The Penn's Grove record., 1905-02-24

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but we must leave our position as a
critic and we must come down and as
a penitent sinner at the foot of the
cross and the light and glory of rev.
elatiOn will stand behind that divine
and beautiful figure of the loving. ten
der, compassionate Christ and we
shall see Him, not a dead Saviour,
not even a great and mighty Judge
Of the world in the future. but our
own tender. loving. personal friend.
What is the next thing that seems to
me the greatest hindrance of men who
should swiftly run the race, to the
men who should bravely climb the hills
of power, to the men who, with their
manhood and strength, should battle
on the side Of Christ? 1t is one word
and it is that word that has done more
to fill u State prisons than anything
else. 1t is weakness. We are not ac-
customed when We speak Of the human
race to think of men as weak. Woman
is always spoken of as the weaker yes
sci, but I~speak not of comparison be-
tween men and women. but between
men and men. 1t is weakness that
has led men to 90 with the tide. in
stead of fighting against it. 1t is
weakness that has made them yield in
the presence Of evil companionship
and do that which their manhood and
conscience rose against. 1t is weakness
that has made them sell their souls
to drink. It is weakness that has
made them, instead of being the pro-
tectors of the weak. trample even
women under their feet. 1t is weak
ness that has made them hide their
colors when the name of God is taken
in vain or when ribald jokes are made,
when they should rise and proclaim
their indignation against it, and. il
you should ask me what keeps these
men between prison walls, l should not
answer the desire for any of these
things, but weakness. And no man
can have strength unless the spirit Of
God is within him. 1t is weakness
that drags him down and strength
that enables him TO mount above, and
strength can only come from the touch
of the hand divine.
Perhaps you say to me: "Do you be-
lieve that all men are weakg' Indeed.
l do not. / have known men, strong
men, but 1 have known nc man strong
enough to be strong without the di-
vine Christ. I have known strong men
who have said that they were strong
enough to fight the evils of this world
and it has seemed that the grOsser
evils have passed them by because of
the strength and nobility Of their char
acter, but they needed something more
than that. If they would be a bless
ing to the world that needed more than
their great, manly strength-they need
ed the strength divine. And even into
these very strong mems lives have
come some one temptation stronger
than themselves, and 1 have known
what it was to see the strong de-
feated. And yet 1 have known what it
was to see poor weak men, men whom
l have seen wrestle in anguish over
the past, men who have said to me:
Il cannot live right. Look what the
past has been-a series of attempts
to do right-and all have failed. l am
too weak And I have seen them
in their helplessness cast themselves
upon the strength of the divine heart.
They have come to the end of their
strength. they have acknowledged
their weakness. and God has stepped
in and said: You have come to the
place where you need Me and l will
help you" And l have seen these
men go through life far more able to
fight their way than the strong man,
and they have been able to see that
through Christ their weakness has
been turned to strength.
There are so many things that l
would like to bring to this audience.
but let me tell you that which l have
sometimes told those to whom | go
most often with the message. that
what we desire TO do and what we
can do is not through u own effort
nor our determination nor u might,
but it must be through that touch OF
God. There are many men who have
said to me, Il want TO speak the right
word and the evil words are there up
on my lips; 1 want to do the right thing
but in a moment the evil passion rises
within me and defeats me. / am a
slave to the powers that bind me-"
Yes, you may be and many a man has
found that however much he exercises
his will he cannot throw away from
him these evil things, but what your
own efforts. what sorrow. what even
the stern puniShments of the law have
tried to do and failed TO accomplish
can be accomplished by another
Power, the strongest power on earth,
the power of heaven. And the mes
sage that 1 bring to you tonight. the
message to those who have tried to
fight their evil temptations and have
failed; the message to those who feel
that a power stronger than their own
has got them in its grip; the message
to those who want to be what they
would be, is the message that the touch
of a new life can be yours to-day;
that Christ is calling to you; that His
hand is stretched out to touch that
heart and it can cast out the evil thing
and put in its place the new thing; an
impure thought can be cast away and
a sweet, pure thought has come to take
its place. You can become to-day a
new life in Christ.