The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-17

10 yon prison and ask the prisoner III III Is
not hard. Go with me to the gambler,
the drunkard, the forger who has
lost reputation and ask them II the
way of the transgressors is not
hard. Then go and ask those who have
been serving God for the last 20 years and
see IL they find the service of God is hard.
have tried both masters, and / want to
say now my God is not hard master.
Take the most faithful follower OF the
devil in Providence for the last five years,
and take one who has followed
Jesus Christ most faithfully and let the two
stand on this platform and their very
faces would tell the story. Look at that
man, debauched, vile, low; he has had
delirium tremens, feels snakes at times
creeping up around him, and say the
devil Is an easy master. sup
pose there are a good many
men here who have served both
masters in the last 10 or 20 years; at
some time you changed masters, gave up
the service of the world and the devil and
began to serve Christ. / would like to
have those men who have found God is
not hard master ring out "No" tonight.
Shouts of No). DO you think we are
lying? Don't we know? Haven't we
served the god of this world and haven't
we served the God Of heaven? "My yoke
is easy and my burden is light" There
is a Joy in the service of Christ that the
world knows nothing of. and you never
will until you taste it, i wish / could de-
scribe it. 1t seems to me could get you
to change masters tonight IL j could.
II could only get you to taste of the
sweet consciousness that your sins have
been put away, not a cloud between your
soul and God. How many times your
conscience rises up and lashes you. This
is something that the true child of God
knows nothing of.
There is a man down there in the mid
die OF the hall who says that il he is ever
converted he wont be converted in meet1
ing like this; too much excitement; If he
is really honest and he doesn't want TO be
converted here because there Is so much
interest, will find him some church in
Providence that doesn't believe in revivals
where everything is cold and dead; IL
there is too much excitement here
go to a graveyard and be converted,
there Is no excitement there.
i. IS only an excuse. II stood at that
door and every one of you had to pass out
| through it and asked every one of you
personal question why you did not be-
come Christian tonight, think about
SOD Of you would give this excuse,-you
would say "Mr. Moody, it is very kind
of you to take such personal in
terest in me but the fact is i
promised my wife / would be home
tonight at o'clock will see
you again-"I have had men promising
TO see me again for 30 years. What have
you done with all the time God has given
you for the last 800 days? Some of you
have spent five years learning a trade,
wilt venture to say | am speqking now
to some men who have never given five
solid minutes to the consideration OF their
souls salvation. Thank God 1t doesn't take
time, it takes decision and i pray God
you may make that decision tonight.
Here is man at my right in the bal
cony who says: 81 am glad Moody is
giving il to them tonight. / have been
watching some men tonight and have
seen him hit them, but he hasn't touched
me. i have got good excuse. You
know, there is a man who belongs to a
church here tonight who cheated me out
of $40 ten years ago. Hypo-
critics! hypocrites! that is my excuse"
Now want TO tell you something don't
forget it--if you meet man bowling
about hypocrites, you just look out for
him, he doesn't live far from one himself
Most people have the idea that a man has
got to join a church to be hypocrite;
my friends will find a hundred in the
world while you find one in the church.
admit they are there; when Christ chose
his apostles, and think He was about as
good Judge OF men as ever lived, one
proved 10 be hypocrite, and the wheat
and tares will grow together till the gen.
eral harvest. II you carried that out in
temporal things / would like to know
where it would land you. II you are
doctor or lawyer or merchant, why don't
you get up and get out of your profession
because there are hypocrites in it?
When you put foreign label on your
goods made here at home, and tell your
clerks to tell your customers they are inn
ported, and when you sell goods that are
halfcotton for all wool-you are a hippo
critic. Suppose there are hypocrites in the
churches. "What is that to thee, follow
thou me?' We don't ask you to follow
church members, but to follow the Son OF
God and He was no hypocrite. There is
another man down there who says, "My
trouble is altogether different-I can't
believe" Man, put your finger on a
promise God has ever mlds that he
hasn't kept. 1t is easier to pull the
sun out OF the heavens, to heave an
ocean, than 10 break one of Gods prom
ises; man and the devil have been trying
for the last 5000 years but they cannot be
brok en-.
man once said to me, at is all nom
sense that man Is going to be effected
by just what he believes, how is that
going to change his course OF life?" /
said, ''Ii that is your difficulty, / can
make you believe in about three minutes.
! You say man is not affected by what he
believes that that doesn't change his course
of action. Suppose a man opens that door
and sings out, "The building is on fire.
II you and ] believe it, what will we do?
Go out of that window head first. co."
said he, "I never thought OF that
No man can believe that book without
purifying his soul. That book says no
adulterer, no drunkard shall inherit the
kingdom of God. There is nothing un-
reasonable al out that. We are going to