The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-08-01

ere decsitful above an things and deaper.
ately wicked Our minds are carnal aud
therefore at enmity with God; our wis
are stubborn and viii not yield % the
touch of Hia power; we are in midnight
darkness. and 10 " boz this condition that
lie comes 20 us To- The 18th verse of the
second chapter of Ephealans we read,
"But hDw IN Christ Jesus. ye who some.
hines were affair oil are made nigh by the
blood of Christ and to all the unsaved
y j my privilege 70 Say, that by The grace
of God you are brOugh nigh 20 Christ.
This Is true because YOU have been under
the influence of the Spirit, and you may
be saved If you will. but II YOU reject
Christ no word can describe this sin Of
which you are guilty. In the Old Tesla.
ment the man who despised Moses God
died without mercy among two or three
enemies. Of how much greater need OF
mercy shall he be that hath trodden M
der foot the Son Of God hath counted the
blood whereof He was glorihed a common
thing. and has insulted the Spirit Of grace.
In this picture Of Philip holland, sailor
on the sea without a harbor, l ind an
illustration Of the man who IN spite Of
Gods grace has rejected the offer OF mercy.
III.
We begin to break away. not by great
sihs but by small sins. Have you ever
noticed in the three verses in the first
chapter Of Romans that wonderful de-
scription of sin, indeed the most remark
able OF any the world has ever seen. In
the oath verse we read, "God gave them
up 10 uncleanness;" in the 10Th verse,
God gave them up to vile affections"
while in the 29th verse we read. God
gave them up 10 a reprobate mind" The
uncleanness may have been sin of an inslg-
nifcant character; to be given up to vile
affections is To be permitted to set our
hearts upon those things which are not
right, and draw them 10 as as with hooks
of steel. but to be given over 70 repro
bate mind is to be hopeless. l make an
appeal to-day in behalf of those whose
lives are in the least touched by sin; it
is a dangerous position.
".
What is the greatest sin in all the cata-
logue as written in Gods word? If this
question were put to men there would be
almost as many answers as there are men.
It is not impurity, nor dishonesty. These
things are not even to be considered in
the light Of the greatest sin Of all which
is unbelicf, When we read in the gospels
that the HOLY Ghost is to come. 1t Is said
and that sin is described as not believing
on Him To reject Christ. therefore, is
the chefest Of all transgressions. ---a,sA
Y. ~
Having no hope I cannot imagine that
any of my hearers would for a moment
! think Of giving way to unbelief or taking
refuge in infdelitv. That is. indeed,
hopeless. It is said that Adoniram Iud.
son when he was a student in Brown Uni
versity came under the influence of fell
/ low student who was an inhdel. On his
| return to Providence at one time he was
! obliged to stoD at a country inn. The inn
! keeper told him he had but one room,
and that was next to man who was sup
! posed to dying .Tudson cared nothing
! for this and said he would take the
room. All through the night he heard
| this man crying out to God for mercy.
! shrielling in terror because Of his unbelief.
/ and at last Judson utterly worn out fell
asleep. When the morning came all was
! quiet in the adjoining room, but the man
was dead. What was the students horror
to find out that the dying man was his
companion in iufdelity, and when he came
to the end there was no hope for him,
and infdelity prevailed him nothing. 1t
is an awful thing to be without Christ in
the world. trs ,asEEassptsg-NsaT
Without God IF you could imagine
| God taken out Of your life for a moment
it would be a position of terror No one
would ever again say no to Him if they
realized that they might say no for Che
last time. To have no help in temptation
and no comfort in the hour Of sorrow.
and no support in the day of death would
indeed be an awful thing. A friend Of
mine told me of a man in the West who
had been constantly besought by his
Hfriends to come to Christ. and had resisted
all their entreaties. He had been en-
treated by God Himself as He called him
in prosperity and in adversely, and at
last the calls became so marked that it
was as if God had actually spoken to him,
and at last in heat Of passion he cried
out as if he were speaking to God ooh.
God, let me alone" and He did, and until
the dav of his death it is said he never
again had even a faint desire to 60 to
Christ. It is dangerous to resist God
pity the man who says no to Christ and
speaks for the last time, and then comes
to the place where he had no hope and is
without God in the world