
for III. o friendless young man, o.
Nj. NWA AoAs vs.
Ely man, Dis Q outraged young man,
ice. l young man. I commend to you
Whi5tads the best friend a man ever
5ht, she meets you this morning. De-
in. ut that emotion rising In your soul;
thnely lifted. Look into the face OF
VIII w,KaIift one prayer to your fathers
Mhatsour mothers God, and this morn
!, da the pardoning blessing. Now,
IN intpeak, you are at the forks Of the
rob. .od this is the right road, and that is
"a, lKespS road, and / sec you start on the
MA hnee \.
less isible lbath morning at the close OF the
he to saw o gold watch OF the world
MOI Ii inyl and deeply lamented violinist,
ma-eat en- You remember he died in his
owed pine OF the coast Of Norway. That
aners Of tch he had kept wound up day
em through his last Illness, and then
.vp his companion, Nov, / want to
70 az watch as long as I can, and then
then gone / want you to keep 1t
%oJ Ep until 1t goes to my friend. Dr..
y%A IS, In New York, and then he will
$wsNwound up until bis life is done, and
~ want the watch to go to his young
70 ~ especial ~favorite."
Is. cSSsreat musician who more than any
50 .Nrtist had made the violin speak, and
NSNNad weep, and laugh, and triumph
, = Nssemed when he drew the bow
sSsinRs as II all earth and heaven shiv-