St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-02-13

ose~Ses"S
from the beginning of the creation. =
Surely these passages Go not warrant
the belief that all are to be saved and
come to knowledge of the truth. No,
the day of grace will pass and find many
whose knees have not yet bowed to God
and whose tongues have not confessed
Him Lord, but in the day of judgment
every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess. 81 10 $%$" E
WHAT q picture this brings before
w us. j Every creature at last recog-
nizing the sovereignty ard power OF
God, but oh, the tragedy of that hour.
Some will bend the knee and confess
with the tongue that the Lord is God,
but it will be submission and acknowl-
edgment which will bring no JOY to the
heart or hope to the soul. 1t will be the
submission which the guilty prisoner be-
fore the court yields to the judge as he
pronounces sentence upon him. 1t will
be an acknowledgment of the power and
authority such as the convicted law
breaker is forced to make as he is thrust
behind the prison gates and set at the
task in the Jail workshop. The rebel
lious soul that during the day of grace
had been deaf to the cry which went out
from Heaven into all the earth: Look
unto Me and be We saved" will with sud-
den and awful terror be quickened to
hear God as He speaks, and forced to
obey as He pronounces judgment upon
him. How can he escape in the day OF
Judgment, inasmuch as he has neg
lected so great salvation during the day
of grace? Every knee bowed before God,
and every tongue confessing His
righteousness and power and authority
what a scene that will be! And how
glorious and blessed it would be II be-
hind every Bonded knee and confessing
tongue there was heart in which the
Christ had been enshrined and upon
which had been felt the cleansing and
saving power Of His shed blood. But
sad and awful it is to remember that
with those who gladly bow the knee in
sreverent worship, and joyfully confess
God as their Father and Christ as their
Saviour, there will be gathered those
whose wills were never yielded to God
and whose hearts were never cleansed
from sin in Jesus blood. The knees OF
such will bend In fear and the tongues
will confess in. terror. but there will be
NO room for repentance then. the day
Of grace will have given place to the day
Of judgment.
WHERE will you be found, my
w friend, in that last great day?
Will you be with that white TObed
throng on the right hand, whose knees
gladly bow and whose tongues eagerly
confess their Lord, or will you be with
those on the left hand, whose willful-
ness and rebellion can no longer keep
their knees from bending and their
tongues from acknowledging the Lord
Of Heaven and earth? This is a guess
ton which must be decided in this life.
We may not delay its answer. While
God calls: Look unto Me and be We
saved" we may lift our eyes to Him and
know the Joy of salvation. II we turn
from Him and listen only to the allur-
ing music Of the world the day Of grace
may pass for us and we be lost eternal
~. AS Moses lifted up the serpent in the
Hebrews to 'elook and live" even %
has 'the Son Of Man been lifted up, -
and God commands the soul dying from
the sting Of sin to look unto Him a1d
be saved" What is involved in this
blessed work of redeeming grace? On
mans part it implies need. desper-
ate need. On Gods part It assures that
adequate provision has been made for
the supplying Of that need. God says
LOOK because He has something for
man to look to. Man must LOOK" be-
| cause there Is salvation for him in no
other way. Note how solemnly God
enforces His command to LOOK .
For am God, there is none else" No
! other God. No other way of salvation.
Let us consider what, it is that God holds
before the eyes OF the dying world, and
! why 1t is that the dying world must
needs look if it. would see life eternal
II we can only bring you, dear soul, to
realize what God has done for you, and
how you need the salvation which He
offers so fully and freely, we know that
as the call comes to your heart from
God to LOOK" you will look and live.
nod does not hold before the eyes
" Of the sinner the law and say:
Look on this and live" The children
Of Israel, to whom the law was first
given, failed miserably in the keeping
Of 1t. The law held up before the sin
ner's eyes condemns instead of justify
ing. God does not hold before the SOU,
high ideals of human life, charity, Gull
ture, education, and say: Look on
these and live" There was just one
thing those bitten Israelites, writing
in the death agony of the sands of the
wilderness, needed. It was the brazen
serpent which Moses faithful and ODE
dent hand lifted high and held firmly
until every perishing soul either looked
and lived, or else died in unbelief and
rebellion. If Moses had held up the
tables of stone ON which were craven
the perfect law of God, they could not
have saved the dying people. He
! might have urged all manner Of re.
forms, but they would not have me-
the desperate needs OF the people
Moses said: Look" and held up the
serpent, which typifled the Christ, ant
God says: Look" and holds up the
i crucifled Saviour. Nothing else is o.
avail to the dying soul. God does no