Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-11-28
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: Salvation For the Morally Ship
wrecked - Yield Not to the Force of
Immoral Gravita tIOn - Helpfulness of
Religion-Door of Mercy Swings Wide.
Copyright, 1871. ]

helSlOn-DOOr OF Mercy Swings w lue.
Copyright, 1so1.l
WASHINGTON, d. C.--In this discourse
DR.. Talmage depicts the struggle, of a
thrallment of evil and shows how he may
be set free; text, Proverbs xiii, 35:
'When shall I awake! l will seek it yet
again"
With an insight into human nature
such as no other man ever had, Solomon
in these words is sketching the mental
process of man who has stepped aside
from the path of rectitude and would hike
to return Wishing for something better,
he says: "When shall l awake? When
shall 1 get over this horrible nightmare
of iniquity?" But seized upon by un-
eradcated appetite and pushed q, down !y hill MI
by his passions he cries out: Il will seek
it vet again. | will try it once more.
About mile from Princeton, N. a.,
there is skating pond. One winter day,
when the ice was very thin, farmer hv-
ing near by warned the young men OF the
danger OF skating at that time. Ihey al
took the warning except one young man.
He, in the spirit of bravado, said, Boys,
one round more" He struck out on his
skates, the ice broke and his lifeless body
was brought up. And in all matters of
temptation and allurement it Is not a
prolongation that is proposed, but only
Just one more indulgence, just one more
sin. Then comes the fatality. Alas, Tor
the ono round more! ~ will seek it yet
again" -,
Our libraries are adorned with elegant
literature addressed to young men, point
ing out to them all the dangers and perilss
of life. Complete maps of the voyage OF
life-the shoals, the rocks, the ,quicksands
But suppose young man is already snip
wrecked, suppose he is already oil the
track, suppose he has already gone astray,
how can he get back? That is a question,
that remains unanswered, and amid all
the books of the libraries / find not one
word on that subject. To that class Of
persons I this day address myself. =,
You compare what you are now with
what you were three or four years ago,
and are greatly disheartened. You are
ready with every passion of your soul TO
listen to a discussion like this. Be of good
offer you the hand of welcome and res
cue. 1 put the silver trumpet OF the ,gos,,
pel to my lips and blow one long, loud
blast, saying. "Whosoever will, let h, HIM
come, and let him come now" The
church of God is ready to spread ban
rarchs of heaven fall into line OF BAN
nered procession over your redemption
Years ago, and while yet Albert Barnes
was living. 1 preached in his pulpit one
night to the young men of Philadelphla
In the opening of my discourse ! said, ~
LORD, give me one SOUL nv e1iN
close of the service Mr.. Barnes intro
duced young man, saying, This Is the
Young man you prayed for" But l see
now it was too limited prayer. l offer
no such prayer to-day. 1t must take IN
wider sweep. Lord, give us all these
souls to-day for happiness and heaven!
So far as God may help me | propose to
show what are the obstacles to your re-
turn, and then how you are to surmount
those obstacles. The first difficulty in the
way of your return is the force OF moral
gravitation. Just as there Is, natural
law which brings down to earth anything
YOU throw into the air, so there is cor
resnonding moral gravitation. l never
shall forget prayer | heard a young man
make in the Young Mems Christian Asso-
ciation Of New York With trembling
voice and streaming eyes he said: 70
God, Thou knowest how easy 1t Is Tor me
to do WRONG and how hard it is #, for me to
knows not his own heart who has pever
felt the power of moral gravitation.,
In your boyhood You had good asso.
siates and bad associates. Which most
impressed you? During the last few years
you have heard pure anecdotes e;oat and I'M I'M
to your memory? You have had good hab-
its and bad habits. To which, did your
soul more easily yield? But that moral
gravitation may be resisted. just as you
may pick up anything from the earth and
hold it in your hand toward heaven. lnst
soul may be lifted toward peace, toward
pardon, toward salvation. The force OF
moral gravitation is in every one OF u.s.
but also power in Gods grace to overcome
that force.
The next thing in the way of your re-
turn is the power of evil habit. L know
there are those who say it is very easy tor
them to give up evil habits. l cannot be-
lieve them. Here is man given to lntoX-
ication, who knows it is disgracing his
family, destroying his property and ruin
ing him body, mind and soul. II that
man, being an intelligent man and loving
his Meua family b o sopd do easily so Fbs Fbe fact @ that asO
does not give it up proves that it is hard
to give it up It is very easy thing to
sail down stream, the tide carrying you
with great force, but suppose you turn
the boat up stream-is it so easy then to
row it? As long as we yield to the evii IN,
habits we are sailing down stream, but the
moment we try to turn we put our boat
in the rapids just above Niagara and try
to row up stream.
A physician tells his patient that he
must quit the use of tobacco, as IT is de-
can stop that habit easy enough He
quits the use of the weed He goes
around not knowing what to do with him:
self. He cannot add up a column of
figures. he cannot sleep nights. 1t seems
as if the world had turned upside down.
He feels his business is going to ruin.
Where he was kind and obliging he is
scoldng and fretful. The composure that
characterized him has given way to fret
full rest,essness. and he has become com
plete fidget What power is it that has
rolled wave of woe over the earth and
shaken portent in the heavens? He has
quit tobacco. After awhile he says: 81
am going to do as I please; the doctor
does not understand nv case. | am going
back to my old habits" And he returns.
Everything assumes its usual composure.
His business seems to brighten. The
world becomes an attractive place to live
in. His children. seeing the difference,
hail the return of their fathers genial dis.
position. What wave of color has dashed
blue into the sky and greenness into the
mountain foliage and the glow of sapphire
into the sunset? What enchantment has
lifted world of beauty and joy on his
soul? He has resumed tobacco.
The fact is we all know in our own ey-
perience that habit is taskmaster. As
long as we obey it, it does not chastse us.