The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-08-24
|9bOrt gern'ons|
FOR A
5unnap Dalf- f-Dnur|
Theme:
LIFE.
r r r
BY DR.. ALBERT FITCH.
r r 1.

bI Dh. ALbEhl FllOIs
r r +
Text-Enter ye In at the narrow
gate; for wide Is the gate and broad
ls the way that leadeth to destruc-
tIon; and many there are who enter
by II. How narrow is the gate and
straight Is the way which Ieadeth
TO life, and few there are who find
Il.
These are the words of Jesus. They
are distinguished by their impressive
severity. There are always people
who are per verse and discontented.
and who take no interest in these
words, and are in the nabit of reject
ing them as absolutely inconsistent
with their idea of a Christian life.
You and are the children of the
twentieth century; that is to say,
we are an easy-going, pleasure-loving
generation, and We receive these
words, for the most part, If we re-
ceive them at all, with an inner pre-
judice and a definite irreligion- They
carry with them a message that pro
vokes a challenge from our twentieth
century civilization; they seem to set
forth a reflection on the world from
the point of view of the new idea, as
against the admirable old idea of
past generation, the deeply rooted in
stituuon of human nature. 1t Is no
wonder that men balk at this idea,
when 1t seems to be out of harmony
with present day twentieth century
life.
Stones don't roll up hill. They al
ways take the easy path of rolling
down hill; a shot does not leave the
gun by the butt end. but goes right
out at the mouth of the barrel. 1t
takes the way of easiest resistance. So
the Scripture tells us to follow the
straight path which leadeth to glory.
Some Christians never reach the
greatest happiness, because they al
ways follow the lines of least resist
ance-the lines of no resistance.
They are living what they think is the
all human development; the survival
of the fittest. The strong man domi-
mates the weak man, and he must
give in.
Read your history and see the ma
tions and the men who have fallen
because they have followed the paths
of least resistance; see where they
have ended.
On the other hand, see the men
who have succeeded because they fol-
lowed the straight and narrow path.
See our modern commercial life, with
its one code of ethics for the multi
millionaire and another code of ethics
for the poorer man-for you and for
me. You can see IL in our commercial
life to-day. wherever we see men get
ting together enormous amounts of
money; wherever you see men put
ting pleasure before principle, desire
before justice, conquest before char
acter, self before ones neighbors, the
things of the world before the glory
of God.
Whenever you find these things and
find men following the easy path, you
find that they come to destruction
They have come to the end they set
out to reach. On the other hand,
true progress has come only when
men have been willing TO travel along
the straight and narrow path. What
Is the thing that sustains society
to-day? 1t is the thing we call home
The home is simply a group of peo-
pie who have made up their minds TO
lead the straight life. Here the in
dividual member sacrifices all for the
sake of the group. The father sacri-
fees himself for his children. Wher.
ever you see a home where there Is
discord, there you will see a broken
home, disrupted home, one that ends
IN divorce; one in which the children
are moral bankrupts.
That is the whole foundation of our
society; that is where we do good to
the greatest number; when men agree
TO walk in the straight and narrow
path under any government whether
II be that of Republic or a monarcI.
Instead OF the easy path principle,
along the lines OF least resistance,
there you have sturdy people, When
men endeavor to set forth their own
ideas OF government independent OF
other men. such government is not
government at all; 1t sometimes
means anarchy.
Why do we build our hospitals to-
day1 Because we believe in the new
Christian civilization. Why do we
take care Of our old people in homes
for the aged and the sick instead OF
getting rid OF them as they did in
Sparta Of old. by killing them? Be
cause We are q civilized people. Why
do we have retormatortes now instead
Of prison. Because we have learned
that by simply turning key on a
man and locking him up apart from
his fellow-man, we destroy him and
he destroys us. We do II for our own
property's safety and for the reform
OF the individual
There are many, many men, IN our
own day who find themselves at the
end OF four. or three, or even ono
year. not as good as they were be-