The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser., 1921-02-04


men believe not on Jesus Christ. Ihis
fact Is not only truth, or an arous-
ing truth, or an undeniable truth; IL
is a convicting truth. Bold claims
these may seem to be, but there they
are. And their right to be accepted
Is guaranteed by the authority of Coo
Almighty.
The Ten Commandments are not
mentioned here Neither are the good
deeds men do given here. thou-
sand dead apple trees are not worth
as much for fruit raising as one i've
tree. So a thousand commandments
would not count for so much as the
living Jesus; and thousand good
leeds (dead at best) could not equal
he living Jesus. Place all commando
nents and all good deeds in one SIDE
Of your scales and weigh them against
Jesus, they will kick the beam. He
was born under the law, He fulfilled
:he law, He was put to death under
The law; His deeds are not only many,
.hey are without one exception good
,ven to perfection. We must deai
with Him. Refusal to accept what He
has done, that Is the sin. That SIN
holds in its grasp all others. 1t Is
Ills Cross that stands at the forks
n the road where we must make the
eternal choice. Shining against that
includes all the rest.
With one, it is Jesus or work. Have
1ot / done all these good things, or
am I not willing to do these right
acts? What I did and what / am
about to do, that is the consideration
But over against it all is Jesus. There
8 what He did and what He offers to
10. What could dead violin do to.
wards making music? Absolutely
1othing. But is there skilled violin
!st into whose hands tt has beer
given? He will produce the music
What can a man "dead in trespasses
and sins" do to make himself righti
All, he cannot practice the real right
until he has the righteousness tG
practice with: and that Is In Jesus.
With another it Is Jesus or harm
1one?" Well, If there had been nc
other harm done than that done by
neglect, then that Is startling. Like
fields neglected, like bridges neglect
ed, like debts neglected so Is the souls
neglect; 1t always carries will it dis
aster. But here is something to which
you may have been blinded, You have
neglected Him. All other neglects
even if they extended into ages upon
ages instead of only for few years
cannot weigh as much as this. What
He represents to us is duty so great
that if we neglect Him we are lost
by 1t.
With another It is Jesus or how
much can I pay? But we cannot pay
for the rejection of Him. He is not
to be marketed. How could one pay
for such when the very substance or
money he might bring would be. not
the smallest fraction of it, originally
produced by man? "Who hath made
all these things?" "What hast thou
that thou didst not receiver" If it
were a matter of barter then we are
utterly defeated Our price would be
so dis-valued by the rate of exchange
that it would equal simply nothing.
But "believe on Me-" that is the
condition. The paying, He has done
that. "Ye are bought with a price"
Redeemed not with silver and gold
but with the precious blood of
Christ"
Believe on Him. that is to put the
whole weight OF all the past. all the
future and all of now upon Him. He
saves. He is the elevator that takes
us up. It is dangerous even to put
forth the hand as If to increase its
power to lift us.
Believing on Him, sin is defeated.
Search the whole field from end to
end, and through every part, and it is
defiled unless we believe on Him.
Likewise, search it most thoroughly,
and the defilement is gone if we be-
lieve on Him. 1t is wonderful word
of life this, that "the gift of God is
eternal life" When the little girl was
asked to explain how sweet the honey
was in the jar she carried. she tried
several times to find an answer and
then reached the climax by lifting the
jar up in her hands and saying, Here,
put your finger in, taste and see." The
proof was in the taking.
And drunkards and moral men,
scholars and uneducated men, pros
porous and poor men, stand forth to
declare that to believe on Jesus