The Atlanta constitution., 1900-07-09
OUR SOUTHERN PULPIT

through obedience" This brings Spirituai
knowledge within the grasp OF aii-the
high and the low. the rich and the poor
the learned and the unlearned Even the
humblest may know Him whom 10 know
Is life eternal. God dwells In the hlgn
and lofty place with him that Is or a
contrite and humble spirit.
Now, let me state the text negatively
and then point this negative statement
with an incident from the life OF BaiaaIn
IF any man will not do his Will he shaii
not know of the doctrine, whether IL De
of God or whether 1 speak OF myseh.
Blank. king Of the Moabites. sought to
hire Baalam. a prophet of the Lord, to
curse the Israelites for him. TO tnis
end, he sent honorable messengers 10
Baalam, with large gifts of gold, ana
with promise of promotion 10 hohoi
In Balak's kingdom. Baaiam TOOK couh
sci of the Lord. and the Lord answers
him: Thou shalt not go with 'he nie9
sengers." So. they returned without
Baalam to their place. But Baiah was
not to be outdone, and he knew what
was In man: Dust had to raise the price,
that was alb therefore, he sent messeh-
gers again, more in number, ana more
honorable than the first, with larger gifts
and with the message: "Balak VIII pro-
mote thee unto very great hohOri colhe
now, therefore, and curse me Israei.
BAllaIn.
part of n thoroughly honest man-that is
absolutely and immedia tely refusing 10 go
with the messengers-took counsel or the
Lord the second time. God hath told
him once what his duty was, but IN
stead of doing his duty, he went back 10
God to get his duty altered In making
this second appeal Baaiam showed MIN
| self forward; in making His second an
! swer God showed Himself forward lie
81 U.,lv mud then
| because he went. Balaam dld wrong 10
go with the messengers, but Ii is cleaf
| from the record that he believed ne was
doing right, for did he not say 10 the an
| gel, Il know not that thou stoodest IN
| the way against me; now, therefore, IL
| IL displease thee 1 Will get me BACK
| again." Balaam's conscience was scared
with the hot iron of gold and self-aggran-
dizement until he was more blind than
| the beast on which ne rode He refused
| to d2 Gods will. and God gave MN over
to believe lie ITO the forward thou
| will show thyself forward" The meek
| will He guide In judgment: the meek
/ will he teach his way"
To show you to what lengths man
| will go who is given over to his own VIII,
4 l remind you OF that still more surprIs-
ing piece Of iniquity; After Balaam
| and tried In vain to bribe God with sac
| riilces and coax God with prayers. 1t
| came unto his mind that the reason why
/ the Lord would not permit him TO curse
nothing to be cursed for. The Lord
| had not beheld iniquity in Jacob" Ba-
| laam caught that idea and made use of
! it, He recommended Balak to use the
| fascination OF the daughters Of Moab to
| betray the Israelites into fornication and
| idolatry. The plan succeeds: the people
sin against God, and he curses them.
| Outside OF hell, there IS no power so po-
/ tent for evil as n prophet of the Lord,
| bent on doing his own will Balaam was
| n cal unturned. BalaaIu. unlike Mephi-
Ncc 10 nj IN n 10
hobbled along and he hobbled along until
| he hobbled right into hell He would not
| obey. therefore. he did not know.
Take alr example nearer home The
| southern people awoke one day and found
| themselves in possession Of 4,c0oelc slaves.
| and they proceeded at once to prove, and
did prove to their entire satisfaction that
slavery was n GOd-given institution. The
very shape OF the ncgrO's skull showed
that he was designed by the great Gre
ator 10 be u slave. One man wrote
book. and scattered il all over the south
/ land in which the negro race was ex-
cluded from the category OF human beings
ard numbered with the beasts OF the field.
| in defense of this nefariouS traffic, the 81
| bic was laid under tribute; they marked
! the words. Servants. obey your mas
| tcrs;'' they cited PauFs letter TO Phile-
non and 10 clinch their arguments they
pointed with absolute confidence TO the
father of the faithful, and said, "Abra-
ham was an owner OF slaves" CIEey
seemed TO forget, however, or TO ignore,
the fact that, even to the extent OF manu-
featuring a lie. infallible Abraham. the
father of the faithful. was always pre-
pared for an emergency The southern
people believed they were right, and call
ing upon God to witness the justice of
their cause. JnCy baptized their faith with
their blood. But today, after the lapse
of Cniy thirty-iiVe years there Is not, iu
all the southland. one to speak II defense
of traffic IN human souls.
The southern people were blinded by
seif-interest. seeking to do their own
wills. and God gave them over. as He did
Balaam, to believe a lie. l am a southern
man. but the truths the truth, for a that.
In holding slaves We were IN the wrong,
ana we gracefully admit that We were III
the wrong If any man Will confess his
sin, God is faithful aEd just to forgive
him his sin"
o land Of my birth how L love thee
thy rocks and thy rills. thy woods aud
tempted hills o daughters Of the sweet
southland with loom and spinning wheel,
and "homespun dress which southern
ladies' wove." how l cherish the memory
of your sacrifice and your iabors OF love;
O soldier boy, in your suit OF gray, words
cannot paint the glory Of your daunGusS
courage; but beyond and infinitely above
all there do I admire and almost worship
the manhood which, when the battle
was fought and lost, and the mIsts were
cleared away, could bow down at the
cross of she lOwly Nazarene. look up into
the face Of Him who came to set men
free. and say with penitential voice,
Lord l have sinned; forgive thou tie
iniquity of my sin.
Justice demands one remark Just here
whenever the northern people repent of
their sins In connection with slavery and
that cruel war, God Will forgive them.
SO will |; but as yet, they have manifest
ed no signs whatever or repentance, there
fore their sin remaineth. Victory i5 not
dissolution.
'If any man will not do His will. he
shall not know OF the doctrine" We take
au example still nearer home-ODe, too,
" Which, upon the slightest touch. emlts
sparks Of glowing fire There are those
who hold and teach that God Is under
10 obligation to men, and that without
any reference whatever 70 the good or
III they have done He sends one TO heav-
en- ana ten TO hell" If you have such a
God as that. You manufactured him with
your own hands. and out of matcrial TAX
en- from your own heart That doctrine
IS downright blasphemy. an outrage upon
the race and SANDER against God. The
father Is under no obligation to the
child of his own lolns2 Rather than bow
down to such being, I'd take my chance
with the fool, who says. There IS 10
God" / 10 not say that God Is under
Obligations to save all men with an eter-
nal salvation q do not know about tneO
as a Calvinistic point OF view. 10 say
that God Is under obligation to Himself
not to turn His own child over eterndliy
to the tender mercies of the devil
How comes II TO pass that men hold
such doctrine? How comes ii to pass that
tie Pharisees believed IT was wrong to
heal 4 man on the Sabbath? Men are
blinded by prejudice and self-intereSt,
seeking to do their own wills Instead of
Gods win. and God gives them over. as
He did Balaam, to believe lie?
But the worst feature OF the case IS
that to uphold such doctrine the church
perpetrates the most damnable ouIrages
in the name Of the blessed Christ tneI.