The Tupelo journal., 1904-04-08

there was no OLneT Important Uu6lQeSS
on hand; as though that was the
place for them to stay. There was
Bunyan's Christian cropping in the land
of darkness, conscious that he was in
the place of danger. and then there
were the members of his household,
and his neighbors and friends who sat
at home and ridiculed his anxiety and
tried to get him to sit down quietly at
home. Thank God! Bunyan gives us
the picture of the wife Christiana
rising and following her husband later
into the land of Light, whittier he had
gone, but in that city Of Destruction in
the land of darkness there were many
who never were troubled and who new
er arose to flee the darkness and come
out into the Light. What Is your at
titude in the land of darkness? Are
you at ease? Are you satisfied? Are
you sitting, sitting. sitting, enjoying
all that this life can give and utterly
Indifferent to the Light which is shin
ing for you? Do you realize that you
are sitting Gin the region and shadow
of death?" Think you that there were
any who were content to sit quietly In
the house while the angry Mount Pelee
was belching forth its fire and smoke
and deadly ashes? "In the region and
shadow of death" There were none
who sat then. The danger of death
forced them to flee. Death stalks
through the land of darkness as surely
as destruction wasted Martinique. Dare
you sit ~contentedly in the darkness?
Dare you be Indifferent to the Light
which is shining for you? Flee, flee
to that Light and escape the region and
shadow of death!
THEY who abide in darkness are un-
! der judgment. And this is the
judgment, that the Light is come into the
world, and men loved the darkness rath-
err than the Light" HE that believeth
on Him Chat is, he that cometh to the
Light is not Judged" but "he that be-
lieveth not hath been judged already"
Under judgment! Do you realize what
that means? 1t means that here and now
tho sentence of death has been passed
upon those who persist in abiding in the
darkness; who will not come to Christ,
the Light. It mea that those who
are abiding in the darkness become their
OWE Judge. Somehow or other the Devil
has circulated the thought and impress
sion that judgment is not passed upon
guilty and unbelieving mankind until
the presence of God is gained, and then
it is hoped and expected that some ex-
tenuating circumstances will be pre-
scented; some loophole of escape dis
covered; some way in which the Judge
may be Modified and punishment es-
capped. How often you hear one saying
that he will take his chances in the next
and thinks it will be all right. And what
does this attitude of mind mean? It
means that there is no thought that judy
ment has already passed upon those who
will not come to Christ. They think
that the matter is not settled until the
presence Of GOD is reached. OF course,
the ruler of the darkness seeks to delude
his subjects in that way. Why should
he not try to still the conscience and lead
people to hope for escape from the dark
ness beyond the grave? But, oh, friend,
you who are abiding in the darkness,
hear Gods Word! Believe no longer
the Devils lie! The Devil calls you
a good a He holds Up before you
all your virtues. He shows you all the
ugly failures and sins of those who are
trusting in Christ. and then he says:
1T will be all right, my boy. God
will e condemn such a splendid
fellow as you are. Take your chances
But stop! The Devil is binding you
to your peril by an awful lie. God is
not the n that will judge you. You
pass judgment upon yourself when
you turn from Christ, the Light. God
only executes that condemnation
which o have pronounced against
yourself when you choose the darkness
rather than the Light. "And this is the
judgment, that the Light is come into
the world, and men loved the darkness
rather than the Light"
A ND why do they love darkness rather
n than the Light? Because their
works were evil" This may require a lit
tie examination to discover it's exact and
full meaning. There may be those to
whom this message will come who will
object to having it said of them that they
love darkness rather than the Light, and
that their works are evil, and that they
come not to the Light lest their works
should be r%eproyed. To such we want to
give Gods definition Of evil, as con-
trasted with what man means by the use
Of the same term. The reason there is
often so much confusion as to the mean
ing of Gods Word is that man applies his
standards and definitions to the things
of God, and he thus often loses their force
and meaning. What is evil in Gods
sight? Is it only what evil means to
man-the baser manifestation of sin?
Or does it include everything which can
not meet the white light of Gods right
eousness? Why was it Jesus could say
to the woman sunken in the grosser sins
of the flesh: Neither do / condemn
thee" and then could turn to the scribes
and Pharisees who had been her accusers
and who perhaps were not guilty of any
such gross sin, and say: "Woe unto you,
We hypocrites? 2" Was it not because their
attitude of unbelief was q greater sin in
Gods sight than that of the grosser in
dulgences of the flesh? The term evil
includes everything from the positive
sins of the flesh to the sins of the heart