Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-11-15

hounds, all their muzzles tearing away at /
the tanks of one poor reindeer.
In Paris there is a sculptured repre-
sentatiOn Of Bacchus, the god Of revelry.
He is riding on a panther at full leap.
Oh, how suggestive! Let every one who
Is speeding on bad ways understand he is |
not riding docile and well broken steed, |
but that he is riding monster wild and |
bloodthirsty and going at a death leap.
nave also to say if man wants to re- |
turn from evil practices society repulses |
him. The prodisal, wishing to return, |
tries to take some professor Of religion |
by the hand. The professor Of religion |
looks at him, looks at the faded apparel |
and the marks of dissipation, and instead |
or giving him firm grip of the hand Of
fers him the tip end of the longer fingers
Of the left hand, which is equal to strik-
ing a man in the face. Oh. how few
Christian people understand how much
gospel there is in a good, honest hand
shaking! Sometimes when you have felt
the need Of encouragement and some
Christian man has taken you heartily by
the hand, have you not felt thrilling
through every fiber of your body, mind
and soul an encouragement that was Just
what you needed?
The PrOdignPs Return.
The prodigal, wishing to get into good
society, enters a prayer meeting Some
good man without much sense greets him
by saying: 'Why, are you here? You are
about the last person that expected to
see in a prayer meeting. Well, the dying
thief was saved. and there is hope for
you" You do not know anything about
this mnlnca huvo Loo h,e -1,,v,
man tries to return from evil courses Of
conduct he runs against repulsions innu-
merable.
We say Of some man, ''TIe lives a block
or two from the church. or half a mile
from the church" In all our great cities
there are men who are 5000 miles from
church-vast deserts of Indifference be-
tween them and the house of God. The
fact is we must keep our responsibility
though thousands perish. Christ sat with
publicans and sinners, but if there come
to the house of God a man with marks
Of dissipation upon him people are almost
sure to put up their hands in horror, as
much as to say, rs it not shocking?"
How these dainty, fastidious Christians
in all our churches are going to get into
heaven l do not know, unless they have
upholstered, each one a car to himself.
They cannot go with the great herd Of
publicans and sinners. Oh, We who curl
your lip of scorn on the fallen l tell you
plainly that if you had been surrounded
by the same influences instead of sitting
today among the cultured, and the rein
ed and the Christian you might have
been a crouching wretch in stable or
ditch covered with filth and abomination.
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 circles and watched by Chris
tian parentage should not be so hard on
the fallen.
think, also, that men are often him
dered from returning by the fact that
churches are anxious about their men,
bership, too anxious about their denomi-
nation, 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 i'm
mersiOh-and what kind of a church he is
going to join. 1t is a poor time to talk
about Presbyterian catechism and Epis
copal liturgies and Methodist love feasts
and Baptist dimensions when a man is
about to come out of the darkness of sir
into the glorious light of the gospel.
First Get Ashore.
Why, it reminds me of a man drowning
in the sea, and lifeboat puts out FOL
him, and the man in the boat says to tn,
man in the water, "Now, If / get vol
ashore, are you going to live in m!
streetT First get him ashore, and theI
talk to him about the nonessentials of re
ligion. Who cares what church he join
If he only joins Christ and starts 70
heaven? Oh. you. my brother Of illumin
ed face and hearty grip for every on,
that tries to turn from his evil way, taxi
hold Of the same hymnbOOk with him
though his dissipation shake the book, re
Numbering that he that ''cOnverteth
sinner from the error Of his ways shall
save soul from death and hide a multi
tude Of sins"
Now, have shown you these obstacle
because want you to understand know
all the difficulties in the way. But an
now going to tell you how Hannibal ma
scale the Alps and how the shackles ma
be unriveted and how the paths of virtu
forsaken may be regained. First of al
throw yourself on God. Go to him fIanl
" and earnestly and tell him these habit
you have and ask him, if there is an
, help in all the resources of OmnipoteI
/ love, to give it to you. Do not go O
/. with long rigmarole, which some peOp
: call prayer. made up of obs and abs an
forever and forever amens! Go to &c
I and cry for help.
remember that in the civil war ! WI
I at Antietam, with other members of Il
Christian commission, to look after Il
:, wounded I went into the hospital aft
: the battle, and | said to a man, "Whe
are you hurt?' He made no answer, b
held up his arm. swollen and splintere
| saw where he was hurt. The simp
: fact is, when a man has wounded so
!. all he has to do is to hold it up before
: sympathetic Lord and get it healed.
q does not take any long prayer. just no
2 up the wound. 1t is no small thing whit
% a man is nervous and weak and exhaus
! ed, coming from his evil ways, to fe
p hat God puts two omnipotent arr
z about him and says:
It Young man, 1 will stand by you. I
y mountains may depart and the hills
y removed, but l will never fail you" A
Sc then, as the soul thinks the news is t
80 good to be true and cannot believe
ID and looks up in Gods face, God lifts
ID right hand and takes an affidavit, NAL
N an oath, saying, "As.I live" saith
m Lord God, Il have no pleasure in
'e death of the wicked" Blessed be G
for such gospel as this! "Cut the sill
thin" says the wife to the husband s
he there will not be enough to go around
e- all the children. Cut the slices thi
81 Blessed be God, there is a full loaf
lie every one that wants it. Bread Z
es enough to spare! No thin slices on
tn Lords table!
of Healing Balm For Wounds.
MS remember that while living in Phi
n delphia, at the time / spoke of a min
~ ago, the Master Street hospital was OF
Is ed, and telegram was received, sayi
at ''There will be 800 wounded men tOnil
a Please take care of them" From
church there went out twenty or thi
lat men and women. AS the poor wOun
IN men were brought in no one asked IL
lie from what state they came or what
Us; their parentage. There was a woun
&C. soldier and the only question was how
am take off the rags most gently and put
re- the cool bandage and administer the
M dial And when a soul comes to God
en-. does not ask where you came from
to what your ancestry was. Healing b
err for all your wounds; pardon for all )
RS guilt; comfort for all your troubles!
,lor Then, also, counsel you, if you W
en- to get back, quit all your bad associa
the One unholy intimacy will fill your
hat with moral distemper. In all the age
uty the church there has not been an insta
to- where a man kept one evil associate
was reformed-among the l,OOO,OOO
ex- Of the race. not one instance. Give
AS your bad companions or give up hea'
-. | L. l. 1T To-, hnl cn.nnaninns that dos