Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-04-22
THE PULPIT.
4 BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. W. r BEST
Theme: Well Doing.

Text: elf thou dOest we'll, shalt
thou not be accepted? and II thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door,
Cen, At.
The farmer and the shephed both
brought an offering unto b Lord.
! We look at Gains offering and we
say, the Lord will certainly bless
Cain. What a costly offering he Is
presenting and how much hard work
| it must have taken to get 1t ready.
| Early and late has he worked through
the long summer days. In the sweat
! of his face he has plowed. and har-
| rowed. and sown, and cultivated, and
now Providence has blessed him with
a bountiful harvest. Look at the
choice vegetables and the delicious
fruits that go to make up his Offer
ing: Surely the blessing is his.
Abel selected a lamb from his flock
| without spot or blemish; he cuts Its
throat; see the blood gush out! How
| cruel! God will certainly reject Abel.
his offering, but unto Cain and his
Had he not worked hard and faith
fully? Hadn't he acknowledged di-
vine Providence: Yes, all this is
true, but his heart was not right. His
offering was one Of self-righteousness
and good works. Abel came in Gods
way, not by works, not by self-right-
eousness, but by the blood. without
the shedding of blood there is no re-
mission of SIM" for sit is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the
SOUL" God taught our first parents
this great lesson when He slew the
animals to get coats of skin to clothe
them. Abel had faith in God, and
coming in Gods way, he believed
God would receive him, so God testi-
fed to his gifts that he was right
eOus
When Cain saw that Abel was &C.
ceptcd he was wroth. and his coun-
tenante fell. And the Lord said
unto Cain, Why art thou wroth: and
why is thy countenance fallen? II
thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted? and II thou doest not we'll,
sin lieth at the door," What q warn
ing this! AS If the Lord had said,
"Cain I am no respector Of persons;
If you do right I will bless you just as
willingly as I did Abel; but If you
don't do right. why, then, sin like a
wild beast OF prey Is crouched at
your hearts door, and IS only wait
ing for a good opportunity to leap
upon YOU" Instead Of needing Gods
warning, Cain watched for an oppor-
tunity, and as soon as it presented
Itself. he rose up against his brother
and slew him. And wherefore slew
he him. because his own works were
evil and his brothers righteous"
Here are two young men both en-
gagged In good occupations and with
equal privileges. One made q sue
cess Of life, the other q failure. Up
to tbs time of our text, IL we look at
Cain from the standpoint. OF this
world. we would say he had done
well: but 1t was he that did it. Gods
word says. by the works of the law.
shall no flesh be justified" SALIVA
ton Is not Of works. lest any man
should boast" Cain lived long
enough to make a mark in the world;
but instead Of making a mark In the
world, God had to put a mark on
him lest the world should kill him.
Even to this day he is despised as the
first murderer. Abel's life was short
compared with that Of Cain, yet 1t
was long enough to be successful:
and he is honored more to-day than
ever before. Jesus Christ said,
BLESSED are the meek: blessed are
the pure in heart; blessed are, blessed
are" Here we are distinctly told that
It is not what a man has, not yet
what he does, that obtains for him
Gods blessings; but what he is. Sol
ONION said. Keep thy heart with all
diligence for out Of it are the issues
of life" Well-doing is dependent on
well-being.
/. The first step in well-doing is
to give ones heart to God.
# a man does not, do we'll In this
respect what Is the result? He may
have ever so good an opinion of him.
self, all his ways may be clean in his
own eyes, he may think he Is better
than anybody else: but God says his
heart Is deceitful and desperately
wicked above all things, his throat Is
an open sepulchre, the poison of asp:
Is under his lips, his mouth full o.
eurs1ng, his feet swift to shed limo
cent blood. destruction and miser,
are In his ways, nc fear of God be
fore his eyes. How can he escape thu
damnation of hell?
What worse error is there than t.
suppose a man can do we'll with
wrong heart? We make an awfu
T"0 LudL religion ]
simply for the church and Sunda,
school. The farmer needs 1t to ru1
his farm. The merchant to run hi
store. It Is needed by every indfyid
ual that expects to make a success q
life.
But remember that when a man
heart Is right with God he is Just i
a position to do we'll; the doing j
still before him. Salvation is in thre
parts, an act, a work, a state. A ma
repents Of his sins, accepts Christ b
faith and salvation Is to him an &C
t Of Gods free grace whereby he j
|, saved. But how many there are thu
" suppose that this is all there Is t
salvation. The fact that a man we
saved five years ago is no proof thu
he Is saved to-day. or that he will b
t finally saved. From the day of
q mans conversion until the day of b.
death salvation is a work and. h
. must work it out" or be forevf
: lost. After death salvation is a stat,
II. The second step in Weldon
q Is to take the Bible as ones guide
It Is doubtful whether there woul
! | ha cnoh q oo,,n&r1y 4. 49, -r~.,a =,