The Red Cloud chief., 1894-07-06

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the most preparation, for which retain
the ablest attorneys, for which DO most
anxious about tho attendance Of wit.
ncsscs9 You would put all tho stress
upon tho second trial, all tho anxiety.
all the expenditure, saying, "Thc first
is nothing; the last il everything"
Give the race assurance Of q second and
moro important trial in the subsequent
life, and all tho preparation for eternity
would be post mortem," post funeral,
post sopulchral, and the world with
n jerk be pitched Off into impiety and
godlcssness.
Furthermore, let me ask why o chance
should he given in tho next world IL we
have refused innumerable chances In
this9 Suppose you give q banquet, and
you invite o vast number Of friends, but
n man declines to come or treats
your invitation with indifference. You
In the course Of 30 years give 20 ban.
quets, and tho same man Is invited to
them oil and treats them oil In the same
obnoxious way. After awhile You no.
move to another house, larger and bet.
ter, and you again invite your friends,
but send no invitation to tho man who
declined or neglected the other invita-
tions. Arc you to blamoY Has no q
right to expect to DO invited after oil
the indignities he has done your God
In this world has invited us all to the
banquet Of his grace. He invited us by
his providence and his spirit 800 days
Of every year since We knew our right
hand from our left. II we declined II
every time or treated tho invitation
with indifference and gave 90 or 40 or 30
years Of indignity OH our part toward
tho banqueter, and at last he spreads
the banquet in o moro luxurious and
kingly place, amid the heavenly gar.
dens, have we q right to expect him to
invite us again, and have we q right to
blame him If no does not invite us?
Only One OFFER.
If ~ gates of salvation stood open 30
years or so years for our admission. and
ct the end Of that time they aro closed,
can we complain Of 1t and say: ''These
gates ought to be open again. Give US
another chance?" II the steamer is to sail
for Hamburg, and we want to got to
Germany by that line, and we read in
every evening and every morning news
paper that it will sail Oh q certain day,
for two weeks we have that advertise.
ment before our eyes, and then we go
down to the docks 10 minutes after it
has showed off into the stream and say:
Come back! Give me another chancei
1t Is not fair to treat me in this way
Swing up to tho dock again and throw
out planks aud let me come OH board!'
Such behavior would invite arrest o. o
mailman.
And il, after the gospel ship has lain
ct anchor before u eyes for years and
years, and oil the benign voices Of earth
and heaven have urged as to get OH
board, a she might sail away at any
moment, and after awhile she sails
without us, 10 II common sense to ex.
poet her to come back? You might as
we'll go out OH the highlands ut Nave.
sink and call to the Majestic after she
has been three days out and expect her
to return rs to call back an opportunity
for heaven when it once has sped away.
All heaven offered US as q gratuity, and
for o lifetime We refuse to take 1t, and
then rush On the bosses Of Jehovah's
buckler demanding another chance.
There ought to be, there can be, there
will be, no such thing as posthumous
opportunity. Thus our common sense
agrees with my text, ''If the tree fall
toward the south or toward the north,
in the place where tho tree falleth there
1t shall be"
You see that this idea lifts this world
up from an u~nimportant way station to
q platform Of stupendous issues and
makes oil eternity whirl around this
hour. But n trial for which all tho
preparation must be made in this world
or never made at all. That piles up all
the emphases and all the climaxes and
all the destinies into life here. No 9th.
er chance! Oh, how that augments the
value and the Importance Of this chancei
Alexander with his army used to sur
round o city and then would lift a
great light in token to tho people that
il they SURRENDERED before that light
went out all would be we'll, but II once
tho light went ont then the battering
rams would swing against tho wall, and
demolition and disaster would follow.
Well, all we need do for our present
and everlasting safety Is to make sur.
render to Christ, the king and con.
queror-surrender Of our hearts, surren.
der Of our lives, surrender Of everything.
And he keeps q great light burning, light
of gospel invitation, light kindled with
the wood Of tho cross and flaming up
against tho dark night Of our sin and
sorrow. Surrender while that great light
continues to burn, for after it goes out
there will be no other opportunity of
making peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Talk of another
chance! Why, this is q supernal chancei
No Chance In the Next World.
In the time of Edward vi, at the
battle Of Musselburg, q private SOL
dier, seeing that the Earl OF Huntley
had lost his helmet, took OFF his own
helmet and put it upon the head of the
earl, and the head of the private soldier
uncovered he was soon slain, while his
commander rode safely out Of tho bat
rio Rr,f IN M oaca ip.taa1 80 r,;