Milford chronicle., 1908-02-21
Calmase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.

N4ehg cars anu LudL even "a
good man may fan back into sin unless
diVinely fortified against temptation
IS the practical lesson Of this sermon.
The text is John V, IA, "Sin no more
&st a worse thing come unto thee"
Oalvinists and Arminians have bat
tied for generations over the question
whether it is possible for a man who
has once been converted to fall into
sin and be finally lost The question
is no nearer settlement than It was
hundred years ago, but think there
is one aspect Of it in which both would
agree. Unhappiy there is no room
for dispute about the facts The Meth
odist points, in proof of his contention,
to men who are sunk in vice and deg
radiation, who were once believed to
be true Christians. The Presbyterian
sorrowfully admits the fact. though he
explains it by saying that such men
were never children Of God. and they
deceived themselves and deceived the
church, or else they were Christians
and will yet be saved through discipline
that God will use to bring them back
to his fold. 1t is Of these men l would
speak this morning.
We are down by the pool Of Bethes-
IA. In all probability this was a min
eral spring, like a Yellowstone geyser.
Samuel Barnes thinks it may have
been. At certain times this pool erupt-
ed, and at the first troubling Of the
waters they had a curative quality at
tributed to angelic action upon them.
The sick and the diseased would gather
there ready to plunge in at the aus
picious moment. The first who stepped
into the water at that time was cured
of his or her ailment, but one poor man
was there who was so weak and slow
in his movements that he could not en-
ter alone. He seemed to have no
friends. Reading between the lines, l
think this mans sickness may have
been the result of a past evil life. Sin
and physical agony are sometimes. but
not always, cOncOmitants of each 9TH
er. Jesus saw and had compassion on
him, he looked so sick and wan and
helpless. Then Christ cured him. Then
Jesus meets him afterward in the tenn
pie and speaks the words of my text:
Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no
more lest a worse thing come unto
thee"
We may wonder what there could be |
worse than the man had endured. To |
lie there day after day for thirty |
eight years, suffering from paralysis |
or rheumatism or some other ailment !
that rendered him helpless, was surely |
bad enough. But Jesus thought there
were worse things than that and they
might come upon him if he fell into
sin. The warning comes with addi-
donal force to us because we have
been accustomed to regard the miracle
rs a type of conversion. We should
therefore ask ourselves in what re-
spect the calamities that come from
in are worse than physical helpless
less.
The 5ackslider's Remorse.
The backslider, in the first place, is
haunted by the grewsome specter of a
poignant, never ceasing remorse. He
las enjoyed the inspiring hope Of sal
alton. He has tasted the ineffable
weets of the gospel. He is like the
'rodigal in the far country. He was
lot born of swine keeping parents.
lie was not treated as a social out
asst. He was Graded in the old home (
tead and knew what a loving moth {
RS smile was. He knew what honor I
nd affection and responsibility meant :
tut he deliberately went and flung all |
way and turned his back upon the [
lings that make life worth living. In \
Is misfortunes after his poverty came :
pom him, wherever he went and 1
7hatever he did, he kept picturing to (
imself the plenty and happiness of his t
lther's home. Do you suppose a man l
-ho has once lived in a comfortable I
ouse on a respectable street, with a b
wing family and amid kind friends, S
)uld ever be happy to go and dwell +
nong social outcasts if he knew that c
: was the direct cause Of his own dis
race? {
Some years ago a young Scotchman I
lme across the seas and settled in a
IFS country. He married here and had Il
70 little children, whom he loved O
early. He was not a bad man. He c
I'd a religious bringing up. But he Ia
as one Of those who drifted into dis ri
patton through sociability. as so d
any had done before him. The men IL
ways used to take a drink before T
ey started work. Then they would al
eak off work about 10 o'clock and b,
Ike another drink. Then they would Il
ways take a drink at noon, and so on ii
lring the day. This habit began to tb
t its merciless hold upon him. One ga
ening on his way home from work
sleigh was dashing down the street.
.fore he knew it the horse was al =,
ost upon him. He leaped back just -
time to escape being knocked down. ~
J he did this two women beautifully -
essed in furs laughed contemptu- ct
sly at his predicament. The man be- -,
n to think. Why was he walking n,
hen other people could ride and al -
1st ride over him and treat It all as ~
joke? Who were these rude rich -
ople? Looking after them, he recog- -,
1ed these women as the wife and -