Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-01-21

as we now are. In what direction to
shoot the arrow know not, and so l
shoot it at the venture: "This year
thou shalt die"
In view,of this, 1 advise that you
haveyour temporal matters adjusted,
Do not leave your worldly affairs at
the mercy of administrators. Have
your receipts properly pasted, and
your letters filed, and
YOUR BOOKS BALANCED.
If you have ttrust-funds,' see that
they are rightly deposited and &C.
counted for. Let no widow or orphan
scratch on your tombstone. "this
man wronged me OF my inheritance"
Many man died, leaving o compe-
tency, whose property has, through
his own carelessness, afterward been
divided between the administrators,
the surrogate, the lawyers, and the
sheriffs. l charge you, before many
days have gone, as far as possible,
have all your worldly matters made
straight, for "this year thou shalt
die"
l advise also that you be busy in
Christian work. How many Sabbaths
in the year? Fifty-two. If the text be
true OF you, it does not say at what
time you may 90, and therefore it is
unsafe to count on all OF the 50 Sun
days. AS you are as likely to 90 in the
first half of the year as in the last
half. l think we had better divide the
SO into halves, and calculate only
26 Sabbaths. Come Chris
tian men, Christian women,
what can you do in 26
Sabbaths? Divide the 365 days
into two parts; what can you do in
182 days? What, by the way of saw
ing your family, the church, and the
world?
In view OF the probabilities men,
toned, advise all the men and women
not ready for eternity to get ready. If
the text be true, you have no time to
talk about non-essentiais, asking why
God let sin into the world; or whether
the book of Jonah is inspired; or who
Mechisedec was, or what about
the eternal DEGREES. If you are as near
eternity as some OF you seem TO be,
there is no time for anything but the
question, "What must l do to be
saved?" The drowning man, when a
plank is thrown him, stops not to ask
what saw-mill made it, or whether it
is oak OF cedar, or who threw it. The
moment it is thrown, he clutches it. If
this year you are to die, there is no
time for ything but immediate
| LAYING HOLD ON GOD.
1t is high time to get out OF your
sins. You say Il have committed no
great transgressions. But are you
not aware that your life has been sim
full? The snow comes down Oh the
Alps flake by flake, and 1t is SO light
that you may hold it on the tip Of
your finger without feeling any weight;
but the flakes gather; they compact,
until some day q travellers foot starts
the slide, and it goes down in an av a.
lanche, crushing to death the villagers.
So the sins OF your youth, and the
sins OF your manhood, and the sins Of
your womanhood may have seemed
only slight inaccuracies or tritling di-
vergences from the right-so slight
that they are hardly worth mention
ing, but they have been piling up and
piling up, packing together and pack
ing, until they make q mountain OF
sin, and one more step Of your foot in
the wrong direction may slide down
upon you an avalanche of ruin and
condemnation.
Let me announce that Christ, the
Lord, stands ready to save any man
who wants to be saved. He wal ted
for you all last year, and all the year
before and all your life. He has watt
ed for you with blood on his brow,
Ia.
stretched, manglel hands OF love.
You come home some night and find
+, the mark OF muddy feet on your front
steps, You hasten in, and find an eX-
cited group around your child. He
fell into q pond, and had it not been
for a bravela lad: who plunged in and
brought him out, and carried him
home to be resuscitated, you would
have been childless. You feel that
you cannot do enough for the rescuer.
You throw your arms around HIM.
You offer him any compensation. You
say to him, anything you want shall
be yours. | will never cease to be
grateful" But my Lord Jesus sees
your soul sinking, and attempts to
bring it ashore, and you not only re-
fuse him thanks. but stand on the
beach and say, Drop that soul. Ii 1
want it saved, I will save it myself"
wish you might know what a job
Jesus undertook when he carried your
case to Calvery. They crowded Him
to the wall They struck Him. They
spat on Him. They kicked Him. They
cutfed Him. They scoffed Him. They
scourged Him. They murdered Him.
Blood blood AS He stoops down to
lift you up,
THE CRIMSON DROPS
upon you from His brow, from His
side. from His hands. Do you not
feel the warm current on your face?
Oh, for the hunger, the thirst, the
thornsting, the suifocation, the dark
ness, the groan, the sweat, the strug-
gle, the death!
The great salvation of the Gospel l
now offer to every man, woman and
child. You cannot earn it. A Scotch
writer says that a poor woman, one
cold winters day, looked through the
window OF a kings conserva-
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