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


Of man who desires liberation from the
enthrallment of evil and shows how he
may be set free; text, Proverbs xiii, 80:
when shall 1 awake? I 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
| processes of a man who has stepped
aside from the path of rectitude and
would like to return. Wishing for some
| thing better, he says: when shall /
awake? When shall I get over this hor-
rible nightmare of iniQuity?'' But, seized
| upon by uneradicated appetite and push
| ed down hill by his passions, he cries out:
| 81 will seek it yet again. / will try it
once more!'
About a mile from Princeton, N. J.,
| there is a skating pond. One winter day,
| when the ice was very thin, a farmer liv-
| ing 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,
| 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, for
the one round more! II will seek it vet
again."
Our libraries are adorned with elegant
literature addressed to young men point
ing out to them all the dangers and perils
of life-complete maps of the voyage of
life-the shoals, the rocks, the quick
sands. But suppose a young man is al
ready 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
find not one word on that subject. To
that class Of persons this day address
myself.
You compare what you are now with
what you were three or four years ago,
and you are greatly disheartened. You
are ready with every passion Of your
soul to listen TO a discussion like this
Be Of good cheerl Your best days are
yet to come. offer you the hand of vel
come and rescue. l put the silver trum
pet Of the gospel to my lips and blow one
long, loud blast, saying, "WhosOever will,
let him come, and let him come now"
The church of God is ready to spread a
banquet upon your return, and all the
hierarchs of heaven fall into line of ban
nered procession over your redemption.
Years ago, and while yet Albert Barnes
was living, / preached in his pulpit one
night to the young men of Philadelphia.
In the opening Of my discourse / said,
20 Lord, give me one soul tonightw AT
the close of the service Mr.. Barnes intro
duced a young man, saying, "This is the
young man you prayed for" But l see
now it was a too limited prayer. l offer
no such prayer today. 1t must take in a
wider sweep. Lord, give us all these
souls today for happiness and heavenr'
surmOunting Obstacles.
So far as God may help me ! propose
to show what are the obstacles to YOU
return 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 a nat
ural law which brings down to earth any
thing you throw into the air, so there is
corresponding moral gravitatiOn. l new
er shall forget a prayer | heard youni
man make in the Young Mems Christian
Association Of New York. With trem
bling voice and streaming eyes he said
20 God, thou knowest how easy it is 70
me to do wrong and how hard it is fo
me to do right! God help mel! Tha
man knows not his own heart who ha
never felt the power Of moral gravitation
In your boyhoOd you had good assOci
ates and bad associates. Which most i'm
pressed you? During the last few year
you have heard pure anecdotes and i'm
pure anecdotes. Which the easiest stue
to your memory? You have had goo
habits and bad habits. To which di
your soul more easily yield2 But tina
moral gravitation may be resisted. Jus
as you may pick up anything from tn
earth and hold it in your hand towar
heaven, lust so, by the power of God
grace, a fallen soul may be lifted towaT
peace, toward pardon, toward salvation
The force of moral gravitation is in ever
one Of us, but also power in Gods graz
to overcome that force.
The next thing in the way of your +
turn is the power of evil habit. kno
there are those who say it is very cas-
for them to give up evil habits. cann'
believe them. Here is a man given
intoxication, who knows it is disgraeiI
his family, destroying his property al
running him-bOdy, mind and soul.
that man, being an intelligent man az
loving his family. could easily give l
that habit, would he not do so? The ia
that he does not give it up proves that
is hard to give it up. 1t is a very eai
thing to sail down stream, the tide carr
ing you with great force; but suppo
you turn the boat up stream, is it
easy then to row it? As long as we vie
to the evil inclinations in our heart al
to our bad habits we are sailing doy
stream, but the moment we try to tn
we put our boat in the rapids just abo
Niagara and try to row up stream.
Slavery to Habit.
A physician tells his patient that
must quit the use of tobacco. as it is
stroying his health. The man replies,
can stop that habit easy enough"
quits the use of the weed. He e
around not knowing what to do VI
himself. He cannot add up a column
figures; he cannot sleep nights. 1t see
as if the world had turned upside dow
He feels his business is going to III
Where he was kind and oblging he
scolding and fretful The compOsure Il
characterized him has given way to
fretful restlessness. and he has become
complete idget. What power is it Il
has rolled wave of woe over the ca
and shaken portent in the heavens?
has quit tobacco. After awhile he sa
Il am going TO do as | please. The d
uoes not understand my case.
going back to my old habits" And he
turns. Everything assumes its usual C.
posture His business seems to bright
The world becomes an attractive place
live in. His children, seeing the diff
ence, hail the return Of their faith
genial disposition. What wave of c,
has dashed blue into the sky, and gre
ness into the mountain foliage, and
glow of sapphire into the sunset? w
enchantment has lifted world of bea
and joy on his soul? He has resumed
baccO
The fact is, we all know in our own
perience that habit is a taskmaster.
long as we obey it it does not chas
us; but let US resist, and we find that
are dashed with scorpion whips
bound with ship cable and thrown
the track Of bone breaking Juggernaut
Suppose a man of five or ten or tw,
years of evildoing resolves to do ri
why are all the forces Of darkness a
against him? He gets down on his k
in the midnight and cries, God
me-" He bites his lip. He grinds
teeth. He clinches his fist in a d.