The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-05-29

DroJnerly Fellowship WIN man. II was
his finger step" or his sin Of commits
sion. Cannot You read the stages Of
progression in the words Of the human
tragedy, Il saw" 81 coveted" Il
took?' Perhaps we can translate il in
even a better way; q looked Il de
sired" Il did,
Achnn's Cowardice.
But now. after the finger step has
been committed, comes the fear and
the horror. Aye. the "coyetous step"
may lead through an embowcrei gar
den. The buZzards may there be feath-
cred in the gorgeous colors of yellow
breasted, black tipped oriole The Tin
ger step" may be a leap, Il jump, an
siIapulSive bound, but no sooner is that
fourth step taken than comes the foot
step or the steathy fugitive step. rs
soon as Achan, the thief, got posses
sion of this gold and silver and this
Babylonish garment he did bot know
what to do with them. He could not
wear the cloak; he could not spend The
money: so, like coward, he skuIked
away and went ana hid them in his
tent. IL
Sin nearly alwsfs makes a coward
out of man, Achan did exactly what
our first ancestot@did in the garden Of
Eden after he had sinncd. No sooner
was that forbidden fruit eaten than
for Adam the heavens seemed to be
overcast He not only skunk away and
hid in the thickets rs q cowardly hyc
ma would run away from the hounds,
but when God called him forth he did
even meaner act than that. He turn
ed and tried to throw the blaue upon
the woman by his side as he said, Yes,
| did eat, but the woman whom thou
gayeSt to be with me. she gave me, ana
| did cat" oh, my friends, the crimi-
nal unc0usciously reveals himself The
accusing voice Of his conscience saps
his manliness and robs him of his open
demeanor. If there is not an honest
heart in a man, his face and his bear
ing will not be honest The lowered
eyelid, the trembling hand the shutliing
foot all reveal the error Of his past
a despicable sin always makes Il cow
ara out of q man without an cXcep-
ton, always, always. Sin by its very
nature is only another name for COW
ardice No sooner did Achan take the
gold than he ran away and hid II; no
sooner do YOU sin against God, then,
like all other sinners, you try to set as
far as possible away from God.
Shall we follow on and see the end
of this human tragedy? Shall we stop
and watch the twtching limbs of the
Hebrew apostate who Is being stoned
to death by his late comrades in arms?
No, | would not for one minute have
you look at the death agony and the
eternal despair, Death by execution is
too terrible for any human eyes TO
witness, unless 1t is our duty to wit
ness it. | remember some years ago,
| was invited, as one OF the jurors, TO
be present in Sing Sing prison when a
murderer was eleCtrOcuted for his
crimes. | am always thankful that
missed the train and did not arrive in
time for the execution So, today,
would not lead YOU forth to where
Achan is uttering his means: but rath-
or would | close this sermon with this
thought: Terrible as sin is in its ma
ture and its effects, there Is a divine
remedy for IT, God. in his infinite
pity, has had compassion ON The sinner
and has stretched ont his hand TO
spair. Not only does he offer pardon
TO the sinner but delycrance from the
power Of sin. Sin" he says to all
who put their trust in Christ, shall
not have dominion over YOU Though,
like Achan, you may hayc fallen I'M
der its power if You come TO Christ
and put your faith in him, you shall
be saved There is salvation for you
and peace for you, and eternal life for
YOU. through the blood Of Jesus Christ,
who loves you and who has given
his life for you in order that you
might live.
HIS Real Birthday.
May this moment be the supreme
moment for your eternal redemption
and not eternal damnation When
Bcrtcl ThorUaldsen the great Danish
sculptor, was asked the day Of his ma
tivity. he answered: II was born on the
Sth of March, 1874 Before then !
did not exist" This was not The date
of his physical birth Thorwadsen
was physically born Nov ~, ITO and
March y, 1891, was the day that he
was artistically born That was the
day when be first saw Rome. May
this day be TO YOU the best Of all days
not the day when, like Achan, you
must die. but rs Bertcl Thorwaldsen
first saw Rome, so may this be the
first day on which you can truly see.
the face Of Jesus Christ and live.