The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-02-01


claimed, that II q woman has sacrificed
her integrity she cannot be restored. The
Bible has distinctly minated that the
Lord Almighty II ready to pardon four
hundred and ninety times. Why do /
say four hundred and ninety times? Be
cause the Bible says seventy times
seven" Now figure chat out. You do
not think a man can fall four times,
eight times, ten times, twenty times, one
hundred times, four hundred times and
yet be saved. Four hundred and ninety
times. There are men before the throne
Of God who have walIowed in every kind
Of sin, but saved by the grace OF Christ
and washed in his blood they stand there
radiant now. There are those who
plunged into the very lowest depths of
the slums and who have for hundreds
of times been lifted up, and finally, by
the grace OF God. they stand in heaven,
gloriously rescued by the grace promised
to the chief Of sinners.
/ want to tell you that God loves to
take hold Of a very bad case. When the
church casts you off, and when the club
room casts yol of, and when society casts
you off, and when business associates cast
you off, and when father casts you of,
and when mother casts you off, and
when everybody casts you off, your first
cry for help will bend the eternal GOO
clear down into the ditch Of your suffer.
ing and shame. The Good Templars
cannot saw you, although they are a
grand institution. The Sons of Temper.
ance cannot save you. although they are
mighty for good. Signing the temper,
ance pledge cannot save you, although ]
believe in it. Nothing but the grace OF
the eternal God can save you, and that
will if you will throw yourself on it.
The Modern ~Catacombs.
They talk about the catacombs Of Ma,
Piles and the catacombs of Rome and the
catacombs Of Egypt, the great buria
places under the city where is the dust OF
many generations passed on, but 1 tel
you New York has its catacombs and
Washington it's catacombs and all oul
cities their catacombs. They are under
ground liquor dives, full Of dead men.
bones and all ~uncleanness. There is NJ
need of going into the art gallery to SET
in skillful sculpture that wonderful rep
resentation of a man and his sons woun(
round with serpents. There are families
| represented here today that are wrapped
in the martyrdom of fang and scale ant
venom, a living LAGOON of ghastlinesa
and horror.
In the attempt at reformation do no
put your trust in bromide Of potassium OF
in anything that apothecaries can mix
Put your trust only in the eternal God
With some of these men it is a period,
temptation that comes every six weeks o.
every three months, when it seems as i
the powers Of darkness kindle arount
about your tongue the fires of the pit. l
is we'll at such n time, as some Of you do
to call on medical counsel, but your fins
and most importunate cry must be t,
God. If the fends will drag you to tn
slaughter, may they do so on your knees
0 God, now that the paroxysm of thirs
is come again on that man, help him
Fling back into the pit of hell the fent
that assaults his soul this moment.
There will yet be in all our churche
those whose hands so much tremble will
dissipation that they can hardly hold
hymnbook, and yet they will be so trans
formed that they will preach the gospe
or on communion days carry around thu
consecrated bread, acceptable to every
body because Of their holy life and thei
consecrated behavior. The Lord is goin,
to save you Your home has got to be re
built. Your physical health has got to b.
1OuE WOEluly DUStueSS mas 20
to be reconstructed. The church Of Coo
is going to rejoice over your discipleship
Other sheep / have which are not o
this fold"
There is only one class of persons abou
whom / am disheartened, and they ar,
the gospel hardened. They have beer
faithful in attendance at churches for 20
30 and 40 years, yet never have surren
dered themselves to God. AS Christ says
"Publicans and harlots go into the king
dom of heaven before them" They hav,
resisted all the importantly of divine mer
cy and have gone through most powerful
earthquakes of religious feeling, and the,
are farther away from God than ever
After awhile they will lie down sick, ant
some day it will be told that they ar,
dead. No hope!
But l U to outsiders with an expecta
ten that thrills through me, body ant
soul. "Other sheep I have, which are no
Of this fold" You are not gospel harden
ed. You have not heard many sermon.
during the last few years. You feel tn,
Holy Ghost this moment in your heart
You do not weep, but the tear is not IA
off. You Sigh, and you a noticed tina
there is always a sigh in the wind befor'
the rain falls. There are those here wh'
would give anything if they could find re
lief in tears. They say: ooh, my wasted
life! Oh, the bitter past. Oh, the grave
over which I have stumbled! Whithe
shall | fly? Alas. for the future. Every
thing is SO dark, so very dark! God hell
me-! God pity me" Thank the Lord 70
that last utterance. You have begun Il
pray, and when a man begins TO petition
God steps in and beats back the hound
of temptation to their kennel and roun,
about the poor wounded soul puts tn
covert of his pardoning mercy. Hark!
hear something fall. What was that? [
is the bars of the fence around the sheep
fold. The Shepherd lets down the bars
and the hunted sheep of the mountain
bound in, some of them their fleece tori
with brambies. some Of them their fec
famed with the dogs, but bounding il
Thank God. 'Other sheep have, which
are not of this fold"