The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-05-11
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. J. A. TRACY.
Subject: Ferseverance-The True Joys Of
Relision-Impressive is the Cheerful
ness Born of the Testimony of Good
roncc;enco-No Co,n {so with

ReIIEl IElOn-lmpreSs1Ve is the Sneerlul-
ness Born of the Testimony of a Good
Consciencc-No Compromise With Sin.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-The Rev. ]. A. Ira
cy, G. NJ, of Germantown, Pa, preached,
! Sunday, in the Church of the Visitation,
on Perseverance" Father Tracy took
as his text, BE faithful until death, and
will give thee the crown Of life" (Apo-
calypso ii: l0), and said:
l can imagine no sight more inspiring
! or more consoling than that which | be-
/ hold before me to-day. Hundreds Of souls
have listened obediently to the voice Of
God speaking through US and hundreds of
hearts have been opened to the. infusion
bravely you have looked into the condi-
tion OF your consciences and on detecting
the marks of sin there you fastened to the
tribunal of penance, you exposed the guilt
contracted by sin, you resolved that with
| the help of Gods grace you would never
compromise yourselves in the sight of God
again. The absolution of Gods represen-
tative was pronounced over you and you
went forth with light hearts and pure con-
sciences and grace filling your souls. By
the reception Of Holy Communion the seal
was set upon yoursresolutions and the act
recorded in the book Of life. Your bodies
dle HOW tHe temples VI lie iloiy OHost,
Your souls are burning with His grace and
in your present condition you are worthy
to be called saints, the name given by St..
Paul to the early Christians.
Hence / have no hesitation in saying
that the congregation assembled here to.
day, pure, holy, unspotted, cleansed from
the defilement of sin, is IN object Of COM
placency to the blessed and adorable Trim
ity; to God the Father, becau"e He sees
His people, the work of His hands, faith
full, loyal and obedient;; to God the Son,
because His tremendous sacriLce has not
been in vain; to God the Holy Ghost, be-
cause your souls are the receptacles of His
grace and you show the work of His
mighty hand. And the guardian angels of
this church participate in the common JOY,
faithful people. Yes, from the heights of
heaven above the cherubim and seraphim
look down upon you to-day and bless God
their Master for His mercy tn you and
for the wonders of grace wrought in your
souls.
And we, too, bless God and fall down
in humility before Him at the thought Of
having been His unworthy instruments
in this mighty work. For it is not we
that have done it. Irresistibiy the convic-
tion is borne home upon US th.t this
change is the work of the right hand of
the Most High" But we have in His
name received your confessions; we
have listened to your sighs of repent
ance; We have heard your resolutions Of
amendment, and have satisfied ourselves
of your determination to persevere in grace
and holiness. BY your own free act you
declared an eternal divorce from sin. That
resolution was registered in heaven, and
ttybo or hofo he {hropn nf GnI
in judgment it shall be brought forth as
testimony-for your everlasting joy if you
have kept it; for your eternal confusion
if you have failed.
Now, there is no doubt about your pres
ent dispositions. We know that as you
now stand your hearts are for God and
against sin. But We cannot close our eyes
to the melancholy fact that the flesh is
weak. When the present religious fervor
has passed your old enemy, the devil, will
return to the attack and you must be pre-
pared 10 meet him. You must not deceive
yourselves, but look the situation straight
in the face and take measures according
ly. In matter so serious it will be of
immense service to US to consider what it
means to fail.
Think, first, of the base ingratitude to
Christ implied in return to sin. With
eyes of faith you have been able to dis
eern as never before the significance of
the life and death of your Redeemer. You
have made a personal application of the
lessons you have seen. You realize that
it was all done for you. Yes, our Saviour
had you in mind when He was subjected
to outrage and ignomy in the court of Pi-
late; when the fierce scourges descended
upon His face and back; when the thorny
crown was cruelty pressed upon His sacred
brow; when He hung bleeding and torn
upon the cross. The thought that you
would appreciate His sacrifice and profit
by it, and through it be enabled to obtain
Father reconciled Him to the cruelty OF
which He was a victim. If our Lord ad-
dressed you personally to-day He would
assure you of this and tell you that the
thought of your conversion made His suf.
ferings sweet. Moreover, He took the
most efTectual way of making you compre-
bend the infinite love Of His sacred heart.
Gods love for man might have been writ.
tenin characters of blazing gold across the
heavens; it might have been proclaimed
throughout the universe by an archangel,
and man would have still remained skepti-
cal. He would ask for further proof. But
when the Son of God Himself takes flesh
and suffers and dies for man, what heart
can be so hard and stony, go insensible to
gratitude as to refuse to be drawn to God
and return love for love.
What baseness, then, and what treach-
cry it is to receive the gifts of God and to
turn over to His enemy that which should
serve His honor and glory. How migrate
full the heart made for God and virtue
which uses the power that God gave it
in self-indulgenee and sin. How wicked
the soul redeemed by Christ which renews
again His terrible passion. For we do re-
new Christ's suferings when we sin. We
wave aside the marks of His love
for ns and as far as We are able we
say, these things mean nothing to me. I
have passions which must be satisfied, am
bitions which must be attained, avarice
which must be satiated. The teachings,
the passion of Christ stand in the way of
these and must give way before them"
And is it possible after all the manifesto.
tions Of Christ's goodness that you will
again join forces with His enemy, the de-
vii? Shall you again take up the scourge
and shed the blood of your Saviour? Shall
you again press down upon His head the
crown of tkorns? Shall you make Him
cry out in bitter complaint, "Of what use
was My b!ood:" Oh, God forbid; God pre-.
serve You from such cruelty and treach-
cry.
Again, remember that a return to sin
will replunge YOU into the pitiful state
from which you have just emerged. Bear
in mind the significant words of Christ,
"No man putting his hand to the plow
and looking back is fit for the kingdom of
heaven" We have begun the good work,
why should we look back? Can you again
face the misery and remorse you expert.
enced while under the guilt of sin? Was
it not ditfcul: enough for you to summon
up courage to break away from sinful hab.
its, to confess the sins that oppressed your
soul, to triumph over the concupiscence
that held you captive? Would you again
place your souls in the slavery of the evil
are now healed; take to heart, then, the
,rorlc of G,hr;ct mCn ra,.r nxl r;x ..a