Newport weekly independent., 1902-09-05

:. 'o oe seen, boast itself of US size while the great earth supports US teeming millions of people and the stars and planets of the universa ,o1I Ill space as for you, oh, man. to boast youFselI of life and what it holds for you, for what is it in comparison to eternity? In France two or +brae "eehs ago there went speeding over the highway the $12,OOO auto of the rlch American and his fair wife. How Lluch He had for them. Rich and in- huential, and full of plans. A new auto building, more powerful and mag hlncent than the one in which they were riding. A palatial residence in 0dl ranclSco, upon which alterations ana improvements were to be made amounting to $5,OoO,OO0, and the con- tracts for the work only awaiting the return of the young couple to be signed and the work begun. How full ana real and certain seemed life as they gllded with the swiftness of the Wlhd across the country to the gay scenes of Paris. How dim and unlikely seemed death and the threshold of eternity. The peasants stopping in their work and leaning on their hoes gazed after them and envied them their lot, and thought of the years which yet seemed before them and of all the luxury and travel and pleasure that would be counted off to them in the days of the years as they rolled around one by one. And To, while they are gazing the rushing auto swerves 60 one side, and with the suddenness of the lightning flash the crash comes, deaths silence settles down upon the fair young pair as they lie amidst the nity
 Four Important Points.--There are four essential points to our text. As MT. Moody used to put it: 1. There is one God. 9 We are accountabl to Him. 3. We must meet Him. 4. We need preparation to meet Him. Let us turn our thoughts to the first point. There is one God. One God, the Creator. One God, the Ruler of the universe. One God, the lover of mems souls and the hater of sin. One God, the Saviour of men. One God who is all this. And because He is the one and only God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me-" Is this message for to-day? We carry it to the heathen lands, where the hideous little gods have their place in every home and receive the worship and adoration of it's in mates. We know it is a message for those darkened lands, but ours is Christian land, with no shrines in our homes and no ugly images before which we fall down and worship. And because of this are there no strange gods that are claiming our worship and our service? How about the god of pleasure, the god of gold, the god of social supremacy, the god of self will and self-indulgence, the god of pride and worldly ambition, the god of religious forms and ceremonies. Read the last half of the fifth chapter of Amos if you want to see how jealous in outward religious activity the chil- dren of Israel were. They had their feast days, their burnt offerings and meat offerings, and peace offerings as ill days of yore, when they ascended as a sweet smelling savor to the Lord from consecrated hearts. But God says: 'I hate, I despise your feast days, and will not smell your solemn assemblies" They had their fine church music, but God says: "Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols." Why was this? Because there was no longer one God before them, but "Moloch and Chiun, your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves"
 The second point before us is that we are accountable to Him. Cain was accountable to God for the killing of his brother Abel. It is significant that Scripture gives no record of the par ents calling their son to account for | his awful sin, but tells of the wicked youth being brought face to face with | his God, the one to whom he was first accountable and from whose search ing gaze he could not escape. The all important question was not what would father or mother say or do, hut what does God think about it, what will He do? The all-important ques- tion to you, my friend, is not your standing in the community, not what vour friends or relatives say or think about you, but what is my standing before God, whom l am to meet some 
 day face to face?
 And you will meet Him face to face some day. This is our third point.
 Adam and Eve sought to, avoid God