The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-29


out OF your salvation with fear and tremb-
ling2 You came here with an earnest pur-
pose, take L, as / nave come hither
TO face and I tell you, FIRST of all. II YOU
want 10 ind the Lord, you must pray, and
pray and pray.
through Bible study. The Bible is the
newest book in the world oh" you
say 1t was made hundreds or years
ago. and the learned men OF King James
translated IL hundreds OF years ago" L
cOnfute that idea by telling YOU IL Is not
five minutes old, when God, by his blessed
spirit. retranslates it into the heart. II
you viii, in the seeking Of the way OF
life through scripture study, implore Coo
light TO fan upon the page, you Will
md that these promises are not one sec
ond old. and that they drop straight from
the throne of God into your heart
There are many people to whom the
Bible does not amount to much II they
merely look at the outside beauty, why
II will no more lead them to Christ than
" " ashlhs to i, IaIe"sh ag , OF tls
Koran OF MOhammed, OF the Shaster OF
the HindOos. 1t is the inward light OF
Gods word you must get. 1 went up 10
the church of the Madeleine. in Paris,
most wonderfully constructed / ever saw,
and 1 could have stayed there for
whole week; but I had only 4 little time,
so having glanced at the wonderful carv-
ing on the DOORS passed I'm and looked
at the radiant affairs and the sculptured
dome. Alas. that so many stop at the
at the rhetorical beauties. instead of
going in and looking at the affairs of sac
rihce and the dome Of Gods mercy and
salvation that hovers over penitent and
believing soulsl
o my friendsi IL you merely want to
study the laws of language. do not go to
"Howe's Elements OF Criticism'-it will
be better than the Bible for that. II you
want to study metaphysics, better than
the Bible will be the writings of William
Hamilton. But II you want to know how
to have sin pardoned and at last to gain
the blessedness of heaven. search the
Scriptures, for in them We have external
life"
When people are anxious about their
souls there are those who recommend
good books. That is all right. But I
want to tell you that the Bible is the
best book under such circumstances. Bax-
ter wrote = Call to the Uncovered,
but the Bible is the best call to the I'M
converted. Philip Doddridge wrote THE
Rise and Progress Of Religion in the Soul.
but the Bible Is the best rise and progress.
John Angel James wrote Advice TO the
Anxious Inquirer but the Bible is the
best advice TO the anxious inquirer.
O, the Bible Is the very book you need,
anxious and inquiring soul! A dying sol
dier said to his mate: "Comrade give me
a dropr' The comrade shook up the can
teen and said: There isn't drop of wa
ter in the canteen." oh" said the dying
soldier, that's not what ] want. feel in
my knapsack for my Bible" and his com
rade found the Bible, and read him few
Of the gracious promises. and the dying
soldier said "Ah, that's what / want.
There isn't anything like the Bible for a
dying soldier Is there, my comrade2" o
blessed book, while we livel Blessed book
when we diet
u remark, again, we must seek God
through church ordinances. What" say
you, cant man be saved without going
to churchY reply, there are men, / sup
pose, in glory, who have never seen a
church; but the church is the ordained
means by which we are brought to God
and IL truth affects us when we are alone
IL affects us more nightly when we are
in the assembly-the feelings Of others
emphasizing our own feelings. The great
law of sympathy comes into play and
truth that would take hold only with the
grasp OF a sick man. beats nightly
against the soul with a thousand heart
throbs.
When you come into the religious cir
Gle, come only with one notion, and only
for one purpose-to find the way to Christ
When see people critical about sermons
and critical about tones of voice, and crit
ical about sermonic delivery, they make
me think of man In prison. He is con-
demned to death, but an officer of the gov
eminent brings a pardon and puts Il
through the wicket of the prison and
says Here is your pardon. Come and
get it," WHAT Do you expect me TO
take that pardon offered with such voice
a s you have, with such an awkward man
ner as you have2 | would rather die than
so compromise my rhetorical notionsV'
All the man does not say that; he takes
it, 1t is his life. He does not care how II
III,
pardon from the throne of God is offered
to our souls, should we not seize it, re-
CARELESS Of all essentials?
But ! come now to the last part of my
text. 1t tells us when we are to seek the
Lord: While he may be found" When is
that? Old age2 You may not see old age.
Tomorrow You may not see tomorrow
Nowl o, If l could only write on every
heart in three capital letters, that word
now-nowl
Sin Is an awful disease. I hear people
say with toss of the head and with a triv-
ial manner: oh, yes, I'm sinner" Sin
is an awful disease 1t is leprosy 1t is
dropsy. It is consumption. 1t is all moral
disorders in one. Now you know there is a
crisis in a disease Perhaps you have had
some illustration of 1t In your family Some
times the physician has called. and he has
looked at the patient and said That
case was simple enough. but the crisis has
passed. If you had called me yesterday
or this morning, ! could have cured the pa
tent IL is too late now: the crisis has
passed" Just so it is in the spiritual
treatment of the soul-there Is a crisis
There are some here who can remember
instances in life when, If they had bought
a certain property they would have become
very rich. A few acres that would have
cost them almost nothing were offered
them. They refused them Afterward a
large village or city sprung up on those
acres of ground, and they see what a mis-
take they made in not buying the property.
There was an opportunity of getting it. Il
never came back. And so 1t is in regard
to mans spiritual and eternal fortune.
There is a chance; If you let that go, per-
haps 1t never comes back. Certainly, that
one never comes back
A gentleman told me that at the battle
OF Gettysburg he stood upon a hight look
ing OF upon the conflicting armies He
said II was the most exciting moment of
his life; now one army seeming to tri-
umph, and now the other. After awhile
the host wheeled in such way that he
knew In five minutes the whole question
would be decided He said the emotion
was almost unbearable. There is Just such
time to-day with you. The forces of
light on one side, the forces of death
on the other side, and in a few moments
the matter will be settled for eternity.
There is a time which mercy has set
for leaving port. If you are on board
before that, you will get a passage for
heaven. If you are not on board YOU
miss your passage for heaven AS in
law courts, case is sometimes adjourned
from term to term. and from year to
year, till the bill of costs eats up the
entire estate, so there are men who are
adjourning the matter of religion from
time to time, and from year to year. until
heavenly bliss is the bill of costs the
man viii have to pay for il.
Why defer this matter, ON. my dear hear
or? Have you any idea that sin win wear
ont? that it VIII evaporate? that IL will
relax its grasp that you NAV find religion