National Baptist world., 1894-11-09

whole life is obnoxious to God before
conversions; and after conversion, not
one good thing in us but that which
the grace of God has planted and fos-
tered. "Well," you say, II can't be-
1ieve that to be So" All! my dear
brother, that is because you have never
looked into this laver of looking
glasses.
If you could catch a glimpse of your
natural heart before God, you would
cry out in amazement and alarm. The
very first thing this gospel does is to
cut down our pride and elf-sufficiency.
If a man does not feel his lost and
ruined condition before God, he does
not want any gospel. 1 think the rea-
son that there are SO few conversions
in this day is because the tendency of
the preaching is to make men believe
that they are pretty good anyhow
quite clever, only wanting little fix
ing up-a few touches Of divine grace,
and then you will be all right; in
stead of proclaiming the broad,
deep truth that Payson and White
field thundered to a race trembling
Oh Iuc NcIPC VI luuu1lc d1lC
eternal disaster. Now" says some
one, "can this really be true? Is
there no good in u.s.? In Hampton
Court | saw room where the four
walls were covered with looking
glasses, and it made no difference
which way you looked, you saw your
self. And SO it is in this gospel of
Christ. If you once step withih it's full
! precincts you will find your whole
character reflected; every feature of
moral deformity, every spot of moral
taint. If Understand the Word of God,
its first announcement is that we are
lost. l care not, my brother, how
magnificently you may have been
born, or what may have been your her
itage or ancestry, you are lost by rea-
son of sin.
[ want you to notice that this laver
in which the priest washed--the laver
of looking -glasses-was filed with
fresh water every morning. The serv-
ants of the tabernacle brought the wa
ter in buckets and poured it into this
laver. So it is with the gospel of Jesus
Christ; it has a fresh salvation every
day. 1t is not a stagnant pool filled with
accumulated corruptions. 1t is living
water which is brought from the
eternal rock to wash away the sins of
yesterday-of one momentag oh"
says some one, Il was Christian twen-
ty years ago!'' That does not mean
anything to me. What are you now?
We are not talking, my brother, about
pardon ten years ago, but about pardon
nova fresh salvation. Suppose a
time of war should come, and | could
show the government that | had been
loyal to it twelve years ago, would that
excuse me from taking an oath Of al
legiance now? Suppose you ask me
about my physical health, and I should
say l was well fifteen years ago-that
does not say how l am now. The gos
pei of Jesus Christ comes and demands
present allegiance, present fealty, pres
ent moral health; and yet how many
Christians there are seeking to live en-
tirely in past experience, who seem to
have no experience of present mercy
and pardon! If 1 want to find out
how friend feels toward me, do | go
to the drawer and find some old yellow
letters written to me ten or twelve
years ago? No; go to the letter that
was stamped the day before yesterday
in the post office, and | find how he
feels toward me. It is not in regard to
old communications we had with Jesus
Christ; it is communications we have
now. Are we not in sympathy with
Him this morning, and is He not in
sympathy with us? Do not spend SO
much of yonr time hunting in the
wardrobe for the old, worn out shoes
of Christian profession. Come this
morning and take the glittering robe
of Christ's righteousness from the
Saviour's hand. You say you were
plunged in the fountain of the Saviour's
mercy a quarter Of a century ago
That is nothing to me; / tell you to
wash now in this laver of looking
glasses and have your soul made clean.
l sometimes hear people say: "He is
a very good man, except in politics"
Then he not q good man. A religion
that will not take man through an
autumn election will not be worth any
thing to him in June, July and August.
They say he is a useful sort of man,
but he overreaches in bargain. l
deny the statement. If he is a Chris
tian anywhere, he will be in his
business. 1t is very easy to be good
in the prayer meeting, with sur
roundings kindly and blessed, but
not so easy to be a Christian behind
the counter, when by one skillful twitch
of the goods you can hide flaw in the
silk SO that the customer cannot see it.
It is very easy to be Christian with
psalm book in your hand and Bible
in your lap, but not so easy when you
can go into shop and falsely tell the
merchant you can get these goods at
cheaper rate in another store, so that
he will sell them to you cheaper than
he can afford to sell them. The fact is,
the religion of Christ is all-per vasive. |
If you rent house you expect full pos |
session of it. You say: ''Where are the |
keys Of those rooms? If pay for this |
whole house, want possession of those |
And the grace Of God when |
it comes to a soul takes full possession
Of a man, or goes away and takes no
possession. 1t will ransack every room
in the heart, every room in the life,
from cellar to attic, touching the very
extremities of his nature The priests
washed hands and feet.