The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-03-18

and with a few more words he said,
Goodnight" and went out. Next
morning a leading merchant of the
town came to me and said, You
ought to have seen what l saw last
night when | left this building. had
gone only a short way down the St.
when l saw - leaning up against
a lamp-post. / knew he did not drink
knew he was not intoxicated.
went up to him and asked him what
was the matter and why he was shout
ing. He said, L am so happy, l can
hardly stand up" | saw him that
day, and told him what my friend
had told me. l said. "Mr. - said
he saw you leaning against lamp
post and shouting. and when he asked
you what was the matter. you said
you were so happy you could not stand
up. Is that sol" He said, 1T was lit
orally true. Ten minutes after ]
left you last night, such a JOY came
over my soul that literally had to
lean against the lamp-post and shout
for JOY"
l don't know IL 1t will affect you
just that way; II never did me; but
l will guarantee one thing-that II
you will accept Jesus Christ with all
your heart and surrender your whole
life to Him, and His control, and
publicly confess Him before the
world. God will send His Holy Spirit
into your heart. filling It with JOY
that you never knew before.
4 In the fourth place, every man
and woman should confess Christ be-
cause It is the only way to be saved.
In Romans X. 9 and 10 we read: 'If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe In thine
heart that God hath raised Him from
the dead. thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation"
People say to me In some places
where we go, IL don't believe In this
standing up and confesslng:;" but !
don't care what you believe; the ques-
ton is. What doec God say?" And
God says, with the mouth confess
sion is made unto salvation" There
are a great many people who will tell
you II a man or woman believes In
Christ in the secrecy OF their own
hearts they need never say anything
about IL, for God sees the heart. lie
does see your heart, and IL you don't
confess Christ, He sees you have not
got any real faith. You say, lis not
man saved by faith?" Yes, but by
real faith. and real faith always leads
to mouth confession. We read in the
very next verse OF this chapter. Ro-
mans X. IL: "Whosoever believeth
Or Him shall not be ashamed" II you
are ashamed to confess Him you do
not believe on Him. A faith that
does not lead to confession will never
lead to Heaven There will be no
sneaks and towards in Heaven. Jesus
Christ says In Mark viii. 3S: Whose
shall be ashamed OF Me and OF My
words, of him also shall the Son OF
Man be aShamed. when He. cometh
in the glory OF His Father with the
holy angels"
Once more, every man and woman
should confess Christ for common de-
cency's sake and self-respect's sake.
When you and | stop to think what
Christ has done for us; how He left
Heaven with all its glory and came
down to earth with all its shame:
how he was scouraged and crowned
with thorns; how he bore shame
and reproach; how He was spat upon
and buffeted and nailed to the Cross
for you and me; how, although He
was rich, yet for our sakes He be-
came poor. that we through His pow
erty might become rich; how, though
being In the form of God, He thought
IL not a thing to be grasped TO be
equal to God, but humbled Himself and
took upon Himself the form OF
servant, and was obedient even unto
death. yea. the death OF the Cross;
how He was wounded for our tran
gressions, and bruised for our iniqui-
ties-if, men and women, knowing
that, you will not confess Jesus
Christ because of the fear OF man,
or fear of loss In business, or fear
of loss Of caste In society, then you
are a coward. a poltroon, and an in
crate OF the basest and blacklist kind.
You cannot get around It; you know
1t is Gods truth. l cannot see how
any intelligent man or woman can
bear in mind what Jesus has done
for them, and then not confess Him,
and still retain their self-respect.
We have some things we are proud
of in America, and some things we
are ashamed Of One Of the things