Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-01-02

ready to tear out this viper Of evil hab-
1t which we have been nursing in our
bosoms as q Nathan's pet lamb? Re-
pentance of sin means more than to be
merely sorry for sin. 1t means a COM
plete renunciation Of, turning from,
a reputation of sin. Are you and /
ready now to promise God that with
the help Of the Holy Spirit, we will
throttle our secret sins, even as the ma
tives Of India In bands go forth to de-
stroy the man eating prowler OF the
dark jungle?
The Curse OF Sin.
And why should we not one and all
be ready to turn our backs upon and
renounce sin? In all the history OF our
lives Is there one instance Of yielding
to sin In which sin has not proved IT.
self our enemy? AS loathsome can
Ger has 1t not been eating at the vitals
of our hearts? 1t has steadily been de-
vouring our manhood and self respect.
Many years ago as a Plttsburg pastor
/ was calling upon an old woman who
was In the last stages Of cancer. 1t was
my last visit. II was made the night
she died. When about to enter the sick
room l had to pass through another
room, where lay sleeping a little blue
eyed child only few hours old. In the
one room was newborn babe; in the
other an old, shriveled up, horribly dis
figured woman Of threescore and ten.
The birth angel and the death angel
that night seemed to lock wings over
the grandmother's and the grandchild's 8
home. But, as stood under those lock-
ed wings, | seemed to feel that the
child and the old woman were one. l
seemed to feel that the physical
change from the bloom Of health to the
decay Of death was symbolic Of the
spiritual change which was wrought
by the cancer Of sin. Why should we
not be ready to renounce our sins and
turn to Christ? Has not sin always
been a curse and an enemy7 Has not
sin destroyed the best part OF our lives
Standing between the open grave of
the dying year and the cradle of the
year about to be born. my text Is espe-
cially appropriate Why? Though God
offers pardon and peace for repentance
OF a., past sins. he does not offer par
don for one sin that we intend to COM
NIT In the future. One drop of Christ
blood is sufficient 10 undermine and
sweep away the mOuntaln ranges or
past evil. But TO the man who Is cher
ishing his sin. who will not break with
II, who will not give II up, there Is no
promise. Pardon for the past Is of no
avail to q man who loves his sin ana
will accumulate a new load next year,
next month or next week, though that
sin be as small as q grain Of sand by
the seashore, as small as microbe
which can only be seen under the mag
nifying glass In the biologists labora-
tory.
No Mnn Can Serve Two Masters.
Many people mistakingly suppose
that Gods pardon applies to future as
well as to past sins. They think it ap-
plies to those sins which we intend to
coamit as well as to those sins of
which we are already guilty. In the
far east the Mohammedans suppose
that earth and heaven are separated
by great chasm. Over this fathomless
chasm are stretched many bridges, each
Al. Of hofr fniQKn0SG
Over these infinltesimal bridges the I'M
mortal souls must pass from earth to
heaven while glowing, Kissing, burst
ing flames leaping up from the bottom
less Dit beneath scorch their feet and
try to drag them down. So some peo-
Dle of Christian America foOlishly
think they can reach heaven, though
they are deliberately and Intentionally
walking, as the Mohammedans Imagine
themselves doing, over the hot fires OF
evil. They believe God will pardon
| those sins which we intend to commit
In the future as well as those sins
which are already recorded against us
upon the black pages Of the past.
Abraham LincOln's war cry against
slavery was this: "a house divided
against itself cannot stand. This coun
try must become all slave or all free =
In the same way, man cannot have two
masters. EITHER he Will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold
to the one and despise the other" Yet
there have been thousands upon thou
sands of immOrtals who have been eter
| nally destroyed because they thought
| they could serve God and Satan at the
same time. In my fathers congrega
| ton at Syracuse was a magnihcen'
man. He was a regular attendant
upon the divine services, but he would
not publicly profess Christ and join
the church. One day my father was
pleading with him to become n Chris
| tan. The man turned and said: "Dr
| Talmage, | have long studied ovel
what you say. / know ought to be
| come q Christian. | will do so, but no
now. l have just been elected to th'
legislature. do not believe man car
be a good politician and good Chris
| tan at the same time. l will be
good politician for two years, and theI
| will become a good Christian" From
that moment the spirit Of God ceased
to plead with him. Pardon for pas
sins, but not until we resolve agains
future sins. That man Immediately
became changed man. He went tt
Albany. He drifted away from the ole
landmarks Of the Bible. He driftet
first into Universalism, then into ag
nosticism, then into infdelity. He dieC
blaspheming. curslng, lost soul!
Difficulty of Undoing Wrong.
Pardon for the past sins. No pardoI
IL promised for the future sins which
we deliberately intend TO commit. MI
Moody, l think 1t was, gave this as hi
testimony: For many weeks and month
he had been laboring with a busines
friend to give his heart to God. Thi
man at last said: Moody, will do a