The Tupelo journal., 1904-03-18

oOto a liIllc CIllu III OuI ullQ0t anu
tells us that except we become as that
little child WI cannot understand Gods
message and enter into the Kingdom Of
Heaven. Jesus in one of His prayers
says: Il thank Thee, oh Father, Lord OF
Heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide
these things from the wise and under
standing, and didst reveal them unto
babes" And Paul, in the first chapter
of his first letter to the Corinthians, says:
Not many wise after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called; but
God chose the foolish things of the world,
that He might put to shame them that
are wise" And this all means, not that
God does not want the wise and cultured
and mighty to be saved, but that the very
simplicity Of His message which is able
to reach the world proves a stumbling
block to them. Gods message is simple
but profound, easily understood by all,
and mighty to save those who receive it.
GODS message is also a pertinent
" message. tits "preceptupon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line,
line upon line; here a little. there a lit
tie" 1t is to the point. 1t is prepared
with the certain, definite purpose of
meeting a certain, definite need. Man
has one supreme and desperate need.
and that is ~deliverance from sin and its
consequences. There is universal con-
seriousness in the heart of mar that he
is a sinner. Even the most untutored
savage is oppressed by the thought Of
violating the will and pleasure of his
gods, and seeks in some way to appease
and secure their favor. And man is a
sinner and lost, as Gods simple message
declares, and Gods message goes on to
apply the remedy, the only remedy which
can meet the need. That is. Gods
message not only diagnoses the case
tells what is the matter with man-but it
goes on to prescribe just the remedy that
is needed to cleanse and heal. When
Naaman came to the prophet of God,
with his desperate and distressing dis
ease of leprosy, and the servant of God
delivered Gods message to him, he was
minded to turn away in anger and dis
gust because the remedy which he had
expected would be applied was not ad-
the fact that he thought the waters of
Damascus were far better than those of
the Jordan, it was bathing in the Jor-
dan and the Jordan alone which re-
moved his leprosy and made his skin
to return upon him like that of a little
child. Gods message to Naaman was
just such as would meet his need, and
Gods message to the world to-day is
just such as the world needs to be saved.
Pass before the great Physician, oh,
man! oh, woman! Let Him diagnose
your case. He says: "All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God" He
goes on to say that that condition of sin
will bring forth death-soul death.
For the soul that sinneth, it shall die"
And then having told you the nature of
your disease in a simple word of three
letters, SIN, having told you the con-
sequences of that disease in a word of
five letters-DEATH-He goes on to
point to the remedy; He says: Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world" 1t is the one
remedy for sin. And Gods message is a
pertinent message, because it speaks of
the remedy-the only remedy-for the
supreme need of man.
GODS message is also persistent.
~ "Precept upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line up
on line; here a little, there a
little" Over and over, and over
and over again, God repeats His mes
sage to a lost and dying world. See Him
as He patiently, lovingly, longingly deals
with His chosen people. How persistent
He is! Prophet after prophet sent to
them to deliver His message. Punish
ment after punishment inflicted
upon them that they might re-
ceive and understand His mes
sage. In the chapter from which
our text is taken we have the prophet
ic story of Israel's captivity, of Samaria's
destruction, an example and warning to
Judah to hear and obey Gods message.
1t was "precept upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon
line; here a little, there a little" And
yet they would not hear, they would not
heed, but plunged down to their ruin.
And for nearly 1000 years since Christ
came as Gods message to the world, He
has been persistently trying to bring
the world to it's acceptance. All, Chris
tian, have you grown weary in bearing
this message to the world? Have you
about concluded that the world needs
something else? Have you begun to
feel that the simple Gospel message is
getting monotonous and is worn thread
bare? Look away to God! Learn from
Him! Behold how persistent He has
been in delivering His message! And
dare you be any less persistent? Dare
you falter, and grow faithless, when
God says: BE not weary in well doing,
for, in due season We shall reap if We
faint not? 1t is "precept upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line,
line upon line; here a little, there a lit
tle." 1t is Gods way. He keeps pre-
scribing the only remedy which will ef-
feet a cure. What would you think OF a
physician who would change his medi-
cine at the whim and notion of the pa
tient, and instead of giving the remedy
which alone could cure, would provide
something which would not stay the
1.za1,o ~ o,Iroo Mo tho c,oao~cf,I -
stefan must be persistent in his treat