Connecticut western news., 1902-01-02


 skepticism and agnosticism are aimed at your head. Every possible effort will be made to make you think wrong, The young man who gets his head filled with wrong notions about God. about Christ, about the soul. about the great beyond, is already captured. Put on the helmet, the latchet we'll adjusted under the chin. Think right, and you will act right. Yes, breastplate for the heart. That Is the most important part to be defended. That decides what you love and what you hate, what you hope for and what you despise. That de cides earthly happiness and eternal des- tiny.
 Beware of Hidden Foea.
 Young man, see that you have on complete armor. All looks bright now, and 1t seems as If you could march right on without opposition or attack, but be not deceived. There are hidden foes ready to halt you on your way. The same cup that Benhadad drank out of just before his defeat will be offered to effect your defeat. His intoxicated brain saw victory when there was nothing but rout and ruin. What work Benhadad's cup made for Benhadad's army! What shipwrecks on the sea, what disasters on the land, caused by inflaming liquids put upon the tongue to set seething the brain! How many kings of thought and influence, with crowns brighter than the one Benhadad wore, have by strong drink been put into flight as base as that in which Benhadad rodei "Give them to me-" says the demon of inebriacy. Give them to me; hand them down-the brightest legislators of the land will thicken their tongue; will bloat their cheek; I will stagger their step; l will damn their soul Hand them down to me-the physician out of his labora- tory, the attorney from the com troom, the minister of the gospel from the al- tars of God. Hand them down to me, the queens of the drawing room. and will disgrace their names and blast their homes and throw them down far ther than Jezebel fell to the dogs that crunched her carcass"
 We hold our breath In horror as once In awhile we hear of some one, either by accident or suicide, going over NJ agara falls, but the tides, the depths. the awful surges of intemperance are every hour of every day rushing scores of immortals down into unfathomed abysm. Suicides by the hundreds of thousandsI Suicides by the mtllionl Beware of the cup out of which Ben hadad drank personal and national demolitioni
 Yes, you must have full armor. There are temptations to an impure life all the time multiplying and intensifying. Read in private and discussed after ward by the refined and elegant in parlors are books poisoned from lid to lid with impurities. Loose characters in the novel applauded by rhetorical pens and proprieties of life caricatured as prudery and inf1delity of behavior put in a way to excite sympathy and half approval. My wonder is not that so many go sstray, but my wonder is that ten times as many are not debauched. There are influences at work which, if unarrested, will turn our cities into Sodoms and Gomorrahs ready for the hail and fire and birthstone of Gods in- dignation.
 Oh, yes, you need the harness on un- til God tells you to take 1t of. In old en time it was leathern armor or chain armor or ribbed armor, fashioned in ancient foundry, but no one can give you the outfit you need except God, who is master of this world and the internal world, from which ascend the mightiest hostilities. Lay hold of God. Nothing but the arm of Ommpotence Is strong enough for the tempted
 Strength In the Gospel APmor.
 Young man, put on the entire gospel outfit. If you have come from the country to live in the city, initiate the example of young man who arrived in New York on Saturday night, in- tending the following Monday to enter his place of employment. On Sunday morning, carrying out the good advice before leaving his country home, he went to church. Standing at the door. he was abashed as the beauty and fashion and wealth swept through the doors of the sanctuary, and he dared not go in. As he was about turning to go away a gentleman said, Have you a seat, young manr' No, sir" Do you belong to the cityr No, sir" Where Is your homer "In the country" How long have you been in the city?" "I came in last night" What are you going to do herer 'T hope to go into business tomorrow" That is right You have begun we'll, young man. Never forsake the God of your fathers. Come, I will give you a seat in my pew" The next morning the young man presented his letter in business circles. What do you want, young manr' said the Scotch mer- chant. "I want to get credit on some leather, upper and sole" Have you references?" "T think can get refer ences. My father has friends hepe." Young man, did not see you yester- day in Mir. Lenox's pewT" 'T do not know, sir. was at church, and a kind gentleman asked me to sit in his pew" Yes, young man, that was Robert Henox. I will trust any one that MT. Lenox invites into his pew. You heed not trouble yourself about references. When these goods arc gone, come and get more" That young man became an eminent merchant and, more than that, a Christian merchant. i and he attributed all his success to that first Sabbath in the city. Young man just arrived, put yourself under good influences your first day in town. There hangs your helmet. Take 1t down. There is your breastplate. Ad- just 1t. There Is all the harness for safety and triumph Put 1t on.
 Also see in my subject the folly of understanding the enemy. That was Benhadad's fatal mistake. He could whip them before sundown. He want ed less than half a day to capture Sa- maria and make the king of Israel ca- 1 pitulate. But what he thought was 50
 easy turned out to be the impossible. Better overestimate than underesti-