Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-10-14

II all have sinned n come short
of the glory of God" Our history and
our conscience bear witness to the
truth of 1t. The present writer and
reader must make the same humiliat-
against my God"
The evil thing is already done and
the record is already made. The
temptation to think that we can do
enough good to blot out the evil Is
a subtle one. We cannot 60 back over
the road and live it over in such a
manner as to hide the record we have
left. We sometimes say, Il wish l
could go back and do 1t differently"
but time refuses to turn back for us.
The record is there and all we can
say of 1t is, in the words of Pontius
PLATE, What I have written l have
written" The words spoken that
should have remained unuttered may
be forgotten but they are all record
ed. The deeds Of evil we cannot undo.
The sins are already committed and
the sinner should not be so much ex-
ercised about what will happen in the
future as about what has happened in
the past.
There may be a difference in the
number and character of sins commit
ted, but trespass there Is against each
one To %trespass means to get "over
the fence" or "out of bounds" God
has set bounds for man to walk in
and as far as the fatal results are
concerned one might as well be a
mile out of those bounds as merely
a foot. God says that "he that keep
eth the whole law and yet offendeth
in one point is guilty of all"-lf a
mans life depended On the strength of
a chain, nine strong links would not
avert the catastrophe resulting from
a weak link that breaks. One sin is
enough to put one "out of bounds
Therefore this is a proper confession
for everyone to make, 81 have tres
passed against my God"
II. The gracious comfort for the sim
ner-"yet now there is hope concern
ing this thing"
In spite of the trespass whether
large or small, every sinner has this
hope. God says to all, Come now
and let us reason together: Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow" The natural thing
for a sinner to do is to hide from the
One who has been offended. This
Adam did when God came into Eden
after the fall. But not In judgment.
but in grace does God come. Not to
he will come to judge and to condemn,
but today there is hope for all. The
message from Gods Word is, Now
is the accepted time, behold today is
the day of salvation" Many say, Il
will think about the matter" but the
Lord says today" at once, now, not
tomorrow. Many have gone to a hope
less eternity just because they per-
sisted In thinking about instead of
accepting Gods gracious offer of a
present salvation. And this text pro-
claims a universal hope, including all
who have trespassed. It is extended
to everyone. Over and over Gods
"OIu ucCldIS S tudt- "~uOSOeNtT Suull
call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved" whatsoever will may come
and take of the water Of life freely"
whatsoever believeth, on him shall
no perish but have everlasting life"
III. The wise conduct for the sim
ner. Therefore let us make a cove
nant with our God"
This Is not merely a covenant to
turn over a new leaf or to mend our
ways or any Of the many expedients
resorted to to give peace and rest to
the troubled conscience. but 1t is turn.
ing to God, coming out from behind
the tree to him who alone can blot
out the record of the trespasses and
give us a clean record. The words
of the prophet are as true today as
they were when uttered, Let the
wicked forsake his way and the I'm.
righteous man his thoughts and let
him return unto the Lord and he will
have mercy upon him and to our God
for he will ~abundantly pardon" There
is abundant pardon with the Lord for
every trespass and for every sin and
the blood of Jesus Christ Gods Son
can blot out every mark and stain
from the sinners record.