The Grenada sentinel., 1904-04-02

OF udTkNeSS, conscious tnat ne was In
the place. of danger. and then there
were the members of his household.
and his neighbors and friends who sat
Int home and ridiculed his anxiety and
! tried to get him to sit down quietly at
home. Thank God! Bunyan gives IN
the picture Of the wife Christians
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 lin 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 ybelching forth it's 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 fee 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 tho
judgment, that the Light is come into the
world. and men loved the darkness rath-
er than the Light" "11e that believeth
on Him that is. he that cometh to the
Light is not Judged" but "he that be-
lleveth not hath been judged already"
Under judgment! Do you realize what
that means? 1t means that here and now
the sentence of death has been passed
upon those who persist in abiding in the
darkness; who will not come to Christ.
the Light: 1t means that those who
are abiding in the darkness become their
own 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-
sented; 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 chane es in the next
world. That he will do the best he can.
and thinks it will be all right And what
does this attitude of mind mean? It
means that there is no thought that judg-
ment has already passed upon those who
VIII 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
MS SUBJECTS in that way. Why should
ne 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.
near Gods Word! Believe no longer
the Devils lie! The Devil calls YOU
good man. 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 saws:
1T will be all right, my boy. God
Will never condemn such q splendid
Fellow as you are. Take your chances"
But stop! y The Devil is binding YOU
to your peril by an awful lie. God is
not the one that will judge you. You
pass Judgment upon yourself when
you turn from Christ, the Light. God
only executes that condemnation
which you 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
than the Light? Because their
works were evil" This may require a lit
tie examination to discover it's exact and
full 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 l 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,
ye hypocrites?'' Was it not because their
attitude of unbelief was a 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 |
and head which shut out the Christ by
unbelief And those who are abiding in |
darkness are there because their works
are evil, because they love the darkness
(self and sin) better than they love the
Light which God has sent into the world.
They come not to the Light because they
do not want to see themselves as sinners.
How man does fight that declaration of