Evening journal., 1916-01-07
THE Law OF God
Sermon preached in the Taber-
uacle last night by DIR. Lyon.


Continued from Page Twelve.
top of your head. Who ever heard Of
building house with no place for
the smoke 10 come out. except at the
front doorl
DR.. Lyon condemned the cigarette
habit and added There are many
that are committing intellectual
suicide by pernicious reading. The
pictures on the walls, in many homes.
the books on the table, and the
pamphlets hidden away in desks and
closets have poisoned many minds
and blighted their imaginations.
These vile nickel libraries and dime
novels which are sold at news stands,
are bringing a greater curse upon our
communities than a scourge of small
pox The blood curdling scenes and
suggestive portrayals Of picture
shows are poisoning the minds of the
Young and starting many on life of
crime. I noticed in a high school.
that l was visiting recently. boy
reading a yellow-backed novel. some
train robber story about Jesse James
or Tiger Tim. I noticed also the yell
low OF the cigarette on the inside OF his
fingers. / asked the teacher what
kind of a student he was. She said,
"He is naturally smart enough, but
il seems impossible for him to learn.
1t seems to me she could easily have
found out the cause by a little invest
igation. He was pOlluting his mind,
as well as his body committing men
tai suicide.
Still worse is the effect OF moral
suicide. Bacon said, "An author Is
known by his writings, q mother by
her daughter. a fool by his words,
and all men by their companions IL
Won know the kind OF company per
son keeps, If you do not know what
he is to-day, you do know what he
is going to be tomorrow. Water al
ways seeks its level. II does not take
a family long. in moving into a COM
munitv. TO seek their associates.
MANY a persons life haSbeen blighted
and cursed on account of getting into
the wrong kind of company When
Won see a young fellow stick his nat
on the side Of his head (yOu never
knew a fellow in your life to wear
his hat on the side OF his head tnat
was not unbalanced. screw loose, q
yellow streak i'm him some Where),
when YOU see him get his hat on the
side Of his head and swagger down
the street with the air OF ioafer'
when you see him hanging around a
smolSe house or a pool hall with a
gang of toughs; IL is very easy TO
predict what his future Will be. Be
fore long he will graduate into the
police court and the county jan.
Whenever you see a young woman
accepting that kind of young men ior
company, you know there IS a srl
that is not yet "shoe high
More disastrous is the effect OF splr-
itual suicide. There are many VINO
are literally starving themselves TO
death. What would you think or
LAWYER who did not look into his law
hooks more than once month, or
teacher into his text books, or
phvsician into his materia medica
any oftener than once fortnight
Yet there are many professed Chrls-
tians that treat the Bible in this way.
Could YOU imagine a man becoming
phvsically strong only on one meal
everv three or four days? No Won
dor we have such iabby. anemic'
good-for-nothing church members. Ihe
family altar has become back num-
her in the average professed CHRISTIAN
home. Families come TO their meals
like hogs to a trough, without ever
q word invoking Gods blessing or eN-
pressing to him their thanks. Ihey
will lie down, at night, like cattle IN
tbeir stalls. without ever expressing
tbeir gratitude to God for His good
ness and seeking His help and pro-
lection. The dust is collecting so
thick on the Word OF God, in many
nrofessed Christian homes, that you
could almost write "damnation' on
+he cover. AS the recording angel
looks down from heaven tonight and
writes the epitaph on the tombstone
above many and many a dead soul,
the body is still living, active in poll
tics business and society, but the
soul is dead, he writes the words,
"Died of spiritual starvation" Do not
commit suicide
II neople were content with killing
themselves. it would not be so bad,
hut they go on and murder others.
Young people. it would he more hon
orable TO stab your parents in the
back with 2 dirk knife than with un-
kind words and evil deeds to kill
them inch by inch. It is a heavy price
YOU are paying for the pleasures of
sin when II is costing the sleepless
nights. the bitteD tears and the
hoartaches of loving father and
mother on account Of your wayward-
ness. The sad tragedies caused by
disobedient. wayward sons and
daughters are furrowing the brows,
whitening the hair. and fastening the
death Of many a dear parent. Such
was the story of that son in New
York City whose widowed mother had
rescued him from many difficulties.
but at last the crime was so heinous
she could not scure his release.
When the verdict OF guilty was
brought in, the judge arose and