The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-08-27
THhMHoE's SERMON.
"We have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the Righteous. u. John, H., l..

yOufSelI, AT LnlS par crime mas often,
been arraigned; at this witness stand
the oath has often been taken; at this
Jurors bench the verdict has been
rendered; at this judges desk sen
tence has been pronounced" But I
have to tell you to-day of a trial higher
than any oyer and terminer or circuit
or supreme or chancery: It is the
trial Of every Christian man for the
life of his soul. This trial is different
from any other in the fact that it is
both civil and criminal. 81
The issues at stake are tremendous,
and 1 shall in my sermon show Ecil,
first, what are the grounds of COM
plant; then, who are the witnesses in
the cause, and, lastly, who are the adj
VOcates.
When a trial is called on the. first
thing is to have the Indictment read
Stand up, then, O, Christian man, and
hear the indictment Of the court Of
nigh heaven against thy soul. 1t>is an
Indictment Of ten counts, for thou hast
directly or indirectly broken all the ten
commandments. You know how it
thundered on Sinai and when
God came down how the noun
tain rocked and the smoke as
cended as from a smoldering
furnace, and the darkness gathered
thick, and the loud, deep, trumpet ut
tered the words: 1.-THE soul that sin
meth, it shall diey' Are you guilty, or
not guilty? Do not put in a negative
plea too quick, for have to announce
that "all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There is none
that doeth good; no, not one. Whose
ever shall keep the whole law, yet Of
fend in one point, he is guilty of ALL"
DO not, therefore, be too hasty in pro-
inouncing yourself not guilty. :
This lawsuit before us also charges
contract Many a time did we promise
to be the Lords. We got down on our
knees and said: 80, Lord, I am thine
now and forever" Did you keep the
promise? Have you stood up to the
contract? I go back to your first COM
munion. You remember it as well as
If it were yesterday. You know how
%he vision Of the cross rose before you.
you remember how from the head and
the hands and the side and feet there
came bleeding forth these two words:
''Remember Me- You recall how the
cup of communion trembled in your
hand when you first took it; and as in
a seashell you may hear, or think you
hear, the roaring Of the surf even after
the shell has been taken from the
beach, so you lifted the cup Of COM
munion and you heard in it the surg
ang of tine great ocean Of a Savior's
agony; and you came forth shining as
though you had been on the Mount of
TRANSPORTATION; and the very air
seemed tremulous with the love of Je-
Sus, and the woods and the leaves and
the grass and the birds were brighter
and sweeter-voiced than ever before,
and you said down in the very depths
of your soul: 'I4ord. thou knoWest all
things; thou knowest that I love thee"
Have you kept the bargain, o, Chris
tan man? Have you not sometimes
faltered when you ought to have been
true? Have you not been proud when
you ought to have been humble? Have
you not played the coward when you
ought to have been the hero? charge
1T upon you, and I charge it upon my
;self-we have broken the contract.
Still further, this lawsuit claims
damages at your hands. The greatest
Islander Of the Christian religion is an
inconsistent professor. The Bible says
religion is one thing; we, by our incon-
:sistency, say religion is some other
thing, and what is more deplorable
about it is that people can see faults
in others while they cannot see any in
themselves. If you shall at any time
find some miserable old gossip, with
imperfections from the crown Of her
head to the sole of her foot, a perfect
blotch Of sin herself, she will go tat
ting, tattling, tattling, all the years of
her life about the inconsistencies Of
Others, having no idea that she is in
consistent herself. God save the world
from the gossip, female and male! I
think the males are the worst! Now
the chariot Of Christ's salvation goes
on through the world; but it is our in
constituencies, my bretheren, that block
up the wheels, while all along the line
there ought to have been cast nothing
but palm branches, and the shout
should have been lifted: 'Hosanna to
the Son of David!'
Now, you have heard the indictment
read. Are you ready to plead guilty or
not guilty? Perhaps you are not ready
yet to plead. Then the trial will go on.
The witnesses will be called, and we
shall have the matter decided. In the
name of God I now make proclama-
Ttion: Oyer! Oyez! Oyer! whatsoever
hath anything to offer in this trial in
which God is the plaintiff and the
christian soul the defendant, let him
NOW step forth and give testimony in
this solemn trial.
The first witness I call upon the
stand in behalf of the prosecution is
the world-all critical and observant
of Christian character. You know that
there are people around you who per-
petually banquet on the frailties of
Gods children. You may know, if you
Nave lived in the country, that a crow
cares for nothing so much as carrion.
There are those who imagine that out
of the faults of Christians they can
make bridge Of boats across the
stream Of death, and they are going to-
try it; but, alas for the mistake! When
they get mid-stream away will go the
bridge and down will go their souls to
'perdition. o world Of the greedy eye
and hard heart, come on the stand now
and testify in behalf Of the prosecution
against this Christian soul on trial.
What do you know about this Chris
tain man? "Oh," says the world, "I
know great deal about him. He
talks about putting his treasures in