The Penn's Grove record., 1901-11-15

tured and the refined and the Christian
you might lave been a crouching wretch
in stable or ditch covered with filth and
abominationi
1t is not because we are naturally any
better, but because the mercy of God has
protected us. Those that are brought up
in Christian parentage should not be SO
hard on the fallen.
| think also that men are often hin.
dered from returning by the fact that
churches are anxious about their member
ship. too anxious about tn lr aenomina-
tons, and they rush out when they see a
man about to give up sin and return to
God and ask him how he is going to be
baptized, whether by sprinkling or INNER
sion, and what kind of a church he is
going to join.
1t is a poor time TO talk about Preshy-
terian catchism and Episcopal l~iturgies
and Methodist love feasts and Baptist i'm
mersions when a man is about to come
out OF the darkness of sin into the glo-
rious light of the gospel.
Why, it reminds me of a man drowning
in the sea and a lifeboat puts out for him,
and the man in the boat says to the man
in the water, "Now, ii You get ashore are
you going to live in my street," First get
him ashore and then talk to him about
the non-essentials of religion. Who cares
what church he joins if he only joins
Christ INT starts for heaven?
Q you, my brother of illumined face and
a hearty grip for every one that tries to
turn from his evil way, take hold of the
same %hymnbook with him, though his dis
slpations shake the book. remembering
that he that "converteth a sinner from the
error of his ways shall save a soul from
death and hide a multitude of sins"
Now, | have shown you these obstacles
because ! want you to understand | know
all the difficulties in the wav. But | am
raNttf pninv 10 fo11 ,.o,t haur I,~n,Ln1 NJ
scale the Alps, and how the shackles may
be unriveted and how the paths of virtue
forsaken may be regained. First of all,
throw yourself on God.
Go to Him frankly and earnestly and
tell Him these habits -ou have and ask
Him if there is any help in all the re-
sources of %omnipotent love to give it to
you. Do not go on with a long rigmarole,
which some people call prayer, made up
of obs and abs and forever and forever
amens. Go to God and cry for help.
| remember that in the Civil War ] was
at Antietam with other members of the
Christian commission to look after the
wounded. | went into the hospital after
the battle, and / said to a man, Where
are you hurt?" He made no answer, but
held up his arm, swollen and splintered.
! saw where he was hurt. The simple
fact is when a man has a wounded soul
all he has to do is to hold it up before a
sympathetic Lord and get it healed.
Young man, l will stand by you. The
mountains mag depart and the hills be
removed, but l will never fail YOU" And
then, as the soul thinks the news is too
good to be true and cannot believe it and
looks up in Gods face, God lifts His
l .ght hand and takes an affidavit, makes
an oath, saying, "As I live" saith the
Lord God. 81 have no pleasure in the
death Of the wicked" Blessed be God
thin" says the wife to the husband, Ffor
there will not be enough to go around for
all the children; cut the slices thin"
Blessed be God, there is a full loaf for
every one that wants it. Bread and
enough to spare! No thin slices or the
Lords tablet
Some one said to a Grecian general,
t'NNhat was the proudest moment of your
life?" He thought a moment and said,
The proudest moment was when | sent
word home to my parents that / had
gained the victory" And the gladdest
and most brilliant moment in your life
will be the moment when you can send
word to your parents that you have
conquered the evil habits by the grace Of
God IND become eternal victor.
Oh, despise not parental anxiety The
time will come when you will have neither
father. nor mother, and you will go
around the place where they used to
watch you and find them gone from the
house and gone from the field and gone
from the n%eighborhood. Cry as loud for
forgiveness as you may over the mound
Dead! Dead
God pity the youngman who has brought
disgrace on his fathers namel God pity
the young man who has broken his moth
eTs hearS~Ratter that faphd never been
born, Better if in the first hour of his
life, instead of being laid against the
warm bosom of maternal tenderness, he
had been coffined and sepulchered.
There is no balm powerful enough to
heal the heart of one who has brought
parents to a sorrowful grave, and who
wanders about through the dismal eeme-
terry rending the air and wringlng the
hands. and crying: Mother! Mother!",
Oh, that to-day, by all the memories of
the past and by all the hopes of the fn,
May your fathers God and your mothers
God be your God forever!
This hour the door of mercy swings
wide open. Hesitate not a moment. In
many a case hesitation is the loss Of all
At the corner OF a street | saw a tragedy.
A young man evidently doubted as to
which direction he had better take. His
hat was, lifted high enough so you, could
see he had an intelligent forehead. He
had a stout chest and a robust develop:
ment. Splendid young man! Cultured
young mani! Honored young man! Why
did he stop there while so many were
going up and down? The fact is that
every young man has a good angel and a
bad angel contending for the mastery OF
his spirit, and there were a good angel
and a bad angel struggling with that
young mans soul at the corner Of the
street. Come along with me-" said the
good angel; Il will take you home. | will
spread my wings over your pillow, L VIII
lovingly escort you all through life under
supernatural protection. will bless
every cup you drink out of, every couch
you rest on, every doorway you enter. |
will consecrate your tears when you weep,
your sweat when you toll, and at the last
| will land over your grave into the hand
of the bright angel of a Christian resurrec-
ton. ] have been sent OF the Lord to be
your guardian spirit. Come with me"
synPS 1t was music like that which
urSps Se llh1~l ae' q ser
"Oh, no,,,asaid the bad angel, Come
with me. | have something better to of
fer. The wines | pour are from chahces
of bewitehing carousal.. The dance l lead
is over aoors tessellated with unrestrained
indulgence. There is no God to frown on
the temples Of sin where l worship. The
skies are Italian. The paths l tread are
through meadows daisied and primrosed.
Come with me-"
The young man hesitated at a time when
hesitation was ruin, and the bad angel
smote the good angel until it departed,
spreading wings through the starlight,
upward and away until a door swung open
in the sky, and forever the wings van
ished. That was the turning point in that
young mans history, for, the good angel
flown, he hesitated no longer, but started
on a pathway which is beautiful at the
opening, but blasted at the last. The bad
angel led the way through gate after gate,
and at each gate the road became rougher
and the sky more lurid, and what was pc
euliar, as the gate slammed shut it came
to with a jar that indicated it would never
open. Past each portal there were a
grinding OF locks and a showing OF bolts,
and the scenery on each side OF the road
changed from gardens TO deserts, and the
June air became q cutting December blast,
and the bright wings of the bad angel
turned to sackcloth, and the fountains
that at the start had tossed with wine
poured forth bubbling tears of foaming
blood. And on the right side OF the road
there was a serpent, and the man said to
the bad angel, "What is that serpent?"
And the answer was, THAT is the serpent
of singing remorse." On the left side of
the road there was a lion, and the man