Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1908-02-29

now on ] am going to buy my wife
furs aud give my children home In
stead Of supporting you"
The next morning when the mer
broke Off work aud said. Come on
Joe. let's go and take a sip" he ."
piled: mo. have given that saloon
keeper the last dollar he Will ever have
OF mine. | am going TO buy my wife
aud BARNS home instead of support
Ing his family IN luxury" The men
laughed ".tll right" said Joe You'll
see" And In a couple OF years that
workman had enough money which he
had saved from the saloon to buy y
city lot aud build little home. That
workman today Is one OF the leading
merchants In one OF our western cities
Does II pay? Does II pay 10 be- good ::
Does II pay to do right? And. my
friends. IL II does pay to do right. how
great must be the remorse that comes
when man realizes that by his own
sins. his own folies. his own evil
deeds, lie has brought poverty and
misery upon himself and those be
loves?
You are not like a man who has been
brought up In an irreliglous home. You
know what the beauties and joys OF the
gospel life mean. You have seen this
happiness revealed In your fathers and
mothers lives. You have felt the joy
OF the gospel in your own life. II |
mistake not. some years ago you joined
4. -.
the Masters vineyard Tell me. are
you going TO put all that past joy
away Are you going 20 turn your
back upon the only life which you
know IL worth living? Are you going
today TO grip hands with sin and then
endure the evil results OF the sin you
have brought upon yourself and your
dear ones: Remember that the condi
ton Of the man who has once known
the Christian hope and has departed
from It Is infinitely worse than that Of
the man who has never known II at all,
for then the specter of reinorse points
her finger at you aud says. You have
brought this misery upon yourself. and
you alone are responsible" And Jesus
tindeth him in the temple aud said
unto him; Behold, thou art made whole
Sin no more lest a worse thing come
upon thee"
But when the backslIder relapses into
evil he does more than clasp hands with
sin. He not only seeks sin. but he
turns his back upon God and the good
people with whom he used To associate
AS the pendulum swinging in one di-
rection gathers momentum and swings
| just as far in the othe direction. so the
backslider when he goes astray is apt
TO go further astray because he has
his heart. so ingratitude makes him 90
just rs far away from good associates
ms he possibly can go.
A Protese's ingratitude.
Here. for instance, is young fellow
whom you have made your protcge
You felt you had the means and ought
TO help some one IN life SO this boy
appealed to your sympathies, and you
took him TO your heart You educated
him and started him In business. You
pushed him rapidly forward You
| gave him an interest In the firm You
loved him as Il son. Time passed on
| Suddenly you awoke TO an awful fact
| You found that this young man whom
| you had loved had desecrated your
home You found that he had broken
every law OF justice and honor and
truth The meanest human cur that
ever crawled ia slime could not he
more untrue to you than he has been
What do you do? Do you upbrald him
| and make him suffer the penalty OF
the law? No Like Il loving father
| your heart Is broken. You would like
10 forgive him. You would even like
TO give him another start. But he viii
not let you love him. He will tlee
away from you. He will get Just as
far away rs he can. Like Absalom of
| old, all that he will do Is TO associate
with your enemies And all that you
can do Is TO go weeping TO Your bed
chamber as you cry. "Oh, my sou Alb
SALON.. my son. my son Absalom.
| Would God had died for thee" Now
my brother. Is that the kind OF ingrati
/ tuut you iltuu W buON W 1bu aft
you about to drift into sin: Are you
going TO turn your back upon Christ?
Are you ready TO separate yourself
from those sweet Christian associa
lions which contribute 10 our spiritual
lifei Remember this: No Christian
man ever flung himself into sin but
he proved himself an migrate and his
shame led him TO get just as far away
from God and from his people as he
could go.
There is another fact which the
Christian must bear well In mind.
Though the gospel life grows sweeter
aud purer and more triumphant the
longer man lives 1t, yet the old scars
OF sin remain indelible. And when a
Christian backslides II is like the re.
lapse OF an attack OF typhoid fever or
pneumonia. The relapse is always more
dangerous than the first attack. Then
the physical organism is weakened.
| rhat. tho ,lfSaaaa can fha mora ansfiV