The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-01-19

| New Earth, wherein shall dwell righteous
ness. Then, when the resurrected body
endowed with interruption and immor.
/ tality shall be united, pure body, in al
itsparts, with pure spirit, will the earth
and man have reached perfection!
SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Text: John xix-3O-The sermon was
confined more particularly to the words
in the verse, cit Is finished" The speaker
| showed
l. That this death was a fulfillment OF
the law of God, by the substitution OF
Jesus Christ for Z is people unto death
even the death of the cross.
,. That all the prophecies OF the old tes-
lament were fulfilled-smokIng affairs and
| bleeding sacrifices and incense, rising
like the mist from the ocean, would be no
more. They were ended. The affairs
would be taken down and clouds of in
cense blown away.
3. He has finished the work OF redemp-
ton, and now offers to the sinner a COM
pleted salvation, in the sense that He had
become a sacrificial offering for our sins,
and we might be saved through faith in
His blood. Salvation was finished and re-
demption was complete.
4. He had made an end OF transgressiOn
had effected reconciliation for sin. As Il
prince He had wrought out everlasting
Righteousness. He had planted the king
dom OF God upon a rock, and given that
which should light up the earth.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
The sermon in the morning was from
the text (Matthew, xii, 81 "But they
made light of it," and was to shew the
unreasonablenes and danger of making
light of Coos invitation to the blessings
of the gospel. Nero fiddled while Rome
was burning. One sentence reveals the
characters of u contemplate man. "Esau
despised his birthright." One act shows
him to be pOwerless person.
In many places in the Bible God sets
forth the blessings of the gospel under
the figure of a feast. Here it Is the mar
riage of the kings son, to which men
would not come" and when other mes
sengers were sent out by the king to
repeat the invitation and to say, "behold
have prepared my dinner, andall things
are ready, come" they made light of
it, and went their ways, one TO his farm
and another to his merchandise. Thus
1t is in effect with many to-day, and yet
they cannot thus easily throw OFF respon-
sibility as regards the kind invitation,
because eternal life is bound up in their
acceptance of it, and if anything should
cause serious thought IN the mind of
man it is when the King of Heaven con-
descends to invite him to His feast Dit is
a feast not FAST.
How do men make light of the invita-
ton?
/. Some from contempt and scorn upon
1t. This feast, say they, lis for common folks.
We do not need its provisions and are too
good to be invited.
2. Some ridicule it and treat all reli-
gious things as if they were Jokes. They
are too frivolous to pay attention, all they
want is fun and amusement.
3. Some are Indifferent. They do not
ask for the invitation and do not propose
to hold themselves responsible for an eX-
animation OF its merits and claims.
4. Some neglect it their farm or their
merchandise claim all their attention.
They think religion and business no not
go well together and they let religion
alone.
). Some procrastlnate they do not in
tend to object or make light OF the invi-
tation but wat more convenient season.
They treat God as if he were person of
so little consequence that He can wait
till they are ready to attend to His messa-
ges. Yet all need the food for their
souls which can be found alone in the
feast God provides. Think for moment
what kind of character this making light
of Gods invitation shows Il man to pos
sess. 1t shows first that the man is
trifler. The incarnation and redemption
of Jesus, etc., are of less importance to
him than daily gossip. The great per-
sonal questions of God to man are treated
as If some jester was talking for his
amusement. The man fails to compre-
bend the dignity of his own nature and
the worth OF his immortal soul. He tri-
f1es and trifles with divine things until he
become at last n spiritual idiot.
=. His conduct shows that he is un-
worthy of everlasting life, and that he
counts himself unworthy. In effect he
says to his soul, ''Soul, you are not fit to
receive eternal life, you do not APP
preciate 1t; you would not enjoy it il you
could not profit by it. You are too stupid
and degraded to have it, so go down,
soul, to the misery and filth and ruin
which you choose" And God at last
makes the mans verdict His verdict, for
nothing is more calculated to make God
angry and to bring down His wrath than
for man to "make light of" and reject
the gospel of His son. What a tyrant
God would be regarded il when men re-
fused His invitations He should never
theless compel them to endure salvati on,
and chain unwilling ones to His throne.
God is not willing that any shoul perish;
IL is man that wills his own destruction,
and God makes mans own decision His
Judgment. God says to such: ''Behold
my servants shall eat, but We shall be
hungry; behold my servants shall drink,
but We shall be thirsty; behold my SER
wants shall rejoice, but ye shall be
ashamed; behold my servants shall sing
for joy of heart, but We shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for yeX-
alton OF Spiritv