Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-11-03

WYNN any eiiiup W ulII III d ui-c, JIiy
and August They say he is useful
sort Of man, but he oycrrcaches in a
bargain. deny the statement. If he is
Christian anywhere, he will be in his
business. 1t is very easy to be good in
the prayer meeting, with surroundings
kindly and blessed, but not so easy to
be Christian behind the counter, when
by one skillful twitch of the goods you
can hide a flaw in the silk SO that the
customer cannot see it 1t is very easy
TO be a Christian with psalmboolS in
your hand and a Bible in your lap, but
not SO easy when you can go into a
shop and falsely tell the merchant you
can Set those 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 ,Se religion of
Christ is all peryasive If you rent a
house, you expect full possession of il.
You say: "Where arc the keys of those
rooms? II 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 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 varying extremities
of his nature. The priests washed hands
and feet
There Is q Chance For All.
remark, further, that this laver of
looking glasses spoken of in the text
was avery large laver. Railways thought,
from the fact that SO many washed there,
and also from the fact that Solomon aft
erward, when he copied that laver in
the temple, built it on very large scale,
that it was large, and so suggestive of
the gospel Of Jesus Christ and salvation
by him-vast in its provisions. The
whole world may come and wash in this
layer 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. 1t says
pardon for all, but especially for the
chief of sinners. do not now think of
q single passage that says a small sinner
may be saved, but do think of passages
that say great sinner may be saved. If
there be sins only family hued, just a
| little tinged, SO family colored that you
can hardly see them, there is no special
pardon promised in the Bible for those
sins, but if they be glaring, red like
crimson, then they shall be as snow.
| Now, my brother, I do not state this to
put premium upon great iniquity. l
merely say this to encourage that man,
whoever he his, who feels he is SO far
| gone from God that there is no mercy
for him. want to tell him there is
good chance. Why, Paul was murder
er. He assisted at the execution of
Stephen, and yet Paul was saved The
dying thief did everything bad The
dying thief was saved Richard Baxter
swore dreadfully, but the grace of God
met him, and Richard Baxter was saved
Wash and BE Clean.
1t is vast laver. Go and tell every
body to come and wash in it. Let them
come up from the penitentiaries and
wash away their crimes. Let them come
up from the almshouses and wash away
their poverty. Let them come up from
their graves and wash away their death.
II there be any one SO worn out in sin
that he canIDt get up to the layer, you
will take hold of his head and put your
arms around him, and viii take hold
of his feet, and we will plunge him IN
this glorious Bethesda, the vast laver of
Gods mercy and salvation. In Solo
mons temple there We're ten LAYERS and
one molten sea-this great reservoir in
the midst of the temple filled with wa
ter-these LAYERS and this molten sea
adorned with figures of palm branch
and oxen and lions and cherubim. This
fountain of Gods mercy is vaster
molten sea than that. 1t is adorned not
with palm branches, but with the wood
of the cross; not with cherubim, but
with the wings of the Holy Ghost, and
around its great rim all the race may
come and wash in the molten sea. / was
reading the other day of Alexander the
Great, who, when he was very thirsty
and standing at the head of his army,
had brought to him a cup of water. He
looked off upon his host and said, 81 can
not drink this; my men are all thirsty"
and he dashed it to the ground.
Blessed be God, there is enough water
for all the host-enough for captains
and host! whatsoever will may come
and take of the water of life freely
laver broad as the earth, high as the
heavens and deep as hell.
1t Is Cleansing or Death.
But / notice also, in regard to this
laver of looking glasses spoken of in the
text, that the washing in it was impera-
tive and not optional. When the priests
came into the tabernacle (you will find
this in the thirtieth chapter of Exodusb
God tells them that they must wash in
that LAYER or die. The priest might have
said: Can't wash elsewhere? / wss,,-
ed in the laver at home, and now you
want me to wash here God says: mo
matter whether or not you have washed
before. Wash in this laver or die. =
.But, says the priest, there is water
just as clean as this. Why won t that dog
Wash here, )" says God, "or die y So
it is with the gospel of Christ 1t is i'm
perative. There is only this alternative
keep our sins and perish, or wash them
away and live. But, says some one,
why could not God have made more
ways to heaven than one?' do not
know but he could have made half
dozen. know he made but one. You
say, why not have a long line Of boats
running from here to hearen?'' cam
not say, but / simply know that there is
only one boat. You say, Are there not
trees as luxuriant as that ON Calvary,
more luxuriant, for that had neither
buds nor blossoms; it was stripped and
barked?" Yes. yes, there have been tall
er trees than that and more luxuriant,
but the only path to heaven is under
that one tree. Instead of quarreling be-
cause there are not more ways, let us be
thankful to God there is one, one name
given unto men whereby we can be
saved, one LAYER in which all the world
may wash. So you see what radiant