The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1917-04-27

They pr ON ed
Moses that their fighting men would
cross with the rest of the tribes and
help them drive the enemy out of the
land. Upon this condition Moses grant
ed their request and said, "If you fail to
keep your promise to help conquer the
land, be sure your sin will find you
out"
These words spoken by Moses so
long ago are true in all generations.
"WilI Find You Out"
Note, these words do not say, your
sin will be found out, though that is
true. What they say is, your sin will
find you out. That, you see, is quite
different thing. Something, / fear,
most people do not take into consid-
Grafton. They are fearful their sin
will be found out and so they try to
conceal 1t. But bury sin, never so
deep, there will come a time when 1t
will be uncovered, for "the Lord will
bring to light the hidden things of
darkness and will make manifest the
counsels of the hearts" Il Cor. 4:5.)
Some seem to think they can lose
their sin down through the years that
the lapse of time will annlhilate it; but
there is an ever-present tense to sin
and 1t always keeps pace with the
years. A mans hair may have turned
gray, his form become bent, and his
step tottering, but the sins of his youth
have not been lost. They still dog his
steps, for as echo follows song, so sin
trails on on on!
Neither can sin be left behind by
changing ones dwelling place. Many
man has tried 1t but never yet has
anyone succeeded. Though he has put
thousands of miles and oceans wide be-
tween him and his sin, he has never
gotten away from it, for like Banquos'
ghost, 1t cannot be left behind. When
least he expects it, it gibbers at him;
then thinking to escape it, he turns an
other way when 10 ! 1t greets him there.
Sow and We Must Reap.
It Is also law of nature and so
law of God, that whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap. He
may think he Is cunning enough to es-
cape the consequences of his sin, just
as the criminal thinks when he COM
mits his crime, "others may be caught,
but not l." o foolish man! deceive
not myself. AS thou dost sow, so shalt
thou reap. A day of reckoning Is ahead
and thou shalt mot then escape the
judgment Of God for, "Some mems sins
are open beforehand. going before to
Judgment; and some men they follow
AFTER" Il Tim. 5 :24.)
But even now our sins find us out.
Memory, that plastic piece of wax
upon which everything is recorded, and
from which nothing can be erased,
brings before us our sin, and con-
science, which the Greeks called the
whisper Of God down the aisles Of
mans soul, says, "Thou art. the man."
Herod, told Of the mighty works of
Jesus, cried in alarm as memory and
conscience did their work, "It Is John
the Baptist risen from the Dead" and
he trembled with fear. Nothing pierces
one and leads to despair like an accus-
ing conscience. Many a man with no
other accuser has cried out, my God
am found out at last"
Deadly Virus Of Sin.
Walking down our streets are many
who by their hating steps and pallid
countenances verify the text. Fair
once was the body God gave them,
sweet and clean, but alas The deadly
virus of sin has poured It's foulness
through the blood and now they are
wrecks physically. Sin has found them
out In their bodies, which God intend
ed not for sin, but for temples of the
Holy Spirit.
But sad as 1t is to see body wrecked
by sin, infinitely sadder is 1t to see a
ruined soul. For sin sends its deadly
virus deeper than the body, 1t sends
It into ones moral being. There is the
place where sin finds one out. Con-
science and memory may fail to do
their work now, and perchance the
body may escape the defilement Of sin,
but not so the soul. Sin there is mex
pungeable. 1t makes us what we are.
II has wrought death within, and I'M
less we avail ourselves of the grace
Of God, we shall because of 1t die eter-
nally.
But God has way Of escape; 1t Is
through his son Jesus Christ upon
whom he laid the iniquity of us all. He
is the only way, "for there Is none
other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved"
(Acts 4:12.) How then shall weAescape
being found out by our sin If we neg
lect so great a salvation which God by
his grace has providedf