The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-03-28
THE EVENING ADDRESS.

The steady drizzle of the afternoon settled in
to q steady shower by nightfall. and the evening
service at Tominson Hall not SO largely
attended as that OF Monday. Nevertheless there
were probably $500 people who heard Mr. Mills
discourse the subject of "a Pure Heart. "
The attendance of strangers was observably
greater than that on any previous occasion, show
ing that the meetings are beginning TO attract
the general public. After several stirring hymns.
the preacher announced the text from Acts vii,
81: "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this mat
ter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of
God" The above verse embodied portl on of
when the latter had offered him money in order
that no might receive the power of the Holy
Gnost; my money perish with thee" Peter
said. because thou hast thought that the gift of
God may be purchased with money.
There we're great many men to-day who
imagined that they might purchase salvation
with money. 1t WAS all right to be willing to
give up ones money, If that was the idol which
being worshiped. God had said, Thou
shalt have no other gods before me-" Whenever
a man succeeded In putting God IN the hrst
place in his heart he had found the key which
unlocked every psrplexity pertaining to the de-
velopment of character Whenever man put
anything before God in his heart he
idolator whaling captain was asked
to give his heart TO God. Give my heart to
God!n he said, "Why, have no heart. If you
were to dig down where my heart ought to be,
you'd find the image of a whale" And so it
with so many in the world to-day. If one should
dig down in men where the heart ought to be
they would find in its place some idol. some
worldly ambition. A who loved righteous
ness would want to be Christian. He could
not love righteousness and hate wrong without
wanting to be Christian, because Jesus Christ
was the incarnation of righteousness. He had
come TO preach rignteousnsss-to present 1t in
the most tangible form L. was selfevident
truth that the man who wanted to do right loved
Jesus Christ. and that if he did not want to do
he would turn his back Christ. The
Bible said that '.he who believeth not is con-
demned already" He was condemned from the
very fact that good man would consent to be-
lieva Him.
A heart which was not right in the sight of
ones fellow-men was not right in the sight of
God. Christ had imposed upon US ten COM
mandments five of which pertained to our
relations with Him and five to our relations
with our fellow men. If We did our duty to-
could not perform those duties without We had
performed duties toward God.
We could never treat our brothers
right until had. gotten right with
the Father of us all. A universal brotherhood
implied a universal fathernood. A great many
men thought they could be all right in the sight
of God without being all right in the sight of
men They would practice seldshness, and even
swindle their fellow-men, as If every injury they
did those about them on this earth was not q
wrong to God One of the hardest things to
give up was personal animosities. Yet one was
never right in the sight of God if he
cherished in his heart the slightest
tests which God put Christian to his love
for his fellowman. TIE man who. had evil in
his heart toward a neighbor had already COM
mitted murder. II believe that that one thing"
said the evangelist ''of cherish1ng unkind
spirit toward somebody else keeps more people
away from God than any other Ons thing, and
was talking to lady once who
seemed to be distressed about her
soul. She said wanted to become
a Christian was willing to give up all her sins
al do herr uf nat T
you willing to do that you will become
Christian But something seemed to be in her
Is there anybody whom you have grudse
againstP She looked somewhat surprised and
then said that there was such person Well
said l. you'll have to give that up oh, sir, if
ask it, she cried I'm not asking
it, / said to her 1t is God
who asks it and demands it of you. He
requires You to pluck that poisonous thorn OF
hatred out of your flesh The lady was greatly
distressed and for long time it appeared that
she would not yield to what she now knew to be
right. but at last she did so. and wrote a letter
to the person against whom she had been enter
tanning bitter feeling. Only day or two
after that l had the pleasure of seeing her
radiant face in of my meetings. She had
come out into the liberty and beauty of peace.
If man could not forgive his enemies how
could he expect Christ to forgive him? Had
any suffered as Christ had suffered when He
was nailed to the cross, and yet in that moment
of awful agony had said: 81 forgive them"
Another thing to be consider ed WAS that man
who would forgive his enemies could be depend
ed on to treat his neighbors right-to deal hon
estly with them.
The proud self-willed heart was not right in
the sight of God. Man had to humble himself
before he became Christian. 1t was a very
hard thug to become a Christian; but it did not
appear hard after one had become converted.
1t was a great deal like the struggle one some
times had in teaching obedience to children.
Every parent has an experience az some time
another with his children in which he is
PEELED TO exert bis authority-to master the
child, or let the child master him. II ne makes
a mistake then it might be one which would last
TO eternity. 1t might be some small lesson Of obe
dence like teaching the little one to say please"
say please aud perhaps severe struggle would
be required to overcome it; but when the con-
quest was at last made, and the child had said
''please," it did so openly and willingly
In fact, It seemed it could not say
il often enough now that the spell
of stubborness was broken. and it had become
only pleasure to the little fellow to repeat the
word. 1t was just such a change that people
perienced upon giving themselves to God II
seemed q very hard thing until DONE but once
done they could not be submissive and obedient
enough.
Another thing which was not right in the
sight of God was divided heart. Some men
trifed with Gods spirit. At one time they were
earnest, and at another they not.
Then hard uncomfortable heart was not
right in the sight of God-aheart which refused
to melt under the warmth of His love Nor was
sight of God. The great trouble with those
who we're ont of the church was that they Kept
putting God of. "What would you think of
said the evangelist who, wnen.
You went into his store, remained engaged
in trivial conversation with
somebody and although you had
manned waiting a long time. he paid attention
to youl Would you not be ap: TO go away from
that store. and would IL not be some time before
you would go there againf God pleads with
You just so long as there is possibility that He
may move your heart, but the time will come
when your heart cannot be moved. for God has
given you MP forever. Procrastination is the
great danger OF the unsaved. A large majority
of the men who are lost. lost by saying not
to-day not now They are waiting for the
season. which will never come"
In conclusion the evangelist said there WAS
but thing necessary to make the heart
right in the sight of God, and that to let
God take hold of it He knew of a young lady
in his home congregation who went home from
a service one night almost pursuaded to become
. Christian. So deep the feeling that
she went TO the table in her