The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-11-12
that God puts two omnipoten. arms

1890 o0a Ral6 ~ IA Al
about him and SAYS:
Young man, / viii stand by you The
mountains may depart and the hills be
removed, but / will never fail you" And
then, as the soul thinks the hews is too
good to be true and cannot believe il
and looks up in Gods face. God lifts his
right hand and takes an affidavit. makes
an oath, saying, CAS- / live" saith the
Lord God, Il have no pleasure in the
death Of the wicked" Blessed be God
for such gospel as this, Cut the slices
thin" says the wife to the husband. for
there will not be enough to go around for
oil the children Cut the slices thin"
Blessed be God, there is a full loaf for
every one hat wants il. Bread and
enough to spare, No thin slices on the
Lords table,
Healing Balm For Wounds.
/ remember that while living in Phila-
delphia. at the time l spoke OF a minute
ago, the Master Street hospital was open
ed, and a telegram was received, saying:
There will be ?0U wounded men tonight.
Please take care of them" From my
church there went out twenty or thirty
men and women. AS the poor wounded
men were brought in N one asked them
from what state they came or what was
their parentage. There was a wounded
soldier. and the only question was how to
take off the rags most gently md put on
the cool banGaSe and administer tie cor
dial. And when a soul comes to God he
does not ask where you came from or
what your ancestry was. Healing balm
for all your wounds; pardon for all your
guilt; comfort for all your troubles.
Then, also, l counsel you. if you want
to get back, quit all your bad associates.
One unholy intimacy will fill your soul
with moral distemper. In all the ages Of
the church there has not been an instance
where a man kept one evil associate and
was reformed-among the 1000, 900, 900
Of the race, not one instance. Give up
your bad companions or give up heaven
1t is not ten bad companions that destroy
q man nor FIVE bad companions nor three,
but one.
What chance is there for the young
man l saw along the street, four or five
young men with him, in front of a grog-
shop, urging him to go in, he resisting,
violently resisting, until after awhile they
forced him to go in? 1t was a summer
night, and the door was left open, and I
saw the process. They held him fast, and
they put the cup to his lips, and they
forced OOWn the strong Drink. WQaC
chance is there for such a young man?
1 counsel you also to seek Christian ad-
vice. Every Christian man is bound to
help you. If he declines to help you, he
is not a Christian. Now gather up all
your energies of body, mind and soul and,
appealing to God for success, declare this
day everlasting wal against all evil in
fuences. A half and half work will
amount to nothing; it must be a Water
loo. Shrink back now and you are lost.
Push on and you are saved. A Spartan
general fell at the very moment of vic
tory, but he dipped his finger in his own
blood n wrote on a rock near which
he was dying, Sparta has conquered"
Though your struggle to get rid of sin
may seem to be almost a death struggle,
you can dip your finger in your own blood
and write on the Rock Of Ages, "Victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ"
Surrenderfng to God.
Some of you, like myself, were born in
the country. And what glorious news
might these young men send home to
their parents that this afternoon they
had surrendered themselves to God and
started a new life! l know how it is in
the country. The night comes on. The
cattle stand under the rack, through
which burst the trusses of hay. The
horses have just frisked up from the
meadow brook at the nightfall and stand
knee deep in the bright straw that invites
them to lie down and rest. The perch of
the hovel is full of fowl, their feet warm
under their feathers. When the nights
get cold, the flames clap their hands
above the great backlog and shake the
shadow Of the group up and down the
wall. Father and mother sit there for
MALT an hour saying nothing. l wonder
what they are thinking of? After. awhile
the father breaks the silence and says,
"Well, l wonder where our boy is in
town tonight?" And the mother an
swers: I'm no bad place. 1 warrant you.
We always could trust him when he was
at home, and since he has been away
there have been so many prayers offered
for Linn we can trust him still" Then at
S or 9 o'clock. just before they retire, for
they go early to bed, they kneel down
n commend you to that God who
watches in country and in town, on the
land and on the sea.
Some one said to a Grecian general,
What was the proudest moment of your
life" He thought a momen and said,
1.-THE proudest moment was when / sent
NoTu uoLue III ny pdTeltS tHat L naQ
gained the victory" And the gladdest
n most brilliant moment in your life
will be the moment when you can send
word to your parents that you have con-
quered the evil habits by the grace Of
God and become eternal victor.
Oh, despise not parental anxiety! The
time will come when you will have nei-
ther father nor mother. and you will go
around the place where they used to
watch you and find them gene from the
house and gone from the field and gone
from the neighborhood. Cry as loud for
forgiveness as you may over the mound
in the c~hurchyard. they cannot answer.
Dead. Dead, And then you will take
out the white lock of hair that was cut
from mothers brow just before they bur-
led her, and you will take the cane with
which your father used to walk, and you
will think and think and wish that you
had dom just as they wanted you and
would give the world if you had never
thrust a pang through their dear old
hearts