Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-05-19

While you had TO sweat and plod and
groan over your studies he seemed TO
absorb his at q glance. On the football
field or the baseball diamond he was
the schools star athlete. The girls all
fiattere him. The young men ran aft
err him. But no one could trust him.
He was not n true man. "Ob," said the
world. "winfred Will go right to the
front In life. Success is sure to be his"
Was III No sooner had he left school a
few years than his name got mixed up
with some shady transactions. With
all his brains and ability. what became
OF him7 know and you know. He Is
dead now, a suicide; or he is living, a
| social outcast; or he Is begging and
cheating his way through life. Oh, the
magnificent ruins OF the half completed
towers OF life we see everywhere
around u.s. These towers should have
been citadels for defense and safety.
They are mere dungeons for the owls
and the bats and the yermin of sin to
inhablt.
A Fatal Gift.
But Is there no direct lesson from
this characterless tower for the women
as well as the men? How is 1t. o
woman, with the most brilliant friend
Of your childhood days? You see her
! now. perfect dream OF beauty. AS n
little girl her teeth were a collection of
priceless pearls. When she laughed all
the sunshine OF the heavens seemed to
dance In her blue eyes. Her dimples
looked like the eddies IN the surface OF
mountain brook. Her hair could be
hkened unto nuggets OF gold were II
not for the fact that, like that of Mir
lam OF old each curl had dancing feet
that never kept still Her hands were
| perfect hands. her feet. perfect feet.
Then her .mind--it was so clear and
bright and sparkling and witty and
resourcefuH What became Of her?
Where Is Sbe? You mention her name
aow wifh hushed lips and downeast
eyes TheEsp efsin placed one fatal fang
about one side Of her heart and another
fang about the other side of bsr heart
and bit until she died. She destroyed
her own life Yes. but. like, Cleopatra,
ahe not only destroyed an Antony, but
the moral lives of scores OF other men
who would today have been noble hus-
bands and fathers and honored citizens
II this commonwealth but for her evil
influence. Lack OF true moral charac-
ter destroyed her. All, yes, brain pow.
er and perseverance alone do not build
the strong, high towers OF life. IL we
do not admire Satan we must at keast.
As Q speaker once said, grant that be
Is persevering"
This parable was spoken by Christ TO
teach spiritual lesson as well as n
temporal one. IL to make a great
earthly success we must eonsecrate our
brains, our bodies and life to that par
tcular work, how much more, then,
must we lconsecrate our minds and
hearts to Jesus Christ to help in the
spiritual work OF upbuilding his king
dom? IL We must have preparation
and perseverance, and true moral worth
| to build the walls OF temporal tower.
how much more must we have true
preparation and perseverance and NOR
al character TO build the walls OF cur
spiritual structure? "If any man." says
Christ In the verse preceding this par
able, hate not his father and mother
and wife and children and brethren and
cannot be my disciple" That means
IF man is not willing to give up all
for Christ then Christ can be none OF
| his" Are you and ready TO make this
sacrifice. TO build our spiritual watch
towers todayi Are we ready to make
the necessary preparations?
Perseverance, I'm Building.
We opened this sermon behind the
schoolroom desk OF the teacher Are
you and ready TO 20 and sit NJ
Christ's feet and learn OF him? Are we
ready to accept his teachings and re-
ceive him as our Saviour? Christ says.
He that belleveth and Is baptized
shall be saved. but he that belieyeth
not shall be damned" He says again.
Il am the way, the truth and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father but by
me-" Are not Christ's words clear
enough upon this subject? Are we
ready to make the necessary prepare
tons for the building OF our spiritual
watchtowers by becoming one with him
through the atonement OF the CROSSE
Having accepted Christ after we
have laid the foundations OF our watch
towers. are we going to persevere In
the >bulidingY I've have read that
Thomas A. Edison becomes so. absorb
ed when working ON a great Invention
that he Will shut himself up In his lab
oratory and stay there for days and
weeks. He Will not leave his office
even for his meals, but has them
brought to him. We have been tolt;
that when George WestinGhouse was
perfecting bis. famous car brake he
could talk about nothing else. When
he walked along the Pittsburg streets
and would meet n friend out OF his
pocket a. ence would come the patent.
On tiAe street he would talk and talk
to prove that bis brake was feasible
We have read how the great workers.
the great inventors. the great artists
those whs have won the great success,
es OF the world have thought norhlns
OF giving M ten. twenty. thirty, forty,
nifty years OF perseverance to the ac.
compiIshment OF their iife's purpose
Shall we not be willing to give the Same
perseverance to the service Of Christi?
Lastly. we must offer to Jesus more
than proper preparation AMI persever
ance. Can we bring to his service q
true character or q spotiess moral life,
All. think this last Is the rub with
many OF us! The reason our spiritual
towers are only half completed is tina,
we are not willing to give up our De,
sins. The younger Pliny wrote q
strange, weird account OF the tribe OF
rsyili. They We're immune to the poi
son, OF snake bites because all tbei,
lives they were accustomed to handl.
these poisonous serpents as pets. Thes
fondled them, and put them to sleet
with their little childreN. When one OF
their ambassadors. Hexagon by name
came TO Rome TO prove to the consuis
that no poisonous serpent could XII
him, he allowed himself to be placed il
bed surrounded by swarms OF wrlg
Cling. death dealing adders. But, though
Hexagon could sleep among polsonou.
serpents, no true Christian can build q
j-spiritnai watchtower with the poison
eous serpent OF sin clasped around hi.