The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-11-12

L"J eGA
going back to my old habits" And he re-
turns. Everything assumes its usual COM
posture. His business seems to brighten.
The world becomes an attractive place to
live in. His children, seeing the differ
ence, hail the return of their fathers
genial disposition. What wave of color
has dashed blue into the sky, and green
ness into the mountain foliage, and the
glow OF sapphire into the sunset? What
enchantment has lifted a world of beauty
and joy on his soul? He has resumed to-
bacco.
The fact is, we all know in our own ex-
perience that habit is a taskmaster. As
long as we obey it it does not chastise
US; but let US resist, and we find that we
are dashed with scorpion whips and
bound with ship cable and thrown into
the track of bone breaking Juggernauts.
Suppose a man of five or ten or twenty
years Of %evildoing resolves to do right,
why are all the forces of darkness allied
against him? He gets down on his knees
in the midnight and cries, "God help
me-" He bites his lip. He grinds MS
teeth. He clinches his fist in a deter
mination 10 keep to his purpose He dare
not look at the bottles in the window Of
a wine store. 1t is one long, bitter, ex-
haustiye, hand to hand fight with infam-
ed, tantalizing, merciless habit. When
he thinks he is entirely free, the old in
clination pounces upon him like a pack Of
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 u docile and well broken steed,
but that he is riding a monster wild and
bloodthirsty and going at a death leap.
l have also to say IL n man wants to re-
turn from evil practices society repulses
him. The p~rodigal, 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
of giving him a 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 nave felt
the need Of encouragement and some
Christian man has taken you heartily by
LIZ ol4O NAVY yoo hO( 1Cll hllllu
through every fiber Of your body, mind
and soul an encouragement that was just
what you needed?
The ProdigaPs 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 1 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 unless you have learned that when a
man tries to return from evil courses Of
conduct he uns against repulsions innu-
merable.
We say Of some man, "He 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 respectability
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, "Is it not shocking?"
How these dainty, fastidious Christians
in all our churches are going to get into
heaven l do not know, unless they lave
an especial train of cars cushioned and
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! 1 tell you
plainly that if you had been surrounded
by the same influences instead Of sitting
today among the cultured, and the refn-
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
tan parentage should not be so hard on
the fallen.
1 think, also, that men are often hin
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
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES by sprinklipg or i'm
mersion-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
md Baptist dimensions when q man is
about to come out of the darkness OF sin
into the glorious light of the gospel.
First Get Ashore
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, if l get you
ashore. are you going to live in M
street?" First get him ashore. and then
talk to him about the uonessentials of re-
ligion. Who cares what church he joins
if he only joins Christ and starts for
heaven? Oh. you. my brother of illumin-
ed 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 dissipation shake the book, re-
Numbering that he that "converteth q
sinner from the error Of his ways shall
save a soul from death and hide a multi
tude of sins"
Now, l have shown you these obstacles
because | want you to understand | know
oil tho difficulties in tho wov Rut 7 ON