The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-31

. W nat was the use or that punished sur
face TO this aver Of looking glasses spoken
OF in the text If it only showed the spots
on the cOuntenance and the need Of wash
ing and there was nothing to wash WITH
/ Glory 10 Cod I find that this laver OF
looking glasses was filed with fresh water
every morning, and the priest no sooner
looked on It's Furnished side and saw his
need Of cleansing than ne washed and was
clean-glOriOLs type of the gospel Of my
Lord Jesus. that first shows man his
sin and then washes it al awayl
L want you to notice that this LAYER
in which the priest washed, the LAYER OF
lookingglasses. was filed with fresh wa
ter every morning. The servants of the
tabernacle brought the water in buckets
and poured il into this laver So il is
with the gospel OF jesus Christ. l. has
a fresh salvation every day. l. is not a
stagnant pool filled with accumulated
OcrruptiOns. It is living water, which is
brought from the eternal rock TO wash
away he sins of yesterday, OF one mo-
ment ago. 'Oh." SAYS some one. Il was
a Christian twenty years ago" That
does not mean anything 70 me. What
are you now? We are not talking, my
brother. about pardon ten years ago, but
about pardon now, fresh salvation.
Suppose a time of war should come, and
1 could show the government that L had
been loyal 10 il twelve years ago. would
that excuse me from taking an oath of
allegiance now? Suppose you ask me
say / was well fifteen years old. That
does not say how / am now The gospel
Of Jesus Christ comes and demands pres
emit allegiance, present fealty, present
moral health, and we, how many Chris
tians there are seeking to live entirely in
past experience, VINO seem 10 have no
experience Of present mercy sand pardon!
Need of Present Help.
When I was on the sea, and there came
up a great storm. and officers and crew
and passengers all thought we must go
down, began to think Of my life insur-
ance and whether If / were taken away
my family would be cared for. and then
thought, Is the premium paid up? and I
said, Yes" Then I felt comfortable
Yet there are men who in religious mat
ters are looking back to past insurance
They have let It run out, and they have
nothing for the present, no hope or par
don. falling back on the old insurance
policy Of ten, twenty, thirty years ago.
II l want 70 find out how a friend feels
toward me, do / go II the drawer and
find some old yellow letters written 70 me
ten or twelve years ago.
No; 60 ID the letter that was stamped
the day before yesterday I'm the pOstOftiCe,
and L find how he feels toward me. 1t is
not in regard to old communications We
tons we have now. Are We not in SYM
pathy with Him this morning, and is He
not in sympathy with us2 Do not spend
50 much Of your time in hunting in the
wardrobe for the old, WornOut shoes Of
Christian profession. Come this morning
and take the Slittering robe Of Chr.st's
Righteousness from the SaviOr's hand.
You say YOU Were plunged in the f0unt-
ain OF the S1vi0r's mercy quarter of
4 century ago. That is nothing 20 me. I
tell you TO wash now in this LAYER Of
loolingglasses and have your soul made
clean.
l notice also, in regard to this LAYER Of
lOOkingglaSses spoken Of I'm the text. that
the priests always washed b)tl hands and
feet. The water came down I'm sp1uts, SO
that, without leaving any filth in the b1-
sin, tn priests washed both hands and
feet. So the gospel Of Jesus Christ must
touch the very eXtremities Of our moral
nature. \ man cannot fence off a small
part Of his soul and say, Now, this is TO
be a garden i'm which I will have all the
fruits and flowers IF Christian character,
while outside is shall be- the devils COM
MONS" No, no. It VIII be all garden or
none. I sometimes near people say. He
is very good man except in politics"
Then he is not a good man.
A religion that VIII not take a man
through an autumn election VIII not be
worth anything II him IN june. July and
August. They say he is a useful sort of
a man, but he overreaches in a bargain.
I deny the statement. If he is a Chris
tian anywhere. he VIII be i'm business 1t
is very easy to be good in the prayer
meeting, with surroundings kindly and
blessed, but not - easy u be a Chris
tan behind the counter. when by one
skillful twItch of the goods you can hide
a flaw in the silk 50 that the customer
cannot see II. 1t is very easy to be
Christian with a psaIm-bo0iS in your hand
and a bible in your lap, but not 50 easy
when you can 60 into 4 shop and falsely
tell the merchant YOU get those goods at
a cheaper rate in another store, 50 that
he VIII sell them u You cheaper than ne
can afford t. sell them. The fact is the
religion Of Christ IS all pervasive. If YOU
rent a house, YOU expect fun possession
Of it. You say Where are the keys Of
those rooms? IF / pay for this whole
house, / want possession of those rooms
And the grace Of God when it comes to
a soul takes full possession Of nan on
goes away and takes no possession. It
VIII ransack every room i'm tn heart
every room in the life. from cellar t.
attic, touching the very eXtremires Of his
nature. The priests washed hands and
feet.
Fountain for All UncIennness.
I remark. further that this Iaver Of
looking glasses spoken Of in the text was
a very large LAYER. I always thought.
and also from the fact that Solomon aft
erward when he copied that laver in the
temple, built l. on a very large scale.
that it IS large. and So suggestive of
the gospel Of Jesus Christ and salvation
by Him-vast in It's provisions. The
whole world may come and wash in this
laver and be clean.
When our civil war had passed, The
government of the United States made
proclamation Of pardon TO the common
sOldiery in the confederate army but not
TO the chief soldiers. The gospel Of Christ
does not act in that way. Il says pardon
for all, but especially for the chief Of
sinners. 1 do not now think of a single
passage that says small sinner may Zoe
saved, but 1 do think Of passages that
say great sinner may be saved. If
there be sins only family hued. just a
little tinged, so family coiored that You
can hardly see them there is no special
pardon promised in the bible fore those
sins, but If they be glaring red like
crimson, then they shall he as snow.
Now, my brother. / d. not state this 10
put a premium upon great iniquity. I
merely say this to encourage that man.
whoever he is, who feels he is so far
gone from God that there is no mercy
for him. / want 90 tell him there is a
good chance Why, Paul was murderer.
and yet Paul was saved. The dying thief
saved. Richard Baxter swOre dreadfully.
but the grace Of God me- him, and Rich
ard Baxter was saved. Tt Is a vast LAYER
and hr1 70, 4