Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-11-19

home Of my youth was CHRISTIAN
home. | am a child Of the covenant.
My father was good Christian man.
My mother prayed over me from the
time I was born until she died. Why
should not go where they areT
Oh, yes, my friend, you would GER
tainly 90 to heaven upon the borrowed
capital Of your fathers and mothers
lifelong conservation If they had any
power to take you there. But the diff
Guilty is that your fathers and moth
er's spiritual power is limited. From
the time you were born your parents
lived entirely for you and your broth
ers and sisters. Every pleasure and
every indulgence they had they shared
with you.
But there is one blessing your moth
er and father have that they cannot
divide with their children. They can
not divide with you their oil OF spirit
ual life. They could lead you TO the
rock Of Calvary, where, in the blood OF
Jesus, you might see how your sins
might be cleansed, but you must your
self seek an interest in his atonement.
They could tell you of the Holy Spirit
whose illumination could scatter your
spiritual darkness, but the oil or his
divine influence you must implore for
yourself. They could compel you as
a child to go and sit in the church pew,
but they could not compel you to re-
ceIve Christ as your Saviour. That Is
a matter simply between you and Je-
sus. They could introduce Christ 10
you as their very best friend, but they
could not force you to make their
friend Jesus your friend. He will never
become a part Of your life unless you
yourself open to him the holy OF holies
OF your heart to let him in. Neither
will Christ receive you as one or MS
own unless you truly come to him WIN
the countersign Of the cross.
borrowed Spiritual Oil.
And yet many people expect ulti-
mately to reach heaven on account OF
the borrowed spiritual oil Of a con-
secrated Christian ancestry. "Oh,
,aid a minister's daughter to me some
time ago. 81 know l am not living as
I ought, but am all right. l have no
fear about the future. l have maze
my husband promise to bury me at the
foot of my fathers grave. When the
arcbangel's trumpet sounds and we all
come up am going to cling to my IA
theirs hand. / know Christ Will let me
in If | am by his side. know It, be-
cause my father was such good man.
know Christ would not refuse my
father anything" She said this half
In lest and half In earnest. Many OF
us have the same hope and say the
same things, not half in jest, but IN
dead earnest. No, my friends, when
the Bridegroom cometh on that great
day Of resurrection your father aho
mother will have no spiritual oil to
snare. Then we cannot follow the Dl'
vine Bridegroom with our parents spir'
final light We must have our OWE
lighted Gil to become part OF the wen
ting procession Of the redeemed or Tor
ever stay out of Christ's banquet hall
enveloped by the impenetrable ano
crushing darkness Of the eternal night
These FIVE foolish virgins represent
another class. They represent th'
mammal church members They repre-
sent the men and women who look up
ON church membership as a kind o.
fstich. We read that during the darE
ages the Catholic devotees used 10 Du,
"plenary indulgences," which wouic
absolve them from their future SINS
which they were about to commit III
tentionally. SO some people VINO arr
nominal church members seem 10 thini
that they can lie and steal and chea
and commit all the forbidden sins O
the Decalogue il they are only churci
members in good standing. They seen
To think that the crucial essential
Christianity is a perfection OF cree'
for the head and not absolute conse
Grafton for the heart. They seem L
think that they can walk hand in han'
with sin and continue to 80 walk l
they can only repeat this sentence a
tbey 90: 81 believe in Jesus. l believ
in Jesus. Yes, l believe in Jesus
| Now. Christ, by the parable OF m
text saws that a mere mental faith L
} | him. unaccompanied by surrender o
the heart and life, is not faith at al
The faith that saves is a faith tina
, transforms the life, faith that take
complete control Of man. The nom
nal church members must have col
secration of heart and pure lie a
| we'll as a perfect gospel creed. Df
love that Christ's fuller teachings al
, Arm that he Is more willing to forglv
! tbe sins of an out and out enemy wh
! once blasphemed him, but repents 9
, his sin. than he is willing to forgiv
, a Judas. who never denied him puDli'
lv but who in private life betrays Ill
with a kiss.
Cbri.t,s Forgiveness of Peter.
How about Peter? Did not Chri'
GLADLY forgive him his three denia
, when Peter repented after the coo
: crowed? The most powerful pup
3 description Of any Bible scene ev'
read or heard was that delivered
Joseph Parker Of Peters Three d
8 mails" In the frst place, the gre'
preacher described the scene OF Juda
? hypocritical Judas, stealthily approac
, ing Christ and planting a betraylr
I kiss upon the Saviour's cheek. In'
came the tramp Of the Roman soldier
= Then the lines were formed as Il
prisoner was being marched back to q
a capital. In olden times, as now, wn'
o a man Is arrested the crowds OF cul
e osity seekers were augmented step
z, step. Peter, when he saw the null
d tude, became very much frightene
l. Instead of walking side by side WI
e Christ, as he ought to have done,
= followed afar of. When they approac
ed the home of Caiaphas, the hi