The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-01-22

sight of man.
Sin is awful. In the very beginning of it
you seem to get the hiss of the serpent as
he trails through the Garden Of Eden. 1t
breaks up home, drags multitudes away
from God and down to hell. But the
warning cry is given here that we must
forsake the small sins ii We would not be
overpowered by the greater ones. We
must be cleanaed from little transgres.
sions if We would Eot finally be lost. Ii
any one should ask the secret OF failure,
be lost. it could all be summed up in three
letters--S-I-N.
THEN C0METH THE END.
The day OF awards is great day. II is
really the judgment seat of Christ, when
we arc to receive the reward of the deeds
done through the body. 1t is not time
when we are Judged for sin,, for the sin
question was all settled at the cross for
those who accept Jesus Christ. 1t is not to
be confused with the day of judgment spo-
ken of in the twanty-fifth chapter OF Mat
thew; and certainly it is not identical with
the great white throne Judgment presented
in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. 1t
is simply the day when the Master. before
whom the records of our lives. are laid
bare. shall give to US the reward for our
faithfulness. or express His estimate of
our faithlessness.
/ can see the Master, with His people
gathered before Him. A name is called
that is familiar, and l see that one stand
ing before Him with great expectancy.
that John tells us sounds like the flow OF
many waters. that voice that stilled the
tempest tossed sea, and caused Lazarus to
break the bonds OF death. hear Him
speak. The crowns are being lifted up,
and the first one is the crown OF life. l
hear Him say:
This is given to the one who has done
little things well for My glory, OF to the
one who has suffered for My sake. You
might have had it, but you failed in your
own home. You had no testimony for your
own circle OF friends A kind word you
might have spoken, but you left it unsad.
The cup of cold water was never given.
You might have had the crown of life, but
it has been taken by another"
see Him hold aloft the second crown.
This" He says. "is given to the one
who has done hard work for Me. | suf-
fered the pains OF Gcthsemane and the
mockings OF the crowd, and the stripes of
the Roman hagellator. and the pains OF
hell upon the cross. This crown is for the
one who has endured all things if only My
cause night have been advanced. But
alas. when there came time when the
church seemed about to move forward you
opposed it. When thousands OF souls
might have been diverted your prejudice
against the work OF the Holy Ghost
BLOCKED THE BLESSING.
You might have had the crown, but an.
other has taken it,
| see Him hold aloft the third crown,
resplendent with jewels. All the angels
shout aloud:
This is the soul-winncr's crown"
There has always been JOY in the pres.
ence of the angels of God over those re.
deemed from sin.
You might have had this crown, but
alas! your culture, your intellectual
strength and your social position never
won soul for Ne. The members of your
own household were led into My kingdom
by others. The people in your own store
did not know you were Mine"
| remember once holding series of
meetings in Paris, Illinois. In walking
down the street with one OF my assistants
I heard him talking with young man,
asking him to be a Christian. but he made
no impression upon him. heard him say,
Your mother wants you to become
Christian. does she not!" And the young
man De8dn 10 cry. 1ueH AC1Au Hinh oSA'
Your father wants you to, become a
Christian, does he not!'' And there was
no answer. But soon heard him make
this statement: my father is an officer IN
the church and my mother is leader in
the work of the women's society In the
church, but neither OF them has ever spo-
ken to me about my soul.
I believe many father and mother will
stand before the Judge on the great day OK
awards and hear the words:
"You are crownlcss. Your children were
not saved, or if they were, III their saliva
ton you have had no part. You might
have had this crown, but another has
taken il"
can see Him holding aloft the fourth
crown, the crown of glory. | can hear Him
picture how one came into the church
from great depths of sin; how his constltu.
ton had been undermined by the power OF
an evil life; how he had been saved by
the power of God and .cheered by. the
warm hand clasp and the sympathlzing
word. and brothers sympathy to hoI
ont to the end. And | can almost hear
Him say:
"Such an one sat beside YOU in church
and walked with you in the streets, or
in the store, or possibly lived with you in
your home, and you said never word.
You let him slip away from fellowship
with Christ and when he wandered you
exclaimed in surprise: i expected no
more
can catch the tones of His voice, as
He says:
You might have had this crown, but
another has taken it." 60
| see Him hold a,oft the fifth and last
crown-the crown of righteousness. l
hear Him say:
did | not promise that would come
again? Had not written it over and over
again in the book? Was not line added to
line, statement added to statement. that
in like manner as ] went away l should
come back? Were not all the prophecies
of Ny coming fulfilled, even to the last de-
tails Of NY life, My suffering and My
death? Did you not have faith that if one
prophecy was fulfilled the others might
have been fulfilled also?'
And then that crown, which IS to me
the most beautiful, the brightest and the
best, is held aloft for moment, dazzling
in its glory, and hear Him say:
you might have had this crown, but
another has taken it"
We may miss the five crowns by our un-
faithfulness, yet we may be saved, so as
by fire." But one thing must be: We must
see Him face to face.
In the city of Indianapolis celebrated
Quaker minister told me of friend whose
child had been born blind: He was