The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-25

You are greatly mistaken. While you
and | stand looking into that room
that man falls out Of his chair, fat
or his face on the floor. And when
Quincy Garrett lifts William n. Van
derbilt from the floor, he is a corpse:
For all his 1886, 900, 900, no hope for
FIVE minutes.
|. Again, not TO be a Christian costs
the sacrifice of the highest manhood.
Every one of US has fallen away from
Gods ideal of manhood by sin-as Paul
puts it so wildly in Romans 1923 All
have sinned and come short Of the
glory Of God" That is Gods ideal
of manhood-the glory Of God rein
carded in your life and mine. We
have all come short of it by sin, and
the only way back to it is by the &C
ceptance of the sin-bearer God has pro-
vided.
In the next place not TO be a Christ
tian costs the sacrifice Of Gods favor.
How plain the Bible is about that.
John 3; Sc; He that 5elieveth on
,the Son hath everlasting life; and
he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath Of God
abideth upon him" If you will not
accept Jesus Christ, the intense, burn
| ing displeasure of God rests pom you
| tonight. You say, that may be all
| very true, | suppose it is, but
don't know that | care about the dis
| pleasure OF God. God? Oh, l suppose
there is a God, but He is S unreal, so
| far away so shadowy that He is no
| practical factor Of life" Stop a mo-
ment and think. When you go out
| DT +hic h,illjn~ +nnioh+ look I'M ar
| the starry heavens at those great
worlds of light that men call stars,
| say to yourself, 1.-The God that holds
| those great worlds of light in the mol
| low of His hand as they go whirling
| through space with incredible mOnen-
| tum that God loves me, but he is dis
| pleased with me-" Men if l had to face
| that thought tonight l would not sleep
until l had found peace with God II
there was any way to find ii, and thank
God there is.
Again, not to be a Christian costs
the sacrifice of Christs acknowledge
ment in the presence of Goo. p we
read in Matthew 10, 80 and 80: who
soever shall deny me before men, him
will l also deny before my father which
is in heaven"
PUBLIC CONFESSION.
That is plain enough; and yet we
live in a day which is so superficial
that men will tell you, alas, even from
the pulpit sometimes, that it Il man
believes in Jesus Christ in the secrecy
of his heart he may never confess It
before the world, but that God justities
and saves that MAI on the ground of
the faith which God sees, but which
the man never confesses. picking up
his Bible) | challenge any man TO
show me one verse between the covers
of that book which rightly interpre-
ted in it's context holds out any such
hopes. It c%ontradicts the plain teach
ings of Christ and the New Testament,
i'm Romans 10, 8 and 10; Mark, 8:36;
Matther, 10, 81 and SO. Out of the
abundance of the heart of the mouth
speaketh, and if you have some kind
of faith that leaves you too much of a
coward to confess Jesus Christ you have
a faith that will never lead you to
Heaven
| can imagine that great day wnen
our Lord gathers all His own before
the bar of God. There they stand
in bright and shining array, u Lord
Jesus at their head. And now he turns
to the father and with a glad wave
of His hand He says: Cal these are
mine; they confessed me ON earth be-
fore me; l now confess them before
Thee, my Father, in Heaven"
But look! Away upon the outskirts
of the crowd is a man who hung upon
the outskirts of the church Of Chris,
upon earth. His sympathies were with
the church; his generous gifts were to
the church; very likely his wife was
a member of the church; but the man
himself was a coward; he was afraid
of his business partner, Of his political
constituents, Or of the men in his
lodge, and he never came out like a
man and confessed Jesus Christ. But
he thinks hat because he hung upon
the outskirt, If the church down nero
he can up TT -. And nov u Lord
turns to him do not believe it
will be so much in anger asi n utter
pit-and with a sad wave of His
hand He says: Depart, you did nor
confess me upon earth before men; |
cannot confess you in Heaven before
my Father"
Once more, not to be a Christian
costs the sacrifice of eternal life, and
means to perish forever. AS we read
in John 3: IA and Is: so must the
son of man be lifted up; that whose
ever believeth in Him should not per
ish, but have eternal life" Again in
John 8: 16: For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish but have everlasting
life" and again in John g.: So: "He
that haliovofh on the Son hath ovQr1aSt-
ing life; and he that believth not the
Son sholl not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth upon him." How plain
the Bible is about Observation-Disclosures
have everlasting life. Not believeth-
perish.
ARE YOU WILLING?
Now my question: Are you willing
to pay the price of a Christian life?
I will admit there is something to be
gained by not being a Christian. There