The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-02-04

he can hardly resist to 60 deeper into the
In the second place we find Saul destroy.
ing the Lords truest friend. How true 1t
is that when we have committed one sin
and failed to make that one right, the rest
becomes easy, not i~nfrequentiy almost .
delight.
In the third place we find him sparing
king With lying upon his lips! This sin
becomes very easy. If We allow the corrup-
| ton OF two or three days to lie in our
sous without being c~leansed how sad the
| ~rcsu.tsi No one ought to close his eyes at
| night until he has absolutely made certain
tina. all Of the sins of the day have been
washed away in the precious blood OF
Christ.
| upon his sword and takes his own lifeI,a
sight Of man.. -.
Bin is awful. In the very beginning OF it
you seem to get the hiss Of the serpent a.
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 if we would not be
ov]erpowered by the greater ones. we
must be c!eccsed from little transgres.
/ ElOnS II We NOuIU uOI uHdby " toSs. -
| n one should ask the secret OF failure,
the reason why at last the crown should
be lost, it could all be summed up in three
letters-S.I-N.
THEN COMETH THE END.
The day of awards is a great day. It ID
really the judgment seat OF Christ, when
| done through the body. 1t is not a time
| when we are judged for sin, for the SIN
| question was all settled at the cross for
| those who accept Jesus Christ. It is not to
| be confused with the day Of judgment spo-
ken of in the twenty.6fth 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 tor our
faitbfulness, or express His estimate OF
I con see the Master, with His people
gathered before Him. A name II called
| that is familiar, and I see that one stand.
ing before Him with great expectancy.
| Then the Master speaks-with that voice
| 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. I hear Him
sneak. The crowns are being lifted up,
and the first one is the crown OF lie. ]
hear Him say:
This is given to the one who has done
little things well for Ny glory, or to the
one who has suffered for Ny 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 unsaid.
| The cup OF cold water was never given.
You might have had the crown OF life, but
it has been taken by another"
I see Him hold aloft the second crown.
This" He says, els given to the enc
who has done hard york for Me. SUI.
| mockincs OF the crowd, and the stripes Of
the Roman fagellator: and the pains Of
| hell upon the cross. This crown is for the
| one who has endured all things If only My
| cause might have been advanced. Put
| alas! when there came o time when the
| church seemed about to move forward You
| opposed it. When thousands OF souls
| might have been converted your prejudice
| against the work of the Holy Ghost
BLOCKED THE BLESSING.
You might have had the crown, but IN
| other has taken it."
I see Him hold aloft the third crown.
resplendent with jewels. All the angels
shout aloud:
This is the soul-winner'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 a soul for Me. The members OF your
| W household were led into My kingdom
by others. The people in your " store
| did not know you were Mine" y.
/ remember once holding Q series OF
meetings in Paris. Illinois: In walking
| down the street with one Of my assistants
l heard him talking, with q young man,
asking him to be a Christian, but he made
Your mother wants you to become q
Christian, does she not" And the young
man began TO cry. Then I heard him ask,
Your father wants you to, become o
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 q 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"
believe many a father and mother Will
stand before the Judge on the great Gay OF
awards and hear the words: -,
lyon are crowniess. Your children were
not saved, or il they were, in their saliva.
ton you have had no part. You might
have had this CROWN, but another has
taken it." =,
I 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 conshtu:
ton had been undermined by the power OF
an evil life; how he had been sayeo 6y
the power of God and cheered 6y the
warm hand clasp and the sympathizing
word. and a brothers sympathy to hold
out to the end. And I can almost hear
Him say:
and walked with you in the streets, or
in the store, or possibly lived with you in
YOUR home. and you said never a word.
You let him slip away from fellowship
with Christ and when he wandered you
exclaimed in surprise: 1 expected no
more"
/ can catch the tones Of His voice, as
He says: -
another has taken it." 49,.
I see Him hold aloft the fifth and last
crown-the crown Of Righteousness. !
ibid / not promise that I would come
again? Had not I written it over and over
again in the book? Wa not line added to
line, statement added to statement, that
in like manner az I went away l should
come back? Were not all the prophecies
of My coming fulfilled, even to the last de.
tails of Nv life, Ny suffering. and My
death? Did you not have faith that if enc
prophecy Wa. 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 a moment, dazzling
in its glory, and | hear Him say: -.
you might have had this crown, OUT
another has taken it,
We may miss the five crowns by our IN