The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-03-07


81. astray. You almost became an athe-
list. You said, "Whore is God that hon
est men go down and thieves proSpcrT'
You we're logged of creditors. You Wcr"
dCggcd Of the banks, YOU were dOgGcd
Of worldly disaster. and some OF you
went into misanthropy, and some Of
you took to strong drink, and others
OF YOU fed out OE Christian association,
| and you got astray. Oh, man, that was
fOrSakcn God. Standing amid the ilOuu-
dCring % your earthly failures. how
could yOu get along without Il God 10
comfort you, and a God to deliver you,
ard a God to help you. and God to
save you? You tell me YOU have been
through enough business troubl" almost
to kill You. | know It. cannot I'M
dcrstanl how the boat could live one
hour in that chopped sea. But do not
know by what process you got astray
soiro in one way and some in another.
ana l. you could really see the position
some OF you occupy before Gol your
soul would burst into an agony of tears
and you would pelt the heavens with
the cry, God have mercy" Snai's
batteries have been Unlimberel above
your soul, and at times you have heard
1t thunder Tho wages Of sin is death. "
All have sinned and come short of
the glory of Cod by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by
sin; and SO death passed upon all men.
for that all have sinned." The soul
that sinneth, 1t shall die" When Sc
bastopol was being bombardcd. two
Russian frigates burned all night in
the harbor, throwing a glare upon the
trembling fortress; and some of YOU,
from what you have told me yourselves,
some of you are standing in the night
OF your souls trouble, the cannonade.
and the connagration. and the multi
plcation, and the multitude of your
sorrows and troubles think must make
the wings OF Gods lowering angels
shiver to the tip.
But the last part of my text opens a
door wide enough to let us all out and
to let all heaven in. Sound it on the
organ with all the stops out Thrum it
on the harps with all the strings atune.
With all the melody possible let the
heavens sound it to the earth and let
the earth tell 1t to the heavens. Tho
Lord hath laid on him the inquity Of
us ALL am glad that the prophet did
not stop to explain whom he meant by
him" Him Of the manger, him of the
bloody sweat, him Of the resurrection
throne, him of the crucifixion agony
Goa him the Lord hath laid the iniQuty
OF us all. OH says some man, that
isn't generous, that isn't fair: let every
man carry his own burden and pay his
own debts" That sounds reasonable
If | have an obligation and | have the
means to meet it and come to you and
ask you to settle that obligation, you
rightly say, Pay your own debts" If
you and |, walking down the street
both hale, hearty and WE'LL ask Won
to carry me, you say rightly, walk
on your own feet" But suppose you
and | were in a regiment, and | was
wounded in the battle and fell uncon-
Cious at your feet with gunshot frac-
tuGes and dislocations, what would YOU
do? You would call to your COM
rades. saying, Come and help, this
man is helpless; bring the ambulance:
let us take him to the hospital" aid
| would be a dead lift in your arms,
and you would lift me from the ground
where | had fallen, and put ME in the
ambulance and take me to the hospital
and have all kindness shown me. Would
there be anything bemeaning in my
accepting that kindness? Oh. no. You
would be mean not to do it. That Is
what Christ does. If we could pay our
debts, then it would be better to go up
and pay them, saying, Here, Lord
here is my obligation; here are the
means with which | mean to settle that
obligation; now give me receipt, cross
it all out The debt is paid. But tho
fact is we have fallen in the battle
VIC have gone down under the hot fire
Of our transgressiOns, we have been
wounded by the sabres of sin, we are
helpless, we are undone. Christ comes.
The loud clang heard in the sky on that
Christmas night was only the bell, the
resounding bell of the ambulance,
Clear the way for the Son of God, He
comes down to bind up the wounds, and
to scatter the darkness, and to save the
lost Clear the way for the Son of God.
Christ comes down to us, and we are
dead lift. He does not lift us with
the tips of his fingers. He does not lift
us with one arm. He comes down upon
his knee, and then with a dead lift he
raises us to honor and glory and i'm
mortality. THE Lord hath laid on him
the iniQuity of us all" Why, then.
will man carry his sins? You cannot
carry successfully the smallest sin you
ever committed You might as well put
the Apprentices on one shoulder and the
4 Ink ho Nth lie, Icc