The Tupelo journal., 1904-03-18
\ ND above ali, 1t is an unchanglng

line upon line; here a little, there a lit
tie. / have warned you In the calami-
ties which have overwhelmed Israel. l
have given you a respite from your enc
mics. that you might consider these
things, "yet they would not hear. There
fore shall the word of Jehovah be unto
them precept upon precept, precept up
on precept; line upon line, line upon
line; her a little, there a little" 1t was
to be an unchanged message. 1t was the
same precept upon precept and line upon
line which He had been speaking to
them throughout the years and gener-
atoms. His message was the same. it
was %unchanging. And Gods message
for to-day is an uncDanging and I'M
changed message. The world. as in
Paul's time, is ever seeking some new
thing. The simple. old Gospel message
is considered out of date for this age and
generation. And men who claim to be
the servants of God, who profess to hav-
ing been called to deliver Gods message,
dare to take of the Gospel truth and warp
and twist and reshape it into something
new and modern. The simple old Cos
pei which declares man a lost and help
less sinner, and the crucifled Jesus an
only Saviour, Is deemed inadequate for
these times, and the so-called popular
preacher Is trying to accommodate
Gods message to the taste and vanity
and self-esteem Of the world. Oh, what
travesty! Oh, what a hideous viola
ton Of Gods mercy and love! God pity
the world when it gets too wise and too
cultured and too self-centered and ego
tlstical for Gods simple and unchang-
ing Gospel message! There are indica-
lions that point to the fact that the
world is rapidly approaching that at
titude before God; that condition Of
heart which remains unmoved and I'M
yielding before the oft-repeated Gospel
message. God did not change His mes
sage to Pharoah. 1t was over and over
again: Let my people CO." And when
Pharaoh hardened his heart and grew
so weary of the message that he threat
ened Moses with death il he came with
mat same message again, did God
change His message, or compromise up
on the issue? Nay, verify, it was an
unchanged message. And Gods mes
sage to-day, despite the meddlers and
the liberalists and the higher critics
and the advanced thinkers, is an I'M
changed and unchanging message, and
1t Will continue to be such until Jesus
shall come in His glory and claim as
His own those who have heard the mes
sage and been washed clean in His
blood.
HE message, then, of God to a
world estranged from Him because
OF sin and which He seeks and longs
to have brought back to Himself, is
simple. is pertinent, is persistent, is
u~nchanging. 1t is so simple that none
In all the world may be excluded or
lost, for 1t is to all the world and for
all the world. 1t is pertinent, plainly
and clearly defining mans condition
and need, and fully and freely provid-
ing for that need. 1t is persistent, for
God Will never cease His efforts to turn
the world to Himself until time shall
cease to be. 1t is unchanging, for there
is but one remedy for sin, and that is
the shed blood of Jesus Christ: and
God cannot come to the world with any
so-called ethical message, highly flavor
ed and up to date, for that will not
cleanse from sin; that will not make
souls dead in ~trespasses and sins to
live again; that will not make a man
over new, giving him a new heart and
a new purpose and a hope that will
grow brighter until the full glory of
Heaven bursts Upon his vision. No,
God comes with His simple, pertinent,
persistent, ~unchanging message. He
goes over the lesson again, and yet
again. 1t is "precept upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line,
line upon line; here a little, there a lit
tie" 1t is in spite Of God that the
soul perishes. Surely God never fails
to improve an opportunity to drive
home His message. Through His true
and faithful servants in the world to-
day, through the circumstances and
conditions of life, in a thousand and
one different ways, God goes over and
over the Gospel story of man a sinner
and Christ a Saviour. Dear soul,
whoever you are who reads these
words, have you heard Gods message
and hearing Lave you obeyed it? Have
you repented of sin and believed upon
Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour,
the one who cleanses from all sin and
saves with an everlasting salvation?
Have you?
IF NOT, Gods message to you is still
l "precept upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line. line upon line;
here a little, there a little; that you
may go and fall backward, and be
broken and shared and taken" The
effect of Gods message is finally n of
two things: Either it melts the heart
and molds the life anew in Christ
Jesus, or it hardens as the clay is
hardened under the burning rays of
the sun. God keeps repeating His
simple Gospel message over and over
again that you may be OF to Him,
that you who have been estranged and
an outcast from the Fathers house,
might be reconciled and brought back.
And if you will not, if because of the
hardness of your impenitent heart you
scorn His gracious message, He keeps
repeating it chat you may go, and fall
backward, and be broken, and shared
and taken" Do we hear it said to-day
| that the Gospel is not winning the