The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-11-14
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
MAN VERSUS EVIL THE SUBJECT
LAST SUNDAY.

~ 80
when shall 1 Awake I VIII Seek
1t Yet Again"-The Return OF the
Notwithstanding Obstacles.
Copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch. N. VI
Washington, Nov. 10.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage depicts the strug-
gle OF a man who desires liberation
from the enthrallment OF evil and
shows how he may be set free; text,
Proverbs xiii, So: when shall 1
awake? | will seek it yet again"
With an insight into human nature
such as no other man ever had Solo
mon In these words is sketching the
mental processes of a nan who has
stepped aside from the path Of recti-
tude and would like to return. Wish
ing for something better he says:
When shall I awake? When shall l
get over this horrible nightmare of
%iniquity?" But seized upon by un-
eradicated appetite and pushed down
hill by his passions, he cries out: II
will seek it yet again. l will try it once
more!"
About a mile from Princeton, N. j.,
here is a skating pond. One winter
day, when the ice was very thin, a
farmer living near by warned the
young men of the danger Of skating at
that time. They all took the warning
except one young man. He, in the
spirit of bravado, said, "Boys, n
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 propos-
ed, but only just one more indulgence,
Just one more sin. Then comes the
fatality. Alas, for the one round
more! II will seek 1t yet again"
Jul libraries are adorned with ele-
CANT literature addressed to young
men pointing out to them all the dan
gers and perils of life-complete maps
OF the voyage of life-the shoals, the
rocks, the quicksands. But suppose a
young man is already shipwrecked,
suppose he is already off 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
I find not n word on that subject. To
that class of persons I this day address
myself.
surmountlng Obstacles.
So lar as God may help me l propose
to show what are the obstacles to your
return and then how you are to sur
mount those obstacles. The first diff
Guilty in the way of your return is the
force Of moral gravitation. Just as
there is a natural law which brings
sAGHNWnto earth anythingyou throw into
IANp air, SO there is a corresponding
1tSal gravitation. I never shall for
DItla prayer I heard a young. man
In the Young Mems Christian
II, hA;iation of New York. With trem-
voice and streaming eyes he
y1harA 20 God, thou knowest how easy
~ Ffor me to do wrong and how hard
1t is for me to do right! God help
me-" That man knows not his w
heart who has v felt the w of
moral gravitation.
SNA hOoo yOu udu SOUu dSSO-
ciates and bad associates. Which
most impressed you? During the last
rev years you have heard pure anec-
dotes and impure anecdotes. Which
the easiest stuck to your memory?
You have had good habits and bad
habits. To which did your soul more
easily yield? But that moral gravita-
ton may be resisted. Just as you may
pick up anything from the earth and
hold 1t In your hand toward heaven,
Just SO. by the power of Gods grace, a
fallen soul may be lifted toward peace,
toward pardon, toward salvation. The
force of moral gravitation is in every
n OF us, but also power in Gods
grace to overcome that force.
Slavery to Habit.
A physician tells his patient that he
must quit the use Of tobacco, as it is
destroying his health. The man re-
plies, II can stop that habit easy
enough" He quits the use of the
weed. He goes around not knowing
what to do with himself. He cannot
add up a column of figures; he cannot
sleep nights. It 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 scolding
and fretful. The composure that char
acterized him has given way to a
fretful restlessness, and he has become
a complete fidget. What power is it
that has rolled a wave Of woe over the
earth and shaken a portent in the
heavens? He has quit tobacco. After
awhile he says: 81 am going to do as
I please. The doctor does not under
stand my case. I am going back to
my old habits" And he returns.
Everything assumes its usual COM
posture. His business seems to bright
en-. The world becomes an attractive
place to live in. His children, seeing
the difference, hail the return of their