The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-10
ulaee would have been His enemies, but

the world; what ruined .Acnan until nc ue-
feated the whole camp OF Israel: tne
his very soul for greed OF wealth! the
world; what has ruined ten thousand souls
that are to-day shut away from God and
hope, this same old world. and what shall
it profit man if he gain the whole world
and lose his own soul" =,
First. the world is critical. 1t will fnd
every flaw that exists in your nature; I'm:
perfec.ions to which YOUR loved ones would
be blind. and which you yourself were
hardly aware OF will be pointed out ano
vulgarlv displayed. ..
Second. It is me-c:!ess. 1t has positively
no excnse for the man that fails. and while
never offering to help him over his Difficult.
ties wncn the tide is against him it laughs
at his despair and mocks at his hopeless
ness.
Third, Il is heartless. There is no for
giveness in the world. There may be some
time disposition to overlook but not to
nothing in it of helpful nature to poor
last. SHINING humanity. You who belong
TO the world. may say to you in all Sc
riousness, don't cast a stone at a man
that IS q sinner for the reason that you
are, or have been, or may be. just what you
condemn in Others No one OF US except
we are linked to the Son Of God by faith
and walking heartily in fellowship with
Him nay hope to escape from the awful
grip of Satan. Don't be unforsirins He
that caLnot forgive others breaks down the
bridge over which he must pass himself,
and be who is unwilling to forgive others
makes il impossible for God to forgive him;
but thank God we are not shut up to tine
world. There is an open door before US to
that which is infinitely better than any.
thing the world has ever seen.
II.
The laws treatment. Now, Moses in
the law commanded Us that such should be
stoned, but what sayest Thou? Verse >.
This statement is perfectly true, that IS the
law. It was written by Moses and written
in operation to-day in the moral world,
law and grace. Through one or the. other
of these forces we have submitted our.
selves and by one or the other. we must
hope to stand before God. By the way OF
the Law the case would seem to be hope
less. One act Of sin is sufficient to incur
the penalty of death. It Is always 90 with
law; il q man takes one false step IN the
mountains he lands himself at the bottom
the law. DR.. Parkhurst gives the descrip-
tion of his climbing the mountains in
Switzerland with rope around his waist,
held BY two guides, one leading and the
other following after him, when he stood
upon q little piece of rock not two inches
broad and looked down into the depth,
which measures 5000 feet. II he had bro
ken the law Of gravitation and stepped out
from the narrow ledge nothing could have
saved him from q horrible death. We can
quite understand this in nature; the same
thing applies in morals. II you sln against
your health you suffer. Law Is shrewd
detective, and is ever on the watch. One
wheel broken in the machinery and the
whole Is inefficient; one piece OF q rail dis
placed means fearful disaster. Just one
transgression Of one law of God the PEN
alty must be paid. He that ofends In one
point Is guilty of ALL" the Scriptures de.
clare, which simply means that the least
offense Of the law means breaking away
from God. I repeat my statement that
there are but two forces In operation TO:
day in the moral world. law and grace. II
you have rejected Christ then your only
hope is in the law, and ! should think
every man here must see that that Is hope
less. First, you must suffer. for every bro
ken law means n penalty to pay, and every
transgrcssion of Gods plan brings down
upon you q burden you cannot well bear.
Second, you vii! be found out. No man
has sufficient ingenuity to cover up his SIN,
and no grave has yet ever been deep
ing eve Of God. Be sure your sin will lnd
Won out. A truer text was never written.
Third, you must die. The wages OF sin g
death. beg you. therefore. that You will
not allow yourself to be controlled by the
law. Il Is like the world, merci!ess and
heartless, and presents to you an opportu'
nifty of escape from sin. but. thank God.
you are not shut up to it. There Is way
opening up which leads to heaven shining
brighter and brighter until the perfect DAY.
To this way now commend you.
III.
Christ's treatment Of q sinner. "But
Jesus stopped down and with His snger
wrote on the ground. as though DE heard
them not. So when they continued asking
Him, He lifted up Himself and said unto
let him first cast stone at her. And again
He stopped down and wrote on the ground:
And they which heard it, being convicted
by their own conscience. went out one ny
one, beginning at the eldest even unto the
last, and Jesus was left alone and the woni:
an standing in the midst. When Jesus had
lifted up Himself. and saw none but the
woman, He said unto her. Woman. where
are those thine accusers: Hath no man
And Jesus said unto her, Neither do l.! con.
denim thee; 20, and sin no more" From
verse 6 to IL. You have a great picture
presented to you in this story.
First. the angry crowd.
Second, the infinite Saviour. II ! were
an artist should paint it. and yet no man
could ever paint the picture of Christ. !
know Of one who attempted it and then de.
termined that he would never paint again:
BECAUSE after working upon the face OF
Christ no other face could be worthy OF bis
=.
trembling woman, her face now flushed and
now pale. trembling in every part OF her
body, and yet you can see it all as you stop
and think. know why He was 80 merci.
full. You say it was because He was di-
vine. and that is true without saying 1t,
but it seems to me He must have been es-
pecialiy merciful because of the night He
had spent at the Mount Of Olives. l am
perfectly sure that that man who .pr1,ys
much with Christ is ever charitable in his
treatment of those who have gone astray.
Mrs. Whittemo-e's treatment Of Bluebird,
the poor fallen girl. who becomes the mis-
sionary to the outcast; Jerry McAuley's
arm about 8. II. Hadley and his prayer,
which reveal to the poor sinful man that
Jerry McAuley knew Christ, are but illus.
trations of the spirit Of which ! speak.
The man who has the spirit OF Christ
m ever gentle with the erring, and
up ana down tne streets Oh our cltieS men
60 in mrltitudes longing for just one word
Of sympathy.
Said young business man to me this
week: 81 have been four years in New
York. most Of the time with heavy heart.
No one has ever spoken to me OF Christ,
nor invited me to the church, nor asked II
he could be nv friend. and I have never
craved money from any one, for have not
needed it. but my heart has teen hungry
for sympathy and the touch of brothers
hand" Do YOU notice the manner of Jesus
First. He stopped down and wrote in
the dust" Some one has said that He did
it Just because His mind was occupied
with thinking what He should do with the