The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-11-01

NV, say % tlG hDObhlS lhult lbaN "
whom ye yield yourselves servants t
obey his servants ye are to whom "
obey, whether Of sin unto death OF o
obedience unto righteousness" There
may be a change Of masters or
change in the character and the re
wards of service, but so far as sery
ice itself Is concerned there Ia nc
change, When, therefore, one Ia en-
treated to take Christ's yoke upon
him 1t Is not as If he had never worn
a yoke before, but only a question ms
to whether he would remain in the
bonds Of iniquity or obey mi In the
keeping Of whose commands there ia
great reward.
(2) Let us lay emphasis upon
Choose" Religion is q matter OF
choice, for men may serve God or
not as they please, OF course he may
compel a man to serve him, but ordi.
narily he does not do this, a man
would be merely a machine II he did.
This liberty Of choice is mans glory
aiia hisD hb peru AS "ullLlST bhJS'
Though God be good. and free be heaven
No force divine can love compel;
And though the song of sins forgiven
May sound through lowest hell:
The sweet persuasion Of his voice
Respects thy sanctity of will.
He giveth day: thou hast thy choice
To walk In darkness still,
(3) Let us lay emphasis upon
you" Judge therefore yourselves,
brethren, that We be not judged of the
Lord" Let every other personality
fade from your consideration and
consciousness, and think only Of your
own solitarlness In the Divine pres
ence when Every n Of us shall
give an account OF himself to Cod"
In every congregation where the COS.
pei is preached Satan entraps indt-
viduals In the snare Of self-deception
by helping them to lose themselves
In the mass. How is 1t with you?
You may have attended church all
your life and yet v personally,
consciously, definitely and irreverst
bly, made a choice to serve God
through Jesus Christ. VIII you do
1t now?
~ Let us lay emphasis on this
day" There Is peril In delay, The
young prince, Napoleon, in the Zulu
war. was one day riding at the head
Of a squad outside the camp. It was
a dangerous position and some n
said: I'VE had better return or we
shall fall into the hands of the ne
oh" said the prince, Let us
stay here ten minutes and drink our
Before the ten minutes
the Zulus were upon them
and the prince lost his life. When
his sorrow-stricken mother heard It.
she exclaimed: "Ah, that was his
mistake from %babyhood; he was ever
pleading for ten minutes more. On
this account | sometimes called him
Mr.. Ten Minutes" How many have
.ost their souls If not their bodies by
like procrastination? Il
God commands you to choose him
.oday. Does a human monarch in
iulge his subjects In delay when the
adict has gone forth for their obedl"
snce? How, then, can We trife with
he law Of God?
And then think Of she privilege.
Now ia the accepted time, today Ia
he day OF salvation" What tomor-
'0w may mean we do not know, nor
wen that there shall be tomorrow.
For millions tomorrow will not be.
Wherefore, 1t Is written, today II ye
vii hear his volse, harden not your
What 10 Meant by Serving eod7
What, indeed, but to yield our
Wills to him that he may have his
I'LL in us in all things? That will is
IN his word, and as we read
nd mediate upon It, as 1t lie preach.
d and %expounued unto us In the pow.
r OF his Holy Spirit, 1t is for US to
llIOW WubES II ichuSs HE biHge ~
to enable us to do this.
The first step, however, Ia to con-
ess his son Jesus Christ az Saviour
nd Lord. No man Ia a soldier until
0 has enlisted, subscribed the oath
nd donned the uniform, and so In
lie army OF the Lord, he who would
elong to It must comply with siai-
II conditions. when the countrymen
Jesus said to him, What must we
!, that we may work the works OF
Jesus answered. This is the
ork OF God that 70 believe on him !
hom he hath sent" To believe on
I'M Ia not merely to admit that he 1
lived on this earth and that he
as cruciied. and died and rose
sain from the dead. The demons
sleeve this and tremble. But Il ia (
trust him and give ourselves over
him to be saved, and cieansed
sin and guided and controlled BY b
b spirit II You have never done
Ia, let me srge You 70 do 1t now. ss
'ur eyes fall upon these words. Thia.
! every unsaved soul, Ii the mean. |
& Of JoshuA's words, Choose You !
- day whom ye will serve" b
Hf4AE Hf HI aEaAAfHHz fNN HEeHH4 eHMaNF4