Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-05-22
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- ~ ~ Il - H. SeAW&0
Tho Theme Of IN Ezcsllsnt Sermon
Delivered BY Rev. W. ]. Hardness
AT THE CHAPLINE STREET NJ. e.
CHI URCH LAST EVENING.
THOUGHT THAT WE Make A
GREAT MISTAKE IN THINKING
LIFE WILL BE ALL FLOWERS
AND SUNSHINE-A SERMON TO
THE YOUNG PEOPLE.
Last evening, at the Chapline street
M. E. church, the pastor, Rev. DIR. w.
j. Hardness, preached very thought
full and instructive sermon for the
young people, on the topic, Slippery
Places" The sermon was Illustrated
by means of drawings and was listened
to attentively by the congregation. The
text was, my Foot Slippeth." Ps.
xciv.-18. Rev. Hardness discoursed
upon the subject as follows:
The world is full of trials, troubles
and sorrows. 1t is simply a broad sea,
calm and gentle at times, but often
tossed and shaken by many a storm
The little vessels of life fly here and
there over the crested pillows, but in
many dark night they are left strand
ed upon the barren reefs of misery and
trouble. life is like tree; we may ad-
mire its beautiful foliage, but the icy
winds of winter drop leaf after leaf I'M
til nothing remains but the naked stem.
Childhood starts forth with bright
hopes and ASPIRATIONS; everything is
lovely beyond, but when they enter the
realities they find many pitfalls and en-
tanglements, and then their desires and
expectations fall like faded leaves
The merry youth may look forward
with an eager heart, but when he ap-
proaches manhood he finds his frail
bark has entered tempestuous sea-
We make a great mistake in thinking
that lie will be all flowers
and sunshine; trouble meets us
at every corner. We may wan
der through the village in the
morning and meet everywhere bright,
laughing children, where ringing voices
set into vibration our deepest thoughts,
but when we retrace our steps at even
tide we see many a sad face, the closed
shutters and the quiet home, and the
only answer we get to our inquiry is a
little one has fallen asleep. We enter
the holy sanctuary and listen to the
sweet music peal forth as the blushing
bride is lead forth to the altar, but
hardly have the notes faded away in
the distance when funeral procession
enters, and between the many sobs and
tears are heard those solemn words, 81
am the resurrection and life Well
has it been said that "Tears and laugh
ter are twin BORN
In the Christian life we are constant
ly exposed to spiritual perils, some
times visible, but oftener unseen and
unsupported, like ice covered with snow
on the treacherous crevases of the
Alps.
All of us are, at one time, found In
slippery places. They are of various
kinds, more or less dangerous. We
come upon them when we least expect
them, and if we are not steady and
firm we will lose our balance and fall.
Let us notice some of these.
L-Some slippery places.
Strong as we may be, yet we are
liable to fall, if we do not watch, when
We are brought into circumstances of
First.-Poverty and want
Bacon calls riches "the baggage of
virtue There is no sacrifice which
men will not make for money. The
belching cannon and the dust inhaled
from grinding of steel is nothing if
money is at the other end
How terrible is want, poverty. To
be exposed to continual want, not only
of the Injuries, but the veriest neces-
saries of life, will cause a man often to
forget true manhood and conscience.
1t is a slippery place for the young,
with energy and vigor, to be found, and
it takes one of nerve to resist tempta-
ton. To rise above poverty many a
young man has become literally a thief,
when he has appropriated that which is
not his own.
Second-Sudden Assaults of Tempta-
ton
When Satan first comes to tempt he
is very modest and asks but a little;
he digs about and loosens the roots of
faith and then the sin falls the easier
on the next guest of temptation He
always hides his design, covers it over
with some beautiful paint. He may
move you to do good, but only to hin
der your doing greater good. Peter
showed love on his rebuke of Christ
but the devil was in it then. He al
ways falls upon us when we least ex-
pect it. The destinations of life offer
many slippery place for the young.
Tho world full Of