The Red Cloud chief., 1892-06-17

that debt All Is right now. start
again" And the next day l come In
and say: "You know about that big
debt I owed you. I have come in 70 get
you to let me off. feel so bad about IL
cannot rest. DO let me Off" You will
reply with q little impatience: ~ did
let you off. Don't bother yourself and
bother me with any more Of that dis
custom" The following day l come in
and say: my dear sir, about that
debt. l cau never get ovcr the fact
that I owed you that money. IL Is
something that weighs on my mind like
a milestone. Do forgive me that debt"
This time you clearly loose your pa
thence and say: "You are n nuis-
ancc. What do you mean by this
r~eiteration Of that affair? I am al
most sorry l forgave you that debt. DO
you doubt my veracity, or do you not
understand the plain language In which
/ told you that debt was cancelled?"
Well, my friends, there are many
Christians guilty of worse folly than
that. While it is right that they repent
| of new sins and recent sins, what is the
use of bothering yourself and insulting
God by asking him to forgive sins that
long ago were forgiven? God has for
gotten them. Why do you not forget
them? No; you drag the load on with
you, and sos times a year, II you pray
every day, you ask God to recall occur
renee which he has not only forgiven
| but forgotten. Quit this folly. l do
not ask you less to realize the turpitude
of sin, but l ask you to a higher faith
in the promise of God and the full
deliverance Of His mercy. He does not
give u receipt for part payment, or so
much received on account, but receipt
in full, God having for Christ's sake
decreed, ''your sins and your iniquities
will I remember no more"
Not only forget your pardoned trans
gressions, but allow others to forget
them. The chief stock on hand of
many people is to recount in prayer
meetings and pulpits what big scoun-
drels they once were. They not only
will not forget their forgiven deficits,
but they seem to be determined that
the church and the world shall not for
get them. II you want to declare that
you have been the chief of sinners and
extol the grace that could save such n
wretch as you were, do so, but do not
go into particulars. DO not tell how
many times you got dunk, or to what
bad places you went, or how many free
rides you had in the prison van before
give it to us in bulk. II you have any
scars got in honorable warfare, show
them; but IL you have scars got II
ignoble warfare, do not display
them. 1 know you will quot'
the Bible reference to the horrible phi
from which you were digged. Yes, b
thankful for hat rescue, but do no,
make displays of the mud of that hor
rible pit, or splash it over other people
Sometimes I have felt in Christian meet
ings discomftted and unfit for Christian
service because I had done none of thos,
things which seemed to be necessary TO
Christian usefulness, for 1 never swore
a word, or ever got drunk, or went (.
compromising places, or was guilty o
assault and battery, or ever uttered
slanderous word, or ever did anyone
5 hurt, although I knew my heart wa.
: sinful enough, and / said to myself
/ There is no use of my trying to do an.
good for I never went through those de
: PRAYED experiences" but afterward
|. saw consolation in the thought that n
one gained any ordination by the layin
: on Of the hands of dissoluteness an
: infamy. And though an ordinary mora
life, ending in n Christian life, ma
t not be as dramatic a story to tel
: about, let us be grateful to God rattle
than worry about it, II we have nevc
4 plunged into outward abomination. ]
may be appropriate in II meeting Of n
I formed drunkards or reformed d.
c bauchees to quote from those not n
formed how desperate and how mast
e you nee were, but do not drive o scs.,
J, engcr's cart into assemblages of peopl,
e the most Of whom have always been d,
cent and respectable. But have bee
sometimes in great evangelistic NEE
ings where people went into particular
h about the sins that they once committe
e SO much that / felt like putting m
hand on my pocketbook or calling Il
the police lest these reformed me
might fall from grace and 60 at the
/ old business of theft or drunkenness
c%utthroatry. II your sins have bee
ioTSiNch uuu youH Lic puEihCu AoTB
n the waywardness of the past and allO
others to forget II.
s. But, what / most wan in the line
n this ext to impress upon my heare
'e and readers is that we have q sin-fo
II getting God. Suppose that on the la
y ~day-called the last day because Il
sun will never again rise upon o
Of earth, the earth itself being flung In
re fiery demolition-supposiag that
re that last day a group Of internal spiri
in should somehow get near enough Il
e. gate of heaven and challenge our e
n trance and say: slow canst Thou, Il
r just Lord, let those souls into the real
IS. of supernal gladness? Why they said
r. great many things they never ought
SO have said and did a great many thin
l. they ought never to have done. 81
ID ners are they; sinners ALL" And su
pose God should deign TO answ'
ct He might say: Eyes, but did n
is my only Son die for their ra
us som? Did He not pay the price? N
ty one drop Of blood was retained in /
m A - Ii. Al.t ~,