The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-01-14
DOOR OF MERCY.
Kew DR.. TaImAge Says There Will Be
Salvation for the Morally
Shipwrecked.
Yield Not to the Force Of Immoral Graylta-
ilelpiulncss of Religion.
tCopyright. iaJLl


WASHINGTON, ID. C.--In this discourse
DR.. Talmage depicts The struggle of
man who desires liberation from the en-.
thrallment of evil and shows how ne may
be set free; text, Proverbs xiii, 3j
''When shall awake? l will seek it yet
again.
With an insight into human nature
such as no other man ever had. Solomon
in these words IS skctching the mental
process OF a man who has stepped aside
from the path OF recttude and would like
TO return. Wishing for something better,
he says: when shall | awake? When
shall / get over this horrible nightmare
of iniduity?" But seized upon by nm.
cradicated appetite and pushed down hill
by his passions he cries OUT - will seek
1t yet again. will try it once more"
About mile from Princeton, n. J.,
there is 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 mis- hfeess body
was brought up. And in all matters OF
temptation and alluremcnt it is not n
prolongation that Is proposed, but only
just one more indulgence, Just one more
sin. Then comes the fatality. Alas, Tor
the one round more! IL will seek 1T yet
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
hfe-the shoals, the rocks, the qulcksands
But suppose a young man IS already ship
wrecked, suppose he is already oil the
track, suppose he has already gone astray,
how can he get back? That is a question
that remains unanswered, and amid oil
the books of the libraries | find not one
word on that subject. To that class of
persons / this day address myself.
Nnrt or~a hat M
what you were three or four years ago,
and are greatly disheartened. on 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 welcome and res
cue. / put the silver trumpet of the gos-
pei 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 ban
Quet upon your return, and all the hue
rarchs of heaven fall into line of ban
nered procession over your redemption.
Years ago, and while yet Albert Barnes
was living, l preached in his pulpit one
night to the young men of Philadelphia.
In the opening of my discourse said, 70
Lord, give me one soul tonight" 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 too limited prayer. offer
no such prayer to-day. 1T must take In
wider sweep. Lord, give us all these
souls to-day for happiness and heaven"
So far as God may help me / propose to
show what are the obstacles to your re-
turn, 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 natural
law which brings down to earth anything
you throw into the air, so there is cor
responding moral gravitation. l never
shall forget prayer | heard young man
make IL the Young Mems Christian Asso-
citation of New York. With trembling
voice and streaming eyes he said: 20
God Thou knowest how easy it is for me
to do wrong and how hard it Is for me to
do right God help mel" That man
knows not his own heart who has never
felt the power IF moral gravitation.
In your boyhood you had good asso-
ciates and bad associates. Which most
impressed you? During the last few years
you have heard pure anecdotes. and i'm
pure anecdotes Which the easiest stuck
to your memory? You have had good hab-
its and bad habits. To which did your
soul more easily yield! But that moral
eravitation may be resisted just as you
NAV pick up anything from the earth and
hold it in your hand toward heaven, Just
so, by the power of Gods grace, fallen
soul may be lifted toward peace, toward
pardon, toward salvation. The force of
moral gravitation is In every one OF us,
but also power in Gods grace to overcome
that force
The next thing in the way of your re-
turn is the power of evil habit. ! know
there are those who say it Is very easy for
them TO give up evil habits. / cannot be-
lieve them. Here is a man given to lntox-
ication, who knows it is disgracing his
family, destroying his property and ruin
ing him body, mind and soul. If that
man. being an intelligent man and loving
mis- family, could easily give up that habit,
would ne not do so? The fact that he
does not give it up proves that it is hard
to give it up 1t is n very easy thing to
sail down stream, the tide carrying you
with great force, but suppose you turn
the boat up streams it so easy then TO
row it? As long as we yield to the evil in
chnations in our heart and TO our bad
habits we are sailing down stream. btt the
moment we try to turn we put our boat
In the rapids just above Niagara and try
to row up stream.
A physician tells his patient that ne
must quit the use OF tobacco, as it is de
stroying his health. The man replies, ~
can stop that habit easy enough" He
quits the use of the weed He goes
around not knowing what 10 do with HIM
self. lie cannot add M column OF
figures: ne cannot sleep nights. 1t 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
scoding and fretful. The composure that
characterized him has given way 20 a fret
full restlcssuess. and he has become a conn
plcte idget What power IS it that has
rolled q wave of woe over the earth and
shaken n portent i'm the heavens? He has
quit tobacco After awhile he says: ~
am going to do az ] please; the doctor
does not understand nv case. / am going
back to my old habits" And ne returns.
Everything assumes it's usual cOmpOsure.
His business seems to brighten The
world becomes an attractive place TO live
in His children. seeing the difference.
hail the return of their fathers genial die
position. What wave Of color has dashed
blue into The sky and greenness into the
mountain foliage and the glow Of sapphire
into The sunset? What enchantment has
lifted n world of beauty and Joy on his
soul2 TIE has resumed tobacco
The fact is we an know in our own ex-
pcriencc that habit is q taskmastcr As
long as we obey it. 10 does not chastisc us.
But let us resist 30 and we find that we
are lashed with scorpion whips and bound
with ship cable and thrown into tho
track of bone breaking Juggernauts
i'm Pavie there is a sculptured represent
tation Of Bacchus, the god of revelry Hc
is riding on a panther at full leap On.
how ruggcstivci Let every one who is
speeding on bad ways understand he is
not riding a docile and well broken ateed.
but that he is riding a monster wild and
boodthrstv and going at n death leap.
I have also 20 say li man wants 10
return from evil practices society repulses
him The prodigal, wishing TO return.
tries 60 take some professor Of religion
BY the hand. The professor of religion