Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-06-10

Not only forget your p1rlone1 transgres'
sions, but allow others 10 forget them. The
chief stock on hand OF many people is To
recount In prayer meetings an | pulplts
what big scouudrels they once were. rhey
not only will not forget their forgiven de.
fcits, but they seem to be determine tha5
the church aud the world shall not forget
them. II you want 10 declare that you have
been tbs chief of sinners an extol the grace
that could save such n wretch as you wers
do so. but do not go into particulars. ID
not tell how many times you got drunt, or
10 what bad places you went or how many
free rides you had in the prison van before
YOU were converted. Lumpit brother; give
Il 10 us in bulk
IL You have any scars got in honorable
warfare, show them but il you have scars
got in ignoble warfare, do not display them.
fknow Won will quote the Bible reference TO
the horrible pit from which you were
digged. Yes, he thankful for that rescue
but do not make displays OF the mud OF that
horrible pit or splash il over other people.
Sometimes have felt in Christian meetings
discomfited and unfit for Christian servics
because I hal done more Of those things
which seemed TO he in the estimation %
many necessary for Christian usefulness. for
never swore a word, or ever got drunk, or
went to compromising places, or was guilty
of assault or battery, or ever uttered
slanderous word, or ever did any ons a
hurt. although | knsw my heart was sin
ful enough; and sal 10 myself There Is
no use of my trying to do any good. for
never went through thos, deprave1 ex-
periences;" but afterward saw consolation
In the thought that no ons gained any
ordination by the laying on OF the han Is OF
1ssoluteness and inflmy. AMI though an
ordinary moral life, ending In Christian
life may not be as dramatic a story to tell
about. let us be grateful 10 Col rather than
worry about it, if Wa have never plunged
into outward denominations.
It may be appropriate in meeting OF re-
formed drunkards or Reformed deoaucAees ID
quote for those not reformed how Desperate
and nasty you oncs were, but do not drive
scavenger's cart into asssmblages of people,
the most Of whom have always been decent
and respectable. But | have been sometimes
In great evangelistic meetings whsre people
went into particulars about the sins that they
once committed, so much so that | felt like
putting my hand on my pocketbook or call
Ing the police lest these reforme men might
fall from grace and go at their old business
Of theft or drunkenness or cutthroatery. Ii
your sins have been forgiven AMI your life
purified forget the waywardness OF the past
and allow Others TO forget It,
But what most want in the light Of this
text to impress upon my hearers aud readers
IS that we have a sin-forgetting God. Sup
pose that on the last day-clllet the last day
because the sun will never again rise upon
our earth the earth itself being flung into
Hery demoliton-sup that on that last
law a group Of internal spirits should some
now get near enough the gate OF heaven AMI
challenge our entrance. aud say: How
canst thou. the just Lord, let those souls
into the realm OF supsrnal gla mess? why,
they said great many things they never
ought 10 have said, and they did great
many things they ought never to have done.
Sinners are they: sinners ALL
And suppose God shout deign to answer,
He might say: Yes but did not Ny only
son die for their raGsom2 Did He not pay
the price, Not one drop OF blooi was re-
tainei in His arteries, not one nerve OF HIS
that was not wrung in the torture. lie TOOK
in His own body and soul all the sui rings
hat those sinners deserve. They plelded
hat sacrifice. They took the full pardon
that [ promised - all who, through NY
Son. earnestly applied for it, and II plssol
out of Ny mind that they were OIL sn1ers.
forgot all about it, Yes, fOrgotall about
II Their sins aud their inqultles do ] re
member no more A sin-forgetting 6o1!
That is clear beyond and far above SIN
Dardoning God.
How often We hear it said: 81 can for,
1--WE. but | cannot forget Tint Is eqnal
20 saving, 81 verbally INIT 1t Is all riSnt.
yut [ will keep the old CRU ige good. hu'
nan forgiveness Is often a filmsy all ir. IL
hoes not 90 deep down. IL dOes not reach
iarup. 1t does not fix things up. The con
.estants may shake hands, or passing elcn
other on the highway they may speak tue
Good morning or Cool niglt, put the
bid coriiality never returns. The relations
always remain strainet.
There is something in the deneanor ever
after that seems to say, II would not do
vou harm: indeed. / wish you well, but that
Unfortunate affair can never pass out O. my
mind" There may no hard words pass o.
tween them, but until death breaks IN Ih'
same GOODNESS remains. BIT Gol lsIS Vgv
hardened off snses 90 into oblivion. ne
lever throws them up 10 Us again. He feels
az kindly towlrd Us a, though we had been
.potless and positively an gelic all along.
Many years ago a family, consisting OF
the husband ami wife and little girl OF two
years. lived tar out in a cabin on western
prairie. The husband TOOK few cittle 70
market. Before he started his little child
asked him 10 buy for her a doll and he
promised He could after the sale OF the
cattle purcAase household necessities and
certainly would not forget the dol he had
promised In the village TO which he went
he sold the cattle and obtain I'D the groceries
fer his household and the doll Tor his NIUE
darling. He started home along tho dismal
road at nighttall.
As he went along on horseback a thunder
storm broke. and in the most lonely part
of the road, and in thu heaviest part OF the
storm. he heard child cry. Robbers hal
been known TO do some bad work along that
road. and il was known that this herdsman
had money with him. the price OF the cattle
sold. The herdsman first thought 1t was a
stratagem tn have him halt and be despoiled
Of his treasures. but tbs child's cry became
more keen AMI rending. and 50 he dismounted
and felt around in the darkness aud all IN
vain. until he thought Of hollow that ne
remembered near the road where the cniiu
might be. and for that he started and sure
enough found a little one tagged out ana
drenched of the storm and almost dead.
He wrapped it up as well as he could ana
mounted his horse aad resumed his journey
home. Coming in sight OF his cabin he saw
it all lighted up and supposed his wife had
kindled all these lights 50 as to guide her
husband through the darkness. But. no.
lThe house was full Of excitement and the
'neighbors we're gathered and stood around
u
from some great calamity. On inquiry the
returned husban foun1 that the little child
Of that cabin was gone. She had wandered
out to meet her father and get the present
he had promised. and the child was lost.
Then the father unrolle1 from the blanket
the child he hal found in the fields. and To-
il was his own child and the lost one Of the
prairie home, and the cabin quaked with the
shout over the lost one found.
How suggestive OF the fact that oDce we
were lost in the open fields or among the
mountain crays. Cots wandering children,
and He found us dying In the tempest and
wrapped us in the mantle OF His love and
fetched us home gladness an congratula'
ton bidding us welcome The fact is that
the world does not know God. or they would
all flock TO Him. Through their own blind
ness or the fault Of some rough preaching
that has got abroad in the centuries, many
men and women have an lea that Col is
tyrant, an oppressor, an autocra'. Mana
Sahib, an omnipotent Ierod Antipas., It Is
libel against the Almighty; it is a slanier
against the heavens; it is a defamation
OF the nfinities.
connie / in NV Bible 3)l times the wor