Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-01-11
BRANDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY II, 1897.

turned into hell. He compessionates the
sinner, as human Judge would a convict
ed murderer, arraigntd before him for
sentence Of death; but in either case, this
feeling implies adherence Of the offend
er's character and determination to in
tiIct the penalty of the law, because if it
were not so, there would be no occasion
to pity him. His benevolent heart most
intense Y desires their reformation and re-
turn TO holiness, because it would conduce
to his own glory, and would be both right
and best for the mselves and the universe.
SIR, he now hates you to such an extent
Is. rs. 5. and the claims Of his law are
so strong (aIthough he takes no more
pleasure in your destruction than Wouldthe
humane jnd &c in the death of the offend
cry that his heart is fixed on vengeance
Is xiii. a. This is his will to this you
must bow, and not to anv ina ginary feel
ings you hope he may hereafter entertain
towards you.
3. To abandon your former ill-founded
hoTes, is not sufficient; for the long cher
isbed habit of expecting eventually TO re-
ceve salvation by some act of submission
or other duty, will buoy up the mind, and
sustair your hopes, and lead you far from
God and peace. This habit must be
overcome, and these expectations must be
abandoned, and your utter heIpIt ssness
must Be realized, by the full! application Of
the truth that "aIl your righteousness
are as filthy rags" You cannot, by
continuance Of your selfish forts, succeed
in St curing the favor Of God; it will be-
trultIess and heartIess attempt to love God
and obey the law, while under the law,
and would render useless the atonement
of Christ. This is the lega religion which
spreads amongst the churches in the pres
ent day, and is self-rig hteousness and
seIf-dependence in their most deceptive
and secret form. 1t is the religion OF Saul,
seeking TO love and serve God, secretly
seeking to preserve his happiness before he
was slain, before all his hopes and expect
ations were destroyed, by the law. All
your efforts for years to submit, and obey
and obtain right feelings, have been Ut
terIy futIess and this should be conclu
sive evidence ofyour utter inability to Sc
cure the friendship Of God, by your SELF
righteous resolutions and actions and
trust you will at once yield 10 it. Pardon
IS rendered the sinner, on his repentance
but repentance is a cordial turning from
SIN solely on account of its guilt and be-
ing forbidden by God; and therefore,
where the hope Of securing pardon, in
stead of the guilt of sin, influences the mind
however secretly, it will efectuaiIy pre-
vent repentance, by rendering the object
or motive ofturning selfish. AS has been
seen while remaining in your sins, you
have nothing to hope for from Christ; he
has no dcSllcs opposed to those Of the Fa-
Their; he has no intention to save you from
hell he utterly disapproves Of your re-
belious conduct, and himself will become
the executioncr Of Gods justice You are
an impenitent sinner, and he feels and will
art accordingly. You can now see your
utter helpessness and lost condition and
must eradicate from the mind every hope
every hope Of escaping the consequences
Of your sins. You are under the law
which knows no mercy; and like a con-
demned criminal, bound on the scaffold,
awaiting death, and who can neither un-
do his past crimes or avert the penalty he
has incurred, so you stand utterly help
less, unable to atone for or undo the p St.
unable 20 avert the wrath of God, and a.e
momentariIy awaiting certain destruction.
If YOU cherish hope of escaping by re-
nouncing sin, or through Christ, you will
only renew your selfish efforts, and be
punished. One thing alone would be left
to the criminal while desiring mercy, but
hopeless Of Obtaining it; he could throw
himself upon the hands of the executive,
freely conserving he should do whatever
he should see to BE- right with him So,
YOU possess an ability which God COM
mands YOU to exercise, and in the same
manner-but 1t is merely the power ofre-
signing your soul unTeserv, d Y to the con-
trO CT God, without the interpoSition Of
any hope of securing his favor; Of freely
conserving to let him dispose OF your pres
ent and everlasting interests as he may see
to be right, even though you should be
lost, because whatever he does will be right
and proper, and therefore it should take
place; and then Of yielding him your af-
fectIons and service because hefequires it
and his requirements are right. John vi
70. Without such consent you never
can attain the love ofrighteousness for its
own sake. From long indulgence it will
be found difficult to destroy your former
hopes and expectations, but l trust you
will succeed, for otherwise it will prove
to be the strong deusion which right
eous God sometimes sends on men, to be-
lleve their own lie, that they all may be
damned who take pleasure in unrighteous-
ness. Thes. H. lI-l2
P. l am convinced l cannot be p my
self, and will Danish all these delusions.-
How shall. l extricate my mind from their
inhnenro2