The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-07
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.


, Is the bleeding hearI OF huiiian satrl-
fiee torn out from the ribs of pleading
sunpliant. She is a child of the covenant,
/ having lived at least Tor years amid tho
highest and noblest of cody surround
ings. She was destroyed because she
refused to obey the teachings of God
which she learned from her father-in-law
and mother in-law.
Lots wife's doom awful. you say. Yes,
but shall not God sondemn more severely
those who have deliberately wandered
forth in the ways of sin and who have
once lived in Christian homes than those
who have never heard the name of Jesus
except in blasphemy? Shall not God more
severely condemn you and me for our
sins than he would our companions in
| evil whose mothers were like Delilah
Jezebei or Rahab instead of like Sarah or
Esther or Ruth? Indeed, so strong is the
influence of our parental Christian homes
that they are Juggling at our hearts today
in spite of present sins. We cannot drown
their echoing calls If we would.
Influence of the Old Home.
Some time ago a dear friend of mine
| was out in a mining town. There at that
time was miner noted for his sins. Gam
bier, drunkard, blasphemer and peddler of
| filthy stories was he. My friend met him
one day and said: Are you as bad
| man as you make out TO be? You say
you are going home this spring to visit
| your mother. VIII you get drunk there
| as you do here? Will you tell her the vile
| stories you tell here?' The man looked
| at my friend a moment and then said:
| mo, sirl l would sooner cut off my
| right arm than let my mother or my sis
| ters see me as / am. 1 came from a
Christian home, and the old truths which
were taught me there are still pleading
! with me to be a good Christian man."
| Oh my friends, when Lots wife went
astray she did not sin in ignorance. Like
ourselves, she once lived In a cody home.
Like yonder miner. she had as We have,
the prayers of her pious loved ones plead
| ing with her to keep pure and true and
upright, as she ought to have been. VIII
you continue to disregard the Christian
| eachings of your youthful days?
But do the lessons of Lots wife end
| here? No Drawing near today to the
Abrahamic eneampment we hear a great
strife and turmoil. The herdmen of Not
| and his uncle are In bitter strife. Per-
| haps the cause of the quarrel was down
| at the well when the men were drawing
water. Perhaps the struggle was due to
one shepherd persisting in his claims that
he had right to all the grass In one val
| ley. Anyway the row was on, and the
employees appealed to their masters for
settlement of the difficulty. That even
| ing Abraham and his foster son deter
mined to part. They came to the conclu-
sion that as their hocks were great
and the pasture so seant they had better
separate and each go his own way But
, Abraham. with the one parental spirit.
said to his foster son: My boy, you can
| have your choice of the land for your fu
ture home Then. after you have made
your selection, l will make mine"
| Then what happens? The Bible says
| that Lot went to Sodom because the
| grass was rich aud the pasture good.
But reading between the lines l think
can tell other reasons for the choice That
night when the great shepherd encamp-
ment is asleep l see the lights burning
in Lots tent I hear a woman in earnest
conversation with her husband. She Is
talking about like this; Lot, what is the
good of our living in "A tent all our lives?
We have lots of sheep and horses and cat
tie. We are rich. We can do what we
| like You can let the overseers look after
the herds. Take life easy and have some
fun. Why not go down to Sodom and
mingle in the society of wealthy and re-
| fined aristocratc people? Our girls are
growing up. They need a coming out
party. Oh. l know there are bad people
| living down there but because they are
bad we do not necessarily have to be very
bad Besides Lot. don't You remember
those big merchants Of Sodom who
stopped with us last year on their way to
Damascus? Their wives were charming
people They moved in the best society.
They asked me to come to Sodom to live,
and they would introduce me to their
friends. Come, let us go and live in
Sodoml The grass is good in the plains
of Jordan There we can find good pas
ture for the nocks and herds and have
lots of pleasure besides Ana Lot and
his wife went to live in Sodom. Why?
Why They Went to Sodom.
en- afr ,.,f m
ground for hope of spiritual development,
that could have induced Lot and his wife
| to go to live in Sodom or Gomorrah?
| What Pompe and Herculaneum were TO
the ancient Romans these vile cities were
to the inhabitants of the east. Their sins
| were so vile and awful and debauching
| that no public teacher of this day dare
| mention them or write them for print.
Today as you walk among the ruins of
| Pompeii you see the most revolving and
| disgusting pictures painted upon tho
| walls, which prove how the inhabitants
| of the aristoeratic suburbs or Rome glo-
| ried in their bestialities Such were the
| nha btants of Sodom They made no pre-
| tense to decency. They not only sinned,
but they gloried in their sins They pub
llshed those sins everywhere They prac-
| ticed them openly. Yet that was the
place where Lot and his wife, with their
| two daughters. deliberately decided to
| dwell after they had left the sweet. molly
/ fellowship of Abrahams home Ny broth
| er. my sister, are your companions today
evil companions? Are they men and wo-
men who sin and sin openly? Are they
| inha bitants of the evil cities of the plain?
Man how Is it about that club? / do
| not saw all mems clubs are bad. But
some certainly are bad. Is your club
made ,lp of Christian members. When
YOU go there do you feel you are honor
| ing Christ? Do you ever hear the 1ewd
| Joke. the vile story, the drunken hiccough,
| there? Do you associate there with men
who are neglecting their hones and who
are accustomed TO speak lightly of wo-
mans purity and the sacred nobility OF
motherhood? Wife how is it with your
| associates? For years you have been
struggling TO get into society What
"society?' The society of Sodom of
Nazareth? The society of wives and
daughters who are trying to make the
world better through Christ or the "soc
| ety. of avowed worldings? Why did
| Lots wife long to associate with the sim
! ful inhabitants of the cities of the plain?
! WHY are vou o men and woman. strug
Cling to associate with people who care
no more for your Christ than for Buddha
| or Moha or Confucius or Plato?
! Are your associates today made up of a
gambling. drinking, card-playing, dane
| ing. notwithstanding and God dishonor-
ing set? If you are deliberately compan-
ionine with such associates you are like
Lots wife living with the wicked in the
evil cities Of the plain.
Why He Looked Back.