Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-05-04

u u Il u
and have lots of pleasure BESIDES"
And Lot and bis wife went, to live in
Sodom. Why?
why They Went 20 seldom.
Can you End one circumstance, one
ground for hope Of spiritual develop
ment, that could have induced Lot
and bis wife to go TO live in Sodom
or Gomorrah? What Pompeii and
Herculaneum were to the ancient
Romans these vile cities were to the
inhabitants Of the east. Their sins
were 90 vile and awful and debauch.
ing 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 re-
voting and disgusting pictures paint
ed upon the walls. which prove how
the inhabitants Of the aristocratic sub.
urbs Of Rome gloried In their bestiali-
ties. Such were the Inhabitants of
Sodom. They made no pretense to de-
cency. They not only sinned, but they
gloried in their sins. They published
those sins everywhere. They practic-
ed them openly. Yet that was the
place where Lot and his wife, with
their two daughters, deliberately de-
cided to dwell after they had left the
sweet. holy fellowship Of Abraham's
home. My brother. my sister, are your
companions today evil companions
Are they men and women who sin and
sin openly? Are they Inhabitants of
the evil cities Of the plain?
Man, how Is 1t about that club? I
do not say all mems clubs are bad.
But some certainly are bad. Is your
club made up Of Christian members
When you 60 there do you feel you
are honorins Christ? DO you ever hear
the lewd joke, the vile story, the
drunken hiccough, there? Do you as
sociate there with men who are neg
lecting their homes and who are &C.
customed to speak lightly Of woman's
purity aud the sacred nobility Of moth
erhood? Wife, how ~ 1t with your as
sociates? For years you have been
struggling to get into society" What
society? The society" of Sodom or
Of Nazareth? The society" Of wives
and daughters who are trying to make
the world better through Christ or the
society" of avowed worldlings? Why
did Lots wife long TO associate with
the sinful inhabitants Of the cities Of
the plain? Why are you, o men and
o. <n -
people who care no more for your
Christ than for Buddha or Mohammed
or Confucius or Plato! Arc your asso.
ciates today made up Of gambling.
drinking. card playing. dancing. Sab
bath breaking and God dishonoring
set? If you are deliberately compan-
Joining with such associates you are
like Lots wife, living with the wicked
in the evil cities of the plain.
why He Looked Back.
Now we come to the great climax Of
these symbols. Lots wife was half.
way converted. She was in exactly
the same position as you were when
you lost your baby. You knelt by that
casket and said. 20 God, give me
back my baby!" God said to you
Daughter. 1 will give you back your
baby IL you will fee that city of sin.
I have taken your baby as beautiful
flower growing by the sinful quag-
mires and the worldly destructive mi
asmal swamps. have plucked her
and planted her In the beautiful How-
er garden Of heaven near to the river
Of life. II you will live as my child
and turn your back upon sin you can
come into my heavenly gardens and
lift again your dear one as a rose Of
Sharon to your lips" Then you said ::
Lord. will come. will Gomez Or
you are like Lots wife because you
were few years ago in the surgings
Of a great revival. 1t may have been
in a village or city church The reli-
gious movement as great tidal wave
swept over that community and car
ried your brothers, your sisters. your
wife. your children. upon the Rock of
Ages in the midst of the great sea Of
sin. You were at that time nightly
moved. You turned to fee from the
"city Of destruction" as the inhab-
itants Of Pompeii fed when old vesu-
vius was belching forth her stream Of
hot lava and lighting the heavens as
with the destructive flames Of hell !;
but. like Lots wife. after you had
started away from your old compan-
ions Of sin and your evil haunts you
began to soliloQuize. You said to your
self: what is the good Of my running
away from sin? Can't look back and
enjoy the sight just for once? Cannot
l 20 back and have one more carnival
with evil?" As Lots wife looked back
after the angel Of God had told her
to dee with her husband and daugh.
ters from the "city Of sin" you looked
back, and you were lost.
oh. friends. can It be, after you have
once started for the "city Of God" that
you will look back longingly toward
the "city Of death!' AN old Chris
tian legend" says DR.. Baxendalc. tells
us that the mountain Of Calvary can be
compared to high mountain. ON the
top of which Is palace filed with all
treasures-gold, gems, singing birds. a
paradise of pleasure. Up it's sides men
and women are climbing to reach the
top, but every one who looks back Is
turned into stone. And yet thousands
OF evil spirits are around the climbers.
whispering, shouting. flashing their
treasures singing their love songs to
draw their eyes from the palace at the
top and to make them look back" Such