The Washington herald., 1918-01-24

duuCu uhlCSo yOu iOoh lnlO
your religious affairs and take good
care of your physical self"
he was a sinner and getting out of
1t.
1t isn't reforming. oh. no, not at
all. The devil let's you reform
every morning and noon II you
want to.
will tell you. repentance is a
change of mind which leads to a
change of conduct with reference TO
sins. Sins toward God and sins to-
ward man. Repentance is a change
of mind. Here is a man going in
the wrong direction, he changes
his mind and stops. 1t is a change
of mind which leads to a change
of conduct and he starts and be-
gins to do other things different
from what he did and he forsakes
what-he did do. Why? Repent
ance is a change of mind which
leads to a change OF conduct WITH
reference to your sins. Turn TO
God and ask Him to forgive. Then
the Lord blots them out as with
a cloud and remembers them
against you no more forever.
Nobody can be saved unless they
are born OF the spirit of God. Bap-
tism or confirmation, my friends,
can't take the place of being born
again. There are lots of people in
hell that have been baptized and
confirmed. There are lots of people
in hell that have been to mass.
There are lots of people in hell that
know the catechism. There is no
doubt of It. There are lots of peo-
pie IN hell that know the thirty
nine articles of confession. That
isn't it They can repeat 1t for
wards and backwards. 1t isn't that.
l will give an illustration. 1t isn't.
my friends. baptism and confirma-
tion. although il you have been
born again you will be baptized and
confirmed but you can be baptized
and confirmed and still not be born
again.
over in the eighth chapter of Acts
there is a fellow named Simon.
When he saw by the laying on of
hands the spirit of God was given he
wanted to know what II cost and said:
II want to buy it."
And Peter said your money per-
ish with you, II you think you can
buy the gift Of God with money"
There he was a baptized lost sin
ner. Whatever the mode of baptism
you can bank on 1t, it was done right.
because 1t was done by an apostolic
church. Yet Peter said: You are
going to the devil. Although you
have been baptized your heart isn't
right.
80 he had not been born again,
although he had been baptized. AL
though you go through a perform
ance of religious duties you may not
be born again. Some people go to
church, say their prayers, read the
Bible, partake of the sacrament, re-
peat the Apostles Greed. repeat the
catechism. They can do all that and
still not be born again. But IL a
man is born again, he can do that.
and still he may not have been born
again.
Devils Believe In God.
They believe in the Apostles Greed.
in the long and short catechism; they
believe in the Bible, in the atonement,
in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
The devils believe all that and yet
they are lost. There are lots of people
that believe it and yet they won't
change their way and accept it. So
the belief doesn't do any good when
you are living contrary to it. You
have got to be born again, and your
cultivation and culture and refinement
and correctness Of mannerism, that
won't do. The trouble isn't with the
outward life, it is with their heart.
1 picked up an apple the other day.
1t was a beauty. I took a bite into
it and it was wormy. The trouble
wasn't in the outward appearance, il
was in the inside. IL was rotten at
the heart.
So there are lots Of people whose
correctness of mannerisms are all
right, but their hearts are wrong, No
man or woman win ever walk the
streets of heaven unless they have
been born again by repentance and
faith in Jesus Christ. Accept Him
as your Saviour, then God will blot
out your sins. no matter what they
are.
Some one says: Can we tell Him 20
Sure, wouldn't preach to you If
I couldn't tell you"
Can you help?"
Sure, that is my business"
"Whosoever doeth righteousness is
born of God" That is, you will do
what God tells you to do. You will
read the Bible: that is, you will live
by what the Bible tells you to live.
Here Is another verse. whoever
is born Of God doth not commit sim"
That is, he doesn't make sin the
prey of his life. Some men sin as
often as they get shaved. There
are men that make a prey of sin
every day as regular as they eat
their meals. But whosoever Is
born of God does not commit sin,
He may make mistakes or blunders,
Oh. certainly. but he won't go on
day after day, living in known sin
He may stumble in sin IL he has
been a drinking man, in some hour
of temptation he may get drunk.
He will repent and ask God to for
give him. II he has been a swear
ing man in some hour of tempta-
tion he may rip out an oath before
he thinks, but he won't keep on
He win 60 to God and ask God te