The Tupelo journal., 1902-09-05


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 10, while they
are gazing the rushing auto swerves
to one side, and with the suddenness
of the lightning fash the crash comes
deaths silence settles down upon the
fair young pair as they lie amidst the
~wreckage, and their souls are in eter-
nifty.
The honored statesman of Michigan
resting from the arduous and faithful
labors in congress at his beautiful
summer home in Massachusetts, and
while he rests outlining in his mind
the work of the coming congress. To-
day he is out tramping across the
fields. The golf stick swings above his
head and the ball goes leaping through
the air and across the sod. The tinge
of gray in his hair does not mark any
apparent lessening of the vigorous
strength of his splendid manhood
Years seem still before him, years OF
service to. his country, his state, his
family. But while life seems to be sc
full and vigorous, and the promise OF
years to come so certain, the sudden
gripping of death at the heart and eter-
nifty bursts upon the vision of the soul.
Face to face with eternity. Our text
rings. out the message. Every word
and every syllable and every letter
flash their light of eternal truth to
the soul and would make it realize the
necessity of preparing in this life for
the life to come. Prepare to meet
thy God"
Four Important Points.-There are
four essential points to u text. As
Mr.. Moody used to put it: /. There is
one God. 2. We are accountable 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 a message for to-day?
We carry it to the heather lands,
where the hideous little gods have
their place in every home and receive
the worship and alteration of its in
mates. We know it is a message for
those darkened lands, but ours is a
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 u 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 chill
dren of Israel we're. They had their
feast days, their burnt offerings and
meat offerings, and peace offerings as
in days of yore, when they ascended
as a sweet smelling to the Lord
from c%onsecrated hearts. But God
says: 81 hate. l despise your feast
days, and l 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 / will not hear the melody
of thy VOLS" Why was this? Because
there was no longer one God before
them, but "Moloch and Chiun, your
images, the star of your god, which We
made to yourselves" Gods of their
own making and which were being
served in the form of their many re-
ligious activities. There is a god
in every heart, there is a god in every
home, there is a god in every church in
the land. If it is not the one God of
Spiritual power and presence, it is a
god of human making, and %abhorrent
to the one God of Heaven.
The second point before us is that
we are accountable to Him. Cain was
accountable to God for the killing of
his brother Abel. 1t 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,
but what does God think about it, what
will He do? The all-important ques-
ton to you, my friend, is not your
standing in the community, not what
your friends or relatives say IT think
about you, but what is my standing
before God, whom l am to meet some
day face to face? David with the
crimes of murder and adultery black
ening his soul was accountable to GOO.
He realized it after he had hidden his
sin for months and tried to account to
his family and his nation for his sin
by making the widow of the man he
had cruelty slain in battle his wife.
When David got into the presence of
the Lord, upon his face, he cries:
against Thee, Thee only, have I
sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight"
God is the final auditor of all accounts.
We cannot escape His searching eye or
the record of Heaven. Fine speeches
before the throne of God will not pre-
vail. We may plead: Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Thy name?
and in Thy name have cast out devils?
and in Thy name done many wonderful