The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-11-09

ty But the tree is dead. The fruits
it seems to bear are unnatural. Just
so the scripture describes the soul
that is out of Christ. It is dead in
trespasses, in sin, alienated from the
life of God. Without God and without
hope in this world or in that which is
to come. But the man who accepts
Christ has a source of life at the CEN
ire of his soul, a life of God in the
soul which will put forth the living
fruits of righteousness; and the man
will not have to put on or tie on NOR
ais and manners which are unnatural
This makes a second reason why it
is important to accept Christ for our
equipment in the spiritual world. 1
shall finish by mentioning a third.
of Christ's divinity only God can take
away sin, only God can give life. The
third reason is on the side of Christ's
humanity.
The third reason why it is important
to accept Christ as our equipment for
the great world Of moral being and
doing-this world of right and wrong
in which we are placed, is because He
is touched with feeling of our mfr
mites" 1t is because Of His SYM
pathy. Christ was a man. SO often
this truth is kept back from us. So
often we sit and hear pulpit presenta-
tions of truth, and while these presen-
tations may be true enough of them
selves, unfortunately, they are not the
truth for us. They are not the truth
for which our souls are hungering and
thrsting. We therefore become so
impatient and dissatisfied at hearing
them we are almost ready to say they
are not true at all We are right.
They are not true for us.
Oh that those who sit in the peWs
today might pray that God would give
His messenger in the pulpit just that
message from His truth which is true
for us at this time. | believe their
prayer would be answered, and that
not only the pew would be refreshed
by the right adaptation of truth, but
that the pulpit would enjoy a new
uplift. The minister's hands would
be upheld and his task made light. For
he, too, has his trials. How often
does he turn to the Bible-his .reasure
house of spiritual truth-knC ing as
suredly that it contains every truth
suited to every human need, but who
will guide his bewildered eye to be-
hold just that particular truth which
shall he the healing and saving truth
for his people? 1t is only when a
praying people and a praying pastor
with mutual fellowship and united
purpose seek to know the mind of
God that the great Revealer of all
truth will grant the desired blessing
the blessing of appropriate truth ap-
piled to peculiar needs. Too often
perhaps the few is thoughtless and
prayerleSS with reference to this de-
sire. Too often perhaps the pulpit is
too tenacious of ancient rubrics and
of well established theories of reli-
giOn to realize the desire, and too I'M
willing to set ASIDE the rubrics and
theories for a nlole practical working
principle. For example, the minister
knows that for a nan to be saved. he
must first realize that he is lost Ac-
cordingly he thunders away with
mighty sledge on the anvil of eternal
judgment till a mans conscience is set
ringing till the crack Of doom.
l think the difficulty. however, now
a-days. is not that men do not believe
in judgment. They do believe in it.
J he human conscience is not dead. Ii
knows too much about judgment al
ready. Too many bitter retributions
come home to us in our own lives
Too frequently in the lives of those
ABOUT us we see a sowing the wind
and reaping the whirl-wind. We are
all too Well convinced already that
the wages of sin is Leath and that
there is a fearful looking forward to
something after death which makes us
like Hamlet, dread to enter it's por-
tails. For in that sleep of death
what dreams may come, must give US
pause. All, no. We wish we did not
believe in judgment. We wish that
omeOne could give US authoritative
evidence that there is none and never
will be any but He knows better.
What, then, the human heart is
longing to hear is the way of escape
" hat we long to hear is that the gift
Of God through the divine Christ is