Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-01-16
Repentance.
BY REV. II. L. sELLE.

bbIhlkO RAN NShOi 'HHSOASNNA 50 FN-~ We
derness of Judea whose doctrine:
"Repent ye: for the kingdom OF
heaven Is at hand" Nothing like it
had ever been heard before. His
fame spread through all the land, and
multitudes gathered around him to
hear his words. The news swept
over Jerusalem, and the great city
poured its people into the wilderness
by the thousand to hear the wonder
full preacher. Not only Jerusalem,
but "aIl Judea, and all the region
round about Jordon" went too. A
vast multitude it was! What did
they hear after gong? Repent ye;
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
The sermon was personal. 1t was a
message for each. The preacher
made no difference because Of caste,
character, or social standing. He
spoke as speaking to individuals, and
had the same word for each. He
preached that kind Of repentance
which yielded fruite, genuine. The
preaching Of repentance did not sub
side with the cessation of Johns min
istry. Soon mightier voice was
heard crying out in Galilee, Repent;
for the kingdom Of heaven is at hand"
It was the voice Of Jesus. He began
to preach the same doctrine that was
preached IN the wilderness before
Him. Repent" is His Introductory
word 1t was plain and simple, but
meant vast deal.
When the twelve apostles were
chosen by our Lord and commission
ed for their work, they went out
and preached that men should re-
pent." The preaching of repentance
kept up, Paul, the great apostle to
the Gentiles, declared at Athens that
"the times of this ignorance God
winked at, but now commandeth men
everywhere to repent" He also de-
clares in his defense before King
Agrippa: 81 am not disobedient to
the heavenly vision; But showed
first unto them of Damascus, and at
Jerusalem, and throughout all the
coasts of Judea, and then to the Gen
tiles, that they should repent and
turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance" On the day Of pente,
cost, when about three thousand souls
believed and were added to the
Church, the central theme Of Peters
sermon was repentance,
The voice of repentance that was
raised in the wilderness by John the
Baptist has never since been hushed.
His imprisonment and decapitation
by Herod could not suppress it, The
cruci6xion of Christ, its second ex-
FOUNDER, gave it new life and in6u-
ence. The shutting of the disciples
mouths by persecution proved to be
the opening of scores of others that
bravely, coursgeously and effectively
proclaimed the doctrine. Every at
tempt made to extinguish the little
fire kindled away back in the wilder
ness of Judea has been the heaping
of dry fuel upon it, 1t has burned
ats way down through the ages and is
today in blazing glow of heat, seen
and felt to earth's remotest bound.
1t is scarcely possible for the preach.
.er of today to preach repentance toe
often or too earnestly. Indeed every
sermon ought to contain something o.
preparation for the reception of the
Holy Ghost. Rarely ever is sermon
preached that some unsaved persons
do not hear. Not a single oppor
tunity Of preaching repentance should
ever be neglected, 1t is the fret an(
the only duty possible to the sinner
until he is saved. knowing thu
terror of the Lord" we should "de
.AlGre the whole counsel Of God" Tel
plainly of the way of life and saliva
~tion, giving special emphasis and nj
uncertain sound to the Fundamental
principles of tho Christian life. w,
are to SOW the seed. We may not al
WAYS know the result; it is qnnecess
airy for us to know. A man may SHOW
no visible signs of seriousness abou
his SOULS welfare, when at the sam,
4imo he 10 an earnest penitent a
heart, sust waiting for an opportunity
to make known bis interests and de
sires. Many pepitept may DO founC