Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-11-07

h II "A ID I I = II Y II
~ called forth sharp
- ~ - rebuke from tho
Master. and witch
doubtless cost Peter many q sleepless
night He was rash and impulsiye,
always saying the wrong thing. Even
after he had been with the Master for
three whole years. he was guilty OF
falsehood and profanity. Yet Peter,
by the grace of God, overcame his
bad record, and so gained the victory
over his besetting sins that later his
testimony is Kept by the power OF
God through faith unto salvation"
There was Mark, the backslider,
who, not discouraged by his signal
failure, made fresh start and became
so steadfast and reliable that the Holy
Spirit selected him to write a history
of the Masters life. Today millions
OF people are prayerfully studying the
Gospel of Mark, and are thanking God
for II. Little did he expect such q
career after deserving Paul and Barna-
bas at Pamphylia, but God knows how
to use even a backslider to his glory.
II. Remember that Christ did not
come to select here and there a per-
feet man and thus make up a church:
he came to seek and to save the lost,
He is not looking for righteous men
at all, but for sinners. He came ex-
pressly to lead such to repentance,
and the encouragement which he Of
fers is that he bore the penalty OF
l1t. Il
will may be saved. The strange thing
about the Gospel is that 1t reveals
Gods love for those who have made
a bad record, and his desire to blot 1t
out and give them a chance to make q
new record.
Notice the great variety of ways in
which God describes the putting away
of the believers sins. In Isaiah 3S:17
we read, Thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back" But" someone
says, God might turn around and all
my sins would be in full sight" Sure
enough. And so we read in Micah
7:19, Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea-" That is
better, but they might wash ashore?
Very true, and so God says in Psalm
103:12, "As far as the east Is from
the west so far hath he removed our
transgressions from u.s." That Is bet
ter still. for that means out of Gods
sight But some poor sinner would be
sure to say, Yes, my sins are out OF
Gods sight, but not out of his mind.
and every time | meet him in heaven
shall feel that he is thinking of the
mean things which / did on earth"
For the sake of such people God adds
Hebrews 10:17, And their sins and
their iniquities will ! remember no
more.f
Now, why should you so persistent
ly remember what God so graciously
forgets? Why should you keep in the
foreground what God is willing to put
behind his back? Just throw that bad
record liz with the rest of your sins
and have them all disposed of at once,
and then you can have the sweet con-
seriousness that though you may re-
member your sins, God has entirely
forgotten them. Remember also that
the longer you wait the worse your
record will be.
III. While your bad record will him
der you somewhat, II also will help
you. 1t will tend to keep you humble
for one thing, and that will be no
small gain. It will enable you to
sympathize with others who have
made bad record, and to encourage
them to hope for better things. In
deed, your bad record In one sense
will become your strongest weapon OF
warfare.
w. Consider also that IL you have
particularly bad record your con-
version will be a greater triumph OF
grace than IL you were only an ordi-
nary sinner. Jesus Christ claims that
he can save the worst OF sinners and
so change them by .he power of his
grace that he will actually be proud
Of them in heaven. He is searching
the world for hard cases on which to
demonstrate his power.
v. And may II not be that in heaven
those who have been the greatest sim
ners will be the loudest praisers of
the Redeemer's name? When the
Pharisee criticized Jesus for allowing
the outcast woman to weep at his
feet the master said, Simon, 7 have
somewhat to say unto thee. A certain
man had two debtors, the one owed
five hundred pence and the other fifty.
When they could not pay he forgave
them both. Which Of them therefore
viii love him most?" Simon an
swered, He. | suppose, to whom he
forgave the most" Jesus replied.
Thou hast rightly judged" a,.d then
he drew a contrast between the proud.
self-righteous host and the sinful, sor-
rowing woman who was weeping out
her penitence and bathing his feet
with her tears. Even so our theme
in heaven will not be the good deeds
we have wrought on earth. but the
matchless grace that redeemed u.s.
and the greater the sins from which
we have been redeemed. the greater
triumph Of grace bhall we have to
proclaim.