The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-07-15

opcNiuk Oou. Inc man saws IL was not nes
he did not save the sheep; the army did IT
trying to throw 1t of on the shoulders Of
other people. Human nature Is the same
! in all ages. Adam. confronted with his sin.
said. "The woman tempted me. and I did
eat" And the woman charged Il upon the
serpent. and II the serpent could have
spoken it would have charged It upon the
devil. Isuppose that the real state OF the
case was that Eve was eating the apple and
that Adam saw 1t aud begged and coaxed
until he got piece of It. suppose that
You cannot throw of the responsibility OF
anv sin upon the shoulders Of other people.
Here Is young man who says: 81 know
/ am doing wrong, but have not had any
chance. had father who despised God
and mother who was disciple OF goddess
fashion. am not to blame for my sins; IL Is
my bringing up. oh, no; that young man
has been out in the world long enough to
see what is right and to see what is wrong,
and In the great day OF eternity he cannot
throw his sins upon his father or mother,
but will have to stand for himself and an
swer before God. You have had a con-
science, you have had Bible and the infiu-
ence OF the Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself
or fall for yourself.
Here is business man. He saws, "T
know don't do exactly right In trade, but
all the dry goods men do II and all the hard
ware men do this, and l am not respon-
slble." You cannot throw of your sin upon
the shoulders OF other merchants. God
will hold you responsible for what YOU do
and them responsible for what they do.
want to quote one passage Of Scripture for
you-1 think 1t is in Proverbs-"If thou be
wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but II
thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it,"
/ learn further from this subject what
God meant by determination. Saul was
told to slay all the Amalekites and the
beasts in their possession. He saves Agag,
the Amalekite king, and some OF the sheep
and oxen. God chastises him for it. God
will not stay In the soul that Is half His
and half the devils. There may be more
sins in our souls than there were
Amalekites. We must kill them. Woe
unto us II we spare Agag. Here Is Chris
tian. He says: II will drive out all the
Amalekites of sin from my heart. Here is
jealousy-down goes that Amalekite. Here
Is backbiting goes that Amalekite."
and what slaughter he makes among his
sins, striking right and left What is that
out yonder, lifting up his head2 1t Is
Agag-it Is worldliness. 1t Is an old sin he
cannot bear to strike down. 1t Is darling
transgression he cannot afford to sacrifice.
Oh, my brethren. appeal for entire conse-
Grafton. Some OF the Presbyterans call
1t the "higher life" The Methodists,
| believe. call 1t perfection" | do not
care what you cali 1t. "without holiness no
man shall see the Lord" Iknow men who
are living with their soul in perpetual COM
munion with Christ aud day by day are
walking within sight of heaven. How do l
know2 They tell me so. | believe them.
They would not lie about it. Why cannot
we all have this consecration2 Why slay
some of the sins In our soul and leave
others to bleat and below for our exposure
and condemnation2 Christ will not stay in
the same house with Agag. You must give
up Agag or give up Christ. Jesus says:
"All OF that heart or none.' Saul slew the
poorest OF the sheep and the meanest of
the oxen and kept some OF the finest and
the latest, and there are Christians who
have slain the most unpopular of their
transgressions and saved those which arc
most respectable. 1t will not do. Eternal
war against all the Amalekites-no mercy
for Agag!
| learn further from this subject that II Is
vain to try to defraud God. Here Saul
thought he had cheated God out of those
sheep and oxen, but he lost his crown, no
lost his empire. You cannot cheat God out
of single cent Here is u man who has
made $4,000 in fraud. Before he dies
every dollar of 1t will be gone, or it will
give him violent unrest. Here is Chris
tian who has been largely prospered. He
has not given to God the proportion that is
due in charities and bcnevolences. God
comes to the reckoning, and he takes It all
away from you. How often II has been that
Christian men have had a large estate and
it Is gone. The Lord God came into the
counting room and said: II have allowed
you to have al this property for ten, flf-
teen or twenty years, and you have not
done justice to my poor children. When
the beggar called upon you, you bounded
him off your steps; when my suffering chill
dren appealed to you for help you had no
mercy. l only asked for so much or so
much, but you did not give it to me, and
now i will take 1t ALL"
God asks OF us one seventh OF our time in
the way OF Sabbath. Do you suppose we
can get IN hour Of that time successfully
away from its true objectp No, no. God
has demanded one-seventh of your time
II you take one hour of that time that is to
be devoted to Gods service and instead OF
keeping his Sabbath use it for the purpose
of writing up your accounts or making
worldly gains. God will get that hour from
you in some unexpected way. God saws to
Jonah, "You go to Nineveh." He says:
"No, won't. I'll go to Tarshish" He
starts for Tarshish. The sea raves, the
winds blow and the ship rocks. Come, ye
whales, and take this passenger for Tar
shish! No man ever gets to Tarshish
whom God tells to go to Nineveh. The
sea would not carry him; it is Gods sea.
The winds would not watt him. they are
Gods winds. Let a man attempt to do
that which God forbids him to do or to 20
into place where God tells him not to 20,
the natural world as well as God is against
him. The lightnings are ready to strike
him, the fires to burn him, the sun to
smite him, the waters to drown him, and
tho earth to swallow him. Those whose
princely robes arc woven out Of heart
strings, those whose fine houses are built
out OF skulls, those whose springing foun.
tains are the tears OF oppressed nations,
have they successfully cheated God?
The last day will demonstrate. 1t will be
found out on that day that God yindicated
not only his goodness and His mercy, but
His power to take care of His own rights
and the rights Of His church and the rights
OF His oppressed children. Come, We mar
tyred dead, awake and come up from the
dungeons where folded darkness hearsed
you and the chains like cankers peeled
loose the skin and wore Off the flesh and
ratified on the narrowless bones. Come, ye
dead, from the stakes where
you were burned, where the arm uplifted
for mercy fell into the ashes and the cry of
pain was drowned in the swapping Of the
flame and the bowling OF the mob. from