Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-12-04
A Word 20 The Yaunr

nounx people. l would Ike to spcas
just one word 10 you You arr apt &C
think that the period OF youth Joes moi
amount 10 much I want TO tell you
that You are now forming the habits
that will grow stronger and stronger
"a the years roll on. The bark OF the
tree Is the place where TIE life IN sup
posed TO exist. But II the Inside Of the
tree. or the wooden part. Ii allowed u
De tunneled by worm the inside OF
the tree WIN soon be eaten out. Then
the whole tree Will soon tottPr and fall
One small sinful habit can destroy tn,
human heart. One little tug in youth
In the wrong direction can pull or the
branches OF truth and purity and love
anu honor md make a iupsitied tree.
What you 10 now viii decide the moral
character OF your future. Trees 1000
years old are neither more nor hess
than the fully developed and expanded
perfections and imperfections OF n tree
only four. five. ten. twenty. thirty
years old Nearly all the hardened
criminals WHO spend most OF their lives
in the penitentiary committed their
first crime when they were nothing
more than boys under twenty years OF
age. Many murderer has started on a
quick Journey for the gallows by whet.
ting his taste for blood when as a child
he tortured dog or Gagged rat. Old
trees bear the scars upon their sides
from the wounds inflicted In youth.
These scars can bc seen upon the tree
even after the tree has tumbIed TO the
ground and Is dead
The Tree OF Life.
But though II fallen tree Is a dead
tree. which nearly always falls In the
way II Inns grown. u living tree, no
matter how young or old. can become
an fngrafied tree. Grating may be
accomplished In many different WAYS.
In budding grating a bud Is selected.
Then strong young branch Is cut
crosswise with a sharp knife. Then
the bud Is placed upon the bare branch
and the four pieces Of bark are Joined
Mt the buds base and the wound Is COW
cred over with japanese mating. So
the young human trees may be ingraft-
ed. They can have Christ's projections
In I'LL their freshness and fragrance
made to grow into them. They can
grow into the Christian life so gradu-
ally and sweetly that they will not be
able to tell the exact moment Of their
conversion. They will be like that
young girl who was asked on joining
the church when she commenced to
love the Lord Jesus. why she an
swered, 'I never commenced to love
the Saviour. feel that / have always
loved him."
But there is another way Of grating.
There is the sprouting grating. By
this process whole limbs will be cut or
and new limbs from other trees will be
placed Into the fork shaped crotches.
Ii necessary nothing need be left but
the trunk OF the old tree. This was
the way Chrlst's life was ingrafted
into Paul's. This was the way Baxter
and Bunyan and Jerry McAuIey and
Harry Monroe and the seven-deviled
Mary of ancient and modern times
have been converted. Whole branches
OF sin. which have been growing for
many years upon these sinful trunks,
have been cut OF. Gnarled and worm
eaten and disease producing branches,
which have only produced poisonous
leaves OF sin. have been Topped of, and
into those sinful trunks have been In
grated the long. healthy, growing
branches OF the tree OF nre. My breth-
er, from the oldest and the weakest
and the poorest and the most twisted
OF human trees there is still hope that
the branches OF the beams OF the Gloss
can be ingrafted In them II they are
only willingsto have chopped or their
branches OF sin and to let Christ do
the migrating.
The Gospel Invitation.
But there is one thought OF my text
which ought TO be emphasized. I do
not believe many people have stopped
TO fully consider II. All fallen trees are
dead trees. Yes. But some trees which
arc not fallen may be dead trees also.
AS we have said. the whole life OF the
tree is In the bark or the outside Of the
tree. There the sap flows up and down.
There the connection Is made between
the roots OF the tree and the leaves.
In that bark can be once broken 30 that
the sap cannot flow, then the tree dies.
A short distance from my late country
home farm hand became angry nj his
employer. One night he took a knife
and went into the orchard and cut a
circle OF the bark OFF each tree. In one
night the man killed between fifty aud
sixty trees For this crime he was
sent to Jail. And, oh. my brother, can
IL be that some one whom l am now
addressing shall soon be n dead tree to
Christ. although he Is not fallen tree?
Can II be that. though receiving the
gospel Invitation again and again. you
are going TO let Satan take a knife and
circle about the bark or the heart of
your spiritual life7 Then. indeed. you
will be dead to all heavenly pleas. You
will be dead to all the calls OF the Holy
Spirit You will have no conscience
left
Would that instead of being a dead
tree to Christ we could become a liy.
Ing tree In Godi Arborfculturists de-
clare that the roots are Just as wide
and strong underneath the ground as
the branches OF the tree growing over
head. I myself In climbing q noun
tain have seen a tree which by the
strength OF Its roots has been able to
grow upon the side OF q precipice. Let
US as living trees sink our roots deep
and fasten them about the Calvary
Rock Let Us lift our branches high.
that our leafy hands may be cleansed
with showers OF heavenly benedictions.
Then when the time comes for the hu-
man tree to fall Christ will lift Us up
ana carry us above to become one OF
the pillars OF the heavenly temple, as
he once carried his own cross toward
Calvary. Upon that cross ne died for
our SINS
Copyright. 1905. by Louis Kiopsch.l
Great Fronts In begging.
A woman was arraigned for bepaIn0