The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1910-10-10
And Not to Be

] 80 minutes lontSt NonSsNtl ehtlNhf
What It Costs to Live and Die with
out Jesus Christ. Now | am going to
ask YOU to do some thinking tonight,
some hard. serious. honest thinking.
What l am going to ask you to
think about is this: what 1t costs not
TO be a Christian, what IL costs to live
and die without Jesus Christ. And
II when | get through you think YOU
are willing to pay the price OF a
Christless life. have nothing more
to say
But If, when you have thought II
all out, you come TO the conclusion
that it costs too much to live and die
without Christ, / am going to ask
YOU to do the only intelligent thing
there Is to do in the circumstances.
that is. to stand up here tonight and
declare your purpose to accept Jesus
Christ right now.
Not a Christian.
What does il cost not to be a
Christian? First of all, what is 1t
to be a Christian? BY a Christian, |
understand, any man, woman, or
child, that comes to God as a lost
sinner. takes Jesus Christ as their
personal Saviour, surrenders to Him
as their Lord and Master, confesSes
Him as such publicly before the
world. and strives 10 live to please
Him in everything day by day. Let
me repeat that definition. A Chris
tsan IS any man, woman or child that
comes TO God as a lost sinner, takes
Jesus Christ as their personal
Saviour. surrenders TO Him as their
Lord and Master, confesses Him as
such publicly before the world and
strives to live to pleace him in every
thing day by day.
What does II cost not to do II?
In the first place. not to be a
Christian costs the sacrifice Of peace.
A Christian has peace: Beng
Justified by faith. we have peace with
Cod through the Lord Jesus Christ. ~
Romans, V. 1. And having peace
with God We have peace in our
hearts, but no man out Of Christ has
peace. There is no peace Tor the
wicked. saith my God"
One night in Chicago, after a
meeting like this. when the eongre-
CATION had gone out. I went and sat
down in a seat by the side of a gen
tleman about 35 years of age and l
said. "Mv friend, why are YOU not
Christian"
"Oh." he said. with a shrug OF ms
shoulders. 81 am very well satisned
as l am"
said. "You haven't peace"
He said, "How do you know
that?"
said. Because God says so;
There is no peace for the wicked,
saith my Cod"
The man dropped his head and
said. You are right, sir, ] haven I
peace"
And there is not a man or woman
in this audience tonight out OF CHRIST
that has peace. Money won't give
Won peace: the pleasures OF this ne
won't give you peace; no number oil
good earthly friends Will give YOU
peace: not to be a Christian costs
the sacrifice of peace.
In the second place, not to Je
cyhristian costs the sacrifice of the
highest. deepest, purest' honest
most OVERLOOKING JOY that can be
known right here on earth-As We
read in the Scripture lesson to night
in I Peter I. s: Though now ye see
Him not. yet believing in Him ye
rejoice with joy unzpeakable and fuh
of glory" That was Peters tesu-
mony. That is the experience OF
every true Christian.
A real living faith in Jesus Christ
gives a man JOY unspeakable and fuA
of glory. Nobody out OF Christ mas
iov unspeakable and full of glory
ooh" but you say. II know many
a Christian that has not joy uh-
spcakable and full of glory"
A real Christian? You know
there are two kinds-profess.ng
christians and real Christians.
Now will admit that there are
great many people in the world that
call themselves Christians, who have
lust enough religion to make them
selves miserable. They are holding
TO the world with one hand, general
ly the right hand, and to Jesus
christ with the other. OF course
they have not joy unspeakable and
full of glory.
But show me a Christian who has
lropped the world with both hands
and laid hold of Jesus Christ with |
10Th hands. and l viii show you a
nan or woman that has joy un-
,peakable and full Of glory How
satan deceived me along that line
or many years when / was a mere
ad,
went one day up to the third
tory of our home, where we had
sreat storeroom where we put away
he old books out of the library. and
IS a boy loved TO go and sit. on
he floor Of that room, and get the
looks around me and look through
hem. and one day ! came across the
oyenant of the church of my moth
r. and commenced to read Il, and
said to myself, 81 wonder If | can
.ot ne a Christian" | can say
coy fsXaeff IN |