The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-04

had seen him here once or twice. Whilst
talkingto him he said: uifI am not big,l
oted.g would as soon listen to you as,
any body else." , He might just as we'll.
To man who goes Ito the church of God
in such mood as that, hearing is not be-
lieving. Believing is the condition of
eternal life. "They that are doors Of the
Word, and not hearers only" are such as.
are saved by pfaith in Christ Jesus"
Hearing is not repenting, not doing, not
believing, not being saved. "Take heed
how ye hear" DON'T think that the
stirring of tho preachers words is the
leaven of eternal life; that the pressure
OF the preachers footsteps is the. seed Of
eternal life. Felix heard, and yet Felix
was lost. J'}I lI
ii. Trembling is not salvation. Ashe list
ened hetrembled. 1,utshe vas not saved.
Men mistake their emotions for acts Of will,
and think that il they weep at funerals, If
there comes over them q sense Of sadness in
the presence ofthe dead, and tearsroll down
their checks, they feel relfgious. No, you
are not. Tho wind touches the surface Of
the water, but the great, silent moon lifts
the ocean. The eloquence Of the preacher
may sweep, and sway, and work the audi
encc into storm of white.caps, and never
lift the body Of tho water at all. Trem-
bling is not salvation. "Devils believe
and tremble," and are mono the less devil.
ish after they have trembled. The great
danger in our modern life is that we i'm
agine that when we feel good we are good; (;
when we search an inch deep, we search
to the very foundation; that when we
tremble for our past sins we are repenting
before God. The oftener You weep with
out cause, the easier you can weep; and
tho oftener your hope creeps up, wave
like, to decision, and falls short, it slides
into indocision. 1t is the play of emotion
in the place of action, the play of feeling
in the place of decision, that ruins thou
sands.
Ill. Communion with the preacher is not
salvation. "He (Felix) trembled," and
sent Paul away He brought him back
again, and again, and again, and com.
muned with him, and-I doubt not-was
on the best of terms with him. He knew
that loyal soldier and devoted servant OF
Jesus Christ, but never trembled again.
You may bow at the altar of family wor-
ship, and may even pay half of preach.
er's summer vacation; but communion
with the preacher is one thing, and com
munion with the truth quite another. II
is the application of the truth to your soul
that shall give you eternal life.
Why did not Felix then and there accept
the truth which he knew was life, and that
stirred him to the very depths? In the first
place, because of that awful habit of hu
man nature to postpone, to wait till to
morrow. 1t is the awful burden of human
nature to procrastinate. Nine.tentEs o.
the men know are troubled with inertia
procrastination. When you have acknowl
edged the thing to be right, when you hav,
admitted every argument, thus to postpon,
the application Of 1t is the DEVILS last holC
on human nature.
Sunday after Sunday you have acknowl
cdgel the truth. have appealed to you
conscience, and when como down TO yot
for the personal application to your If
you say: Tomorrow, tomorrow" an,
"to-morrow !" but tomorrow never comes
Now Is the accepted time" "To-day
ye will hear His voice harden not you
hearts" II was the trouble with Felix; /
is the trouble with you to put of. No
| only the trouble of the man out of Christ
but the trouble of the man in Christ, thu
trouble that is eating like a cancer into th,
heart Of the Christian church. When
Christian man and woman know a duty
instead Of facing it manfully by quick do
cision they put it Off until the day hai
gone by, and they have lost an opportunity
for service in that direction. You know
as you look over your past life that th'
ono thing that has wasted your substance
is that you postponed Christian duties un
til too late.
Men say: swat until have been Il
business q little longer. Wait until an
independent. A man can't be in bushes
and make money as want to and accep
Christ" AS Felix kept Paul for the SAX
OF money, you defer Christianity for th,
sake OF the money. And so he left Pau
bound; aud in order TO share with wicke,
men you leave the truth bound, day afte
! day. t . Ul.a
But the great cause lies deeper than Low
of money or friends. You know, as Fell,
knew, the minute you lay your hand II
Jesus Chrisps palm in self-surrender, tina
minute Drusilla steps from your side, tina
moment she must go her way. That
why men postpone faith in Jesus Chris
until the denth.bed. They so on SHINING
just as long as they dare TO, but they mus
cease SHINING when they put their faith il
the Righteous One.
We must die TO the world and die to sin
Felix trembles, delays, and will not hav
Jesus Christ because there is Drusilla
You men and women know before Go,
that that Is why you don't accept Chris
tonight You arc afraid Of Him, and wha
| 1t will cost you TO be devoted Christians
Felix, left bis thyope In Juaea and was ppm
ished, and lila uwife and Ia child, botfi 4
adulterous union, were oYerwhelmed a
Pompeii Thefyears went by,.but Fell,
never heard the voics Of Paul again. Tn
man who preached righteousness ant
chastity also preached Judgment to come
and although FelLK, never found a con
vehIehtsedsOn 70 accept Christ on earth
every step, as he drew nearer to God
brought him nearer to that fearful judg
mcnt tocone. 2 FJr )Itds given unto al
men once to die and after death the judR
ment." The convenient season may neve
come; but, AZ God lives, there .s y resur
rection from the dead. 1The Judgment will