Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-07-03

/ thy Justice, y COOL lie mace no sucn
plea. lie threw himself fiat on Gods
mercy.
Have you any idea that a man by
breaking of the scales OF the leprosy,
can change the disease? Have you any
idea that you can, by changing your
life, change your heart, that you can
! purchase your way 20 heaven? Come.
try It; come. bring all the bread you
ever gave to the hungry, all the medi-
/ cine you ever gave TO the sick, all the
/ kind words you have ever uttered, ali
| the kind deeds that have ever distin-
| guished you; add them all uD into the
tremendous aggregate OF good words
| and works, and then you will see Paul
sharpen his knife as he cuts that spirit
of self-satisfsction, as he cries, "By
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified"
Well, say thousand men in this au-
| dience, il am not to get anything In
| the way OF peace from God In good
\ works, how am to be saved? BY mercy.
! Here l stand 10 tell the story; mercy,
mercy, lOng-suffering mercy, sovereign
mercy, infinite mercy, omnipotent mer-
| cy, everlasting mercy. Why, it seems
Ia the Bible as IL all language were ex-
! hansted, as II it were stretched until it
/ broke, as il al expression were struck
dead at the feet of Of prophet and apos-
/ Ito and evangelist, when 1t tries to
DESCRIBE GODS MERCY.
Oh, says some one, that is only add
| ing TO my crime, If come and confess
before God and seek his mercy. No, no!
! The murderer has come, and while he
was washing the blood OF his victim
! from his hands, looked into the face OF
/ God and cried for mercy, and his soul
has been white I'm Gods pardoning love!
| And the soul that has wandered of in
the streets, and down TO the very gates
OF hell, has come back to her fathers
| house, throwing her arms around his
neck and been saved by the mercy that
saved Mary Magdalen.
But, says some one, you are throwing
open that door of mercy too wide. No,
l will throw IL open wider. l will take
the responsibility Of saying that if all
this audience, instead OF being gathered
| I'm a sem-circle, were placed side by
side, in one long line, they could all
march through that wide-Open gate Of
mercy. "HhosOeYer, "whosoever,"
Oh, this mercy Of GOd-there is no line
long enough TO fathom it; there is no
ladder long enough to scale it; there is
no arithmetic iacile enough to calculate
it, no Angels wing can fly across it.
Heavenly harpers, aided by choirs
with feet like the sun, cannot compass
! that harmony Of Mercy, Mercy. II
sounds in the rumblRg Of the celestial
gate; hear IL Ia the Ginning OF the
celestial towers; / see it flashing in the
uulifted and downCast coronets of the
! saved; hear it In the laundering tread
| Of the hammered hosts round about the
throne;and then it comes from the harps
and crowns. and thrones, and process
sions, TO sit down, unexpressed, on
throne overlapping all heaven-the
throne OF mercy.
How l was affected when some one
told me In regard to that accident on
Long Island Sound. when one poor
woman came and got her hand on raft,
| as she tried to save herself, but those
| who were on the raft thought there was
no room for her, and one man came and
most cruelty beat and bruised her hands
until she fell OF. Oh, bless God that
this life.bOat Of the Gospel has roem
enough for the sixteen hundred mil
! lions Of the race-room for one, room
for all.
/ AND YET THERE Is ROOM!
| I push this analysis Of the publican's
prayer a step further, and find that be
/ did not expect any mercy except by
/ pleading for it. He did not fold his
] hands together, as some do, saying: Elf
/ I'm to be saved, I'll be saved; il Pm to
] DO lost, I'll be lost, and there is nothing
! for me TO do" He knew what was
| worth having was worth asking for,
hence this earnest cry Of the text, "God
| be merciful TO me sinner.
| 1t was an earnest prayer, and 1t is
| characteristic of all Bible prayers that
! they were answered. The blind man:
| Lord, that may receive my sight" the
leper: Lord, II thou wilt, thou canst
| make me clean;" sinking Peter: Lord,
save me-" the publican: God be merci-
| full 10 me o sinner" but If you come up
with the tip of your finger and tap at the
/ gate OF mercy, IL will not open, you have
/ rot TO have the earnestneSS OF the warri-
/ or who, defeated and pursued, dis
mounts from his lathered steed, and
/ with gauntletted fist pounds at the
/ palace-gate. You have got to have the
/ earnestness of the man who at mid
nizht IN the fourth story has sense Of
suffOcation, with the house in flames,
/ goes TO the window and shouts to the
| fremen, Help Oh, unforgiyen SOUL
/ If you were il full earnest might have
10 command silence in the auditory, for
your prayers would drown the voice OF
the speaker, and we would have to
/ pause In the great service. 1t is be-
| cause you do not realize your sin before
| God that you are not this moment cry
| ing: Mercy, mercy, mercy.
This prayer of the publican was also
an humble prayer. The Pharisee looked
up, the publican looked down. You
cannot be saved as a metaphySiciau, or
as a rhetOriciau; you cannot be saved as
a scholar; you cannot be saved as an
artist; you cannot be saved as an Off
cial. II you are ever saved at all
IT WILL DE As A SINNER.
"God be merciful to me sinner"
Another characteristic Of the prayer
Of the publican was, it had ring OF
confidence. IL was not cry Of despair.
He knew he was going to get what he
asked for; he wanted money, he asked
for IL, expectinglt IT. And do you tell
me, O man that God has provided this
salvation, and is not going 10 let you
have it2