The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-26
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
eY rHg Rgv. FRANk DE wITr TALMAeE. 9. Q.


 | about to be executed in the prison yard. The wild turkey will not s.oop down of his own accord and enter the small aper- ture of the fatal trap, but after the hun ter has scattered along the forest path the many grains of corn this wild fowl will lower his head arN eat until he is confined within the wire screens from which he will De taken out to his death. My brother and sister, are you among those whom King Solomon designates as fools? Do you mock at sin merely be- cause it comes around in a harmless way? The mere fact that the highway man crouehes behind the rock makes his sudden attack the more dangerous; the mere fa< that quicksands look to the unpracticed eye as strong as the rock under your feet makes their invitations to step on them the more fatal.
 Evil temptations should not be derided. l They assail a man at his weakest points of character. They do not try to assault his impregnable citadel or attack him at those points of his nature that are pro- tected by massive walls, so high and thick that the heaviest of battering rams can only make the slightest fluctuations, but they try to destroy their victims by strategy; by throwing them off their guard; wounding Achilles not through the breastplate, but in the heel; conquering Alexander the Great not with the sword, but with the wine cup; destroying Charles Stewart Parnell no. with a mans grun voice. brt with woman's gentle arm; making Thomas Cranmer sign his recantaton not by the power of argu- ment, but by the power of fear. 1t only needs comparatively light blow be- tween the eyes to stun the most power tul animal which was ever driven into the Chicago slaughter houses. It only [ needs one small sinful temptation to appeal to us in the right way to destroy any man unless he is upheld by a divine panoply.
 Sin Strikes the Weakest Point. 1 Evil temptations always assail their victims at their weakest points. Is there any man foolish enough to think that his character Is perfectly formed that there is no weak point in is moral armor? A constructor who would not try to strengthen his sagging girder is criminal Awful was the catastrophe when few years ago a great bridge over the river Seine broke under the feet of the multitudes merely because one of the iron links snapped. Poor Is the gem eral who would not be vigilant about the weakest part of his Qualifications. It was after the, famous mine was exploded under the earthworks of Petersburg that
 
 Robert E. Lees forces into Richmond. And can it be that with all your brain and force and past experience you do not realize there is some helplessness, some weakness in your nature? Have you nev- CT been tempted in the past and over thrown? Can you not realize that you may be tempted again in the future and oyerthrown in the same way?
 By being aware of and trying to ofs.Z 1.at ,1-r to supplement our strength. A we'll known and thrilling story is told that the engineer of the Holland dikes was one night invited to party. That afternoon an awful storm arose. As the hour drew near for the festival the engineer waver- ed, but at last he said: No, I will go to the dikes, where my duty calls. My ser vices may be needed there" When he arrived upon the dikes, he found that under the ceaseless bombardment of the seas some af the stones in one place had become loosened and a little water was beginning to trickle through. That little stream was gradually growing larger. Over the walls the engineer went. He tried to stop that hole first with stones. Then he took off his coat and damned 1t Into the loosened rocks. More clothesl' he shouted. More clothes!' And he made his men take off their gar ments, and at last the dikes were saved. Had that water been allowed to trickle on and had not the weak part of the wall been strengthened all the dkes would have been swept away, and thousands of men, women and children would have been drowned.
 Solomon we'll said that when a man with his moral weaknesses scoffs at sin he Is a fool. I heard the reformed John Cough, after he had been forty years a teetotaler, say; Rather than eat piece of mince pie favored with brandy 1 would cut off my right arm. I would no more touch 1t, knowing my physical and moral wer'-ness for drink. than would be willing to touch lighted match to a keg of gunpowder It is sometimes more manly to run from sin than it Is to fight sin. God gave us two feet as we'll as two fists. That means there are certain times when we should flee from temptation; that we should never allow ourselves to be placed in a position where we may be tempted. Temptation always fiendishly strikes it's victim at his weak est point Therefore '1et him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall"
 Effects of Evil lnduIgences.
 Evil indulgences should not be derided. They dull the moral sensibilities. Their sinful effects cannot be seen so much in the wasting away of the moral tissues, as Bright's disease might wreck the kid neys or tuberculosis might eat away the lungs. But evil indulgences have har- dening or dulling effect as cirrhosis har- dens the liver or as paresis affects the cell tissues of the brain. It is said that when a mans right side Is benumbed through the effect of a paralytic stroke the doctor can take a pin and drive it into his limb and the patient Is obivious to the sense of pain. So when a human being Is suffering under the paralyzing ities What appeared to him once as wrong now appears to be right and what was once right does not appear to have any special significance in his life
 The gradual dulling or the parayzing of the moral sensibilities by the touch of sin may be seen in the life of a coun- | try boy who has come to live in our | large cities. When that young man left home, he was as pure as his sister or his mother. He had a delicate, spiritual touch. He could distinguish right from wrong as readily as trained artists eye can tell the harmony of colors or a musi- cian,s ear can be shocked at the slightest discord. But after awhile that young man allows himself to be led into ques- tionable enjoyments. When he first saw enchanting sin a fiery flush mantled his cheek. But after awhile his perceptions are dulled; evil is no longer repulsive to him; he begins to believe that the thea ter may have beneficial influence. He rnn arelIe for if with a clear ave and a