SQLite format 3@  ii!%%atableTopicsTopicsCREATE TABLE Topics (Title NVARCHAR(100), Notes TEXT) /|=M00b-Foreword{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\1}00a-Title{\rtf1\ans A   s 3Q\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Bold;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green128\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\qc\cf1\f0\fs48 THE WAY OF THE CROSS\par \cf2\b\f1\fs24 COMPRISING A LUMINOUS DISCUSSION OF BOTH\par \cf3\b0\f0\fs32 THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL\par \cf2\b\i\f2\fs24\par BY\par \i0\f1\par B. H. CARROLL, D.D., LL.D.\par \b0\i\f3\par For Almost Thirty Years Pastor of First Baptist Church, Waco, Texas,\par and Founder and First President of\par Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,\par Fort Worth, Texas\par \b\i0\f1\par COMPILED BY\par \cf3\b0\f0\fs32 J. W. CROWDER, A.B., D.D.\par \cf2\b\f1\fs24\par EDITED BY\par \cf3\b0\f0\fs32 J. B. CRANFILL, M.D., LL.D.\par \cf2\b\f1\fs24\par TO\par \cf3\b0\f0\fs32 REV. L. R. SCARBOROUGH, D.D.\par \par \cf2\i\f3\fs24 Former President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Who for More Than Twenty-six Years Has, as President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Worn the Mantle of B. H. Carroll, its Founder, and Who, as Preacher, Teacher, Author, Financier and Leader in This Great Task, Has Successfully Piloted the Institution Through Inexpressible Hardships and Difficulties, This Book is Lovingly Dedicated\par \pard\cf0\i0\f4\fs20\par } generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 FOREWORD\par \par \cf2\fs24 Ever since through sin Adam and Eve departed from Eden, sinful men and women\par have sought a way back to God. It is a quest perennially upspringing in the human\par heart. In every land, no matter what the kind or quality of worship, there is in human\par hearts an aching void that hungers for God. In pagan lands this quest for God is\par expressed in idol worship, and through varying methods, in varying degrees,\par wandering, sinning men and women sense a constant need for something outside of\par themselves, and that ultimate Something is God.\par \par In this book, "The Way of the Cross," B. H. Carroll, who, in my opinion, was 'the\par greatest preacher who has walked the world since Paul, points the way for us. A\par glance at the Table of Contents will disclose the topics he discusses. It was ever true\par of him that when he had finished a discussion of any question, there was naught left\par for any other man to say.\par \par There has been only one plan of salvation. There is only one plan now. All of the\par ceremonials of ancient Israel pointed to Christ. From the prophecy voiced by our\par Father above to the first sinning pair, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the\par serpent's head," on through the entire canon of Scripture, there coursed the crimson\par thread denoting the blood of our Redeemer. Old Testament saints looked forward to\par the coming Messiah, who was to be a suffering Savior. Christians contemporaneous\par with Jesus himself, while only vaguely realizing the lofty meaning of His life and death,\par yet understood quite enough of the plan of salvation to find Jesus precious to their\par souls in the forgiveness of their sins.\par \par In this, the thirty-first volume of Carroll's works I have been privileged to publish or\par cause to be published, the great preacher points the way for sinful men. The way to\par salvation is the way of the cross. It has ever been so. It still is so. "For by grace are\par ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."\par \par I take pleasure in making due acknowledgment for help in my work on these Carroll\par books of Professor J. W. Crowder, A.B., D.D., of the Southwestern Baptist\par Theological Seminary. His kind hand compiled the present volume, and his devotion\par to B. H. Carroll, and his intimate understanding of his messages are both comforting\par and heartening.\par \par And now this volume is sent forth into our dark world to aid in saving men and\par women from their sins. As this foreword is concluded, my heart is uplifted to God in\par prayer that through the long after years this book may still be performing the mission\par whereunto it is sent-the mission of revealing to eyes blinded by sin the way of the\par cross-the only way through which lost souls may find rest and peace.\par \par J. B. C\fs20 RANFILL\par \i\f1\fs24 Dallas, Texas\cf0\i0\f2\fs20\par } n0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 TABLE OF CONTENTS\par \par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 1. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 W\fs20 AY \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 C\fs20 ROSS\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 2. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 S\fs20 ALVATION \fs24 T\fs20 HROUGH \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 B\fs20 LOOD \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 C\fs20 HRIST\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 3. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 W\fs20 HEREFORE \fs24 T\fs20 HEN \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 L\fs20 AW\fs24 ?\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 4. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 B\fs20 EWITCHING \fs24 P\fs20 OWER \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 S\fs20 ATAN\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 5. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 W\fs20 AY \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 C\fs20 AIN\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 6. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 P\fs20 AUL\fs24 '\fs20 S \fs24 G\fs20 OSPEL \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 J\fs20 ESUS\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 7. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 W\fs20 HAT \fs24 S\fs20 HALL \fs24 I D\fs20 O \fs24 T\fs20 O \fs24 I\fs20 NHERIT \fs24 E\fs20 TERNAL \fs24 L\fs20 IFE\fs24 ? P\fs20 ART \fs24 1.\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 8. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 W\fs20 HAT \fs24 S\fs20 HALL \fs24 I D\fs20 O \fs24 T\fs20 O \fs24 I\fs20 NHERIT \fs24 E\fs20 TERNAL \fs24 L\fs20 IFE\fs24 ? P\fs20 ART \fs24 2.\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 9. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 C\fs20 HRIST \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 E\fs20 ND \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 L\fs20 AW\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 10. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 I\fs20 F \fs24 T\fs20 HINE \fs24 E\fs20 YE \fs24 O\fs20 FFEND \fs24 T\fs20 REE\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 11. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 S\fs20 OWING \fs24 W\fs20 ILD \fs24 O\fs20 ATS \fs24 N\fs20 OT \fs24 C\fs20 ONDUCIVE \fs24 T\fs20 O \fs24 S\fs20 ALVATION\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 12. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 C\fs20 ASE \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 S\fs20 IMON \fs24 M\fs20 AGUS\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 13. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 W\fs20 AR \fs24 B\fs20 ETWEEN \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 F\fs20 LESH \fs24 A\fs20 ND \fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 S\fs20 PIRIT\par \cf2\b\f1\fs26 14. \cf3\b0\f0\fs24 T\fs20 HE \fs24 E\fs20 VILS \fs24 O\fs20 F \fs24 R\fs20 ELIGIOUS \fs24 C\fs20 OMPROMISE\cf0\f2\par } ww|=M00b-Foreword{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\1}00a-Title{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033 d=00c-Contents{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Bold;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red128\gree \pnindent360\pnstart1\pndec{\pntxta.}} \fi-360\li360\tx360\cf1\f0\fs32 THE WAY OF THE CROSS\par \pard\par \cf2\fs24 TEXT: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they\par might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not\par according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness,\par and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted\par themselves unto the righteousness of God. - \cf1\ul Rom_10:1-3\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 My mind has been wonderfully impressed with the appropriateness of this scripture\par for this night's service, from a very touching conversation that I have had this evening\par with one who for years has been trying to be a Christian, and in that trial has been\par baptized, and has been confirmed, and has partaken of the Lord's Supper, and has\par studied the Word of God, and taught in the Sunday School, and yet, all the time, has\par been afflicted with a sense of deep dissatisfaction with the attainment reached. And\par \i\f1 every \i0\f0 now and then the darkest doubts have come into her mind: "Is there anything\par in this? Why is it that I do not get any personal enjoyment out of it? Why is it that I\par have no sense of sins forgiven, no peace, no rest? I try very hard, and I pray and I\par double my duties, but I do not make any progress, and the thought has come to me\par that I might just as well quit the whole thing."\par \par Now, that is the substance of the conversation held today. I felt an intense longing to\par offer a prayer for that one, just as Paul felt it here \f2\'be \f0 "My heart's desire." O, how\par keenly I felt the desire that she should be saved, for I saw that she was unsaved.\par And how earnestly my spirit spontaneously prayed, "Lord God, may not this one be\par saved? See what a zeal. See what a disposition to do. See what a long-continued\par effort and how zealously she has busied herself to establish a righteousness that\par would be acceptable to God. And every time she builds her house up, it falls down;\par and she tries it again, and rebuilds it, and it falls again; and her religion is full of holes,\par and there is nothing personal in it."\par \par Unfortunately this is not the only case. But a week ago an inquirer came to me in\par great trouble. Our conversation was about as follows:\par \par Pastor: "What troubles you?"\par Inquisitor: "I have been attending this meeting. I cannot fail to see that there is some\par great power here at work. But what troubles me most, I see plainly these people\par have something I never had. What is it? Why cannot I feel it, too?"\par \par Pastor: "Tell me your Christian experience."\par Inquisitor: "Well, about sixteen years ago I joined the church and -"\par \par Pastor: "Excuse me, you misunderstand; I knew you were a prominent member of\par one of the city churches. Tell me what exercises of your mind led you to join the\par church?"\par Inquisitor: "Oh, as to that! When I began to be a young man I had some thought\par about religion. It seemed to me people ought to live right. So I made up my mind to\par live right, and thinking I could best live right in the church, and by taking hold of\par church work, I joined the church and commenced earnestly to try to save my soul. I\par soon became a very active church member and was naturally put forward when any\par one was needed to lead. That was sixteen years ago. In all that time I have been\par honest, earnest and persistent in my efforts. But while people praise my zeal, I have\par no comfort inside. What so many of your people show in their very faces is a\par stranger to me."\par \par Pastor: "My dear friend, you are all wrong. You started wrong and have been going\par wrong ever since. Let me show you the way."\par \par Let me say to you tonight, and in all solemnity, that there are a great many people\par here in Waco in that condition. They have a zeal toward God. They are willing to do\par a great many things, and they do a great many things; and if, in order to attain the\par peace of mind that they desire, it should be necessary to get up before sunrise, go\par down to the church, kneel on the floor, and pray one hundred prayers in succession,\par they would do that. They are very much like the poor Hindu, described by one of the\par missionaries, who set out from a far distant point to reach the sacred Ganges river,\par believing that if ever that river could be reached, and the devotee could bathe once in\par its waters, that peace could be found for the troubled conscience; and in order to\par invest the journey with all possible merit, the shoes were filled with little spikes, so\par that every step that was taken was full of pain, and the blood flowed from the\par pierced feet; and when he could no longer walk he got down on his knees, and when\par his knees were bruised by the stones in the way, he crawled-"I will do anything in the\par world just to get to that river, and bathe in it and find peace to my conscience."\par \par It is a distressing thing to see people in that condition; with that will-worship; with\par that busying of themselves to establish some sort of a meritorious ground upon which\par they can receive from God forgiveness of sins and the salvation of their souls.\par Sometimes under this desire, if any one in whom they have confidence, will prescribe\par it, they will fast for ten days, eating just a bare crust, and drinking only a little water;\par and then if it be necessary, they will scourge their bodies every night. And not only\par that, but they are willing to devote any part of their property, if by that means they\par can obtain a ransom for their souls. How full of zeal! How full of sacrifice!\par \par We will look at the, case mentioned in this particular context. Here were people that\par had before them a law, which says, "Do and live." Here are the commandments\par written on tables of stone: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me; thou shalt not\par make unto thyself any graven image; thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy\par God in vain; thou shalt remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; thou shalt not\par covet; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not lie." They look at them; they memorize\par them; and they say, "Here is the standard of life. Whosoever doeth these things shall\par live by it." And not satisfied with that they cover these commandments with traditions\par of men, rites and ceremonies and ten thous and little things. They tithe, not the great\par part of the property only, but with the greatest niceness and scrupulousness, go into\par the garden and take a tenth part of the mint and of the anise and of the cummin. They\par will even tithe to the ninth part of a hair, lest by leaving out some little thing the chain\par of obedience shall be broken and the soul shall be lost.\par \par Now that was the condition of the people for whom the apostle felt this great desire\par that they should be sa!ved. "O, that they might be saved." And his prayer, "Lord\par God, let them be saved."\par \par I want to speak to you tonight very earnestly and very clearly about God's method\par of saving souls, and show you that the method that has been described in no sense,\par in no case, attains unto salvation. It is imperfect in its motives; it is imperfect in its\par deeds; it is imperfect in every part of it. It can never justify any soul in the sight of\par God. And let us see why. In the first place t"hese people, though they live in our\par towns, though they hear the gospel preached (or at least what is called the gospel),\par every Sunday, are very ignorant. I do not mean it offensively-I speak it plainly, as\par dealing with questions of salvation. They are- profoundly ignorant, and it requires\par one a long time to realize just how ignorant \i\f1 they \i0\f0 .are. They have knowledge about a\par great many things, but as to God's method of saving souls, they are as ignorant as a\par babe. T#hey are ignorant of God's righteousness, of the kind of righteousness that\par shall justify a man at the judgement bar. They know nothing about it and hence,\par religion, after a while, becomes wearisome to them.\par \par What a weariness it is! How tiresome! How long is this to last? How many more\par pilgrimages must I make? How many more sacrifices must I lay upon the alter? How\par many more beads must I count? How many more things, piled up already as high as\par a mountain are necessary to $put me in a condition to stand before God justified, and\par not condemned, in the day when God shall judge the world by the one whom He has\par ordained? It is like trying to climb to the skies. It is like trying to fathom the depths of\par the ocean. There is no end to it.\par \par And then, it is bondage. It is the work of a slave. It is serving God with an eye to the\par Master's scourge; if you leave out one little thing the lash will descend upon you and\par the thunders of the Law will reach% you and your soul will be lost. \f2\'be \f0 And the\par conscience is continually distressed, and crying out for "Peace, peace, when there is\par no peace."\par \par I want you to pray for such people. They need your prayers. Every good man and\par woman in this house ought to offer up an earnest prayer to God that any one that has\par chosen that laborious way, that awfully burdensome route, may be saved. They are\par going in the wrong direction. They are failing, not only to attain to that whic&h they\par seek, but are adding thorns and pains of anguish to themselves every foot of the\par weary pilgrimage that they make. O, that they might be saved!\par \par They, being ignorant of God's righteousness, notwithstanding all that they do, there is\par one thing that they have not done. They have not submitted themselves unto the\par righteousness of God. They have not come to God and said, "Lord, what is thy plan\par of justifying men and women? How may my soul be saved? How can I find in my'\par conscience a sense of sins forgiven so that there shall be a witness in me, and that I\par may be a personal witness to the fact of redemption, and that I may say, God has\par forgiven my sins and I am saved? How can this be obtained?"\par \par Paul then presents the true plan. He takes the law of God, and without diminishing\par one jot or tittle of its claim, but magnifying those claims, making them more exacting\par than this troubled soul has ever seen, making the commandments broader than( they\par have ever been to the mind and conscience of the one who has trembled before\par them. There is no diminution of the commandments of God, but he presents as a\par method of justification, Christ Jesus. He says that Christ is the end of the Law, no\par matter how long it is. He is the end of it for righteousness to every one that believeth.\par Whether rich or poor, great or small, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and\par accept Him, \i\f1 you \i0\f0 are saved. And you may meet any f)orm of the Divine Law, and\par hold between you and the claims of that Law what Christ has done, and the Law\par cannot touch you. Its exactions are met in Christ. Its claims are satisfied in Him and it\par cannot harm you.\par \par Now I want to see if I cannot get that thought before you, for it is the supreme\par thought of the plan of salvation. You are not asked to go up to heaven-climb up\par there. You are not asked to go to the bottom of the ocean. Not that. But you are\par asked to look a*t the plan which God has provided, and the person by whom your\par soul is to be saved. Now listen to this scripture: "I deliver unto you that which I also\par received; how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He\par was buried and that He was raised again."\par \par There are three great facts which help to constitute the gospel. It is the gospel, that\par Christ, according to the Scriptures, died for our sins and was buried, and rose again\par from the dead. These+ are the principal facts upon which the gospel rests.\par And now let us see if we cannot get hold of these facts and make a personal\par application of them to ourselves.\par \par First, we are sinners. Do you subscribe to that? I press that question on you. Have\par you been just? Have you kept the requirements of God's law? Have you fully kept\par them? In the searching vision of God himself are there not, even with you, some sins\par against the Lord, your God? When you look down into your hear,t can you say, "I\par have kept this commandment, 'thou shalt not kill'?" You say, "Yes, I never killed\par anybody." Let us see. "Whoever hateth Isis brother is a murderer:' God's law looks\par at the thought which precedes the act of the killing. It judges the intent of the mind. It\par goes to the bottom of things, so that it deals with the springs of things, the germs out\par of which they grow into action; and if you have in your mind, not in deed, but if you\par have in your mind longed to do -anything that is forbidden in that law, you have\par violated it. You stand, then, before that law a sinner, and your conscience tells you\par that you are a sinner. You come with that plea on your lips, "I am a sinner against the\par Divine Law."\par \par Now I ask you: What is your plan of making atonement and satisfaction to that\par violated law? Is it by anything that you can do? Think! What can you do that will put\par back again the broken law? I want to use a very familiar illustration, and. one that has\par been used oftentimes before, but it aptly expresses the precise thought here that I\par wish to impress on your minds. A child was sent to the city, trusted with money, to\par buy a very costly and fragile vase, and carefully charged to have it packed safely in a\par basket, and to bring it back very carefully; without stopping by the way. But on his\par way home be meets another boy, who has a new ball, which he commences to\par bounce in sight \f2\'be \f0 the eager sight \f2\'be /\f0 of the boy with the basket, and saying, "Don't\par you want to bounce my new ball?" And he says, "I would like to, but I am charged\par here with a trust and I have promised not to stop; but I will bounce it once." So he\par puts down his basket and bounces the ball, and becomes absorbed and forgets, and\par directly the ball strikes the basket, knocks it over, and breaks the vase all to pieces.\par It is broken.\par \par He looks at the disaster. He is filled with regret. He begins to weep. He0 realizes the\par damage has been done, and the first thing he tries to do, is to take those broken,\par pieces and put them together again. And there he is, taking it, piece by piece, in his\par fingers, and trying to adjust them, and he gets the bottom of it right, and then he puts\par one piece up and holds it with his left hand, and adjusts another piece, but when he\par turns that loose to get another, the first falls; and he tries again, but cannot make the\par shattered edges fit. It is so ba1dly broken it cannot be put together again; and as the\par fruitlessness of the undertaking strikes his mind he weeps in despair, "What shall I\par do?"\par \par His father comes along and finds him in that condition, and says, "Son, what is the\par matter?" So he tells his father the whole story. The father asks, "Why don't you put\par it together again?" "I have tried but I cannot." "Well, what are you going to do about\par it?" "I don't know." And he begins to cry again. And the father says, "If2 you stay\par here and cry all night will it put that vase back again? Can any amount of tears that\par you can shed ever put that back again?" And at once he sees that no drops of grief\par that he can shed can replace what is broken. The father takes out his check book\par and draws a check for the amount of that vase and hands it to his son. "Now will\par you take this and go down to the bank and present it? You need not say a word.\par Just put it in at the teller's window and he will pay you th3e money on it; then go and\par buy another vase." "What, this piece of paper?" "Yes, that piece of paper."\par The boy looks at it earnestly and directly begins to believe what his father has said.\par His mind begins to take in that there is something written on that paper that will\par replace the damage which he has done. And as he trusts to that he dries his eyes; his\par burden is gone; he weeps no more. He rushes with rapid feet down to the bank,\par presents the, paper and draws the money and4 buys another vase and comes home\par rejoicing.\par \par Now, that substituted work of another is the end of the damage. It replaces\par everything. He paid nothing for it; he could do nothing toward it; and he might have\par wept and cried for a year and it could not have touched the question of putting back\par the broken vase.\par \par Well, now, that is the way people come to the law of God, broken in a thousand\par pieces, broken a thousand times, and they say, "I am sorry; God will forgive5 me\par because I am sorry." How can He? How can sorrow make atonement? How can\par any amount of contrition of any kind meet the claims of a law that has been violated?\par There must be satisfaction rendered, and that satisfaction must be complete; it must\par meet the case.\par \par And so, when Paul saw these people busying themselves, going about to establish\par their own righteousness, and their houses toppling down as fast as they built them up,\par crying and striving, weeping and groanin6g, adding burden to burden and labor to\par labor, and never reaching unto the end desired, his soul was filled with deep concern\par that they were wasting their lives in a profitless undertaking. And hence he presented\par to them the Lord Jesus Christ after this manner: God saw you were lost. He saw that\par the vase of your happiness was shivered in fragments. He saw that you were under\par the condemnation of His violated law, and He loved you, not because you were\par good, for you were bad. H7e did not love you because you were righteous; He loved\par you as sinners. He did not love you because you were going to be Godly, and while\par you were ungodly and utterly powerless to justify yourself in the sight of God, Jesus\par came.\par \par And He says, "Put that to my account. I will pay that." How will He pay it? "I will\par come into the world just as that man came into the world; I will come as a little babe.\par I will grow up as a boy. I will become a grown man. I will keep every io8ta of the\par supreme law of God without failing in one single particular, and my righteousness will\par be spotless; there will be no infraction, and when it is finished, my life is ended and\par the microscope of justice is put upon the most minute thought of my life, upon the\par most insignificant action of my life, there shall be found no flaw in it."\par \par Holy - holy as God is holy-was the life of the Lord Jesus Christ here upon the earth.\par There it was, completed, finished -not an add9itional stitch needed. No man living\par could add anything to its perfection; in every part of it, it was perfect; and the law of\par God, looking at it, could find no lack of absolute conformity to the most scrutinizing\par requirement of the law.\par \par That is one part of it. And now there is a righteousness that is perfect, that comes up\par to the standard. "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." There it is.\par Look at it. Can you find anything wrong in it? As He himsel:f said to His enemies,\par "Who of you convicteth me of any sin? Did I sin against my Father? Did I sin against\par my mother? And even back of that, when I came into the world, did I come into the\par world with a depraved nature? No. I was not of the seed of man. I was born holy,\par as no man is born. 'That Holy One, born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."\par The Holy Ghost overshadowed His mother and He started holy, and lived holy, and\par died holy. It was an absolutely spotless righte;ousness. There it was.\par \par Now comes this question: You want to have that put to the credit of a sinner, who\par stands guilty before the Law; that will make him righteous; but how is that going to\par pay the penalty of the Law? The Law has said: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."\par Now, if Jesus Christ had sinned in thought even; any one time in His life, then His\par death, in our stead, could not have atoned for us, because the law of God required\par that the victim offered should bHow am I to be saved?\par If I am to be justified in the sight of God, I must be justified in this righteousness\par imputed to me and in no other way. Therefore it is said that "by the works of the\par Law shall no man be justified." No man, no woman. Coming to us He says, "Take\par what I have done for you and what I have done shall be to you the end of the claims\par of the Law against you, all of them."\par \par There are some people who think they can take Christ, but that He doesn't meet all\?par the requirements. They must add a little; they must pay somewhat toward the price;\par they want to help God in some way, in order to preserve something of the pride and\par conceit of having wrought out a salvation for themselves. But He will have none of it,\par none of it. He says your sin can be covered in Christ and in no other way. "Blessed\par is the man unto whom God imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the man whose sin is\par covered."\par \par Man started unholy. He was shapen in iniqu@ity. He inherited depravity. Christ did\par not. He was born holy and His holy birth covers your unholy birth. As a little child\par you did wrong; as a little child He did right and that covers you. As a man you\par sinned; as a man He did not sin, and that righteousness covers your unrighteousness.\par And thus you take it and spread it all over the whole length of your guilty life, and it\par covers all of \i\f1 your \i0\f0 life; it does not leave any of it exposed to wrath. It is broad\par enougAh to cover it all. The sin is covered completely and forever-covered by the\par righteousness of Jesus Christ.\par \par \cf2\b\i\f3\fs23 "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth."\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 If that is true, then to be saved requires no great element of time. If that is true\par salvation, its attainment does not come from afar. There is no descent to the bottom\par of the ocean for it. Now, some people do that very thing. They say, "I want to be\Bpar baptized to be saved." Shall you descend into the deep to bring up Christ? Are you\par going to find Him by that method? You believe unto righteousness; you trust unto\par Him, and that is why the Scripture says, "The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,\par and in thy heart; the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with\par thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him\par from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man belCieveth unto\par righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."\par \par Now, whenever you do trust Him, whenever your soul takes hold of what Christ has\par done, whenever you come to Him and believe in Him and rely upon Him, there\par should come to your conscience a sense of freedom from responsibility to that law\par which you have violated. And when your realization takes hold of the facts; when the\par subjective equals the objective, you will say, it is met; it is paid;D it is all paid; it is paid\par forever. It needs no repayment; I take it; I accept it; I envelop myself in it; I clothe\par myself in it from head to foot, and I can do that in a minute just as well as I can in ten\par years \f2\'be \f0 better.\par \par Zaccheus climbed up a tree a lost man; he came down saved. The jailer at midnight\par was lost; at daylight he was saved. Three thousand men stood up lost men when\par Peter began to preach, and at the close of that sermon three thousand men were\pEar saved. "They gladly received the word that he preached unto them."\par \par Now I want to invite you to that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as your only\par hope of justification before God. Do you take it? Will you do it? Think carefully.\par What better can you do? How can you expect to stand in your own miserable\par attempt at justification? Well, you say, "If I do that then am I to go on sinning?" I tell\par you that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior you will haFte sin and\par you will begin to do right, not to be saved, but because you are saved; not from a\par principle of fear, but from a principle of love. And you will be willing to lay down\par your life for Jesus; and you will be willing to keep His commandments; and you will\par be willing to honor Him in your thought; you will be willing to glorify Him in your\par eating and drinking and whatever you do. But it will be from the constraining\par principle of love to One who has saved you, and not thaGt by doing it you may save\par yourself. Will you come to it? Will you take it?\par \par I now invite every one here dissatisfied with his own method of justification, realizing\par that you do not attain to anything; that you never find any ease in your own mind, no\par peace; you have tried that and you see that you do not find it; now I ask you to\par come, and without any sort of effort at self-justification, absolutely relying upon what\par the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you.\par \par BuHt you say, "My heart is hard." I tell you that your heart is melted by looking at\par Jesus. When you look at Him and His wounds and His death throes, then you begin\par to groan and weep and cry out, and feel your sinfulness as you never did before.\par Take Him. My voice is so broken I cannot plead with you, but that is God's method\par of justification. I beg you to come tonight. Just come and fix your mind on this one\par scripture. Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden Iand I will\par give you rest." I will give it to you. You are charged nothing for it. You pay nothing\par for it. Come to me and I will give you rest. The gift of God is eternal life, through our\par Lord Jesus Christ. It is a gift. O, take it as a gift, and not as something purchased by\par your tears, or your resolution, or anything upon the. earth that you can do. Take it as\par a free gift and be saved. And when saved and because saved, and from a principle\par of love, then do good works as mucJh as you please-and you will do them.\par \par The awful sin of this day is that men make a savior out of an ordinance; they make a\par savior out of the church; they put the church between a sin-sick soul and the Lord\par Jesus Christ. Never join the church, never be baptized, never partake of the Lord's\par Supper, never in any way come to anything of this kind as a means of salvation.\par Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus first, then the water. Jesus first, then the\par church. Jesus and salvKation first; then as saved, come and join the church, and in the\par church glorify the Savior by your life.\par \par It is a stupendous sin for any man, preacher or what not, to put before a lost soul a\par church as a savior, saying to him, "Here, you come and join the church and be saved\par in the church. You come and be baptized and be saved in baptism. Cone and\par partake of the Lord's Supper and be converted right in the act of partaking of it."\par Never! Never! Never! I would not bow downL to a wafer and call that God. I would\par not bow down to any church on the earth and say, "My savior!" Men cannot save\par you; ordinances cannot save you; Christ first, the Lord Jesus Christ first, and when\par saved, and because saved, and never until you are saved, join His church.\par \par I invite you to Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. The Lord God drive away from\par between the sinner and that Savior any office, any ordinance, any institution on the\par face of the earth, that offers itselMf as a savior. The church itself is accursed when it\par assumes to be a savior. An ordinance is a sin when it assumes to be a savior. It is an\par awful sin; blasphemous sin. Come to the blood of the atonement and let that blood\par be sprinkled on your soul. Trust in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, and then\par when your heart is glad because of this salvation, it will say, "Lord, what wilt thou\par have me do? If thou sayest, 'Be baptized,' I will. If thou sayest, 'Join the church,' I\par wiNll. If thou sayest, 'Partake of the Lord's Supper,' I will. If thou sayest to preach\par my gospel to sinners, talk to them, pray for them, I will." But never, never attempt to\par put on the form of Godliness without the power.\par \par I give it as my deliberate conviction before God, that souls are being lost in this town,\par and in every other town in this state, by having presented to them something else as\par savior rather than the Son of God Himself. The church is not the end of the Law to\Opar you. Christ is. Baptism is not the end of the Law to you. Christ is. The Lord's\par Supper is not the end of the Law to you. Christ is.\par \par \cf2\b\i\f3\fs23 "On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;\par All other ground is sinking sand."\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 Even if it is church ground, it doesn't make any difference to me. If you do tonight,\par thoughtfully, lovingly, trustfully, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, neither\par height, nor depth, nor present nor future thingPs, nor principalities, nor powers, nor\par any other creature can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.\par O, the completeness of that salvation; the thoroughness of it! It meets the demands\par of God's law when nothing else ever does.\par \par I ask you to come to Him. My heart's desire and my prayer to God is that you may\par be saved, but you cannot be saved, except as you come to the Lord Jesus Christ\par and trust in Him. And if you will take a step towards it; if you will honestly try this\par night to lay everything else down; everything in the world; just drop it and accept the\par Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior; if that is what you will try to do, come and give me\par your hand tonight, and let us kneel down here together and offer up a prayer, such as\par Paul felt burning in his heart, for salvation through Christ and no other. "For there is\par no other name known among men under heaven, but that name, by which you can be\par saved."\cf0\f4\fs20\par } CC9i01-The Way of the Cross{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard{\pntext\f0 1.\tab}{\*\pn\pnlvlbody\pnf0S2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 2. SALVATION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST\par \par \cf2\fs24 TEXT: The grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men,\par instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we\par should live soberly and righteously and Godly in this present world; looking\par for the blessed hope and appeariTng of the glory of the great God and our\par Savior Jesus Christ. - \cf1\ul Tit_2:11-13\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 The object of the theme today is to show the origin, end and the means of salvation.\par The very term, salvation, implies that men are lost, and so lost that they can not save\par themselves.\par \par Two things are distinctly affirmed in this context, that salvation is not by works of\par righteousness which we do ourselves, but that it flows from the grace of God. As\par Paul exprUessed it in another context, "By grace are we saved, not of works," putting\par the two things over against each other again, so we, in determining the\fs15 , \fs24 first thought\par of this text, are showing that the origin of salvation is God's love.\par \par The Apostle John expresses the epitome of the gospel when he says, "For God so\par loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on\par Him should not perish, but have eternal life." We sometimes allow our conceVptions\par of certain doctrines to limit the range of our thought and the scope of our\par comprehension of the love of God. Sometimes, it is presented to us as if that love\par had been superinduced by the work which the Savior did-that the Savior having died\par for us, secured to us God's love. But that makes the Savior's work the origin of\par salvation, and contradicts the statement that the Savior was given because God loves\par us. It is the love of God that caused the Savior's work, and not Wthe Savior's work\par that brought about God's love.\par \par Again, in our construction of certain passages of scripture, such as "God is angry\par with the wicked every day," we seem to limit the love of God to the good people.\par We say He loves the good and hates the bad, which is equivalent to saying, "By\par works of righteousness which we did ourselves." That not only puts the\par condemnation of a man on the ground of his evil deeds, but it puts our salvation on\par the ground of our goodX deeds and it supposes not that Jesus Christ by His works\par secured the love of God, but that we by our works secured the love of God.\par \par The Apostle Paul asks the question, "Whoever did first give to him that it might be\par recompensed again?" Where is there in the annals of history to be found the name of\par a man whose own goodness superinduces the goodness of God, so that God's favor\par to him was an obligation, a debt arising from the piety of the man?\par \par Again, we are disposYed to place a limit upon the love as to nations, or as to\par congregations or sects. But not so the record: "God so loved the world." "The grace\par of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men." "God willeth (that is, desireth)\par not the death of any man." Indeed He swears by His own eternal existence that He\par takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; that His pleasure rather, is that they\par should turn and live.\par \par The origin of salvation, then, is the love of God; that lZove not brought about by what\par the Savior did, but bringing about what the Savior did; that love not brought about\par by our piety, but our piety brought about by that love; not limited to Jews, but\par including Gentiles, barbarians, Scythians, bond and free, i.e., the world.\par "The grace of God hath appeared." It was often before dimly foreshown. It was\par adumbrated, i.e., the coming event cast its shadow before. It was obscurely hinted in\par types, but our Savior Jesus Christ hath brough[t life and immortality to light. "The\par grace of God hath appeared," that is, made itself manifest.\par \par No sun that shines in the skies is more apparent and conspicious. No truth has ever\par been so demonstrated and published. No proclamation has ever been written in\par larger letters and carried to greater lengths and extents than the grace of God.\par It hath appeared. It appears in the declarations of angels. It appears in the revelation\par of this Book. It appears in the commission of\ Jesus Christ. It appears wherever\par church spires point to the skies. It appears wherever missionaries go. There is no\par voice nor language where the word of this grace is not heard. It means, to quote the\par exact meaning of the Greek, for this term is an adjective, and the only time that it is\par used in the New Testament, "bringing saving to all men." Wide as is the\par advertisement, wide as is the proclamation, so wide is the proffer of salvation to all\par men.\par \par Now we are on ]questions today, of both doctrine and life, not of life versus doctrine,\par nor of doctrine versus life, but of the doctrine that there may be the right kind of a\par life, the right kind of a life growing out of the doctrine, the sound doctrine. And it is\par sound doctrine that the origin of salvation is God's love, and that that love is now\par made manifest.\par \par Angels once desired to look into the mysteries that today the Sunday School child is\par familiar with. Prophets themselves fore^cast things concerning salvation, that they\par were unable to comprehend, but it is now apparent, brought out of all original\par mystery and put in simple and plain language, so that a little child can understand it.\par The fundamental thought of it is that God, loving all the world, and every man in the\par world, offers salvation to every man in the world. "I would, therefore, that prayers\par be offered, supplications and giving of thanks for all men." "Who will have (or\par desires to have) a_ll men to he saved."\par \par Therefore we ought never to allow any view that we may have of an isolated\par doctrine to hamper our thought, to restrain our conception of the broadness of\par God's love, and of the wideness of the offer of salvation.\par \par It is a matter of divine sincerity. Suppose you, as a preacher, open the Book at your\par commission. You read it: "All authority in heaven and on earth is vested in me. Go\par ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." Does God mean `that? Do I myself\par believe that? When I preach must I preach for the salvation of all men? Have I the\par spirit of Jesus Christ, or have I the spirit of Jonah? When God said to Jonah, "Go\par and take my message to that great city, Nineveh," Jonah refused to take it. Why did\par he refuse to take it? He himself says that he refused to take it because he knew God,\par and that if he took that message and the Ninevites repented, that God would forgive\par them and save them, and as he did not wanta them to be saved he would not bear the\par message.\par \par Jonah did not misunderstand. He did not think God was insincere. He believed that if\par God sent even a threat to Nineveh, the fact that He sent the threat was an intimation\par that if they would regard the threat, and break off their sins, and repent of them, and\par implore His pardon, that He would forgive them-every one of them. But I heard a\par preacher say that there were men for whom he had no message; that he never had a\par bsermon to preach to a man until there was some proof to his mind that the man was a\par child of God.\par \par Now, let us consider the next thought in this text. The origin of salvation being God's\par love, what is the procuring cause of salvation? It is distinctly stated in the text and\par context, and all through the Bible, that there is but one procuring cause. We need not\par try to think of a great many things. There is just one thing, and it is the work and\par sacrifice of Jesus Christ, wcho came on account of God's love and grace into this\par world.\par \par If any man be saved he is saved on account of what Christ has done and not\par because of anything that he has done or promises to do. The meritorious basis of\par salvation is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.\par \par Now we have gone a long step toward the comprehension of salvation when we\par settle these two points: What is its origin? What is its meritorious ground? Starting in\par God's love, a love revealed, ad love bringing salvation and hope, it finds expression\par and merit in the work of Jesus Christ-that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the\par wilderness, even so must the Son of Man he lifted up, that whosoever believeth on\par Him should not perish but have everlasting life." It is not, "Do and live," but it is,\par "Live and do." Moses describes the righteousness which is of the Law, that they\par which do those things shall live by them, but Christ is the end of the Law for\par righteousness teo every one that believeth.\par \par Perhaps you do not always understand the purport of certain persistent questions\par addressed to candidates for church membership: "On what ground, on what account\par do you think you are saved? Do you think you are saved because you are sorry for\par the wrong you have done? Do you think you are saved because you are good? Do\par you think that you are saved because you have now promised to do good and think\par you are going to be able to do good, and do youf think you are going to be able to\par do good, and do you think you are saved because of your emotions of joy or peace?\par What is the basis upon which your hope of salvation rests?" These questions are\par intended to fix the mind exclusively upon the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ,\par embodied in the act of dying vicariously on the cross for men. Hence we have made,\par I say, a long step when we settle these two points clearly.\par \par Now comes the next point. Men in their low estate byg nature are children of wrath.\par Their mind is enmity, against God, not subject to His law, neither indeed can be.\par While Christ's death is the meritorious ground of salvation, the question comes up,\par "How is this saved man now to be fitted for the heaven which is his home, and for\par the service into which his salvation proposes to introduce him?" Hear the Scripture\par again: "Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but by His grace\par through" \f1\'be \f0 through what? \f1h\'be \f0 "the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the\par Holy Ghost."\par \par Well, from what flows regenerating grace? It is a question of order here. "Which He\par shed on us abundantly in Jesus Christ." As God's love is the origin of Christ's\par sacrifice, so Christ's sacrifice is the origin of the Spirit's regeneration and cleansing\par power, put forth to change the nature of men and fit them for the kingdom of God,\par for service here and for enjoyment hereafter: "The washing of riegeneration and the\par renewing of the Holy Ghost." That then is the third thing.\par \par Now what does it mean? If we go back to Ezekiel's time we find that there is\par involved in the saving of a man, first, a cleansing and then a renewing. To cleanse him\par by itself would not suffice, for unless he is renewed, as to his nature, he would be like\par the sow that had been wallowing in the mire. You might wash her with fuller's soap,\par and yet she would go and wallow in the mire again, becaujse not renewed, being still\par a hog. So two things are involved. One is the washing or cleansing, and the other is\par the renewing.\par \par Ezekiel says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean. I will\par take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within\par you." That is, I will not only wash you and make you clean from all past defilement,\par but I will renew your nature, so that it will love God where it had hated Him, and\par kdesire holiness where it had preferred unrighteousness. That is exactly what is meant\par in the third chapter of John, "born of water and of the Spirit"\par \par There are two things in the Spirit's work, a cleansing by the application of the blood\par of Jesus Christ, symbolically set forth in the water of purification. "Then will I\par sprinkle clean water," water of cleansing, water that represents the blood of Christ.\par "Born of water and Spirit," is equivalent to saying, "Born of the blood olf Christ and\par of the Spirit," that is, the Spirit applies the blood of Christ for cleansing purposes,\par and then by His own power renews the nature, what is called here the "washing of\par regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost."\par \par Here arises a question: As the washing here is the washing that does the cleansing, is\par it not referred to in Zechariah, "In that day a fountain shall be opened in the city of\par David for sin and for uncleanness?" To this, Cowper in his song allmuded when he\par said,\par \par \cf2\b\i\f2\fs23 "There is a fountain filled with blood\par Drawn from Immanuel's veins,\par And sinners plunged beneath that flood\par Lose all their guilty stains."\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 This is the clean water of Ezekiel, the clean water that typified the blood of Christ,\par not meaning pure water, not clean in that sense, but cleansing water \f1\'be \f0 water for\par cleansing \f1\'be \f0 which consisted of the ashes of a heifer, mingled with water, typnifying\par blood. Hence Paul says, "If the sprinkling of the ashes of an heifer sanctify to the\par cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your\par consciences from dead works to serve the true and the living God." Then, "born of\par water," in the third chapter of John, refers to the blood of Christ, set forth in the\par image of cleansing water, water of purification, which also shows the connection\par between regeneration and the Word of God. For we get to that cleoansing through\par faith, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and therefore\par Paul says, "By the washing of water through the Word."\par \par Then to put it in plain English, whenever I hear the gospel preached, whenever Jesus\par Christ is held up before me in faithful preaching, and I in my heart believe it, there has\par taken place in me that part of the work of the Holy Ghost, which is called purging the\par conscience from dead works by the application of the blood opf Christ \f1\'be \f0 that part of\par the work which in this text here is called the washing of regeneration, and is called\par the washing by the Word, and hence it makes the Word of God an instrument in the\par salvation of men, and therefore it is said, "Of His own will begat He us through the\par Word."\par \par Whatever may be the view of it from the divine side, a man comes in touch with this\par wonderful love of God, which produces this wonderful sacrifice of Christ, from\par which flows tqhis wonderful work of the Holy Spirit \f1\'be \f0 a man comes in contact with\par that when the Word of God is preached, and in his heart he believes it.\par \par It is on this wise. It does. not say, "Who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ\par down here so that I can get at Him in person." It does not say, "Who shall descend\par into the deep and bring Christ up so that I can get at Him in person." But what does\par it say? "The Word is nigh thee, even in thy month and in thy heart, the Word rof faith\par which we preach." "If thou shalt believe in thy heart that Jesus Christ has risen from\par the dead thou -shall be saved."\par \par Now we see that salvation originates in the love of God, that from that love of God\par comes the wonderful sacrifice of Christ, that from that wonderful sacrifice, in order\par to make it efficacious, there is the Spirit's work of two kinds, the washing of\par regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, the cleansing and the renewal, and\par that thsis cleansing part is apprehended on our side when we believe.\par \par It comes by faith, and that solves the very question propounded by Nicodemus.\par When Jesus said that a man must be born from above, that he must be born of water\par and of the Spirit, Nicodemus says, "How can these things be?" What is the modus\par operandi? Jesus says that "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so\par must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish\par butt have eternal life."\par \par That is how it is done. That is how a man is born of the Spirit. That is how he comes\par in touch with the salvation which God has provided. Faith comes by hearing, and\par hearing by the Word of God.\par \par So, if from your heart you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you need not\par waste any time over the question as to whether you are regenerated, because you\par could not be regenerated if that thing had not occurred. The washing of regeneration\paru is through the Word, and the Word is apprehended by faith, and I need not puzzle a\par child's mind about but one thing. Here is Christ set forth before your \i\f3 eyes \i0\f0 as\par crucified for you. Do you accept Him? Does your soul receive Him? Do you say,\par "My Lord and my God?" Then you need not bother about election and\par predestination and regeneration.\par \par How then can these things be? They are just that way. That is the Savior's own\par explanation of it. I prefer His method ofv explaining it to all of the obscure and the\par endless metaphysical discussions of the subject in more than eighteen hundred years\par by the learned doctors of divinity who have spent scores of years to put their\par thoughts beyond the understanding of the people.\par \par Now let us come to the next point. What is the end of all this? I am going to make an\par application of it directly that ought to startle some members here. Here is the end of\par it: "Who gave himself for us that He might rwedeem us from all iniquity and purify unto\par himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works." "The grace of\par God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men." The origin, the merit, the\par efficiency, the instrumentality, have all been set forth. Now what is the end of it? That\par He might redeem us from all iniquity.\par \par Now to redeem means to buy back. You cannot use that word redeem in its\par etymological sense and exclude the idea of purchase. You cannot use it andx exclude\par the idea of a purchase under an execution. That is to say, if a property is sold under\par a tax law, you redeem it and buy it back from under the execution. If a man has been\par captured in battle, you ransom him-you buy him back for a consideration given by\par you. He is bought back from captivity-from under the execution of his situation.\par Redemption involves in its very etymology not only the idea that the thing redeemed\par had been lost, but that it was a lawful captive, and ythat it is purchased back.\par \par Purchased back how? Upon what consideration? Not gold and silver and precious\par stones, but the precious blood of Jesus Christ, says Peter. That was the price paid.\par But the end? When you bought it back, when you redeemed this man, when God's\par grace appeared flashing its light over the darkness of this world, when God's merit in\par Christ astounded the world, what was the object? What was the end? "That He\par might purify unto himself, for His own possezssion, a people zealous of good works."\par So you understand what Paul meant when he says, "I want you to speak the things\par that befit sound doctrine." If a man has the form of Godliness and denies the power\par of it, he is a heretic. If a man professes the faith of the gospel and in works is\par reprobate, his life is \f1\'be \f0 a lie. It is more than that. It is awful blasphemy and sacrilege.\par Why? Where is the sacrilege in it, the blasphemy in it? It says this to God: "You love\par me. Y{ou gave the Savior to die for me in consequence of that love. You paid a\par tremendous price, and on account of that price, to make it efficacious, you sent forth\par the Holy Spirit, and He cleansed me from past iniquity and renewed me within, and\par though I am cleansed and renewed within, being a new man, my works are just like\par they were before. Your good fountain sends out impure water."\par \par You have heard the instance of a man's being indicted before his church. Charges\par were pre|ferred against him for heresy. The specification was that he was a heretic on\par the doctrine of election and predestination. "Why," he says, "I don't think about\par anything else, and I don't preach anything else but that." "Yes, but you don't preach\par the Bible doctrine of election and predestination. The election of God is unto good\par works. The predestination of God is that you may be conformed to His image. But\par the kind of election and predestination you are preaching and illustrating }is. an\par election and predestination that work no reformation in the life, and does not make\par God's own possession zealous of good works." Now you can see how easy it was\par to convict him of heresy, and he was a heretic \f1\'be \f0 the worst kind of a heretic.\par \par The grace of God instructing us-instructing us what? A denial, which is a passive\par form, and a doing, which is an active form. The grace of God hath appeared bringing\par salvation to all men, instructing us, that we should~ deny ungodliness and worldly lust,\par the negative part; that we should live soberly, righteously and Godly in this present\par world, the active part, and "looking for the glorious hope and appearing of our great\par God and Savior Jesus Christ." That is the attitude toward the other world. In this\par present world denying certain things and doing certain things, and as to the other\par world, looking, hoping, longing, anticipating, moving toward it, and expecting to\par enter into it.\par \par Oh, immortality, immortality, what a thought! The man that believes in it, the man that\par believes that he is deathless, that death makes no break in the continuity of his being,\par that this world is but a stepping stone to another world, that this is temporal and that\par eternal, that here he denies one thing and does another thing, and looks to the\par appearing and glorious hope of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ!\par I say to you today, brethren, that when I turn my mind toward that glorious hope,\par toward the nearness and certainty of that appearing of the great God, our Savior\par Jesus Christ, when I think how fleet are the days that belong to the temporal, how\par eternal that which belongs to another world, my heart glows as I hear His grace say,\par "Be faithful a little while. Do not become discouraged. Do not become weary in well\par doing. Do not lose heart. Do not give up. Do not run away. Do not skulk. Do not go\par into the brush. Fight the good fight of faith, looking for that glorious hope and the\par appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ."\par \par Now, that is salvation in its entirety, commencing at the fountain, God's love, going\par to the stream that flows from that fountain, Christ's meritorious sacrifice, down the\par stream to the lake which is made up of the streams representing the work of the Holy\par Spirit in cleansing and renewing, and then the life that results from that denial of\par ungodliness and worldly lust, the active part of it, living soberly and righteously in this\par present world, which is a little while and will soon pass.\par \par Ah, me! If our ship, storm-tossed and tempest-shaken, if the ship could but realize\par that we do not cast the anchor on an earthly bottom, but send it to yonder eternal\par shore, and fasten it to the coming of Jesus Christ, then would our hope be an anchor\par of the soul, sure and steadfast. That is Paul's argument The anchor of your hope cast\par forward, and \i\f3 every \i0\f0 day you pull on the cable you come nearer, nearer to the port,\par nearer to the landing on the other shore, nearer to the light which has no night, nearer\par to the joys which have no sorrows, nearer to the body which has no aches and\par pains, nearer to Jesus and the spirits of the just made perfect. Pull on the cable and\par bring the ship nearer to the future, looking forward and hastening unto that great\par hope end appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.\cf0\f4\fs20\par } EEwu 03-Wherefore Then The Law?{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f2|-Y02-Salvation Through the Blood of Christ{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprqR\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 3. WHEREFORE THEN THE LAW?\par \par \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 TEXT: Wherefore then the law? - \cf1\ul Gal_3:19\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 The "wherefore" is based upon the preceding statement that the covenant of grace\par antedated the law by 430 years; and another statement that no man can be justified\par by the law; and another statement that ye are not under the law but under grace; and\par yet another statement that you received the Spirit through faith and not the words of\par the law. Hence the pertinence of the question, "Wherefore then the law?" What\par purpose did the law serve?\par \par Try to get, first of all, a scene before your minds. The Arabian Peninsula has about\par 22,500 square miles. It is a triangle. The Southern part of the triangle is a high table.\par land, 4,000 feet above the sea, and the mountains tower 2,500 feet still higher. Now,\par in that triangle of the Arabian Peninsula, there is a place perfectly level, two miles\par long and half a mile wide. On three sides of it this level place is enclosed by a\par mountain, rising somewhat abruptly, and at the far end of it, a solitary, tremendous\par peak uplifts itself 6,500 feet above the sea. That was the scene of the giving of the\par law.\par \par On that level place, two miles long and half a mile wide, the millions of Israel were\par gathered. On that mountain peak at the end of this plain, the cloud and pillar of fire\par settled to indicate God's presence there. God on the mountain, Israel on the plain \f2\'be\par \f0 and that mountain has always been an historic one. There Moses was prepared for\par the ministry of the leadership of Israel for forty years and in its neighborhood the next\par forty years of his life were spent. There Elijah came after he was driven away by the\par threats of Jezebel, and, like Moses, fasted forty days and nights. And there, I\par believe, our Savior fasted forty days and nights in His preparation for His work. And\par certainly there the Apostle Paul spent three years of his life in preparation for his\par work.\par \par The Crusader and the Saracen fought around the foot of the mountain. Mistaken\par piety erected convents on that mountain, and there, not a great while ago, was\par discovered an ancient manuscript of the Bible, in that old convent on the mountain.\par Such the scene and such the history of the mountain.\par \par The time when that law was announced I can give you a date that you will have no\par trouble recalling 1491 years before Christ, God gave that law on Mount Sinai; 1491\par years after Christ, Columbus discovered America. Thirty-four centuries ago, what\par we call the law was given-the law concerning which the question is asked,\par "Wherefore then the law?" Why was it given?\par \par The people of Israel had been wandering from the time of the faith of Abraham unto\par the time of this giving of the law, 430 years, and now being delivered from Egyptian\par bondage, and having been trained in hunger and thirst, and sickness and war, and\par being made to feel that in any of these trials God was sufficient, He now, while great\par clouds gather over the top of this mountain, mighty thunderings are heard, and the\par blackness is gored by the vivid flashes of lightning, in a voice that every man could\par hear distinctly, the most penetrating voice that ever fell upon human ear, made an\par overture to the people, and that overture was this: "Will you enter into a covenant of\par life with God? God will announce, so that you can hear every word He says, just\par what you will do on your part to carry out this covenant, and He will announce on\par His part what He will do to carry out this covenant. Now, will you do it?" And the\par people said that they would. The overture was accepted.\par \par Then He said, "Take three days to prepare. Let every one wash his body and wash\par his clothes, and come clean before God; and do not come until you hear the sound\par of the trumpet. No earthly lips will blow it, but the sound can not be mistaken. It will\par be the sound of a trumpet, and when you hear that trumpet, come up and stand\par before that mountain, and God will come down on the mountain; but don't touch it,\par and don't let a beast touch it. You won't see any similitude of God. You will see\par evidences that He is there, and every one of you will hear what He says."\par \par And so on the third day the people came, as prescribed, and when the mountain\par began to stagger like a drunken man, when it began to shake and tremble, when the\par blackest clouds covered it from summit to base, when the thunder reverberated\par through all that peninsula, suddenly, clearer than the thunder, rang out on the air the\par unearthly sound of a trumpet, and the record says it waxed louder and louder. There\par will be no other trumpetsound like that until the archangel blows the trumpet and\par wakes the dead.\par \par And from out that cloud came a voice, and that voice pronounced ten words-the\par Ten Commandments, we call them. He announced, one after another, the ten words\par of the law, and the people became more terrified at the voice than at the trumpet,\par and Moses himself said, "I do exceedingly quake and tremble." And the people said,\par "Don't let us hear that voice any more. You go and commune with God and hear\par what He says, and you come and tell us." And so Moses sent the people back and\par he went up and communed with God. God told him the ten words and then God\par took two pieces of granite, about 27 inches long by 18 inches wide, perfectly\par smooth, and on them, with His own finger, He wrote in the Hebrew language the ten\par words. But in the meantime Moses had written them. It was Moses' copy that the\par people had. God's copy was for an entirely different purpose.\par \par Moses wrote the Ten Commandments and then wrote all of the elaborations of the\par Ten Commandments that God announced to him during forty days, the Ten\par Commandments being the constitution, the elaborations being the statutes evolved\par from the ten, harmonious with the ten, and all of the enactments in Exodus, Leviticus,\par Numbers, and Deuteronomy (and there are hundreds of them) are but statutes\par derived from the constitutional law, the Ten Commandments.\par \par Moses wrote the first constitution, the ten sections; then he wrote what he called the\par judgments-that is, the judgments derived from interpreting the Ten Commandments\par \f2\'be \f0 and on a day appointed, the people again came before God; and Moses read\par from his copy (not from God's copy) both the constitution and the statutes, and an\par altar was erected, and sacrifices were slain, and the blood of the victims was\par sprinkled first upon the altar, and then upon the Book of the Covenant, and then\par upon the people; and by this solemn religious ceremony the covenant of life records\par upon the part of the people with God was ratified.\par \par This covenant they shall keep - every one of the ten words - and all of the subsidiary\par legislation growing out of the ten words. They agreed that if they violated any one\par precept, the covenant was broken. They admitted the solidarity of the law, that he\par that is guilty in one point is guilty in all. It was only necessary to put in the evidence\par that he had failed at one point, that just one link of the chain was broken, and he\par must die.\par \par The law is spiritual. The commandment is exceedingly broad. It relates not merely to\par the overt act. It takes cognizance of the heart, of its desires. Thou shalt not covet\par thou shalt not desire \f2\'be \f0 thy neighbor's goods, anything that thy neighbor has. Thou\par shalt not kill; thou shalt not hate with the malice to kill; whosoever hateth is a\par murderer. The law is spiritual.\par \par When that covenant was read and blood was sprinkled upon the Book and upon the\par people and upon the altar, all the parties to it were bound. God is bound by the\par blood on the altar. The people are bound by the blood sprinkled on themselves, and\par Moses tells them plainly, "They that do these things shall live by them. Whosoever\par faileth to do any one of them shall die. I call heaven and earth to witness that in this\par Book of the Covenant I have set before you life and death. To \i\f3 obey \i0\f0 is life. To\par disobey is death."\par \par The capital thought, the governing thought in the whole matter, is that the Ten\par Commandments constituted a covenant, a covenant of mutual obligation, and that it\par was a covenant of life and death. It was solemn engagement, ratified by blood, and\par the people said, "We will do this and we invoke on our heads the penalty of not\par doing it, and we take the oath of the covenant, made sacred by the witnessing of\par blood, that we deserve, and upon us and our children may come, all the recompense\par of reward in the way of penalty, if we do not comply with every jot and tittle of this\par law."\par \par Well, what then did God's copy amount to? He wrote His, as I told you, on tables\par of stone. The people broke the covenant, and the covenant being broken, Moses\par broke the copy, which was a witness, and then Moses came and pleaded: "If thou\par wilt, forgive these people-if not, blot my name out of thy book." He meant everything\par that he said. He did not mean, "Kill my body." He did mean, "Exclude me from the\par land of Canaan." He meant all that is involved in the word death, and banishment\par from God. He was the type of the Redeemer, in that he offered to die for his people.\par \par God forgave the people that breach of the covenant, and the covenant was renewed\par and God wrote another copy. Moses wrote a copy for use among the people, but\par God wrote a copy for A witness. The Ten Commandments that God wrote were\par deposited in the Ark of the Covenant. \i\f3 They \i0\f0 were not read by the people. They were\par in God's handwriting. They were the witnesses of the compact. And when the nation\par ultimately and permanently violated the covenant, then there went away God's copy,\par and no man knows what became of it, and it is utterly immaterial. It would serve no\par purpose if we had it. We have Moses' copy. God's copy was a witness of the\par compact, and the compact being broken, broken is the tablet of the witness.\par \par Now comes up this question of our text. Before this law was given was there not a\par way of life, through mercy, held out to the people? Yes, 430 years before. And was\par not that way of life to be through faith? Yes. Wherefore then the law? Why was that\par law enacted? Why were the people permitted to go into that covenant? God knew\par they would not keep it. God knew that on account of the weakness of the flesh they\par could not keep it. You could not now. Only one man ever did, and that is the man\par Jesus Christ. Wherefore then the law?\par \par Now I ask your patient attention to the following thought: When we say the law, we\par mean that law as then promulgated and written. Why promulgated and reduced to\par writing? That is what that meant. But the promulgation of these ten words, and the\par writing of them by Moses and the writing of them by God himself, did not create the\par obligations they imposed. The obligation of that law did not commence with its\par announcement and was not dependent upon the people's knowledge of it for\par validity.\par \par Law is law, not because it is put in the form of a statute, but it is put in the form of a\par statute because it is law.\par \par Law is not law because you know it, but you should know it because it is law. The\par intent in the mind of the Creator when He brings a being into existence, is the law, at\par the last analysis, that governs. Whether it shall afterwards be expressed in a statute\par depends, but when it is so expressed and so published, that expression and that\par publication do not originate obligation. Obligation arises from the nature of the being\par and his relation to God.\par \par So then, the question I ask, "Wherefore then the law?" means, "Wherefore the\par written law?" Not law \i\f3 per se, \i0\f0 not law as embodied in the mind of God, but\par wherefore put that law in writing, and announce it, and make it known to the people?\par What is the object of that? The intent of the Creator when He makes a being, is the\par law of that being, whether that being knows anything about the law or not, and if that\par being is one who propagates his species, then that intent, as the primal law, is binding\par upon that posterity to the remotest generation, and that posterity is under that law,\par entirely regardless of environment.\par \par Environment may be favorable or unfavorable. If it be favorable, nothing is added to\par the commandment; if it be unfavorable, nothing is taken from the commandment. It is\par a fixed quantity, being the intent of God when He made man. If some of that\par posterity, through an ancestor, however remote, has inherited certain vicious\par propensities and tendencies to evil, that does not modify the law an atom. Over that\par child, inheriting from an ancestry a predisposition to evil, weak through the flesh, the\par law of God, in its unclouded serenity, shines just as bright as it does over an angel in\par heaven. No jot of it, no tittle of it, at any time, or under any circumstances, upon any\par descendant of the original man, is for one moment mitigated.\par \par Now, as man has fallen, as his posterity are weak through the flesh, as now they\par cannot keep that law, wherefore write it out, accompanying its promulgation with\par thunder and lightning and trumpet and voice? Why ratify it solemnly with blood?\par Well, the answer is that the object is to bring out in a written code, clearly\par expressed, the original intent of the Creator in making man.\par \par That written code was added because of transgression. Now what does that mean?\par It was added because of the transgression. It was added to discover the\par transgressor. Paul said, "I had not known sin except by the law," i.e., when that law\par said, "Thou shalt not covet," and he had that in writing, as he had that statute of God\par before him, why that revealed to him how much he had been transgressing. The law\par was added then because of transgression \f2\'be \f0 that is, with a view to disclose\par transgression.\par \par Here were the fallen descendants of a fallen ancestor, continually crossing the path of\par rectitude, now to the right hand, now to the left hand, not knowing they were in sin;\par and their knowledge did not affect the question of sin, not knowing that they were\par continually going against the law. The law now was added in order that these\par transgressions might be made manifest; as if men in the dark had been continually\par going out of the path, and light comes and shines down, revealing a straight and\par narrow path, revealing the pitfalls and quagmires to the right and to the left.\par The object of the law was to disclose, to make known, the sin of which the man had\par been guilty; not only to disclose it, but to disclose it as exceedingly sinful; that sin\par might be made to appear as sin-that it might be stripped of its disguises, that it might\par stand in its own naked reality and deformity and beastliness and ghastliness, as\par odious and abominable in the sight of God.\par \par A standard was brought and placed by the side of men to help them to walk and\par follow a light, and that straight rule would instantly reveal any deviation, as that\par plumb-line, let down from the top of the wall going up, would show whether that wall\par had been going up straight. It was judgment to the line and righteousness to the\par plummet. The object of the law was to bring out the inequality, the deviation, the\par irregularity, the sins of men, and make them appear to he sin.\par \par Now, the real law was there all the time, but the man did not know it. Wherefore\par then serveth the law-that is, the written law, the promulgated law, the Sinaitic law? It\par was to show that all mankind had gone astray-that there was none that did good, no,\par not one. No man loved God with all his heart. No man loved his neighbor as himself.\par The shining of that light upon the lost world brought out the startling fact that among\par the descendants of Adam there was not one \f2\'be \f0 no, not one \f2\'be \f0 that could expect to\par be acquitted at the judgment bar of God on his own righteousness. Wherefore, says\par the Apostle, "The law was our school-master to bring us to Christ." How that? If a\par man who has no clear light, and has no conception of the broadness and spirituality\par of the commandment, whose standard of righteousness has been lowered to his own\par life; if that man is under the delusion that when he comes and stands before the\par judgment bar of God, he will be acquitted and not condemned, I am sure you can\par never induce him to look to a Savior; but if you can take that man and drag him to\par the mountain that smoked and was crested with fire and shaken with thunder, and if\par you can turn that mountain over on him, with its denunciations and penalities, if he\par can hear that trumpet and hear that voice, and see how exacting is law, how\par undeviating is law, how holy and just and good is law, then he will know that he is a\par lost soul in himself. He will know that. He says, "The case is already against me. It is\par already adjudicated. I am gone. Who will deliver me?"\par \par By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. On account of the weakness of\par the flesh, on account of a fallen nature, the mind cannot be in harmony with God. The\par carnal mind is enmity against Him and not subject to His law, and neither, indeed,\par can be. The revelation of the law is a revelation of death. "I was alive without the law\par once," said Paul; that is, "I did not know it, but when the commandment came sin\par was made apparent and I died. I saw myself a dead man, a lost man."\par \par Prior to any looking toward Christ, must come the conviction that you are lost.\par Conviction of sickness precedes an appeal to a physician; conviction of death\par precedes an appeal to a Savior; conviction of bondage precedes appeal to a\par liberator. "Wherefore then serveth the law?" "The law is our schoolmaster unto\par Christ." It, by showing us the utter groundlessness of any hope of salvation in\par ourselves, our unworthiness, our fallen nature, our utter and hopeless condemnation,\par makes us see our ruin, when a voice says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are\par heavy laden, and I will give you rest."\par \par Now, I come to a thought that you may not be willing to accept, but it is true. If,\par then, God knew man could not keep that law as a covenant of life, when a man\par becomes a Christian, is he under that law? The Apostle says, "Wherefore you are\par not under the law, but are under grace." Does that mean that when it says, "Thou\par shalt love God," I am not bound to do it? That when it says, "Thy shalt honor thy\par father and thy mother," I am not bound to do it? That when it says, "Thou shalt not\par kill," that I am under no obligation to restrain a murderous hand? No sir, it does not\par mean that. Well, what does it mean then?\par \par It means that I am not under the law as a covenant of life. That is what it means.\par The writer to the Hebrews says that we are not come to that mountain, that smoke,\par that fire. We do not enter into an obligation that if we fail in any particular that we are\par lost. We are not under it as a covenant of life, but as a standard of righteousness we\par are under it, and if we go to hell we will be under it. In hell that law, that original\par intent in the mind of God, as to its \i\f3 oughtness will \i0\f0 be just as when God first made\par man. But if we go to heaven, in heaven, brought there by grace, the \i\f3 oughtness \i0\f0 of the\par Ten Commandments will be our standard of righteousness there.\par \par There never will come a time when it will be right for us not to love God. There\par never will come a time when it will cease to be wrong for us to dishonor our parents.\par There never will be a time under any economy when it will be proper for us to covet\par anything that is our neighbor's.\par \par Well, what follows then? Now, here is the thought that I said that you might not be\par willing to accept-that as the law was the schoolmaster unto Christ, so Christ is the\par schoolmaster under the law. I mean to say that Christ's work, all of it \f2\'be \f0 the\par obedience \f2\'be \f0 part of it, the dying-part, of it, the sacrificial part of it, the intercession,\par the whole of it, from His birth to His glorification is designed to bring us ultimately\par into a state of conformity, in heart, life and action, with that unchanging law; and He\par is a schoolmaster under that law.\par \par How does that operate? You are not under the law as a covenant of life, but you are\par under the law to grace, and the first thing that grace does for you, of which you have\par any consciousness, is the work of the Holy Spirit upon your heart, convicting you of\par sinning against these very Ten Commandments. That is the first thing. Then when\par your nature, by regeneration is changed, what is the object of the change? It is to\par give you a disposition to keep the law, or the Ten Commandments, to love the Lord\par your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. That is the object of it.\par That is the work of grace.\par \par You do not by faith make void that law. It is the object of faith to bring you into\par conformity with the law. By your regeneration a new nature is given, a new life is\par implanted, and the outgoings of that life are longings after conformity to the law. You\par no longer say, "I hate God," but "Oh, how I love Him!" You no longer say, "I hate\par my neighbor," but "I love him. I am grieved that I do not love him more. I am grieved\par that I fall short in my duty to my neighbor."\par \par So Christ is the schoolmaster under the law. He is reversing the process now. You\par are doing it imperfectly. You are falling short in loving God and in loving your\par neighbor. You are falling short on every one of these Ten Commandments, but your\par mind, your inner man, is in harmony with Him. Your mind approves it. You wish you\par could do it. You want to do it. You try to do it.\par \par Now comes in the next work of grace, and that is the work of sanctification. What\par does that work do? That makes a man love God more and more. That makes him\par love his neighbor more and more. That process continually goes on and on, until he\par comes to the last lesson of death, and then the soul goes into the presence of God.\par And what is the state of that soul in the presence of God? John says, "I saw under\par the altar the souls of them that had been slain for their testimony to Jesus." Paul says,\par "Thou art coming unto the spirits of the just made perfect." What is made perfect?\par Why, that soul up there loves God supremely. That soul keeps the Ten\par Commandments.\par \par When Christ was the schoolmaster under the law, the object of what He did was to\par bring that soul back into conformity to that law, and when that body sleeps and rots\par and moulds and decays and turns to dust, and ages elapse, and that voice of the\par trumpet is heard again, unlike anything else on earth, and those dead people wake\par up, they wake up in what condition? They were sown in weakness. The law could\par not be performed on account of the weakness of the flesh. \i\f3 They \i0\f0 were sown in\par weakness. They were raised in power. They were sown in dishonor. They were\par raised in honor. They were sown in corruption. They were raised in incorruption.\par They were sown mortal. They were raised immortal. And now that body like that\par spirit is in complete conformity with the law.\par \par Sinai may thunder on the portals of hell; it may frown in clouds of ominous\par blackness, and growl in thunder and glare in lightning; but the raised body, reunited\par to the soul, can come up in front of it and say, "O Sinai, I am in perfect accord with\par every requirement you make."\par \par I say that the object of Christ's death is that you may escape the penalty of the law\par broken, but not intending to turn criminals loose; not intending to snatch murderers\par and liars and adulterers from the jaws of death and let them remain liars and thieves\par and murderers, to the great confusion of the universe, but to remake them, that they\par may be, not murderers, not liars, not thieves, but pure and holy men. That is what\par Christ does.\par \par Now you see the truth of what I said, that the law is the intent in the mind of the\par Creator when He made the man; that the subsequent expression of that intent in a\par statute did not originate obligation, but that it was subsequently expressed in a statute\par to bring out lack of conformity, to make it appear that conformity had not been, and\par to drive the nonconformist to a Redeemer, and then, through the power of that\par Redeemer, working through the Holy Spirit, to refit him inside and out, until he is at\par last in full co-operation with every requirement of that law.\par \par So faith does not make void the law. It conforms to it, and the law is not against the\par promises, and the promises are not against the law. And I will tell you that you\par deceive yourself with an antinomian delusion if you think that because Christ was\par made the curse of the law for you, that therefore you can go on and love sin. If that\par work has been efficacious in you, you have now a mind that hates sin. You have a\par mind that loves God. You have a mind that wants to do right.\par \par I tell you, brethren, you could not do any better than to go and get that old\par Presbyterian catechism on the Ten Commandments and study it and teach it to every\par one of your children. I tell you those Ten Commandments constitute the standard of\par righteousness in heaven, and they will remain the standard of righteousness over the\par lowest hell. There never, never will be a time when any of those ten words will lose\par any of their obligatory force. That is why, all over this earth, rulers and statesmen lift\par their hats when \i\f3 they \i0\f0 go to Matthew Sinai, when they look at those Ten\par Commandments, as the sublimest expression of the principles of law the human ear\par ever heard, the human eye ever saw, the human heart ever conceived of.\par It is true that you are not under the law in the covenant of life. It is true that the law\par as a standard of righteousness never changes. It is true that the object of grace is to\par make you square with that standard ultimately. It will put you there. But there is the\par sin of unbelief. There is the justification of hell, that men are not able to keep the law,\par and their inability not disproving its righteousness, for it is holy and just and good,\par and it cannot be lowered, not an atom, not a jot, not a tittle.\par \par Law is law, and those men that cannot keep it, and with an unrenewed nature turn\par away from Christ, who removed the curse of that law through His death on the\par cross, and who by the Spirit renews the fallen nature, giving a love for God and man,\par and by santification perfects the love for God and man, they, by unbelief in Jesus\par Christ, have earned and richly deserve and certainly will receive the eternity of hell.\par That man is a rank anarchist, that man is an advocate of confusion, for social\par rottenness and world destruction, that says, "I do not need Christ. I do not need my\par nature renewed. I need no atoning blood. I need no Holy Spirit to regenerate and\par sanctify." And all his life he walks high-stepping through the world, and he says, "I\par believe in law. I believe in a man's bearing the penalty of wrong doing, and I stand\par on my record."\par \par Well, let him stand on it, and if that law does not show him to be exceedingly sinful, if\par it does not show that he has broken every one of the Ten Commandments, if it does\par not show that he has broken them in spirit and in letter, if it does not show that he\par has broken them in all of his life, if it does not show that he has broken them in nature\par and in practice, then there is no such thing as the manifesting power of light.\par And God could not \f2\'be \f0 I speak reverently of Omnipotence God could not save a\par man and leave him a bad man.\par \par He could not pardon a man and turn a criminal loose on society, on the universe. If\par he saves him, He must save him by works of grace, bringing him back into perfect\par correspondence with every requirement of the law of God.\par \par Ever since my mother took my childish hands and held them while I knelt at her knee\par and repeated those ten words, "Thou shall have no other God before me; thou shalt\par make no graven image to fall down and worship it; thou shalt not take the name of\par the Lord thy God in vain; remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; honor thy\par father and thy mother; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt\par not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet anything that is thy\par neighbor's," from the day that my mother taught me those ten words they have been\par to me as the one unvarying standard of real righteousness, and all that Christ has\par done for me so far has been in the direction of bringing me into conformity to it.\par When His work is ended and my soul is sanctified, being now regenerated; when it is\par made perfect, and when my body is raised from the dead, and sanctified soul and\par body I stand before God, then I will love God with all my heart, and I will love my\par neighbor as myself, and the commandments of God will show clear through, ten\par thousand times more powerful than an X-ray, and find nothing in me at variance with\par its requirements. That is my answer to the question, "Wherefore then the law?" Let\par us pray.\cf0\f4\fs20\par } or Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard{\pntext\f0 4.\tab}{\*\pn\pnlvlbody\pnf0\pnindent360\pnstart4\pndec{\pntxta.}} \fi-360\li360\tx360\cf1\f0\fs32 THE BEWITCHING POWER OF SATAN\par \pard\par \cf2\fs24 TEXT: O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not\par obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,\par crucified among you? - \cf1\ul Gal_3:1\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 I wish to make a few statements before discussing the text. The first relates to\par peoples. There is a difference in the characteristics of peoples. "Galatians" \f1\'be \f0 that is\par what a Greek would say. A Latin writer would have written it "Gauls." A modern\par writer would have said, "Frenchmen, O foolish Frenchmen." That is to say, the\par people to whom this letter was written were French people, or Gauls.\par \par The history of their migration from France to Asia Minor is a wonderful history.\par Some time look it up and read it. But in their wanderings they always retained their\par national characteristics, a mercurial people, easily excited, easily cooled off again;\par now way up yonder and now way down there; fired one moment by enthusiasm and\par suffering deep mental depression another day. You will find that to be the character\par of these people, whether you read Caesar of Thierry.\par \par The second statement which I wish to make is one of philosophy. This text speaks\par about the presentation of a great tragedy, and the statement I wish to make is that\par nothing ever deeply influences the human heart but tragedy.\par \par It is utterly impossible for comedy to strive against tragedy in attracting human\par attention and in holding it. A comic speaker pleases the first time you hear him, but\par woe to the man if he tells his jokes over a second or third time. You can go to the\par theater and listen one time to Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors," but you cannot go\par and hear it three times in succession. But you can hear "Richard III" or "Macbeth,"\par or any other in which there is some tragedy, a thousand times.\par \par Hence the great sculptors and painters have found their immortality when their\par subjects have represented some mighty tragedy, such as Prometheus chained to the\par cold rocks of Mount Causasus, the Last Supper with the shadow of the coming\par tragedy resting upon the brow of the Son of God, Laocoon around whose: body and\par the bodies of whose children the serpents from the sea have wrapped themselves\par and are crushing them to death.\par \par These and other great masterpieces show that if you want to attract the attention of\par mankind, you must present to them a tragedy and not a comedy. It is a pity that\par public speakers do not pay more attention to this. It is an exceedingly small ambition,\par the ambition to be a witty speaker.\par \par There was presented a tragedy to these mercurical Galatians nearly two thousand\par years ago. Christ Jesus crucified was evidently set forth before them, and the effect\par of it was wonderful. That same tragedy presented now has a wonderful effect, and it\par will have until the subject of the tragedy shall come the second time, without sin unto\par salvation.\par \par Now my third statement is this: One of the most ordinary incidents of religious life is\par the lapse, from an early profession of religion. We hold a meeting of many days and\par by varied service, of sermon, song and prayer, we seek to convert our hearers. An\par interest is awakened, crowds attend, and in the course of time quite a number\par profess to be converted. Time passes on and there is a lapse on the part of many\par who profess to be converted.\par \par A second meeting comes, and not all \f1\'be \f0 never all \f1\'be \f0 of those who had lapsed, but a\par considerable number of them come back and are restored again, some of:whom\par lapse again.\par \par A third meeting, and not all of those who were restored that second time \f1\'be \f0 never all\par of them \f1\'be \f0 but a considerable number of them are restored a third time. And so the\par matter goes on, meeting after meeting, and each period of falling away that follows\par the meeting eliminates some of the number who originally made a profession of faith.\par The sifting process that follows a protracted meeting eliminates some forever and\par ever. They never do come back.\par \par Now, did you ever think of this, that there is never any lapse from an intellectual\par profession of faith, never any lapse on the part of a ritualistic professor of faith?\par Never. The lapses always take place in those denominations which insist upon a\par supernatural faith in Jesus Christ, and who insist upon what is called regeneration.\par There are these two distinct elements in the profession of faith: I not only profess to\par personally believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior, but I do profess that I\par have been changed internally in my disposition and spirit. Now the lapse indicates\par these two distinct elements. Generally it is on the second element; that is, the\par evidence that relates to the internal change and it comes in this way: The reason that I\par professed to be a Christian was I had certain emotional evidences - evidences that\par touched the affections. I had certain peace of mind. I had certain joy of heart. I had\par certain fervor of spirit. Therefore I professed to be changed. Now in the course of\par time that peace seems to be gone and that fervor seems to be gone, and that joy\par seems to be gone, and as the original profession of the change was based upon their\par presence, so their absence leads me to doubt my conversion.\par \par I say that the lapse takes place oftenest on the second element of the profession, that\par which relates to an internal change, whose symptoms or evidences are of an\par emotional kind. Hence that song,\par \par \cf2\b\i\f2\fs23 "Where is the blessedness I knew,\par When first I saw the Lord?\par Where is the soul-refreshing view\par Of Jesus and His Word?\par "What peaceful hours I then enjoyed,\par How sweet their memory still;\par But now I find an aching void\par The world can never fill."\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 Now this text has to do with the question of falling away. The Apostle Paul, on his\par way through Asia Minor, in a very disappointing way to himself, was taken very ill,\par and while suffering great bodily illness and from the interruption to his journey, he\par commenced to preach in Galatia, and he preached so as to establish quite a number\par of churches, the churches of Galatia. And he was astounded at the warm reception\par of the gospel and how gladly the people heard it; how they stood and listened to\par every word.\par \par And he held up before them as a plan of salvation a tragedy, Jesus Christ on the\par cross, and he pointed to them the blood that flowed from the veins of the dying Son\par of God as the basis of eternal life. He pointed them out a salvation which was by\par grace through faith, and assured them that faith in that dying Redeemer would bring\par them internal evidences of peace and rest and joy, and they had it.\par \par Now, Paul went on his journey and soon word came that there had been a fearful\par lapse all over that section of country. They had turned away from that gospel which\par he had preached unto them, of salvation by grace through faith, of salvation through\par the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had turned away from that and had taken\par up the Old Testament ceremonies as a basis of salvation. Now this provokes his\par letter and this brings out his question, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you\par \'85 before whose eyes Jesus Christ was set forth evidently, crucified, among you?"\par Notice that to change from the gospel that he preached to them to the ritualism that\par they adopted after he left, was a marvel to him. He says, "I marvel; it is a wonder to\par me; it is a phenomenon. I marvel that you should so soon be removed from the\par gospel which was preached unto you unto another gospel which is not a gospel." He\par says it was not only a marvel, but it was a folly: "O foolish Galatians!" There was\par something irrational and illogical in it.\par \par Now let us very briefly consider the elements of the folly. What are the things that\par made it an extremely illogical and irrational thing to do? First, he says, "You are\par fallen from grace. I presented unto you a plan of salvation by grace and not of\par works. It comes from the favor and mercy of God. And now you have turned back\par to a system of salvation by works. That is foolish. You don't commence with grace\par and end in works."\par \par Not only this, but he says, "When I preached unto you salvation by grace you\par received the Spirit. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the\par hearing of faith? And if you receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith then let me ask\par you, what is the reason that you should go back to the works of the law that never\par could confer the Spirit? It is unreasonable. It indicates that you are fools to think that\par you could commence in the Spirit and make yourselves perfect in the flesh. It would\par be as if you had commenced to fly and then turned back to crawl."\par \par He says it is foolish in that it is the voluntary surrender of freedom for bondage. "You\par have replaced a yoke on you your fathers could not bear and which no man was\par ever able to bear. You were freed from that yoke, and now, when I left you as free\par men, shouting and rejoicing in the glory of that freedom, I hear that you have\par voluntarily put on yourselves the chains of bondage again. It is wonderful that men\par would do that. It is foolish that they would do it. Not only does the folly consist in\par this, but you have gone back from the older covenant of God to the younger. That\par covenant of grace which antedated the giving of the law, that covenant of grace\par which reaches back to the Garden of Eden, you have laid aside, and have left\par Calvary to stand under Mount Sinai. It is foolishness.\par \par "Not only this, but you have given up the estate of sons in order to go back and be\par servants, to be under tutors. Those ceremonial requirements served their purpose in\par their day and time. They were to he kept up, even by those who saw through them,\par and had true faith, until the object of faith should come, the Lord Jesus Christ." For\par Paul says in the context: "The law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might\par be justified by faith. But after that faith is come (i.e., Jesus, the object of faith) we are\par no longer under a schoolmaster (i.e., of types and shadows)." Then, indeed, "the\par heir" being a child, "differed nothing from a servant \i\f3 but \i0\f0 was under tutors and\par governors." But now to go back and observe the days and months, and new moons\par and seasons and years, that pertain to a ceremony of types and shadows, after the\par Substance has come, is profound folly and stupidity.\par \par Not only this, but your folly is manifest in the waste of your sufferings. You suffered a\par great many things in order to believe in Jesus, Christ as your Savior. It was not\par popular. You were persecuted for becoming Christians. All that suffering was in vain,\par if your present course is the right course.\par \par Finally he said their folly consisted in this: If your object in going back to that\par practical and personal plan for salvation is to secure practical and personal\par righteousness, then you have made yourselves bigger fools than in the other\par particular. Perfect righteousness is only to be attained by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus\par Christ. But if you want to be more nearly conformed to the Ten Commandments in\par your own actual life, you can do this more readily by starting from the standpoint of a\par regenerated nature than you can by any covenant of works.\par \par The idea prevails even in this time, as is evidenced by an evangelist calling upon a\par congregation to leave the gospel of Jesus Christ and go back and stand upon the Ten\par Commandments. If you want to rightly perform the Ten Commandments the best\par and only way for you to keep them is after your souls have been regenerated by\par God's Spirit, and after your sins have been washed away in His blood. First, make\par the tree good.\par \par Now all this is introductory to my main question. Here is a phenomenon, and it is not\par an extraordinary one, but an ordinary one; it happens every day; it happens right\par here in this congregation; it happens after any meeting anywhere and by whomsoever\par held. You see people who profess to be Christians, and they give credible evidences\par that they are Christians, and who ultimately prove to be Christians, who yet\par temporarily fall away and seem to, seek other methods.\par \par I surmise that some of these people in this case were genuinely converted. All of the\par professions made by these Galatians were not false professions. Therefore you have\par to assume that genuine Christians who were led to Christ by Paul's preaching did\par lapse from that profession and go back to seeking peace of mind through a different\par method.\par \par Now my question is: How do you account for such a phenomenon? An effect is\par bound to have a cause. If you see only one incident of a strange kind, and that is an\par isolated case, you are not especially called upon to explain it. But if you see in a\par whole province, like Galatia, a wide-spread profession of religion, and then in a very\par short space of time you see a lapse that corresponds in magnitude with the original\par profession - you see men by the' multitude doing things that are so utterly stupid\par and irrational and illogical that it marks them as fools, how do you account for it?\par Hence Paul's question: "Who hath bewitched you?" I tried for a long time to get rid\par of that word, \i\f3 bewitched, \i0\f0 but there it stands, and it means the same thing in the\par Greek as it means in the English. It means an irresistible spell cast upon one by\par another, what is called "smiting with the eye." It means bewitched in the old\par fashioned sense of that word. It means that a power had intervened, casting an\par irresistible spell over the minds of these people. And this question tries to find \i\f3 him!\par \i0\f0 "\i\f3 Who \i0\f0 hath bewitched you?" \i\f3 Who \i0\f0 hath done it? Here is a wizard's work. Where is\par the \i\f3 wizard? \i0\f0 Here is the witchcraft. Where is the \i\f3 witch? \i0\f0 Who is it?\par \par Some of you were startled two Sundays ago when I stated that the presence of the\par Lord Jesus Christ could be as sensibly felt and realized as could the presence of a\par friend to whom you were talking. Now I say to you that there is another presence\par which can be as vividly and as sensibly felt as any earthly presence can be realized\par and felt. I stop at no halfway explanations. I go for a solution of the problem to the\par father of witchcraft, the devil, and I say that this lapsing work in Galatia, was the\par work of the devil; that a hallucination was cast over the minds of the people. Such\par folly is not otherwise explicable. Such consequences cannot otherwise find an\par adequate cause.\par \par "Who hath \i\f3 bewitched you?\i0\f0 " Why, I venture to say that you older Christians have\par almost unconsciously used the very words of the Apostle Paul in looking at some\par case or a profession of religion, where there had been a speedy lapse: "I marvel! It\par astonishes me! How is it to be accounted for?" You say, "Why, I sat there and\par heard that young man tell about God's dealings with his soul. I saw the tears roll\par down his face. I felt the tremor in his tone, the vibration of intense feeling in every\par expression that fell from his lips, and I marvel that he is so soon removed. What on\par earth is the explanation of it?"\par \par When you go home today read Webster's definition of "bewitched," and when you\par get the Greek word and in all of the best lexicons read the definition there, and you\par will see that this means here just what it says. Who hath cast a spell of fascination, an\par irresistible spell, over you, that you should do a thing so incredibly foolish as that\par which you have done?\par \par Every intelligent man is bound to take notice of marked phenomena that occur\par around him; especially is he bound to notice such things as I have just told you. Now\par you are also bound to account for them, and your explanation must be\par commensurate with the fact. But I defy any man to give an explanation of many of\par the lapses from a profession of faith in Jesus Christ except upon the hypothesis of a\par devil.\par \par Incidentally, this leads to a cognate thought. There is here in Texas some preaching\par of a kind, as expressed in the last Baptist Herald. I quote that to bring out the\par thought. The writer of an article says, "There are in Texas two families of the\par Baptists, the assurance-family and the anti-assurance-family." He closes his article\par with this tremendous statement: "These two families cannot stand together on earth\par or in heaven; in this world or in the world to come."\par \par If he would read the Philadelphia Confession of Faith or the New Hampshire\par Confession of Faith, he would very easily see that at least his part of the family is not\par Baptistic.\par \par But what I want to say is this: Suppose such a theory as he advocates was applied to\par this case of these Galatians. Here is a vast number of people that with remarkable\par evidence of genuineness make a profession of faith. Now here is a sudden lapse and\par they go back for a while at least from a plan of salvation by grace to a plan of\par salvation by works. They go back from a commencement in the spirit to a\par consummation in the flesh. They go back from a state of spiritual freedom and seem\par to prefer a state of spiritual bondage. They turn their backs upon the splendid light of\par the New Testament and seek to hide themselves in the mists and shadows of Old\par Testament times. And you want to account for that fact. According to his theory\par none of them were ever converted. In that case there was no necessity for\par bewitching to take them back. There was no room for marvelings or astonishment.\par There was no phenomenon at all. But Paul does not treat the case that way.\par \par It shows this, that when one is converted, he is not a full grown Christian; that when\par one is regenerated he is just a child in Christ Jesus, just a baby, and that this babe\par must be developed into spiritual manhood or womanhood, and it is in the power of\par an enemy, where the means of spiritual growth and development are neglected, to\par cast a spell over the mind of that babe in Christ. Such an explanation harmonizes\par with Paul's effort is restore them and with all our own observations of the facts\par concerning religious meetings.\par \par Now, I have very carefully avoided today discussing the question of a permanent\par lapse from a true profession of faith in Christ. That is outside of the subject before\par me, and you know well enough what would be my reply to such a question as that. I\par am just taking a large group of professions, such as are made in ordinary meetings,\par and I am calling your attention to the fact that a considerable number of these lapse\par after the meeting is over, and that not all those who lapse are restored in the next\par meeting, and that not all of those who are restored in the next meeting are restored in\par the third meeting, and that each sifting of restoration eliminates some of the original\par number who are eliminated forever. They never do come back. Those that never do\par come back, I am not discussing at all; but I am discussing those who do come back,\par who are restored, and who afterwards show that the root of the matter was in them;\par that they were, when they professed originally, God's children \f1\'be \f0 God's children for\par a while under an eclipse, under a spell. An enemy had come in and seduced them for\par the time being from the beauty and holiness and simplicity of the plan of salvation in\par Jesus Christ. That is the class I am talking about.\par \par The conclusion of it all is just this: That our people have managed, by some sort of\par intellectual legerdemain, to sidetrack out of the sight of human consideration one of\par the mightiest factors in human life. I mean the devil, not thinking of him as a\par personality, not thinking of him as once an angel of light, not thinking of him as having\par power, where a Christian is unwary, to bewitch him, to cast a spell Aver him, to lead\par him temporarily from the truth.\par \par I am afraid that I cannot get quite close enough to you the thought that I am\par endeavoring to impress upon you, and in order to do it, I will tell you a dream.\par Understand, it is just a dream. I am not telling it as Scripture. The sole object of the\par dream is to be an illustration of a thought. I had this vivid dream. I dreamed that I\par was on the cone of a vast mountain range, back of which was a higher cone, whose\par summit was lost in the clouds of heaven, and looking down from the edge of that\par mountain range was no horizon. In my dream, I tried to see a horizon. I could not\par see it. It was ever and forever a stretching away of space without a boundary, While\par sleeping I seemed to hear a voice which said, "Open your eyes and see from what\par you have been guarded." I opened my eyes. I saw nothing. I kept looking all around\par seeing nothing but feeling a presence. At last a shape outlined itself, and if a painter\par could paint that shape as I saw it I think he would win immortality. It was a shape,\par something human-like, whose height could not even be guessed at. It seemed to be\par of porcelain, translucent but not transparent. But even in that translucent state there\par seemed to be a hint of having once been transparent, and also a hint that it would\par ultimately be entirely opaque. In other words, it had a prophecy of becoming darker\par and denser, as well as a memory of having been brighter and purer. It was the most\par beautiful form I ever saw. As my eye went up and up the symmetry of that strange\par figure, I saw the eye looking at me sideways, and it was in the eye that the thought of\par the devil came into my mind. It was the eye of despair, the eye of malice, the eye of\par cunning, the eye of undying hate, the eye of the murderer. It all flashed into my very\par soul from just one glance of that eye as I shivered that this was what the voice meant\par when it said, "Wake up and see from what you have been guarded." The basilisk\par gleam of that eye made the blood run cold. The look seemed to say, "I would\par destroy you, if I were not hindered."\par \par Now, that was just a dream, nothing but a dream, but it serves as an illustration; that\par just as sure as there can be a presence of God that we can feel, so there can be a\par presence of the devil that can influence us; so there can be a power of an evil one\par that can cast a spell over the mind and cause the subject of the spell to do irrational,\par illogical and foolish things.\par \par O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, you who saw Christ on the cross; you\par who received the Spirit; you whose hearts have been made to throb and dilate with\par the internal presence of the divine consolation? O Christians, what can be the power\par that could in a short while, sidetrack you to go grovelling in the dust again?\par Oftentimes I have seen joyous young Christians, oh, how happy, how precious the\par light in their faces, how inexpressibly sweet the melody in their hearts! How every\par old Christian in the house would have his heart. melted when some dear loved one\par for whom he had prayed, for whom he had labored, would stand up and say, "I have\par found favor, and my heart is glad and there is peace in my soul." O, the joy of it!\par And then, maybe in a month, in one short month: \f1\'be \f0 O, the marvel of it the marvel of\par it to have to say, "Where is the blessedness you spoke of? Where is the soulrefreshing\par view of Jesus and His Word?" Somebody has intervened. Some power\par has come in here and eclipsed the bright day and made it night.\par \par The Apostle Peter says, "Beware of the devil." The Apostle Paul admonishes\par Christians to beware of the devil. The Lord Jesus Christ admonishes Christians to\par beware of the devil. He is back of all the sinister instrumentalities that are employed\par to weaken the usefulness, to dim the light of hope, to minimize the preciousness of\par the peace which you had when you professed that you were a child of God. Your\par war is not against flesh and blood.\par \par Now, you may talk about the weakness of the flesh. There is a good deal in that. We\par have in our members a law that wars against the law of our minds. We know that.\par But there is a force so much higher than this that when you go to think of this higher\par force you scarcely mention the other. We rear not against flesh and blood, but\par against principalities and powers in high places.\par \par There is a Satanic, a diabolical malice that seeks to worry the child of God, to\par handicap him in his usefulness, to throw a spell over him, to have siren songs divert\par him from the path of his life, to lead him away where he will live unheeding the boom\par of the artillery of the great war that is going on, not seeing the dark clouds that are\par gathering over him, and the bright vistas that are opening up to brighter and heavenly\par light. It takes a spell like that to account for the fact.\par \par Now you can understand in the light of Paul's question the earnestness of those old\par Puritans on the subject of witchcraft. They were wrong, as they dealt with the\par subject, but under the phenomena of that day, and under similar phenomena in the\par Old Testament days, there is a stupendous truth without which such things would\par never have marred the fair page of American history as the witchcraft days in New\par England.\par \par Who hath bewitched you? and you? and you? I am inquiring for the wizards. I am\par looking for the witch. I am not looking at the spell itself. I am not looking at the web\par of the spider, but where is the spider? Where is the one that wove the web? Who\par hath bewitched you? Now, do you go home and say right down to the very depths\par of your heart, "There is a devil, and he goeth about and he seeketh evil, and the\par track of his march can be traced just as plainly in the records of the past as you can\par trace the hand of God in history."\par \par You can stand in the ashes of ancient cities, and look where a broken column falls\par and mingles together in historic dust, and you say, "Surely I can read the handwriting\par of God in history." And I will stand in these same ruins and I will say, "Surely I can\par read the handwriting of the devil in history."\par \par Are any of you today feeling the power of this old song,\par \par \cf2\b\i\f2\fs23 "Where is the blessedness I knew,\par When first I saw the Lord?"\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 O, thou bewitched Christian, let me ask you to go back to the Spirit and not trust in\par the flesh to consummate the Spirit. As it was salvation by faith in Christ that gave you\par that spiritual evidence, so it will be the cross of Christ, lifted up all the time, that will\par give you the continued life that is to be manifested by your conduct here in this\par world.\par \par There was a devil that worked in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the\par magistrates said, "Who hath bewitched these people?" and they made an inquisition\par for the witch and left out the wizard.\par \par It is the object of this sermon today to call your attention to the devil. It is the\par purpose of this sermon to impress upon your minds today that there is a power, not\par flesh and blood, that will walk around you, and consider you, as he walked around\par Job and considered him, and that your eyes ought to be opened to it, and that the\par consciousness of that presence ought at all times to make you desire to feel a\par nearness to God and reliance upon the divine help.\cf0\f4\fs20\par } : u04-THE BEWITCHING POWER OF SATAN{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generatpndec{\pntxta.}} \fi-360\li360\tx360\cf1\f0\fs32 THE WAY OF CAIN\par \pard\par \cf2\fs24 TEXT: Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran\par greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying\par of Core. - \cf1\ul Jud_1:11\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 The author of this letter was a half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, as was also\par James, author of another New Testament letter. In His lifetime the half brothers of\par our Lord did not believe on Him as the Savior, but were converted by the cross and\par the resurrection and later became very prominent in the church. Paul refers to them\par and their standing. One of them became the pastor of the First Church at Jerusalem,\par and presided at the famous conference recorded in Acts 15; the other is the author\par of this letter.\par \par The object of the letter is thus stated: "When I was giving all diligence, to write unto\par you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you\par that you should contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the\par saints." The letter then is an exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith which was\par once delivered unto the saints.\par \par The occasion of it is thus stated: "There are certain men crept in unawares who were\par before ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord\par into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ." Mark\par well this occasion. There had crept into the church men who denied not merely the\par divinity of Jesus Christ, but the necessity of the death of Jesus Christ as the ground of\par redemption.\par \par Now as the author of this letter had obtained his salvation through faith, excited not\par by the life but by the death of our Lord, as he himself found salvation in Jesus Christ\par dying upon the cross, he regarded that as the faith once delivered to the saints, and\par held it needful that he should himself contend earnestly for it and exhort others to like\par contention, evidently regarding it as fundamental and vital, in both its doctrinal and\par practical form. It was treason to deny His divinity and His sacrificial purchase-it was\par slander and sacrilege to turn this grace into lasciviousness.\par \par But note particularly that to deny the divine purchase as a doctrine, or to wrest its\par grace into an excuse for lawlessness, is here called "going in the way of Cain." The\par passage, therefore, flashes great light upon the brief and obscure Old Testament\par record of Cain. In this light we see the life and sin and ruin of Cain, and by contrast,\par the life and righteousness and glory of Abel. It is first of all worthy of remark, that\par Jude's comment makes the Genesis account of Cain and Abel a simple, straightforward\par historical transaction. Indeed it seems impossible to credit any man with any\par proper respect for the New Testament who persists in regarding the book of\par Genesis as an allegory, myth or poetry.\par \par The New Testament treats Cain and Abel as real persons, actually doing what is\par attributed to them in the Genesis narration. They were sons of Adam and Eve, the\par first human pair. They did, according to revealed law, come up before God with\par offerings. There must have been a law prescribing it, obedience to which was\par righteousness. One offering was accepted \f1\'be \f0 the other rejected. God himself\par discriminated and testified. Because of the divine discrimination, Cain was\par exceedingly angry. His anger burned also against his brother, even unto murder.\par I suppose there were many children and grandchildren at this time-thousands,\par doubtless; there could have been easily half a million \f1\'be \f0 and this transaction made\par such a solemn impression that in the fifth generation after, we find a descendant of\par Cain quoting what God says about Cain: that whosoever slew Cain should be\par avenged seven-fold. And this wicked man was drawing a deduction from it. His\par deduction was that if God would avenge seven-fold one who slew Cain, who\par without provocation killed his brother, then He ought to avenge seventy-fold\par anybody that slew him for killing one who had grievously injured him, and wounded\par and bruised him. That was the argument of Lamech.\par \par The first impression then that ought to be received by our minds is, that the account\par in Genesis is a simple, historical transaction, or you simply reject both Testaments.\par You adopt an arbitrary method of interpreting the Bible which has no fixed\par boundaries. Turn away from the simple, straightforward story of fact and begin to\par treat it as legend or poetry, and you break down all barriers in your treatment of the\par Bible, and leave nothing certain concerning anything that is in it. It is infidelity to treat\par the Bible that way, even though the man be president of a theological seminary.\par The next thing necessary to an understanding of this transaction is what is called the\par right of primogeniture. It has had a great deal of influence in this world. There is\par scarcely a nation upon the face of the earth but has today the impress of the ancient\par law of primogeniture. By it kings rule and dynasties are established.\par \par To get at it a little more clearly, in the early days of the world's history, in what is\par called the patriarchal dispensation, the first-born was the head of the house. All\par authority was vested in him. He was, first, the ruler, just as Abraham was ruler over\par all his household. The second point is that by the right of birth he was the priest of\par the family. It became him to make the offerings for the family. The book of Job refers\par to patriarchal times, and Job says that he made an offering for his children lest even\par unthoughtedly they should have committed a sin against God. The power of ruling\par men, the power lodged in the priesthood, for the head of the family was both head\par and priest and ruler, was so great a power that some of the most remarkable\par struggles mentioned in the Bible have reference to this primogeniture-business.\par What was the trouble between Ishmael and Isaac but this? Hagar fondly imagined\par that Ishmael should have the right of primogeniture, and when Isaac was born, born\par of the true wife and not the bondwoman, and his birthday celebrated as being the\par birthday of one who was the head of the house and th e future priest, just as a king\par celebrated the birth of the prince who is to succeed him, Ishmael mocked at the\par whole proceeding, and persecuted the infant child whose title to the primogeniture\par was thus publicly recognized.\par \par You remember the story of Jacob and Esau. What was the issue between them?\par They were twins. The issue was, who should have the right of primogeniture? Who\par should be the head of the house? Who should have the right to rule? Who should be\par the pri est of the family? Esau irreverently sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.\par God, however, had predetermined that the birthright should vest in Jacob and not in\par Esau.\par \par This brings us to the third and greatest point involved in it. The original significance of\par the primogeniture was this. That in that line the seed of the woman to bruise the\par serpent's head should come, and this office became important on account of the\par expectation that any firstborn son might be the one appointed of God for the\par redemption of the world, and he was to have sovereignty, not only over his own\par immediate family, but over the whole world. The seed of the woman should become\par earth's future deliverer and Savior.\par \par I mention one other historical incident to illustrate it. Reuben was the first born of\par Jacob, and the Scriptures show us when, where and how he lost his birthright. By\par that great sin which he committed against his father the birthright was taken away\p ar from Reuben and vested in Judah.\par \par Now let us read again in order to see what the issue was between Cain and Abel:\par "And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the\par process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an\par offering unto the Lord, and Abel, he also brought the firstlings of his flock and of the\par fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering."\par \par Literally, the Lord kindled; as it is implied in other places, he sent down fire to\par consume the offering; or, as it is expressed in the letter to the Hebrews, God\par testified; He tested by fire that this was the right kind of an offering, an offering of the\par firstlings of his flock, an offering which pointed to the redemption that should come\par from the blood of the Lamb. "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than\par Cain." "But unto Cain and his offering He had not respect."\par \par There were the two offerings. Fire was burning that Abel made. The offering of Cain\par was disregarded. He stood there and looked at it. Why was he angered? Why did\par his countenance fall? Let us read the next verse and see: "If thou doest well, shalt\par thou not be accepted?" Or, rendered according to some of the best Hebraists in the\par world: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not have the excellency? That is, shalt thou not\par have the right of primogeniture, and unto thee shall be thy brother's desire and thou\par shalt rule over him."\par \par When God said that to Cain what did He mean? He meant to show Cain that he had\par misconceived what followed from that transaction of God's accepting one and\par rejecting the other. Cain understood the preference for Abel's offering to indicate\par that he had lost the right of primogeniture; that he was not to have the rule over his\par brother; that he was not to be the priest in that family. His countenance fell, and he\par was very angry.\par \par God said to him, "If you do well, you shall not lose this position of rule. If you do\par well, you shall retain the priesthood in your family. And if you do not well, a sinoffering\par lies at the door. You have brought me the fruit of the ground. I have required\par a sin-offering. I have required the firstling of the flock that shall point to the Lamb of\par God that taketh away the sin of the world. Here in the presence of your rejected\par sacrifice, and when your right of primogeniture is hanging in the balance, and is about\par to he taken away from you forever, I show you how it may be retained. Go, bring\par the right offering, and the desire of thy brother shall be unto you, and thou shall rule\par over him."\par \par Cain refused to do it. There had come an eventful time in his history. He had\par determined in his heart that he would not seek the forgiveness of God as a sinner\par whose sins were to be expiated vicariously. What does it mean? It meant that he\par denied the Lord. It meant that he stood as a deist. He denied the promise that the\par seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. He denied that he needed any\par atonement, but he stood upon his own record before God, and not as a sinner at all.\par Now, says Jude, the author of our text, "When I was about to write to you\par concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary that I should exhort you to\par contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." Why? "Certain men have\par crept in unawares that deny the Lord Jesus Christ, that deny the necessity for any\par atonement for sin, and they have gone in the way of Cain." Which shows that there in\par the first family Cain went the way of the deist. Cain denied the necessity of an\par atonement. Cain would not offer of the blood of the firstling of the flock unto God.\par And there was also the way of Abel. By faith in the coming Messiah, in the seed of\par the woman that was to bruise the serpent's head, in the One by whose shed blood\par the remission of sins should come, by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice\par than Cain, and God testified of his gift, and by that sacrifice Abel being dead yet\par speaketh.\par \par Now that we have before us the reason of the hatred of Cain for Abel, to what\par purpose does one read the history of royal families if he fails to note their jealousy of\par each other, and how, when one stands nearest in the line of succession, he becomes\par instantly the object of hate, of stratagem, of every kind of conspiracy? How often\par has the assassin's knife sought to win the way to a place of rule, of power! How, like\par a mounting devil is this ambition to rule, to have supremacy! And when that man\par stood before God's altar and saw the right of primogeniture being wrested from him;\par when, like Reuben, unstable as water, his birthright goes to Judah; when, like Esau,\par irreverent and profane, it was sold for a mess of pottage; when, like Ishmael, the son\par of a bondwoman, that yet coveted it and persecuted him that was born after the\par Spirit, so in this case Cain determined to kill the one that was to have the rule, the\par one that was to be the priest unto God.\par \par We now come to a sad thought. What is it? That whenever a man is out of proper\par relation with God, that man gets out of proper relation with his brother, with his\par fellow men. And I Wish to say here today that no scheme of socialism that leaves\par God out can succeed in its object. Herbert Spencer may write on the subject until his\par pen drops from his pulseless fingers, and John Stuart Mill and other humanitarians\par may attempt to devise their schemes of even justice to our fellow men until Gabriel\par blows the trumpet that announces the judgment, and it will yet always remain true\par that there can be no right feeling toward our fellow men when our feeling toward\par God is lost. Bottomed upon harmony with God is all hope of harmony with our\par fellow men.\par \par Whoever in his heart turns away from the offering of Jesus Christ may seek cheap\par fame by telling how he will work for the amelioration of the human race, but the fact\par remains that into the thinnest air vanish all such vain dreams of benefiting men when\par we reject the gift of God. Cain, being astray from God, hates his brother.\par Mass together the regular and disciplined armies of the Old World; let the million of\par Russia join the million of Prussia, and the million of France and the possible 750,000\par of Italy; add to them the standing army and navy of England; and you never can by\par bayonets coerce humanity. You plant your cannon on a thin crest of a volcano and\par each jar that comes may break the crest and precipitate an eruption that shall sweep\par down every barrier that human might interposes against the excesses of a maddened\par populace. There is no hope for government nor for society when you break the\par bonds that unite to God.\par \par Mark you, how God deals with this man before he is forever rejected. He\par expostulates with him and points out to him how he may retain his high estate. As if\par He said, "I will not send the fire of acceptance upon the mere fruits of the earth when\par you deny the Lord God, who is to purchase your salvation. When you turn away\par from expiation for sin you cannot come into my court. But if you do well you shall\par have the excellency. I will not depose you. The desire of your brother shall be unto\par you, and you shall rule over him. The sin-offering lies at the door."\par \par And see him turn and look upon the firstling of the flock and hesitate in the presence\par of one sacrifice smoking, and one unaccepted, and the whole future of his life resting\par upon his decision: "Shall I bring this lamb and offer it upon the altar and say I am a\par sinner? If I come before God, I come as a sinner. If I come before God I must come\par seeking remission of my sins in the blood of the Lamb that is offered. Or shall I\par thwart God?"\par \par Well, he made his decision. The record says that he told Abel about it. Now imagine\par that conversation! "Abel, God tells me that if I will do like you do \f1\'be \f0 if I will offer a\par lamb I shall not lose my right of primogeniture; I shall be the priest; I shall have rule\par over you. He intimates that if I do not do this you will have the rule over me. Now I\par see a way out of it \f1\'be \f0 I will kill you. When I have smitten you down, how can you\par rule over me? When I have taken your life, how can you enjoy any right of\par primogeniture? Here is a way to evade God's requirements. I will not offer the lamb.\par I will not submit to Abel. I will not be deposed. I will fight for my rights. I will kill the\par usurper who would take my place."\par \par Who told him that? Who suggested that move? "He was of that wicked one." The\par same serpent that beguiled his mother spun his fine web of sophistry around the feet\par and hands of Cain and entangled him in a net of delusion that by a short road of\par murder he could defeat the purposes of God and hold on to his primogeniture. And\par so he rose up against his brother and slew him. Now imagine him dragging him into\par some thicket and washing his hands and saying, "Who is the priest now? Who has\par the rule now? I will go back and make an offering. Who saw me do this? I will go\par back and see if there is another altar to gather the fire of acceptance to my offering."\par So he comes up before the Lord to make his offering by himself. There is just one\par man this time, not two. And he builds his altar, puts his fire on it and from out the\par Shekinah God speaks: "Where is thy brother?"\par \par As has been said by a distinguished minister of South Carolina, "If there was\par anything on this earth that Cain did know it was where his brother was. If there was\par one spot more localized in his brain than any other it was that bloody spot that was\par sucking up his brother's blood.  If there was one place on this earth that never left his\par sight, on which more light blazed than any other, it was the place where the dead\par body of his brother lay."\par \par But listen at him: "I know not." The bold, brazen liar! "I know not where is my\par brother. You have made him head of the house. You have appointed him as my\par priest. Now, am I my brother's keeper?" You see what his object was. His object\par was that when he came to offer again, and not again offering the lamb, wit!h his\par brother being nowhere, and he not being responsible to produce him, God would be\par bound to accept his primogeniture.\par \par And thus are men today, thousands of men, who have just that kind of light; that\par really believe, or at least persuade themselves that they believe, that they can go\par contrary to the plain teaching of God's Word and yet be saved, and that they can\par remove the obstacles out of their way with a high hand. Now let us see if he gained\par the primogeniture". God said to him, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth out to\par me from the ground. You have been a tiller of the ground. Now I tell you that you\par are accursed from the ground. The earth has been made sick with the blood of thy\par brother. That earth shall not yield her fruit to thee. Thou shalt cultivate it in vain. Thou\par thoughtest to usurp the rule and the priesthood. Thou shalt never come into my\par presence again. Thou shalt never establish an altar. Thou shalt be a fugitive. Thou#\par shalt be a wanderer."\par \par See the two thoughts: One fleeing and one wandering; always on the wing; always at\par unrest; never having a fixed habitation, and "my face no more forever shall you see.\par Go out from my presence."\par \par Now let us see what Cain said to that: "My punishment is greater than I can bear.\par Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground. I had been\par making a living as a farmer. Thou hast cursed me from the ground. My brother's\par $ blood on the ground has dried up its fertility toward me, and from thy face shall I be\par hid. I will never be able to pray again; never to go where God dwelt eastward of the\par Garden of Eden between the cherubim and kept the way to the tree of life. Never to\par approach the place where prayer is wont to be made and sacrifice for sin is offered.\par From thy face I shall be hid and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth, and\par it shall come to pass that whosoever findeth me shall sl%ay me."\par \par You remember the tribal law, that if one killed another there was an avenger of\par blood, the next of kin, and that avenger of blood could smite the murderer wherever\par he found him. And there was not yet appointed a city of refuge unto which the\par murderer could fly. And Cain reasoned, "I can never be still. If I lie down at night I\par can hear the barking of the dogs of pursuit. If I rise up in the morning, I shall hear the\par shouts of the huntsmen of man. Wherever I go I& shall expect to see the sword drawn\par to smite me and the avenger on my track, shouting, 'Blood! Blood! Blood!\par Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed!'"\par \par And God says, "No, not that. That does not apply to your case, not your case. No\par need to summon the sheriff when the unpardonable sin is committed. No need to\par invoke the puny arm of human law when God Almighty smites. I will put such a mark\par on you; I will establish such a sign, that the most indig'nant man on the earth that will\par see you will sheath his sword and say, 'Let him go. God hath smitten him. He is in\par the hands of the Almighty. See him fly. See him wander. See the traces of despair in\par his face. See the man that cannot pray, and is not allowed to come into the presence\par of God. Banished forever! Oh, who will attempt to put one drop in the cup of wrath\par that God has mixed and pressed to those pale lips of despair? Let him go. He has\par God's mark on him.'"\par \par ( And as the brand in the French courts fastened upon the flesh the stigma, the\par ineffaceable stigma of shame, that told to every one that looked upon it, "This is a\par convict doomed to the galleys and outcast from men," so this mark of God\par announced, "Whosoever shall attempt to kill Cain, I will avenge his death seven\par fold." Kill him! Why, who would raise a gun to shoot at the rich man in hell? What\par orphan that he ever defrauded, what poor man whose hard labor was unrequited,\par wh)at weak man that he had ground under his tyrannical feet, would come up to the\par precipice of hell and look where the flames wrap him and behold the scorpions\par stinging him and the undying worm devouring him, would shoot at him? He is in the\par hands of God.\par \par I speak to the young people here today, and particularly to the young people who\par are fascinated with the intellectual attainments that have startled the world; who are\par disposed to pay the tribute to mere human genius, and* because a thing is smart,\par because it is well said, because it is grammatical and rhetorical, because it is daring,\par you admire the authors, be their names \f1\'be \f0 Tyndall, Huxley, Spencer, Darwin,\par Ingersoll, or what not, though they deny the Lord Jesus Christ and the necessity for\par an atonement.\par \par O young people, see the first man that went that way! Will you go in the way of\par Cain? I ask you, go and stand where that road forks. See where Abel's feet led to a\par Redee+mer. See where Cain's turned aside to wander in endless despair. Hear him\par cry out, "My punishment is greater that I can bear. Earth has spewed me out of her\par mouth. Man turns away from me. God's face is hid from me. Deep and dark and\par endless hell waits for me. I am accursed from above and below and all around." Oh,\par see the way of Cain! That way whose steps take hold on death and hell. I ask you if\par you want to walk in it.\par \par The brother of Jesus, the brother who himself for ,a while walked in the way of Cain\par and did not believe in a Redeemer, yet who was converted as he looked upon Christ\par as the Lamb of God, with the sins of the world on Him and found Him to be his\par Savior, says, "I exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the\par saints. Beware of those who have crept in unawares and that deny the Lord Jesus\par Christ, and that have gone in the way of Cain. Follow them not. Follow them not."\par \par It may be fashionable, but it is -deadly. It may give you an air, of singularity and\par oddity. It may call forth the plaudits of the-thoughtless and-the foolish and the\par scornful and the ungodly, but it is the way of Cain. It leads down to eternal death.\par Jude, our Lord's brother, piled up image on image in warning, as in the fiery stream\par of exhortation he appealed to men not to take that road. Look at his images; a tree,\par twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ocean foaming out her shame, in vain trying to\par batter d.own the granite barriers with which God stayed her encroachments and said,\par "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther." See these waves dashing out their own\par shame. See yonder brilliant meteor flashing across the sky for a moment and going\par out into darkness; wandering stars, look at them. Clouds without rain; wells without\par water. Oh, walk not in the way of Cain!\par \par I close with this application of the exhortation of Jude: That if you do not wish to be\par a fugitive and a wande/rer, if you do not wish to have God's face hidden from you\par forever, if you do not wish to perish utterly, then do not go that road at all. Count\par these men as the enemies of God and the enemies of their fellow men, that under the\par guise of learning or philosophy would beguile young men to walk in the way of Cain;\par Satan's advocates, Satan's advertisers, Satan's couriers, Satan's panderers. They\par stand at the forks of that road and say, "Young men, walk in the way of Cain. Deny\par th0e Lord Jesus Christ. Deny the necessity of the atonement. Deny that you are a\par sinner. Deny that you need any blood shed for the remission of your sins; walk this\par road."\par \par Now, these men, with. all their high sounding claims, are themselves as blind as a\par bat. Satan has put thick bandages around their eyes. They are the blind leading the\par blind. They pride themselves on the fact that they offer you liberty when they\par themselves are the slaves of corruption. What man in bondag1e can make another one\par free? What slave can confer freedom? The truth of God alone can make you a free\par man in Jesus Christ.\par \par Turn away from them. I tell you their shadows are baleful. Their communications are\par corrupt. Their beguiling came authoritatively from the wicked one himself, and they\par are but the plagiarists of the devil's doctrine when they ask you to walk in the way of\par Cain. They may call it nineteenth century light. It is not light at all, but darkness all\par 2 over. It came from the devil. It was whispered in the ear of Eve. It became the\par guiding influence of Cain and led him to become a fugitive and a wanderer, and it will\par make you a fugitive, and your lips one day will be parted with this despairing cry,\par "My punishment is greater that I can bear."\par \par Oh, may God, in tender mercy to you, lead you to walk where Abel walked, a\par better path. He being dead \i\f2 yet \i0\f0 speaketh. Cold is the corpse where the murderer\par shrouded thee, thou younger brother; all still and pulseless thy dead body lies; but\par Abel spoke, and not only God in heaven heard his voice when it cried to him, but\par ever since that time men hear the voice of Abel: "To the right! To the right! Keep to\par the right! Walk up to the altar of sacrifice, where the blood of the Lamb is shed, and\par heaven's approving fire comes down, and find peace and redemption and remission\par of sins." Oh! hear the voice of Abel! Let us pray.\par \cf0\f3\fs20\par } Ui05-THE WAY OF CAIN{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f3\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard{\pntext\f0 5.\tab}{\*\pn\pnlvlbody\pnf0\pnindent360\pnstart5\5een0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard{\pntext\f0 6.\tab}{\*\pn\pnlvlbody\pnf0\pnindent360\pnstart6\pndec{\pntxta.}} \fi-360\li360\tx360\cf1\f0\fs32 PAUL'S GOSPEL OF JESUS\par \pard\par \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 TEXT: But I went into Arabia. - \cf1\ul Gal_1:17\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 The harmonists are accustomed to place in parallel columns what are called the four\par gospel narratives of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and\par Jo6hn. They ignore the greatest and the completest of the gospels-the Gospel of Paul.\par No harmony of the life and teachings of our Lord may be regarded as at all complete\par that does not place parallel with the other gospels what Paul had handed down of the\par life and teachings of Jesus Christ.\par \par In comparing these different histories of our Lord we are much impressed with the\par way in which the several authors received the information which they impart in their\par respective historie7s. We know that Matthew and John were eye-witnesses, being of\par the twelve, being with our Lord for three years of His earthly life. But Mark was not\par one of the twelve. He can not write as an eye-witness. According to tradition he gets\par his facts mainly from Peter, and hence, it is called the Gospel of Peter by Mark.\par Luke, who was not an eye-witness, in the beginning of his history of our Lord is\par careful to state with what painstaking care he gathered up the historical material from\8par authentic sources and embodied it in his treatise.\par \par The Apostle Paul received his gospel, not as Mark did, from Peter's teachings; he\par did not know the Lord Jesus Christ in the days of His flesh, and hence can not give\par His history as Matthew and John gave it. He does not attempt at all to write a history\par after the method of Luke. But he expressly declares that the gospel which he\par received from our Lord as to its facts and as to its doctrines was by direct revelation\par 9from the risen Lord. No angel, as in the case of the giving of the Law, was the\par medium of communication.\par \par Matthias was nominated by the other apostles to take the place of Judas, and hence,\par instrumentally, men had something to do with his being put into the apostolic office.\par But the Apostle Paul declares that he did not receive his office from men. He did not\par gather it from histories. He was not taught it as you are taught it. But directly,\par immediately, face to face with: God, he received every fact which he records, and\par every doctrine which he teaches.\par \par Our Lord stated to the twelve just before His crucifixion that it was impossible for\par Him to give them a complete revelation, because they were not able to receive it.\par There were many additional things concerning His kingdom that needed to be set\par forth, but they, in their state of mind, were incapable of appreciating and\par understanding the full revelation of God to man. It was not a matter; of accident,\par therefore, but of the divine prevision, that the complete revelation of God's will to\par man should be made through another and independent apostle.\par \par When we read the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, with that text only\par before us, the natural impression is made upon the mind that just as soon as Saul of\par Tarsus was converted he entered into Damascus, and after the three days of\par darkness and his baptism, he straightway commenced to preach in Damascus.  communication of the\par matter of his ministry, but according to human nature as it is, there must be time for\par him to assimilate the new doctrine that burst upon his mind with the suddenness of a\par clap of thunder out of a cloudless sky. He must think through it. He must compare\par this new revelation with that which had seemed to him to be the very perfection of\par Law. No man by sudden wrench, by abrupt transition, passes from one state of life\par into another state of life. He had to r?eceive the discipline from his Master before he\par could go and preach His gospel to others.\par \par But why should he retire into Arabia? He had been, as he tells, a Pharisee of the\par Pharisees. The most sacred event of Jewish history to him was the giving of the law\par on Mount Sinai through the ministration of angels; and the highest embodiment of\par human excellence, in his judgment, was Moses, who received the law and who gave\par it to the chosen people. No name under heaven had been to@ him as the name of\par Moses. The creation of the world itself was regarded as inferior to the giving of the\par Law.\par \par The deluge that swept over the earth in devastating power, was not comparable, in\par his judgment, to the desolation that would follow the infraction of that law upon\par Mount Sinai. He saw it now in all its true relations. He saw it as a covenant to which\par there were two parties \f2\'be \f0 God upon the first part and the children of Israel as a\par nation upon the Asecond part, and they jointly and severally entered into this covenant,\par which was announced upon Mount Sinai. This law was not merely a standard of\par right. It was to them the way of life. They took on themselves its obligations. They\par admitted that they forfeited its privileges and incurred its penal censure, subjecting\par themselves to all of the depths of its condemnation, if they failed by one jot or tittle to\par observe all the things that are written in the law to do.\par \par Now,B this man, more than any other man of his own or any preceding or succeeding\par age, was profoundly convinced that Arabia, on Mount Sinai, while that mountain\par trembled and smoked and was illumined by the flashes of lightning accompanying the\par storm that rocked the entire plain, was the scene of earth's greatest transaction.\par I say that Mount Sinai was to him the most sacred spot on earth. And if an entirely\par new conception is to enter into his mind; if an entirely new way of life is to Cbe\par presented, not merely for his acceptance, but that he might preach it to the whole\par world; if a way of life that disregarded the national distinctions established at Mount\par Sinai; a way of life that leaps over all barriers of race and caste and custom and age\par and sex and condition, and touches the whole wide world upon the plane of its\par simple humanity-if that way of life was to be preached, the place for him to learn was\par at Mount Sinai.\par \par We hear him saying, "Oh! muDst I never again preach Moses? Must I go before my\par own people and tear down the sacred wall of partition that shut out the Gentile world\par from them, and on whose top \i\f3 they \i0\f0 had delighted to stand, wrapping the mantle of\par their exclusiveness about them, and looking down with scorn upon the 'Gentile dogs'\par upon the outside? If I must do this, let me go to the very place where the angels\par came, where Israel stood before God. Let me listen again to the lingering echoes of\par Ethe mighty thunderings of that eventful day. Let my imagination bring up before me as\par a living thing the enormous events of that great transaction. And let the Lord Jesus\par Christ tell me what it all meant "What is the significance of Mount Sinai? What means\par the law? Wherefore serveth the law? If I must go out and preach a new gospel that\par overturns every cherished and fond recollection of my heart, let me see it plainly; let\par me think it through, and then I will be prepared to preachF."\par \par I am just as sure as of my own existence that the Apostle Paul could not, three days\par after his conversion, have set forth the gospel which he afterwards preached with so\par much power. There must be a place for the change. There must be a revelation of\par the matter which he is, to present to the world.\par \par When we read through this letter to the Galatians, he tells us some of the lessons that\par he learned there in Arabia: that Mount Sinai corresponds to Hagar the bondwomaGn,\par and that it gendereth to bondage as her condition gave bondage to her children, and\par that it answereth to the Jerusalem which now is - that Jerusalem in which he had\par gloried, that Jerusalem whose feasts he had attended, and in whose celebration he\par had rejoiced, was even then under the impending doom pronounced upon it by the\par Son of God.\par \par He learned further, that within the lifetime of a man not one stone of its temple would\par stand upon another; its streets would beH ensanguined with the blood of a million of its\par citizens; desolation would come upon it without any mitigation for age after age; how\par long he himself could not exactly tell., But he saw all that under Mount Sinai, and that\par what had seemed to him to be the very perfection of religion was a system designed\par of God as a transitory matter, as educational in its nature in order to accomplish\par certain particular things.\par \par It was added because of transgressions; that is, that writIten law on Mount Sinai was\par given in order to discover sin, and not merely to discover it, but to develop it, to\par incite it, to bring out whatever latent force there was in it, lest people looking at the\par germ only-not considering the extent if its potentiality \f2\'be \f0 might not be aware of the\par extremes to which it would go when developed to its logical ends and consequences;\par in order that sin, under the light of the law, might show itself to be not some innocent\par and beautifJul thing, but uncoil and stretch out its long serpentine length, and grow to\par its full stature and secrete its poison under the fangs of the serpent and glitter in the\par basilisk eye of that snake, and when it stood out before men in all of its beastly and\par ghastly and horrible and devilish form, it would be seen to be sin and exceedingly\par sinful.\par \par That was the object of the law: to discover sin, to develop it, and then to condemn it;\par to pronounce sentence upon it. There was Kno way of life in it. It gendered to\par bondage. It gendered to death. What a message to put into this man's mouth! What\par a message to carry back to Jerusalem! To say that this Holy City, with all of its\par services, with its sacred temple, with its feasts and its ceremonies, with its imposing\par ritual, with its offering up of sacrifices, with its incense going up like clouds to the\par sky-that the Holy City, the whole of it, and in its most sacred relations, is no more\par than Hagar, the bLondwoman, gendering to bondage, and that it must be cast out, and\par then it can net bring by any certificate of its own excellence one single child into the\par true covenant of God - not one.\par \par There never was such a battle fought in the world as Paul fought on that subject.\par There were those that still clung to the flesh, and now they prided themselves that\par \i\f3 they \i0\f0 had seen the Lord in the days of His flesh! We hear them saying, "We talked\par with Jesus. We ate with JesMus. We handled Jesus. We had a personal acquaintance\par with the Son of God as He walked by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, as He\par traveled through the villages and cities of Samaria, as He stood upon the streets of\par Jerusalem, and in its Holy Temple. And here, according to the flesh, is His brother\par James. Now because he is the brother of the Lord let us make him the bishop of the\par church at Jerusalem. Let us make him the first pastor in Christianity, and let his be the\par deciding Nvoice in any conference concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ."\par \par In my judgment there never was a greater danger in the young and rising Christianity\par than from the pastorate of James at Jerusalem \f2\'be \f0 that James who was the brother of\par our Lord according to the flesh, and \i\f3 who \i0\f0 never did, to the end of his life, get\par completely out of the Jewish swaddling clothes that wrapped him, \i\f3 who \i0\f0 never did see\par the height of the divine glory of the gospel of hOis Divine Brother, whom he had never\par recognized as the Son of God until after His resurrection from the dead.\par \par Now Paul must meet those people and say to them, "I did not know Jesus according\par to His flesh, and if I had known Him I would forget it. I would put it out of my mind.\par Henceforth I would no longer know Him according to the flesh. But I have seen my\par risen Lord. I have seen my glorified Redeemer. I have seen Him no longer with the\par limitations of Jewish blood, but Pas crowned King of kings and Lord of lords, and I\par have received from Him direct the gospel which I preach unto you."\par \par "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? What wizard with his enchantments\par has been able to beguile and seduce you so soon from the true gospel of the Son of\par God, to induce in you desire to stand again under Mount Sinai and cower there as\par bondmen under a law which can discover and condemn sin, but cannot blot out sin?\par O foolish Galatians! I marvel, IQ marvel that so soon you are turned away."\par \par An invasion swept from Gaul, what we now call France, over into Rome, led by\par Brennus, and captured the city, and later another tribe of this mercurial population\par crossed the Hellespont into Asia, and there established themselves as a permanent\par power for many ages; the same people, exactly, from which the Irish and Welsh of\par the present day are descended; Celts, Gauls, Galatians, quick of apprehension, lively\par in imagination, soonR to see a thing, rapidly to adopt it, and just as speedily to turn\par away from it. O ye unstable people! Ye mercurial population, before whose eyes\par Jesus Christ was set forth as evidently crucified before you, why do you turn back to\par the obsolete and beguiling elements of the world?\par \par The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant for man as man, for the barbarian, for the\par Scythian, for the cultured Greek, for the Roman, for the Jew, for all men. Tear down\par the walls of the partition tShat separates the nations and scatter its dust, and bring the\par long parted, long alienated members of the family of man into one commonwealth of\par Jesus Christ, and on one broad plane of humanity. That was Paul's mission.\par He says, "Now, I did not learn it from Peter. He never had opportunity to tell me\par that. I never saw him until three years after my conversion. I was only a fortnight in\par Jerusalem with him at that time. I did not then go up to get any information from him.\par I wanTted recognition on the part of the apostles in Jerusalem, of my gospel and my\par mission, but not a shred of its authority, not one fact of its history, not one item of its\par doctrine, came to me through any of them. I got it direct from my Lord. I went to\par Arabia."\par \par Elijah went there once. He went to that mountain once to study its problems, and I\par am inclined to think our Lord Jesus Christ went to that mountain; that He, too,\par looked upon the mountain, when He went into the wiUlderness to be tempted of the\par devil, and from that mountain in Arabia, that stood for the Mosaic covenant, our\par Lord Jesus Christ came back to preach an entirely new gospel.\par \par Now, watch this man when he comes back from his retirement. There is no longer\par any hesitation. He knows what he is going to preach. He has been three years\par learning it. He has been receiving revelation after revelation. It was just as clearly\par mapped out to his mind on his return from Arabia as it wasV at any later period of his\par life. You see it in the first letters that he wrote to the Thessalonians, and then to the\par Corinthians, and then next in order comes this letter, the letter to the Galatians, which\par Martin Luther made the very sword of the Spirit in bringing about the Reformation in\par Germany; and then immediately followed his letter to the Romans, in which he\par embodied the full plan of the salvation which he preached in all of its departments\par and respective relations. WBut it was a terrible battle.\par \par He finds when he comes to Jerusalem a chilling reception. Only after Barnabas\par relates his Christian experience is Paul permitted to go in and out among them. And\par there in the temple his Lord speaks to him and says, "This is not thy place. I send\par thee far hence to the Gentiles. You must carry my gospel to the-nations that have\par never heard this Word, to all of the outlying populations of the earth, and as you go\par you must tell them who is JesuXs. He is God manifest in the flesh; though veiled in the\par flesh, authenticated by the Spirit; though veiled in the flesh, recognized by the angels;\par though veiled in the flesh, preached unto the nations; and though veiled in the flesh,\par believed on in the world, and finally received up into glory." "Yet have I set my King\par upon the holy hill of Zion." 'The Lord saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,\par until I make thine enemies thy footstool."\par \par He tells them that he caYme to preach that Jesus of Nazareth was the revelation of the\par Father; that He was the express image of His person; that He was the radiation of\par His glory; and that by Him the world was created, and that because He\par condescended to be a bondman, stooped from high heaven to the slavery of earth\par and became obedient unto death, that God had highly exalted Him and given Him a\par name above every other name. That at the name of Jesus every intelligence should\par bow, whether Jew or GentilZe, on earth; whether demons in the pit or angels in\par heaven through whom came the ministering of the law. Every intelligence of the earth\par should bow to Jesus of Nazareth as King of kings and Lord of lords.\par \par I never got the right conception of the gospel of Jesus Christ until I studied Paul's life\par and teachings of Jesus. Then I understood why it was that He looked upon the\par disciples with such sadness, and complained of blindness, and hardness and\par slowness of heart to belie[ve, making it impossible for Him to set forth the gospel in\par its fullness and in its power and in its glory.\par \par We see Paul pass to Antioch, and there, under his ministrations, for the first time\par after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an impression was made upon the outside\par world in a certain direction. I am sure that many people miss seeing how much there\par is in the fact that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.\par \par I say that in Jerusalem Christ's peop\le never could have been called Christiansnever,\par because under the leadership of James they kept up the observance of all the\par temple laws. Under the leadership of James, Christianity was but a Jewish sect, only\par one of its many schools. But over yonder where Paul went, over into Antioch, the\par world on the outside saw a strange thing by watching the followers of Paul and\par Barnabas. They said, "There is a difference between the Jews and these people."\par And the disciples were called] Christians first at Antioch.\par \par Now, if they had been at Jerusalem, they would not have eaten with the Gentiles.\par There would have been nothing in their external observances that would have\par created any impression that they were anything but a sect of the Jews.\par \par But look! Here at Antioch is a man who has never been circumcised; he has never\par even been a proselyte of the gate, much less a proselyte of righteousness, and by the\par power of God he has been converted, and Paul^ admits him into the kingdom of\par heaven, without submitting to one Jewish ceremony, and then sits down at the table\par and eats with him. And just look at them there when they gather and have their love\par feast! There they all are eating together their common meal, and when they come up\par to the Lord's table, every member of that Antioch church, without regard to\par nationality, partakes in common fellowship of that memorial or ordinance of our Lord\par Jesus Christ, and those descendants o_f the kingdom of Antiochus say, "These are\par not Jews." These outside people say, "These are Christians. Here is something\par different from anything we have ever seen before in the world."\par \par And that very difference evoked the sleeping prejudices at Jerusalem, and\par deputations came down and wanted to undo the work that had been done, and\par make these Christians just Christian Jews. They wanted \f2\'be \f0 and as well might they\par have attempted to dam up the Nile with bulrushes-th`ey wanted to run the great,\par broad current of eternal life for all men into a narrow Jewish channel.\par \par And Paul stood there and said, "You can't do this. I have seen the Lord. I was at\par school under Him for three years. I stood under the Mount Sinai, which once rocked\par with the presence of the angels and thundered with the storm of that great\par enunciation, and I tell you the law was transitory. The law was but an educator. The\par law was but a slave to lead you to Christ, and ina Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor\par Greek, neither male nor female, neither Scythian, bond, nor free, but you are all one\par in Jesus Christ."\par \par And that terrible battle followed, as recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts, and\par James, the brother of our Lord, and John and Peter, the apostles, acknowledged\par that Paul had received an independent gospel, and was sent upon an independent\par mission that they had no right to supervise it, the proof of whose sermons never hadb\par to be submitted to them for revision and emendation, whose statements of life came\par from inspiration in its perfection. They admitted it and gave the hand of fellowship on\par it.\par \par But that did not end it. Wherever he went the battle had to be fought-in Syria, in\par Cilicia, in Phrygia. And when from Troas he had crossed the intervening sea in\par response to an appeal from Europe, and when at night he slept and in a vision\par looked across the sea, and way over yonder on the Eurcopean shore there stood up a\par man and beckoned and pleaded, "Come over into Macedonia and help us," and\par when he went into Europe and in the Roman colony at Philippi established a church\par upon the broad principles of humanity, there also he had to renew this fight, and\par when he passed from Philippi to Thessalonica, and from Thessalonica to Berea, and\par from Berea to Athens, and from Athens to Corinth, and from Corinth back again to\par Antioch and all the succeeding tours, everywhere hde had to fight the same battle: "I\par received my gospel direct from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a complete gospel. Peter\par is not my pope. It is for all men, and the terms of eternal life are simple enough for a\par child to understand them."\par \par One man said not long ago, "A proof that your Scriptures are not inspired is this: The\par best part of them, the most interesting part of them, are the books written by Paul.\par He wrote about half the New Testament, and nearly the whole of it eis based upon a\par conflict that ended within a few years, with the destruction of Jerusalem. Now if it\par had been intended as a revelation for all time, why take up so much space to tell\par about this battle between the law and the gospel which ended with that sensation?\par What do we care about it now?"\par \par Ah! God is wiser than this questioner, and Paul's battle was not won when he died.\par When he was martyred, over his \i\f3 very \i0\f0 grave came the same enemy, and in the\par sucfceeding ages superimposed upon Christianity the rites and ceremonies and\par liturgies and priesthood of the Old Testament, and every foot of Christendom today\par is under the shadow of Mount Sinai. More than half of the professing Christians of\par the world today look to Mount Sinai rather than to Calvary. That is why so much of\par the New Testament is given to it. Then again, it is there because it is to be made the\par instrument of the culminating act of redemption.\par \par The last battle gthat is to be fought, when Israel shall be saved, when the descendants,\par the children and the kindred of Montefiore and Zangwill, when all of these are to be\par brought to see, as see they will, that Mount Sinai is the bondwoman, they will turn to\par the Lord, and the veil that is on their eyes will be taken away, and they will see\par Jesus, their Messiah. The gospel of Paul is to be the instrument under God for the\par salvation of the Jewish race.\par \par So, then, the world not only needehd that gospel in that form, in the beginning of\par Christianity, but it was needed in the Reformation; it was needed in the days that\par brought about the dark ages; it is needed now. And you can seldom now find a man\par who will get up in the pulpit and preach the gospel that Paul preached; that will allow\par God by His Spirit to reach the heart.\par \par You may see churches now gathered for a meeting of days, and they will begin to\par prescribe: "O Lord, we have picked out this man for you ito convert. He is worth a\par half million dollars, or a million. O Lord, we want you to convert this man. He is a\par great scholar. He is a mighty teacher. His intellectual influence would be worth so\par much to the church of Jesus Christ. And this lady, Lord - she is a leader of fashion.\par Her influence among the prominent women of the city is so great. Lord, convert her."\par When Paul preached he left it to God, and if God chose to convert the hostler\par instead of the owner of the horses tjhat the hostler curried, Paul took the hostler. And\par if God converted the servants, Paul took the servants. If God converted those whose\par chains jangled as they walked, he took those convicts, for he said to them, "Such\par were some of you. You were thieves. You were liars. You were adulterers." He\par preached the gospel to the poor, and did not for a moment suppose that Lord\par Chesterfield was the author of the gospel instead of Jesus Christ.\par \par When Paul organized a church, he orgkanized it for the capturing of the cities, and we\par have fallen short on that. We have turned back from Paul on that. He could go to\par Ephesus, the capital of Proconsular Asia, with its Temple of Diana, with its festivals,\par with idolatry fastened on the business interests and tradesmen's guild; he could go to\par that city and could call out 10,000 converts in a meeting. And when magic, with her\par books and other evil literature attempted to overturn the simple gospel that he\par preached, lhe saw those books piled in the street and burned, and their sparks going\par up to tell the stars that the Book of God was prevailing and that the books of the\par devil were burning.\par \par Something is wrong, radically wrong, with our present method, or else we would not\par fail to reach the cities. Paul reached Ephesus. He reached Corinth. Paul reached\par Thessalonica. Paul reached Rome, the imperial city and capital, and the empire was\par captured by the gospel which he preached.\par \pamr I think that it would do some of us good to take a trip to Arabia, to go into the\par wilderness a while for retirement, to learn that repentance toward God and faith\par toward our Lord Jesus Christ is the gospel of life and of eternal salvation to Jew or\par Gentile. I am glad he went. I am glad that on Paul's gospel there does not fall the\par shadow of any other man. I am glad that he had to submit his interpretation to no\par Jerusalem clique, but that he got it fresh from the Master and gaven it to us as our\par heritage.\par \par One thing I know, brethren, that when God converted me that was the kind of\par Savior I met \f2\'be \f0 the Lord Jesus Christ \f2\'be \f0 and from that time until now it has seemed\par to me the highest honor under heaven to hold up before all men, irrespective of their\par past habits of vice or virtue, irrespective of race, or age, or sex, the Lord Jesus\par Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes in Him.\par Jonah went too Nineveh at last. The reason that he refused to go the first time was\par that he knew that God was long-suffering and gracious and forbearing. He knew that\par if he went and preached and a single man repented God would forgive him, and he\par plainly told God so. We can almost hear him saying, "That is the reason I would not\par go. Now, if you had sent me to preach them into hell, I would have gone joyfully,\par because here in your Book is the prophecy that Nineveh is going to overthrow my\par ppeople, and I want Nineveh to die, but I knew that if you sent me to preach, they\par would repent, and then you would forgive them."\par \par Oh! We want to get into the spirit of Paul, that man who by day and night hungered\par for the salvation of men, of all men, of any man, of any woman, any child, anywhere,\par no matter how crimson with sin, scarred all over with its defacing marks, groaning\par under its bondage, bound hand and foot by its fetters.\par \par O imprisoned and imperiled soul,q God in Jesus Christ, in one moment of time, can\par turn you from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Oh! If you\par will go and preach that way, if you will read what Paul said to the elders of the\par church at Ephesus (let the city churches put that on their walls), and carry out that\par method, we will capture the cities as Paul captured the cities.\par \par I bless God for the five gospels. I bless Him most of all for the fifth, the last, the\par complete gospel. I commernd it to you, brethren. I commend it to you not only as a\par lamp to shine on your pathway in the valley of the shadow of death, but as your\par comfort, your consolation when your heart is riven with sorrow.\par \par I commend it to you as God's culminating revelation of His unspeakable love,\par intended to lift you up from the depths of wretchedness and mire of your sin, and to\par plant your feet upon the firm foundation, the everlasting rock of eternal salvation, and\par to put in your mouths a new song-a song of praises, that can no more be hushed than\par you can hush the babbling of a fountain which God has unsealed-a fountain of praise\par that will seek heaven in its upward trills and in its \i\f3 rhythm \i0\f0 and melody, though you\par may be in a dungeon, and your back covered with stripes, and your feet in stocks,\par and give you a joy that all outside sorrows in the world can never eclipse.\par God give it to you to take into your heart the gospel of Paul!\cf0\f4\fs20\par } a qa06-PAUL'S GOSPEL OF JESUS{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\gr4u \cf2\fs24\par I am fifty-three years old today. I desire to celebrate the anniversary by a discussion\par of the plan of salvation in answer to the momentous question: What shall I do to\par inherit eternal life? The discussion will be predicated on two paragraphs of Luke's\par gospel, one in the tenth and one in the eleventh chapter. The two together outline one\par great subject in its several parts.\par \par Commencing with the twenty-fifth verse of the tenth chapter, I read: "And behold, a\parv certain lawyer stood up and tempted Jesus." "Lawyer" here does not mean a\par pleader before a court, but an expounder of the Jewish law, which was both civil and\par ecclesiastical. The word, "tempt," may have a good or bad sense. My judgment is\par that the sense here is good. It means, "to try." "And behold a certain lawyer stood\par up and tempted Jesus, saying, 'Master (that means teacher), what shall I do to inherit\par eternal life?' And Jesus said unto him, 'What is written in the law?' i.ew., you are a\par lawyer and your business is to expound the law. "What is written in the law? How\par readest thou?"\par \par "And he answering said, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and\par with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as\par thyself.'"\par \par Well, that is written in the law. It is a summary of the Ten Commandments-not a\par New Testament summary, but the synopsis given by Moses himself, not all in one\par place, but xin two different books of the Pentateuch.\par \par Here it is a quotation: "It is written in the law that thou shalt love the Lord thy God\par with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind\par and thy neighbor as thyself." "And Jesus said unto him, 'Thou hast answered right.\par Do this and thou shalt live.'"\par \par Mark that answer: "Do this and thou shalt live." "But he, desiring to justify himself\par said unto Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' Jesus ymade answer and said: 'A certain\par man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who both\par stript him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.'"\par \par That road from Jerusalem to Jericho was down hill all the way, the grade very steep\par and in certain parts of it almost a canyon through the mountains; a very narrow\par passway, with dangerous rocks on each side, honey-combed with caves. From time\par immemorial robbers have harbored in those caves and attzacked travelers passing\par over that road from Jerusalem to Jericho and from Jericho to Jerusalem.\par \par In the time of the Crusaders an organization was formed called the "Knights\par Templars" for the sole purpose of establishing their headquarters on that road and\par protecting travelers, keeping robbers off. That organization of the Knights Templars\par increased and changed its original form until it became the mightiest organized power\par of chivalry at one period, and of rascality at a{nother period. Kings found it necessary\par to the peace of their realms to banish them. The romance readers will recall Scott's\par vivid description in "Ivanhoe" of their expulsion from England by Richard the\par Lionhearted. In modern times we have the Knight Templars, a continuation of the old\par organization, but with different objects.\par \par Here it is well to note in passing that the illustrations of Christ, while always\par supposititious, are always natural. His illustration is always |a verisimilitude of real life;\par the thing could have actually happened just as He stated.\par \par "And by chance a certain priest was going down that way; and when he saw\par him, he passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, when\par he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a\par certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when. he saw\par him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound up his\par wounds, pouring on t}hem oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast and\par brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow he took out\par two pence and gave them to the host, and said, 'Take care of him; and\par whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay\par thee.' Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor to him that fell\par among the robbers? And he said, 'He that showed mercy on him.' And\par Jesus said unto him, 'Go, and do thou likewise.'"\par \par So says~ the paragraph of the tenth chapter.\par \par The paragraph from the eleventh chapter, continuing the subject, commences with\par the thirty-seventh verse: "Now as He spake, a Pharisee asketh Him to take\par breakfast with him and He went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee\par saw it, he marveled that He had not dipt himself before breakfast. And the Lord said\par unto him (replying to his thought), 'Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the\par cup and of the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. Ye\par foolish ones, did not He that made the outside make the inside also? But rather give\par for alms those things which are within and behold, all things are clean unto you.' "Do\par you recall how the King James version reads on that?" 'But rather give alms of such\par things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.' "But this reads:" 'Give\par for alms those things which are within and all things are clean unto you.' "There is no\par doubt in anybody's mind as to the words in the original Greek - \i\f1 ta enonta. \i0\f0 The\par same word was before the King James translators and the Canterbury revisers, but\par that word grammatically can be derived from either one of two words, \i\f1 eni \i0\f0 or\par \i\f1 eneimi. \i0\f0 If from the first word it means "such things as ye have," but if from the other\par it means "those things that are within." Now, where the grammatical construction\par favors one derivation as much as another, you go to the context to determine the true\par word from which it is derived; and the context here unquestionably shows that the\par Canterbury revisers derived it from the right word.\par \par I recall many books which I have read and hundreds of things which I have heard,\par predicating an awfully false theology upon the King James rendering, "Give alms of\par such things as ye have and all things are clean unto you," that is, if you are\par benevolent, if you are open-hearted, why the Lord will forgive everything else; and\par the way to get to heaven, the way to inherit eternal life, is just to give alms. But that is\par far from the meaning of Jesus.\par \par To resume the reading:" 'But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and\par every herb, and pass over judgment and the love of God; but these ought ye to have\par done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you Pharisees! for ye love the\par chief seats in the synagogues and the salutations in the market places. Woe unto you!\par for ye are as the tombs which appear not, and the men that walk over them know it\par not.' And one of the lawyers answering said unto him, 'Master, in saying this thou\par reproachest us also.' And He said, 'Woe unto you lawyers also! For ye lade men\par with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one\par of your fingers. Woe unto you! For \i\f1 ye \i0\f0 build the tombs of the prophets, and your\par fathers killed them. So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers;\par for they killed them, and ye build their tombs. Therefore also said the wisdom of\par God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill\par and persecute; that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the\par foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel\par unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: Yea,\par I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.'"\par \par What an awful thing is God's dealing with a nation or with a race! Just as He deals\par with an individual, so with a nation or the whole race. And how the long treasured\par wrath that has been massing up from the beginning of a nation's history until its\par iniquity is full, bursts over the barriers, and on that last generation falls all of the\par accumulated woe. Instance the French Revolution. Louis XVI was about the most\par moderate, the most amiable, of all the Bourbon kings, and yet on him and in his day\par came the doom that the predecessors of his dynasty had garnered up. "Woe unto\par you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge!" Not the key that unlocks\par knowledge, but the key, knowledge; knowledge itself is the key. "Ye took away the\par key." What key? Knowledge. "Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were\par entering in ye hindered." So ends the second paragraph.\par \par The subject, of discussion today is vital and fundamental; indeed, the most important\par ever presented to human consideration, and I would deal with it in the simplest and\par clearest form possible, but I want to discuss the whole subject. I want to show you\par that this paragraph from the tenth chapter of Luke and the paragraph from the\par eleventh chapter of Luke, are but parts of one whole subject, and that subject is a\par question concerning eternal life \f2\'be \f0 what a man shall do to inherit eternal life. Taken\par together they disclose the ways by which men seek to obtain eternal life, and how\par any plan to which a man is wedded, necessarily influences his own character either\par helpfully or hurtfully, and is bound to influence his own community helpfully or\par hurtfully. But such extensive discussion is impossible within the limits of a half or\par three-quarters of an hour, and hence my proposition is to devote to this subject both\par the morning and evening services, and I invite all present now to come tonight and\par hear the end of it. I want you to have the whole subject before you.\par \par I ask you to note first our Lord's method of dealing with men. He always addressed\par himself to the man's own standpoint in such a way as to awaken thought and\par produce self-conviction. Here was an expounder of the law relying upon his\par conformity to the law for eternal life; an expounder of the law who wanted to call out\par and try Jesus on this standard. Hence he comes with this most important of all\par questions: "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Oh, what a question!\par What a question for you, for me, for anybody, for everybody! "What shall I do to\par inherit eternal life?" Or, "What shall I do to escape eternal death?"\par \par Jesus says to him, "What does the law say?" You are a lawyer. It is your business to\par expound the law. "What does the law say?" "Well, the law says this: 'Thou shalt love\par the Lord thy God with all thy strength and with all thy mind and with all thy heart, and\par thy neighbor as thyself.'" Jesus replied to the man, "You have answered right. That is\par what the law says. That covers the scope of all the commandments. That summary\par comprehends every detail, not only of the decalogue but of every other statute, civil,\par ecclesiastical, ceremonial, or of any other kind. That is the whole of it. On these two\par hang all the law and the prophets."\par \par What was the question? "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Mark the answer \f2\'be\par \f0 "The law says thou shalt love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself. Do\par this and thou shalt live." Do this and thou shalt live. You are standing on the law. You\par are an expounder of the law. You are seeking justification before the law from your\par standpoint. Here is your chance. Do this and thou shalt live. Fail to do this and thou\par shalt die.\par \par Just here comes up a question. As men now are \f2\'be \f0 I am not talking about how\par Adam was, but as men now are \f2\'be \f0 is this a practicable way of life? That is, is it\par possible for eternal life to be obtained this way? And the answer to it is prompt and\par clear: "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God." That\par makes it absolutely impracticable. There is God's inspired declaration, that while it\par remains true if a man will do what the law requires, that he shall inherit eternal life, yet\par under present conditions it cannot be done. No man can obtain eternal life that way.\par And here arises a question in morality. Why then did Jesus say, "Do this and thou\par shalt live?" Why did He answer the question that way? For this reason \f2\'be \f0 it was the\par object of Jesus to convict that man. That man did not think he was a sinner. Jesus\par knew he was. The Bible says that by the law is the knowledge of sin. And Paul says,\par "I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came sin revived and\par I died." Now that man stood before Jesus without any consciousness that he was a\par lost soul, and there in that delusion, he was going along a road that he thought would\par certainly land him in heaven, and the only way on the earth to cause him to turn from\par his hopeless and doomed path was to produce the conviction in his mind that he was\par a lost sinner. Hence Jesus says, "This is what the law says. Do it. Come and look in\par this mirror and let it, as you look, reflect back yourself to your sight, that you may\par see that you are not loving God with all your heart, and with all your strength, with all\par your mind, and that you are not loving your neighbor as yourself."\par \par In other words you turn Mount Sinai, trembling with the touch of God's foot and\par crested with the fire that shows His presence, and throbbing with the thunders of His\par power, you turn Mount Sinai over on a man not to save him, but to bring him to\par Calvary. You see Moses as a schoolmaster unto Christ. When he stands there and\par says, "I am for the law. I am going to stand on my own record. I am going before the\par bar of God at last, and according to what I have done I will seek justification." Now\par the sooner you get that man to see what is the heart, the spirit, as well as the\par exceeding broadness of the divine commandment, the better for him. That is the\par object that Jesus had.\par \par We notice the next point. What sort of a man seeks justification that way? Let us\par take a look at him. Paul describes him. He says he is a man, busying himself to\par establish his own righteousness; an exceedingly active man, going to and fro,\par concerning himself exceedingly much, to establish his own righteousness. Now, when\par you know that it cannot be done, when you know that if he persists in walking in that\par road that he is lost, what ought to be the attitude of your mind toward him? What\par feeling in your heart, you that are better informed, should be excited by a\par contemplation of this man's hopeless quest, of this man's despairing activity?\par There ought to be excited in your mind something kindred to what was excited in\par Paul's mind when he looked at such a man. Well, how was it with him? He is a good\par example because he was once right there himself. There was a time when he was\par exceedingly zealous after the law, trying to establish his own righteousness. There\par was a time when he thought that from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet\par there was not a spot in him. And when the awful revelation came to him it so\par impressed his heart that when he looked on anybody else in that same dangerous\par condition, how did he feel?\par \par Let his own words speak for him: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience\par bearing witness with me in the Holy Ghost, that I have great sorrow and unceasing\par pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my\par brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (\cf1\ul Rom_9:1-3\cf2\ulnone .) "Brethren,\par my heart's desire and supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved."\par (\cf1\ul Rom_10:1\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par Such a picture as that is enough to excite in the mind of one who is better informed\par the deepest commiseration. It is enough to put him down on his knees and induce\par him to cry out unceasingly, with an importunate supplication, "O God, open that\par man's eyes; there is death in that road. There is no life in that road. I pray for him."\par Now, why is it that a man cannot be saved that way? Let us see if we cannot get\par right to the very bottom of it. Why is it? I cite three insuperable difficulties. Any one\par of them is insuperable. If there were just one of these three it would he impossible for\par him to inherit eternal life that way. What are they?\par \par First, the carnal mind is enmity against God, and not subject to the law of God,\par neither can be. What is this way of salvation? It is to do what the law says and live.\par And what does the law say? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." But here is a man\par trying to live that way whose mind is enmity against God and not subject to the law\par of God, and cannot be subject to the law of God. What is his chance? With his\par fallen, unrenewed nature how can he love God, love him with all his heart, with all his\par mind, with all his strength, when that heart is enmity against God, not subject to the\par law of God, and cannot be subject to the law of God? That difficulty then is\par insuperable.\par \par What is the second? The second difficulty is this: The man is already a sinner and the\par wages of sin is death. God looked down from heaven to see if there was just one\par that did good, just one. No, not one. They are all under condemnation. Now, just as\par he stands right there he is a sinner, a condemned sinner, a sinner already obnoxious\par to the extreme penal sanction of the law. How is that man to inherit eternal life by\par keeping the law? That difficulty is insuperable.\par \par What is the third? I want to read that to you. Some people ,you can get to\par appreciate the force of it, but it takes education to get even the few to ever fully\par realize its deep significance, and therefore I want to read it to you from the Bible\par itself. This I want you to hear in the very words of God: "For whosoever shall keep\par the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all. For He that said, 'Do not\par commit adultery, said also, 'Do not kill.' Now, if thou commit no adultery, if thou\par kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." (\cf1\ul Jam_2:10-11\cf2\ulnone .) Again, "For as\par many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is\par every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to\par do them.'" (\cf1\ul Gal_3:10\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par What does that mean? There is a big word used a good deal now, "solidarity"-the\par solidarity of the law. It means that if a man is to seek justification by the law, it will\par avail nothing that he has obeyed 999,999 of its 1,000,000 precepts if he has broken\par one, just one time. To live by obedience means not partial, but total obedience; not\par obedience temporarily but universally; not obedience last week and this week and\par next week, but from the beginning of his life to his death; absolute obedience, not\par only to every divine requirement of God, but to the full spiritual power of that\par requirement.\par \par Now, if a man can think \f2\'be \f0 if he has the germ of analysis and logic in him \f2\'be \f0 and he\par looks at these three obstacles in the way of keeping the law; first, an unrenewed\par nature that is hostile to God; second, to the fact that he is already a sinner and guilty\par of death; and third, that if he were not now a sinner that the obedience must in future\par be perfect to every commandment, at all times, then I ask you, in view of these three\par things, if any man under present conditions, can be saved by the law.\par \par This suggests three other questions\fs15 : \fs24 How are these three difficulties to be removed?\par The first one is removed by regeneration, what is called the new birth, taking away\par the stony heart and giving the heart of flesh. But let us hear the Scriptures themselves:\par "A new heart also will I gave you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will\par take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And\par I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall\par keep my judgments and do them." (\cf1\ul Eze_36:26\cf2\ulnone , 27.) "Jesus answered and said\par unto him, 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot see\par the kingdom of God\'85That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born\par of the Spirit is spirit.'" (\cf1\ul Joh_3:3-6\cf2\ulnone .) "Not by works of righteousness which we\par have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration\par and renewing of the Holy Ghost." (\cf1\ul Tit_3:5\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par But you seeking justification by law, where is your right to demand regeneration? If\par you get regeneration, it must come outside of any claims you have upon the law. I\par admit that regeneration would remove that first difficulty, but deny that regeneration\par comes by the law.\par \par How is the second difficulty removed? This difficulty arising from the fact that the\par man is already a sinner and the wages of sin is death \f2\'be \f0 how is that to be removed? I\par venture to say that there is no way to remove it except to find a propitiation for the\par sin, such a propitiation as the law-giver will accept. It is to find some substitute upon\par whom that penalty can be inflicted and which will be acceptable to the one whose\par law has been violated. The Scriptures teach that. They teach that the law-maker\par must set forth a propitiation and that the substitute must expiate the offense, and as\par expiation means death, He must die. He must die under a curse. Hear the Scriptures\par themselves tell how this difficulty is removed:\par \par "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ\par Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His\par blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,\par through the forbearance of God." (\cf1\ul Rom_3:24\cf2\ulnone , 25.)\par \par "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our\par iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes\par we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every\par one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all... Yet\par it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when thou shalt\par make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His\par days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." \par (\cf1\ul Isa_53:5-10\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be\par made the righteousness of God in Him." (\cf1\ul 2Co_5:21\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for\par us; for it is written, 'Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.'"\par (\cf1\ul Gal_3:13\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par "Who gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from iniquity, and purify\par unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (\cf1\ul Tit_2:14\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,\par as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from\par your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without\par blemish and without spot." (\cf1\ul 1Pe_1:18-19\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being\par dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were\par healed." (\cf1\ul 1Pe_2:24\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par Unquestionably such expiation is able to remove this difficulty, but if you are seeking\par salvation by the law, how can you claim that anybody should do that for you?\par But how shall the third difficulty be removed? That difficulty lies in the solidarity of\par the law, requiring the perfect keeping of every commandment in all of its parts at all\par times. I know of but one way in the world in which that can be removed, which is,\par that a substitute be found whose obedience of the law is perfect; so that by the\par obedience of one many sinners may be justified. So testifies the Scripture: "For as by\par one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall\par many be made righteous." (\cf1\ul Rom_5:19\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par But you, seeking justification by the law, how are you to claim the benefit of anything\par of that kind? Here arises another question, a question that goes right to the heart of a\par modern agitation. Let us suppose that two of these difficulties are removed, two of\par them-.that a man is regenerated and, being regenerated, now has a heart that\par prompts him to love God, and has good motives to prompt his good deeds, and let\par us suppose that he has received forgiveness of past sins through the expiation of his\par Substitute. Now why must that other difficulty be gotten out of the way by a\par substitute?\par \par "Surely," one of these agitators may say, "the regenerated, forgiven man, can keep\par the law perfectly." I will tell you why he cannot. This regenerated man \f2\'be \f0 this\par forgiven man \b\f3\'be \b0\f0 falls upon the remarkable discovery that when he would do good\par evil is present with him; that what he allows not, that he does, and what he allows,\par that he does not, and that while with his mind he consents to the law that is holy, just\par and good, yet how to perform he finds not. He finds in his members another law\par warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to sin. Isn't that\par so, brother? After you were converted, after you were justified, did you not find it\par so? So that before there is personal capability of perfect obedience another\par provision must come in, a provision that shall eradicate the last remnant of the carnal\par nature and complete what had commenced in regeneration.\par \par In other words, there must be another exercise of divine grace that shall take this\par justified man and sanctify him wholly, body, soul and spirit; make his spirit perfect,\par and glorify his body. But it is a hard job when you attempt to glorify the body. How\par can it be done? It can only be done when mortality puts on immortality and\par corruption puts on incorruption. It can only be done by the power of the\par resurrection.\par \par So that before any man is even in condition personally to love God with all his heart\par and strength and mind and his neighbor as himself, he must have been regenerated;\par he must have been justified; he must have had a Substitute to keep the law for him;\par he must have been sanctified; he must have been glorified.\par \par Well now, that disposes of a good many questions. Let us go on with this: If that man\par is saved \f2\'be \f0 now here is a question for you-if that man is so saved, what kind of\par salvation is it? Is it law-salvation? Here is God's answer. I do wish you could take it\par right down into your souls: "By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of\par yourselves. It is the gift of God and not of works, lest any man should boast." Grace\par provided the regeneration. Grace provided the propitiation. Grace provided the\par perfect obedience. Grace provided the santification of the spirit. Grace provided the\par resurrection and glorification of the body. It is all of grace, from turret to foundation\par stone, without any mixture of human merit, so much as the thickness of a spider's\par web-that is the kind of salvation.\par \par But here comes in with perfect coolness a man who looks over his spectacles at you\par and tells you that his objection to this grace \f2\'be \f0 business is its tendency to immorality.\par But how can it tend to immorality? Right after the "By grace are ye saved through\par faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God and not of works, lest any man\par should boast," it adds, "For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto\par good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."\par (\cf1\ul Eph_2:10\cf2\ulnone .) And also it says that the "grace of God which bringeth salvation\par hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that we should live soberly and righteously\par and Godly in this present world." If this grace teaches anything, if it has any trend,\par that trend is in the direction of morality.\par \par Here, then, let us answer a great question. I have turned it over and over in my mind.\par I have had occasion to do it and to think the thought clear, out, and to think of it in its\par several connections and to co-ordinate its parts, and that question is: Does not grace\par through faith make \fs15 ,\fs24 void the law? I want to show you how it does not. It honors and\par magnifies the law, first in its precept by the perfect obedience of the Substitute. It\par honors and magnifies the law in its penal sanction by the death of the Substitute. It\par honors and magnifies the law in that the beneficiaries of this grace have implanted in\par them a principle of holiness that shall cause them to love God and give them good\par motives to obey God, though imperfectly.\par \par And then it provides for the sanctification of that regenerated spirit, that the soul may\par love God perfectly. And then it provides for the glorification of the body, so that\par being put in heaven at the resurrection day, there is now at last a man who in himself,\par not in his Substitute, will love God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself; so\par that personally and not through a proxy, at the end of it, the outcome of it, the\par subject of this grace fulfills the law.\par \par Finally, this grace does not make void the law, because all the time that this\par regenerated and justified man is being preserved by it until the full work in him is\par accomplished, he is under the law. But no, you say, that is not scriptural; he is not\par under the law. Yes, he is under the law. He is indeed under the law as a rule of\par conduct, and no thoughtful man can deny it. Do you mean to say that the\par commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," is not over a Christian; and the commandment,\par "Thou shalt not steal," and the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and\par the commandment, "Thou shalt not covet" \f2\'be \f0 do you say that the Christian is not\par under that rule? The answer to it is: He is not under it as a rule of life, but he is under\par it as a rule of conduct. So on these five points there is nothing in salvation by grace\par through faith that makes void the law at any point, but in every point it honors it, in\par every point it magnifies it. As Paul says, "The end of the commandment is love out of\par a pure heart, out of a good conscience, out of a faith unfeigned."\par \par But perhaps some of you say, this is getting a long way from that lawyer. No, it is\par not. We come right back to that lawyer, for the concluding part, so far as this\par morning's service is concerned. I wanted to show you why Jesus told that lawyer to\par do this and live, that He wanted to convict him, jostle him off of that platform he was\par on and turn his attention to the true way.\par \par Pursuing the discussion our next question is: What is the constant attitude of the mind\par of a man who is trying to get to heaven that way? Our lesson says of the lawyer, "He\par desiring to justify himself." There it is. The constant attitude is a desire to justify\par himself. But what does that desire to justify himself prompt him to do? Look at it.\par Here is that high, broad commandment of God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God\par with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself." And here is a man trying to save\par himself by obedience to that law, and very anxious to justify himself. What result\par follows? He lowers that law to suit the grade of his obedience. How does this lawyer\par manifest that? By the question, "Who is thy neighbor?" He is saying, "O, yes, I am\par seeking salvation by the law. The law says I must love thy neighbor as myself. Now,\par in order for my obedience to that law to be practicable, I must so limit the meaning\par of that word 'neighbor' as that my obedience will be co-extensive with it."\par \par The very first thing that it induces is the lowering of the divine commandment to suit\par the grade of the obedience. The lawyer in his mind was saying, "My neighbor is a\par Jew, and a Jew of my own sect, a Pharisee; of course, not a Sadducee. He is not a\par neighbor of mine; a Samaritan, pah! I would not even look toward a Samaritan. I\par love my neighbor as myself, but you must let me say who my neighbor is, and it\par means my' brother Pharisee."\par \par Now you can see why Jesus gave him that answer, and to expose that man's\par profanation of the divine commandment, and the sophistry with which he sought to\par justify himself, He tells the parable of the good Samaritan. As if He had said: "I will\par throw a sidelight on that subject of neighbor, and I will throw such a sidelight as you\par yourself with your own mouth shall condemn yourself." Didn't he condemn himself?\par What does the record say? When Christ got through with the story of the good\par Samaritan He put the question now to this lawyer: "Which of these three thinkest\par thou proved neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?" And out from his very lips\par the answer had to come, "He that showed mercy to him." But where does this\par answer land his law-righteousness?\par \par If that is what the word neighbor means, looking back over your past life, O\par Pharisee, where is your justification? How have you loved your neighbor as yourself?\par You that seek to be justified by the law, in the light of this parable defining neighbor,\par you are a lost soul and you know it. You know it. You know you hate a Sadducee.\par You know that you hate the Gentile. You know that you have wrapt the mantle of\par your exclusiveness about you, lest you should come in contact, and by contact,\par receive defilement from other men, and you have kept narrowing the law, narrowing\par it until you have got a little bit of a circle here, described by the word neighbor, that\par confines only you and your wife and your son and his wife, and nobody else in the\par world.\par \par You never saw a man on the face of this earth that stood on the basis of his morality,\par that stood on his own record, either before or after his conversion, that did not lower\par the divine law in order to make his obedience fill what the law required. A sliding\par scale! A sliding scale! I can keep the law perfectly if you will let me reach up and\par slide it down to fit what I do.\par \par The parable of the good Samaritan disposes of the lawyer's quibble on the second\par commandment, but our second paragraph deals with a whole class under both\par commandments. It shows that what that man did as an individual the Pharisees did as\par a class; that in order to obtain justification by the law they were sliding God's law\par down on everything. How? Well, the law requires us to be clean, clean, clean. But\par they said we will slide: the law down so that it justs mean on the outside \f2\'be \f0 that it\par only means to keep the outside of the cup and platter clean. That is all. Inwardly full\par of rottenness and dead men's bones. Ye foolish ones! Did not He that made the\par outside make the inside also? Does not the law of God require truth in the inward\par part? Does it not say that the inward part shall know wisdom and righteousness?\par And now you will slide it down until it only means obedience in little things, but not\par the great things; tithing mint and rue and herbs and leaving undone love and judgment\par and mercy. Ye hypocrites! It says, honor thy father and thy mother, but you do not\par want to honor your father and your mother; so you slide that law down, so that it\par says, that if I take some of my property and write, "Corban," on it, and say it is a\par gift, then I am under no obligations to take care of my old worn-out father; I am\par under no obligations to support the last days of my infirm mother. Thou hypocrite,\par sliding the law down, and it must be slidden down to get any justification.\par \par How shall I be clean? How shall I keep clean? "Give alms of those things that are\par within and all things are clean unto you." Here is a question of how to be clean and\par how to keep clean. You say, "Wash externally." Jesus says, "Wash inwardly," and\par let the soul be made clean. What a man has on his hands, the little dirt on his hands,\par that when he goes to eat may get into his mouth, that does not defile him, but\par defilement comes from within. "Out of the heart of man proceed murder and\par blasphemy and adultery and every foul and loathsome thing." That is where\par defilement comes from. And they are right here in Waco, people sneering at your\par grace, people sneering at your salvation by faith, people telling you that your doctrine\par tends to immorality, because desiring to justify themselves.\par \par Ah me! Look at the other man. Are you a Christian, desiring to justify yourself? "O,\par no! God be merciful to me a sinner." Look at him as he stands before you, a sinner\par saved by grace, imperfect in doing right; he knows it, but striving to go on under the\par promptings of divine grace, and ultimately by that grace to be altogether clean.\par O thou supreme question, thou paramount interrogation, "What shall I do to inherit\par eternal life?" Before thy burning point I bare my guilty heart.\par Tonight we will conclude the discussion. Tonight we will find the true answer-the\par answer toward which our Lord was driving the lawyer. The way to which He ever\par sought to shut up the Pharisees, the only way, known under heaven and among men\par whereby any man can be saved.\cf0\f4\fs20\par } ( U 07-WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? PART 1{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Symbol,Bold;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 7. WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? PART 1\par t2{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 8. WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? PART 2\par \par \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 SCRIPTURES: \cf1\ul Act_16:29-31\cf2\ulnone ; \cf1\ul Rom_10:1-10\cf2\ulnone ;\par \cf1\ul Joh_3:14-18\cf2\ulnone ,36; \cf1\ul Luk_11:37-52\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 It has been said that our Savior in the Sermon on the Mount and in the conversation\par with the lawyer recorded in \cf1\ul Luk_10:25-37\cf3\ulnone , discussed this morning, taught one\par way of life, but that Paul at a later day taught a contrary way of life; and it has\par become a fashionable thing with those who make such a statement, to contrast our\par Lord's theology with what they are pleased to call Pauline theology.\par \par Of course, if it can be established, that Paul's theology is at variance with our Lord's\par teaching on the same subject, the apostle's doctrine must fall and with it the\par inspiration of all the books containing it. Paul himself claimed that he received his\par gospel direct from the Lord.\par \par Bearing on this statement and in refutation of it, I now cite three passages of\par scripture, the first two embodying Paul's conception of the plan of salvation, and one\par containing our Savior's epitome of the gospel-way of life preached by himself. In the\par sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we have this question and answer,\par which is the true question and answer with reference to eternal life: "Then he called\par for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and\par brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said,\par 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.'"\par \par The second scripture is from the tenth chapter of the letter to the Romans: "Brethren,\par my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear\par them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge; for they\par being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own\par righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For\par Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses\par describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those\par things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise:\par Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down\par from above:) or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up again\par from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy\par heart; that is, the word faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy\par mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from\par the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;\par and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is the Pauline theology.\par Now let-us hear the Savior. I read from the third chapter of John; "And as Moses\par lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that\par whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Our question\par this morning was, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" "For God so loved the\par world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should\par not perish but have everlasting life." "For God sent not His Son into the world to\par condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." "He that\par believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already\par because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." "He that\par believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not on the Son shall\par not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."\par \par In the discussion of the subject this morning under the question, "What shall I do to\par inherit eternal life," I found why it was necessary for the Savior to answer the\par question in that instance as He did; that He answered it in that way in order to suit\par the standpoint of the man who propounded the question, and with a view to bring\par about a conviction of sin in that man's heart, and in order to extort from that man's\par own lips the virtual confession that in attempting to justify himself he had lowered the\par requirement of God's law concerning "Who is my neighbor?"\par \par The discussion this morning closed at this point: "Howbeit, give for alms those things\par which are within and behold, all things are clean unto you." This presents the subject\par in another phase and under the question, "How shall we be clean and how shall we\par keep clean?" The Pharisee said that the way to be clean and to keep clean was by\par external ablution, and the Savior's plan was by internal ablution.\par \par The proposition embodying the plan of salvation, speaking from the standpoint of\par cleanness then, is this: The way by which a man shall become clean and remain clean\par in the sight of God, is by internal, spiritual cleansing, cleansing by the power of the\par Holy Spirit.\par \par In support of this proposition as bearing upon the true way of life, you have but to\par consider the following things: First, there is only one thing in the world that does\par defile, and that is sin; whatever transgresses the law, that is sin and that defiles the\par man. Second, all sin is without the body, to put it in somewhat plainer language, all\par sin must be spiritual. The body can not sin. It is without the body. There must be the\par action of the mind and of the will and of the judgment, the powers within. The outer\par man can not commit a sin. It is the inner man only that can commit a sin. Third, and\par therefore the law of God constantly requires truth in the inward parts, in the inner\par man. These three thoughts alone establish the position in the Savior's statement, that\par if you give for alms the things that are within, all things shall be clean unto you.\par Leaving out the figure of alms-giving employed, the substance of the thought He\par designed to teach, as the context shows, was this: You are very much concerned, if\par you go out into the market place, lest by outward touch with some publican you\par contact defilement. You are concerned if you go to eat, lest certain kinds of meat\par shall defile you. You have concern about everything you touch and everything that\par you eat. You wash your hands lest you should be defiled by dirt going into your\par mouth. Contrary to all of that is the doctrine of God that if you are clean inside, if you\par give alms of the things that are within, that is, repentance, which is internal, and faith,\par which is internal, and you receive regeneration, which is internal, then everything is\par clean to you, i.e., nothing external can defile one internally clean. That is what it\par means.\par \par We come now to consider then what the true question is if a man wants to be saved,\par and that question and its answer I have read to you; that if you believe in the Lord\par Jesus Christ you have and shall have and forever have eternal life; that you now have\par eternal life so far as justification is concerned; that you shall have eternal life so far as\par the purification of your spirit is concerned when sanctification is complete; that you\par shall have eternal life when your body is raised from the dead, a spiritual body that\par can die no more, that you shall have moral, spiritual life when you are made\par conformable to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in your sanctified nature and\par powers, so that you, in heaven, can and will perfectly obey God, which salvation\par comes, some of it instantaneously, as justification, and all of it ultimately, through faith\par in our Lord Jesus Christ.\par \par I now read but do not discuss, for I have other things to present, the links of this\par chain of salvation by grace, through faith. Listen at it. I read from the eighth chapter\par of the letter to the Romans, beginning with the twenty-ninth verse: "For whom He did\par foreknow," that is the first, the foreknowledge of God, "He also did predestinate to\par be conformed to the image of His Son." That is the second link of the chain.\par "Moreover, whom He did predestinate them He also called." That is the third link.\par "Whom He called them He also justified." That is the next link. "Whom He justified\par them He also glorified." And so the chain is complete. The object in reading you\par these connected links in the plan of a salvation which is purely by grace and not of\par works, is to show that from its conception before the foundation of the world to the\par consummation at the end of the world, it is all of God.\par \par Now I read but do not discuss, the four pillars upon which such a salvation abides\par without any shaking. Here they are:\par \par First, "It is Christ that died." There is the expiation of the sins which we\par commit, the death of Christ. As long as virtue in that cleansing blood\par remains, as long as that propitiation is acceptable unto God as a sufficient\par atonement for sin, that pillar upholds the superstructure - salvation.\par \par The second, "Yea, rather that is risen again;" the resurrection of our\par Lord Jesus Christ, for if He be not risen our faith is vain. I say that Christ,\par bursting the cerements of death and emerging from the grave, and thus being\par demonstrated the Son of God with power, is the second pillar upon which\par our salvation rests.\par \par The third is this: "Who is even at the right hand of God." By virtue of what\par He has done, and as a consequence of His resurrection, He is placed at the\par right hand of the Majesty on high, enthroned and invested with the\par sovereignty of the entire universe. All power in heaven and on earth is in His\par hands.\par \par And the, fourth is this: "Who also maketh intercession for us." There is\par perpetuity of His priesthood, that King who is Priest upon His throne.\par \par Now with these links in the chain and these four pillars upon which salvation rests, let\par us look, but not tarry in looking, simply look at the security of the salvation, and here\par let us read again: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or\par distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? \'85 Nay, in all\par these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am\par persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor\par things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall\par be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."\par \par My only remark on that is this, that when the momentous question is propounded to\par me, as to how I shall inherit eternal life, and when, my soul seeks a solution of that\par question, the conclusion which I reach in order to comfort my soul in all of life's\par vicissitudes and emergencies must depend upon the character of the foundation, and\par if it be an unshakable foundation, then I can rest; I am at the end of my investigation.\par I have reached peace. I do not disturb my mind any more on the thought that I shall\par be lost.\par \par I want to look back and see how each link in the chain has been fused and welded\par together, in the secret chambers of eternity by the divine Architect himself, whose\par hand forges and gives eternal strength to each part of the chain. I want to see that. I\par do not want to feel that unless I myself look out here and look out yonder, and keep\par this little point secure and that little point secure, that after all I am going to be lost. I\par do not want to feel that I am under obligation to go into the garden with a\par microscope and ascertain the smallest herb there and tithe that, or else have the\par feeling in my heart that by overlooking some infinitesimal portion of duty that my soul\par will be lost.\par \par We come now to what I want to discuss tonight. I promised to show you the awful\par consequences that flow from an attempt to seek life in any other way, and the\par demoralizing character of a doctrine which avows that a man can keep the law of\par God perfectly either way before or after his regeneration at any time prior to\par glorification. No man who ever seeks to enter heaven on the score of justifying\par himself by his own righteousness, and no man, who after he has been regenerated\par and forgiven of all past sin can from that time on expect to perfectly keep the law of\par God, without falling into grievous and hurtful errors.\par \par The whole theory or any part of the theory, is based upon three false conceptions,\par the first of which is, as indicated this morning, that the law of God is not a fixed and\par unchangeable and universal standard, but that it is a sliding scale of requirement that\par must be lowered to suit different conditions in different places and different grades of\par obedience \f2\'be \f0 that it may be one thing in one place and quite another thing in another\par place. This conception of law, when it is followed to its logical consequence, is after\par all, a simple denial of law at all. It logically says there is no such thing as law outside\par of special circumstances. It is equivalent to the position of the infidel that law is only\par custom.\par \par The second false conception is in regard to sin. The modern holiness man, the\par perfectionist, has in his mind, a very limited view of sin. Take what Mr. Wesley\par writes on the subject, that sin is only a voluntary act of disobedience; that a man can\par not unconsciously sin, unintentionally sin. Here must you lower the transgression in\par order to suit the degree of the knowledge of the subject of the law, and all you have\par to do to make him entirely innocent of any disobedience to any moral law of God by\par such process, is simply to make his ignorance supreme. If his ignorance be supreme,\par his innocence is perfect.\par \par But God's Word teaches that it is the dark places of the earth that are the habitations\par of cruelty and that the people perish for lack of knowledge. That is the very charge\par brought here against the Pharisees, that they have taken away the key of knowledge;\par and every principle that is inculcated in the New Testament is predicated upon the\par fact that knowledge must underlie faith, and that not to know is to die, and to die is\par to be lost.\par \par This false conception of sin, which confines it wholly to voluntary transgression, also\par loses sight of what are called states or dispositions; a man may be naturally as averse\par from God as possible; the ruling bent or disposition of his mind and heart may be\par whatever you desire to state it; that state of mind and that disposition of heart is not\par sin according to this theory; there must be a certain act and that act willed, before\par any sin may be committed. It is equivalent to saying that the moral law of God does\par not reign over the heathen world. It logically denies that the law of God is written in\par the human heart.\par \par In the next place, it is based upon a false conception of the human will. It assumes\par that the will of the unconverted man, and the will of the regenerate, the imperfect\par man, is at all times able to choose the right thing, and denies that that will is enslaved\par and corrupted.\par \par Now these three misconceptions-the misconception of the law, the misconception of\par sin, the misconception as to the power of the human will, belong to this system as a\par whole, or to any of its parts.\par What else? It is directly contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures. There are\par passages in the Word of God that speak without any sort of equivocation and leave\par no just ground for caviling, that there is not upon this earth a just man that liveth and\par sinneth not that if we say we have no sin we make God to be a liar and the truth is\par not in us.\par \par Then it is contrary to human experience. I mean the experience of the race as well as\par of the individual. In all hours when the moral atmosphere is clear enough for us to get\par a clear view of things, and the spirit of proper insight and candor is on us, we know\par we are sinners. The rebukes of conscience teach us so. The apprehension of some\par sudden evil proclaims it. The dread of going into the dark that may be peopled by\par some indefinable phantoms is a demonstration of it, and all human experience falls\par into line with the teaching of God's Word.\par \par But I come now to the capital point and the closing point, and that is that the seeking\par of eternal life in the way that this lawyer was seeking it or the profession of sinless\par perfection in life after regeneration, for it is all based upon the common ground,\par makes hyprocrites, Pharisees. It is the Pharisee question with which we are dealing in\par this whole discussion. I say that the doctrine in any of its parts, or as a whole, not\par accidently but inevitably and irresistibly, brings about a product, and that product is\par Pharisaism.\par \par Now in order to see whether such a result is disastrous or not, let us outline a\par Pharisee as he is presented here in this context. What is it? If a man lay stress on the\par seeming more than the real, if a man attends more to external than to internal\par cleanness, what do you call him? What word is the first stroke of the outline? The\par one word, hypocrisy \f2\'be \f0 hypocrite. A child knows it. No mind removed a hair's\par breadth from imbecility, or idiocy, but what can somewhat recognize hypocrisy and\par hypocrites. You seem to be, rather than you are. You are whited sepulchres,\par beautiful without but inwardly full of rottenness and dead men's bones.\par \par What is the next word employed in this outline? "Inwardly full of extortion," is a\par characteristic, but what one word expressed it? Covetous! I venture to say that tie\par history of this world has produced no greater examples of greater and downright and\par outright idolatry in the shape of covetousness, than has been found in the Pharisee,\par whether of ancient or of modern times. A man by keeping clean outside, being\par externally obedient to God's law, may reach out a stealthy hand and snatch the\par heritage from the orphan and the widow, extort and extort, pile up and pile up, while\par a world perishes, until the heart becomes as hard as the nether millstone, granite,\par cold, impenetrable granite, that never permits a tear of mercy to fall, nor extends a\par helping hand to the suffering. The stingiest man that this world has ever known is the\par man of this very kind.\par \par What else? "Full of extortion and wickedness." Cruel, is the term I use. Cruel! A\par Pharisee is cruel. How else could he take a widow's house by fraud? How else\par could he rob her and devour the orphan? Cruel? Oh, how pitiless! How unmerciful!\par Our parable illustrates: Yonder lies the man whom robbers met and stripped and\par beat and left half dead, and here comes this man whose righteousness is external and\par cruelly and coldly he walks around him the other way.\par \par What is the next stroke of the outline? Scrupulosity about little things while neglectful\par of greater things. You never saw one of them in your life that did not do it. I never\par saw a man yet who was seeking to justify himself in the sight of God on his own\par record, that did not magnify some little thing into a mountain and minify some\par mountain into a molehill. The form, more than the power of Godliness, the shell, the\par shell, even if it shall so harden as to prevent expansion and thereby bring death to the\par life in the shell. The shell on the beach never sings until it is empty and dry.\par \par Why, you see a touch of it going on in the papers now, where it counts for nothing\par that the commandment of God, "Go and carry the gospel to every creature," is\par neglected. It counts for nothing that the ear be closed to the pleading cries for help\par that come from destitute places. It counts for nothing that the cold waves of infidelity\par are inundating the land. The great thing is to be parliamentary and to preserve church\par sovereignty; to be able to say at the judgment, "O Lord God, I hindered when need\par held out her emaciated hand and gasped with swollen tongue, swollen with thirst; I\par helped not because the method was unconstitutional. The world was lost but I\par preserved the form of church sovereignty!" It is just as downright Pharisaism and\par hypocrisy as that which occurs here in the text.\par \par And you ask what is the moral effect of such a teaching on the world? Let us notice\par this character yet more. Spiritual pride! They loved the chief places in the\par synagogues and the salutations in the market places. There never was one yet who\par attempted to justify himself before God upon his own record that was not eaten\par through and through with the cancer of spiritual pride; not one. You may take him in\par the form of an infidel and it is there. You may take him in the form of one who claims\par to be religious after that fashion, and it is there. You may take him after he claims to\par be religiously perfect and it is there, a spiritual pride, and towers up to the very\par heaven and that will not say, "I am a sinner." "Through pride the angels fell."\par Notice the next point. They are always cheap-glory people. What does the record\par say? "Ye build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers slew." Now that is a\par fine point. I want you to see it for it touches the whole question. You remember it is\par said,\par \par \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 "Seven cities claimed a Homer dead,\par In which the living Homer begged for bread."\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 What is the point of the sarcasm? It would cost something to be kind to the blind old\par  bard of Scio's rocky isle while he was alive. It did not cost a cent to shelter under his\par glory and claim him as a fellow-citizen after he is gone.\par \par You remember how the mother of Robert Burns, with aching heart and quivering lips\par stood and looked at the cold towering monument erected over her son, and\par remembering his poverty and his want and his need in his lifetime, said with a pathos\par that is indescribable,, "Ah, Robbie, you asked them for bread and they gave you a\par stone." Oh, it is cheap to raise a monument to a dead hero, far cheaper than while he\par is living and the issues of the hour are on him and he, is facing them, to stand by him.\par "Ye build the tombs of the prophets."\par \par Yonder in England, what is that crowd gathering? You can scarcely look to its\par outskirts. Who are they? They are the titled ones of Great Britain. There are dukes\par and marquises and knights, and there are long-robed ecclesiastical dignitaries. What\par ought them together? They are going to erect a monument to John Bunyan and bask\par in the cheap glory of admiring him, gone. When he lived they put him in jail. They\par said he should not preach. Now that is Pharisaism again, and all on the same line.\par \par I want to show you the hideousness of the character when it is drawn out fully. There\par are men today who will get up before an audience and with a declamation that is\par amazing in its elocutionary power and rhetorical force, speak concerning William\par Carey and Adoniram Judson, but when you go to them and say, "Do thou likewise,"\par they close their purse strings, because it is cheaper to glorify a dead missionary than\par to help a live one.\par \par What else? Pharisees are heaven-shunners. Jesus says, "You do not go in\par yourselves." Oh, ye men that are seeking eternal life on, your own merits, you\par heaven-shunners, you do not get in-no, never. You do not enter the kingdom of God\par here in the practical form in which it comes to your door. You do not enter its spirit\par of pity and mercy and love. How can you expect to enter it in its glory phase up\par yonder?\par \par Now comes the very climax of it, as to what is the moral effect of Pharisaism. If that\par way of seeking eternal life through a man's own personal justification is based upon\par three false conceptions, to wit: of law, of sin and of the human will; if it be contrary to\par express declarations of the Scripture; if it run athwart universal human experience,\par and if it makes Pharisees such as have been described, now what is the moral effect\par on other people? That is the part that I want to speak to you of in the climax.\par \par First, "Ye are tombs which appear not, and men walk over them and know it not." If\par a man under the Levitical law touched death, it defiled him. Therefore, when\par anybody died the dead body had to be put in an isolated place, a sepulchre, and a\par mark put upon it, "This is the realm of death. Whoever touches death is defiled."\par Hence there could not be a more hurtful means of disseminating defilement than to\par have a tomb that did not show, and men walking over it and did not know it; coming\par in touch with it, because there was nothing to tell that it was there.\par \par What is the principle involved here? If some workmen under a city contract go to\par digging up the streets and digging down to the sewer, and when night comes are\par usable to close the pit they have digged, and the stranger comes along, as \fs15 t\fs24 he has a\par right on the public highway, and falls into the pit that does not appear, no piece of\par timber put across, no warning red light to say, "Don't come here, here is danger,"\par nothing of that kind-it is a criminal offense. It is a criminal offense to leave near a\par road an old well that is uncovered, lest unthoughtedly, not knowing it, a man should\par fall into it.\par \par Now, the Pharisee is a tomb which does not appear, a death trap that has no mark\par to designate it, and every day, and every hour of every day, thoughtless thousands\par are coming along and falling into that trap where no sign, has been put, "He who\par comes here dies." That is the character of Pharisaism. That is the character of it even\par if an infidel speaks it, who superciliously says, "You church people are saved by\par somebody else. I stand on my own record." And the little boy does not see the\par death that is there, and he walks into it without knowing it. Just as far as that\par influence goes it is death, and it indicated no warning.\par \par What else? A Pharisee is an oppressor of men. "You put heavy burdens on men and\par you do not touch them with your little finger." There never yet has been placed on\par human conscience such a burden as the law and the traditional requirements by\par which a man shall be justified along that line. Why, you can just think of it and it will\par run you crazy as to its details. You are all the time apprehensive that you have\par forgotten something. The mind is on a stretch, a strain, lest perchance some little\par formality, some little external ceremony, has been omitted.\par \par Look at the land where salvation by such forms is the dominant theology. Burdens! It\par comes to the laborer and stops not at one day in seven as a holy day, as God\par requires, but plucks nearly every day in the week from the privilege of honest toil and\par puts it in the calendar as a holiday. Burdens! It puts a burden on birth, on the cradle,\par on the barefooted boy, on the stripling going to school, on the young man when he\par marries, and the grave of his baby, when it dies; a burden that mortgages life after\par death and says, "You must pay me this and that, or that soul can never get out of\par purgatory." Burdens! Oh, who can live under them?\par \par Behold a picture: An honest man, honestly striving after righteousness, striving to\par attain unto it, reaching up, after self-justification \f2\'be \f0 went to the city of Rome and\par thought to find a high degree of righteousness if he would only come to that famous\par marble stairway, and on each step, crawling up, stop and on naked knees recite a\par prayer, and go up another step and kneel down, and recite another strain of\par supplication, and half way up that man (Martin Luther) received a flash of light. The\par Word of God came down to him. What word? "The just shall live by faith." By faith,\par the salvation that we are talking about tonight, and he leaped to his feet. The whole\par world was bright to him. Oh, that made salvation attainable and precious, and he\par became. the great apostle of salvation by grace through faith.\par \par Let us look again. "Persecutors." "I sent the prophets to you and you persecuted\par them. I sent others and you killed them." Now I want to ask a question, and I do not\par care whether you have read just a hundred pages of history or a million pages. I\par want to ask you this question! (If you have read any history, you can answer it.)\par Judging from the statements that are recorded upon the pages of history, what power\par has persecuted men most? It is the Pharisaical power. That power built the\par dungeons. That power invented the rack and the thumb-screw. That power will say,\par "Outwardly conform, Never mind about what you think. Never mind about your\par soul's individual sense of responsibility to God in secret. Just simply submit to be\par baptized and conform on the outside." And the fires of persecution have glowed and\par martyrs have died on account of Pharisaism all along down the ages.\par \par What else? "Nation destroyers." On this generation shall come all the blood that was\par shed from righteous Abel down to Zachariah, that was slain between the porch and\par the altar. I have looked at that many a time and I could understand how upon the\par Jews, considering the nation as an individual that had its birth and youth and maturity\par and old age as a nation I could understand how, the sins committed in the early days\par of the nation would have to be atoned for somewhere, and how they would come on\par the last generation, but this goes back to Abel. That is the part of it that puzzled me.\par Abel was before the Jews. How then does it leap over that long period and get back\par to Abel? I will tell you. It is the responsibility of an idea. What were the two ideas\par that crossed swords at Abel's altar? The idea of self-righteousness as embodied in\par Cain and the idea of salvation by faith through the blood of the lamb in Abel. And\par there the believer in one way of getting to heaven persecuted the believer in the other\par way, and there self-righteousness struck its first murderous blow that has been\par perpetuated from that day until now.\par \par Now the last point is the effect upon other people. It bars heaven. "You will not go\par in yourself and others that would go in, you hinder." Oh, how many times, in some\par great meeting where Jesus has been lifted up as the only hope of the world,\par somebody in the audience deep down in his heart has felt, "I am a sinner; I am a lost\par sinner," near the kingdom of God, close up to the line; but when he steps out of the\par house there comes a Pharisee and takes away the key of knowledge and hinders him\par from going in; comes with his scorn of salvation by Christ and plucks that man from\par the very threshold of eternal life and hurls him to the deepest depths of eternal death.\par Is it any light matter then that this view should be propagated among our children;\par anything which ministers to hypocrisy, to covetousness, to cruelty, to extortion;\par anything which ministers to oppression and not to helpfulness; anything which causes\par one to shun heaven; anything which makes a man an unmarked source of defilement,\par a hidden source of death, and that, too, right in the path where children walk, that\par right on the highway where men must go, there is death and no sign to tell that death\par is there, and then a destruction, that saps the foundation of the nation, that masses a\par great flood of future woe and holds it in reservation until a generation comes on\par whose unsheltered head it shall burst in one awful, overwhelming deluge?\par The sin, the awful sin of self-righteousness, whether held by the men outside of the\par church or in it, is the sin of this world. And that is why Saul was the chief of sinners.\par He was the embodiment of self-righteousness. He hated Jesus. He persecuted that\par way unto the death and it made him the chief of sinners.\par \par So I have presented this subject to you, and I think there will be no harm in my\par telling you about an impression made on my mind this morning. Just at the close of\par the sermon, when my own soul, with every finger of it, was touching salvation by\par grace, salvation by Christ, I sat down there. The choir sang that old-time hymn with\par that old-time tune, that I heard when I was a little child, and it melted me down. I\par never thought about its being any fine display of singing. I didn't think of the choir,\par but their song made me think of Jesus and heaven and precious grace. I would to\par God we had more of those songs that touch the soul.\par \par Away back yonder some of you sitting here used to be in meetings, where ministers\par preached the gospel and not philosophy. They held, up Jesus as the only way of life\par for sinners, lost sinners, and somehow, old-fashioned as they may have been,\par homespun backwoodsmen, there was something in the power of those services to\par touch the heart, to break down the barriers of fictitious distinctions between classes,\par and bring all together as brothers and sisters, until tears flowed down their faces and\par they would take each other by the hand and bless God for the power of grace. And\par that old-time religion is good enough for me. I do not ever want any other. I would\par not give a snap of my finger for another kind. I have tried this right in the presence of\par death and it is very sweet.\par \par O Waco church, when I came here this morning, while I was sorry for you on\par account of your having as worthless a pastor as you have, I rejoiced that I had such\par a church. But I do want to see you have one more old-time meeting, a meeting when\par salvation will come from God, grace, all of it grace, and men under the power of it\par shall feel and acknowledge that they are lost sinners. I want to see that  come. I\par hunger for it. I thirst for it. My soul stretches out its hands in supplication to God that\par one more time before I pass away I may see this house full of the glory of God, and I\par know that it won't fill that way with anything but that old-time religion and preaching.\par So I have celebrated this anniversary.\par \par Fifty-three years old today, and I have been very happy all day long, and I do testify\par here that if I never see another birthday, that the thing that has made me happy today\par is my personal and conscious touch with the power of the Christian religion. That is\par what it is. As Brother Cole, my old friend said, "I would not give fifteen minutes of its\par joys for the world."\par \par Sinner, what shall you do to inherit eternal life? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and\par you shall have eternal life. God help you to hold out the hand of faith and receive the\par gift of God, which is eternal life.\cf0\f3\fs20\par }  UI08-WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE? PART  viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 9. CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW\par \cf2\fs24\par SCRIPTURE READINGS: How readest thou? Thou shalt love the Lord thy\par God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and\par with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus said unto him, Thou\par hast answered right - this do, and thou shalt live. - \cf1\ul Luk_10:26-28\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 I read a passage from the tenth chapter of the letter to the Romans beginning, "My\par  heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they may be saved. For I bear\par them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For \i\f1 they\par \i0\f0 being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own\par righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For\par Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."\par \par Without taking a text at all tonight, my purpose is to present to you two plans of\par salvation in the very simplest way that I know how.\par \par When you read the Bible, have you not been struck with the difference between the\par direction given by our Savior as recorded in the paragraph of Luke, and the direction\par given by the Apostle Paul as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Acts?\par A certain lawyer stood up tempting the Savior saying, "Master, what shall I do to\par inherit eternal life?"\par \par Jesus said, "What saith the law? How do you read it?" And he quoted the law.\par Jesus replied, "This do, and thou shalt live:"\par \par But when the jailer propounded the question to the Apostle Paul, "Sirs, what must I\par do to be saved?" Paul replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be\par saved."\par \par There is a great difference between doing the commandments of God in order to\par inherit eternal life, and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, and\par the two plans are presented by Paul in the tenth chapter of his letter to the Romans.\par Now I want you to listen as carefully as ever you listened to a statement in your life,\par to certain things which I wish to say on these two plans of salvation.\par \par The first statement is that man is a creature, a moral creature, and under law. The\par law which he is under is expressed briefly in that paragraph in Luke: "Thou shalt love\par the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul and all thy strength and all thy\par mind, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Now, in a few words, that is the\par law.\par \par Mark you that the law takes hold of the disposition, of the affections. Thou shalt\par love. Thou shalt love God. Thou shalt love thy neighbor. Mark you how\par comprehensive it is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy heart; with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy\par soul; with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy strength, with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy mind." Notice how comprehensive it is in the\par other: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Now that is the moral law under\par which a man lives - to which he is subject.\par \par Let us notice in the next place when a man is righteous under this law. Moses\par describes the righteousness of the law thus: "That they which do these things shall live\par by them." A man is righteous under the law when he keeps it. He is unrighteous if he\par does not keep it. That law is the measure, the standard, of our thoughts,\par imaginations, being, work or words; of all that's in our minds, in our souls, in our\par strength, in our heart, and to be righteous under that law, you must comply with the\par requirements of that law.\par \par Let us see what is the scope of that requirement, how far it goes. Let me read a\par passage on it. The Apostle James says in the second chapter of his letter to the\par twelve tribes, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he\par is guilty of all. For He that said, 'Do not commit adultery,' said also, 'Do not kill.'\par Now if thou commit no adultery, yet thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the\par law."\par \par Take another passage: In the third chapter of the letter to the Galatians, the Apostle\par Paul discusses the scope of the law, where he says, "Cursed is every one that\par continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."\par What, then, is the scope of this law? What must you do to be righteous under this\par law? You must comply not only with every requirement of it, but you must\par continually comply with every requirement of it. You must not only love God with all\par your heart, but you must love God with all your heart all the time. Cursed is every\par man that continueth not, and if he ever violates it in one particular, then he is guilty of\par breaking the whole law.\par \par What kind of a defense would you call it if a man was indicted before our courts for\par murder, and when the question was propounded to him by the judge as to what he\par had to say as to why sentence of death should not be pronounced, he should get up\par and say,\par \par "I admit that I have committed this murder this one time, but I want to call\par your attention to the fact that it is the only offense I ever committed. I never\par stole any money, never committed adultery, never bore false witness, and\par this is the only hour in my life when I have broken the law. Therefore, in view\par of my conformity to the law all the rest of the days of my life, and in view of\par the fact that this is the only one of the statutes which I have violated, I think I\par ought to be acquitted?"\par \par What would the judge say? The judge would tell him that the committing of that\par crime made him a transgressor, and that when he had complied with the law all the\par rest of his life he was entitled to no credit for it, for it was what every citizen was\par required to do.\par \par Now that is what James means when he says, "The same God who said, '\i\f1 Thou \i0\f0 shalt\par not steal,' said also, '\i\f1 Thou \i0\f0 shalt not bear false witness."' In other words, that part of\par the law which says "love thy neighbor as thyself" is just as much violated in one of\par these directions as in the other direction. So that we understand now what is meant\par by this law under which all the people are subjects. "Thou shalt love God with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy\par \i\f1 heart, \i0\f0 with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy \i\f1 soul, \i0\f0 with \i\f1 all thy strength \i0\f0 and with \i\f1 all \i0\f0 thy \i\f1 mind, \i0\f0 and \i\f1 for all the\par time, \i0\f0 and thy neighbor as thyself."\par \par Well, suppose a man violates one of the provisions of this law, either with respect to\par God or with respect to his fellow man, then what is the penalty? The penalty is\par declared in two scriptures with great solemnity and plainness, "The soul that sinneth it\par shall die," and the other scripture which says, "The wages of sin is death."\par \par Now, having gotten these points clearly before your minds, viz: first, that man is\par under the law; second, the law which he is under; third, the scope of that law; and\par fourth, the penalty of the violation of that law-having gone thus far in these\par statements, let us ask a question: Is there on this earth a righteous man? Would any\par of you this night stand up before God and lay your hand upon your heart and say, "I\par am a righteous man; I have never violated that law; I have always with my heart\par loved God; I have always loved my neighbor as myself; I have never in thought or\par word or deed, violated at any time any one of the provisions of this moral law under\par which I live?"\par \par I do not know what answer you would give, but I want to give you some answers\par that are contained in the Word of God, on that subject, and the first one is a\par statement made by Solomon at the time the Temple was dedicated. At the\par dedication of the Temple he made a prayer and the prayer looked to a certain way\par by which sins committed against God might be forgiven and in that prayer,\par parenthetically, he says, "For there is not upon the earth a just man that liveth and\par sinneth not."\par \par Listen to what the Apostle John says: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive\par ourselves and the truth it not in us." Again he says, "If we say that we have not\par sinned, we make God to be a liar." Wherein does it make God to be a liar? Let us\par read and see, Psalms 14, as follows: "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the\par children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are\par all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good; no\par not one."\par \par God looked down from heaven to see if there were \i\f1 any. \i0\f0 Not occasionally one, -not\par if \i\f1 all \i0\f0 men were doing right, but God looked down from heaven to see if any of them\par were doing right, and His solemn declaration is that not one of them was found to do\par right.\par \par Now, take these three declarations of Scripture: That of Solomon that there is not a\par just man upon the earth that liveth and, sinneth not; the declaration of the Apostle\par John that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us,\par and that if we say we have not sinned we make God to be a liar; and then God\par looked down from heaven to see if any were doing right, and He found that none\par were doing right.\par \par Where, then, does this subject \f2\'be \f0 this statement \f2\'be \f0 bring us? To what conclusion\par have we arrived? That by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified in God's\par sight \f2\'be \f0 that is, so far as the righteousness that comes by personal obedience is\par concerned. All of us are sold under sin \f2\'be \f0 Jew and Gentile. Not one that ever lived\par upon the earth can be found that kept this law at all times and at all points, and\par whenever any one of them breaks any point in the law, violates any provision of the\par law, at that time that soul comes under the condemnation: "The soul that sinneth, it\par shall die."\par \par Therefore, when that lawyer tempted the Savior and put that question, "Master,\par what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered, "What does the\par law say? What is required in the law in order that a man may live-may have eternal\par life?" And the lawyer quoted it. Then Jesus said, "If you want to know !what great\par thing you are to do to inherit eternal life, go and do those things," showing what He\par wished to bring about that He wanted to shut this man up and show him that he was\par already condemned, that there was no way by which he could be justified in the sight\par of God by the law, by his own personal righteousness.\par \par What, then, can be the solidity of the hope that any man has in his heart of being\par justified in the sight of God by selfrighteousness? Take any kind of a. m"an. I am not\par talking about the worst classes of men \f2\'be \f0 the out-breaking sinners-men who are\par confirmed drunkards or red-handed murderers. I am not even talking about the good\par citizen merely, but I mean that you may take the loveliest and purest woman that ever\par lived upon the earth. You may take the noblest man that ever lived upon the earth,\par and, with these select specimens, bring them up before this law of God which says,\par "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all th#y heart, and with all thy soul, and with\par all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor \i\f1 as thyself, and at \i0\f0 "\i\f1 all times\par thou shalt do this,\i0\f0 " and that woman and that man would come under the\par condemnation of the law. You know you never saw a woman who could escape\par under that law. You never saw a man that could. It follows, then, that so far as that\par plan of getting to eternal life is concerned, if there be no other way than that way,\par men are lo$st.\par \par Just here we look at another statement. Jesus comes into the world. God loves this\par lost world, and He so loves it as to give His Son in its behalf; and when Jesus comes\par into the world, for whom does He come? We shall let Him answer. He says, "I am\par come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." He did not expect to find\par any righteous people. He knew before He left heaven that there were none such. He\par came after the sinners-transgressors-under the condemn%ation of the law.\par \par Take it again where He says, "The whole need not a physician," \f2\'be \f0 that is to say, "I\par did not come to seek well people. My visit to earth was not to find men or women\par who were spiritually well. I came to find sick people-people whose souls were sick.\par I came as a physician, but not as a physician to a hospital. I came as a physician into\par a country over which the pestilence had blown its breath, and you men and women\par and children in it were subje&ct to that pestilence."\par \par Another scripture: "This is a faithful saying, and \i\f1 worthy of all acceptation\i0\f0 " \i\f3\'be\par \i0\f0 worthy for you to accept, worthy for me, worthy for your father and mine, worthy\par for our children. "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." What is it?\par "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" Sinners! If He came into the\par world to save sinners, and the way of salvation is blocked by their own personal\par conformity 'to the requirements of the law, how does He propose to save them?\par Mark you, these people are condemned. \i\f1 They \i0\f0 have been tried. The sentence of\par death has been pronounced upon them, and the interval of time that intervenes\par between the pronouncing of the sentence and the executing of the penalty and the\par fact that they are alive, is evidence only of the forbearance of God in the suspension\par of the penalty until there shall be submitted unto them another way of life.\par No(w what is that other way of life? There must be in that other way of life some sort\par of satisfaction to that violated law. Jesus Christ cannot come and save any one of\par those who have been condemned to death, and allow God's holiness to remain\par unsullied unless what they owe He pays-unless the penalty which has fallen upon\par them, falls upon Him.\par \par That leads us to a word. The word is "vicarious" \f2\'be \f0 in the place of another. And\par when we say Jesus suffered vicariously, )we mean that He suffered in the place of\par somebody else and hence, if Jesus makes an expiation for sin and He not being a\par sinner, it must be a vicarious expiation; that is, it must be an expiation for somebody\par else. Now, in order to save those who are under the penalty of the law He must\par suffer vicariously, in their stead. When did He suffer so?\par \par Now, I want to get you to fix your mind on a certain event \f2\'be \f0 a certain transaction, a\par definite thing in the life of t*he Lord Jesus Christ. When was it? By what deed upon\par His part was this expiation made? Was it when He was born? No. Was it when He\par worked miracles? No. Was it when He rose from the dead? No. When He\par ascended into heaven? No.\par \par \cf2\b\i\f4\fs23 It was when He died on the cross.\par \par \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs24 We are to be saved by the death of Christ. If we are to be purchased we are to be\par purchased by the \i\f1 blood \i0\f0 of Christ.\par \par But what do the Scriptures say ab+out that? The Apostle Paul says, "The gospel that I\par preached unto you, how, that according to the Scripture, Christ died for our sins."\par How does he express it in his letter to the Romans? "Whom God set forth to be a\par propitiation for our sins." \i\f1 Set forth. \i0\f0 When? What part of the setting forth was\par efficacious? It was when His blood was shed.\par \par What does Peter say upon that point? He says, "Who bare our sins in His own body\par on the tree." What does Paul say about ,it in his letter to the Corinthians the second\par time? He says, "God made Him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made\par the righteousness of God in Him." What did Isaiah foresee? He says that "God laid\par on Him the iniquity of us all," and "by His stripes we are healed."\par \par Now we are coming up to the plan of salvation. We are coming up to that plan that\par stands over against the first plan presented a while ago. In his letter to the Romans,\par Paul says, Moses described the- righteousness which is of the law that they who do\par these things shall live by them. That is one plan, but the righteousness, which is of\par faith-how is that? He says that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every\par one that believeth; that the word was nigh them, even in their mouth and in their\par heart-the word of faith which they preached: "That if thou shalt confess with thy\par mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the\par dead, .thou shalt be saved."\par \par Now, I want to get before you as a conclusion from what has been presented\par heretofore the shallowness of the hope upon which any man rests who is trusting to\par any kind of selfrighteousness as a means of justification when he comes to stand\par before the bar of God. I know some people that are good people, humanly\par speaking-good citizens, debt-paying men, outwardly, at least, moral men \f2\'be \f0 who\par affect to reject the idea of being saved by a vicario/us expiation by the righteousness\par of somebody else, and these men are passing through life, going on toward death\par and soon will be at death, and after death come to judgment, utterly discarding any\par hope of eternal life from the righteousness which is in Christ, and they do not feel that\par they are very great sinners.\par \par Now, I want to quote some scripture to them. The Apostle Peter says, "There is no\par other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," except t0he\par name of Jesus. He means something by such a broad statement as that. Take what\par our Savior says in a certain parable of His, that whosoever climbeth over the wall\par and cometh not in by the door of the sheepfold, the same is a thief and a robber, and\par He says, "I am the door, and whosoever does not come into the sheepfold by the\par door is a thief and a robber."\par \par Now it is a very difficult matter to make that moral man believe that he is a thief and\par a robber, but that i1s just what he is. That is God's declaration with reference to himthat\par any man who tries to get into the sheepfold in any other way than through Christ\par as the door is a thief and a robber.\par \par Take this scripture: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema\par maranatha," that is, let him be accursed when Christ shall come. Here is a man that\par does not love the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, a moral man. We look at him and\par see in him a great many things to2 commend him, humanly speaking, and we know he\par is near death, and after death is the judgment, and that Christ comes at the judgment.\par Here is the solemn declaration of God's Word that if that man does not love the\par Lord Jesus Christ he shall be accursed when Christ shall come. He comes to the\par judgment \f2\'be \f0 to the final judgment \f2\'be \f0 to be accursed. That means to be accursed\par forever. It means to bear an eternal penalty.\par \par Now hear this scripture: The Apostle P3aul says that if we hear an angel from heaven\par preach any other gospel than this gospel hat Christ died for our sins according to the\par Scriptures, that we are to be saved by faith in the blood of Jesus, that this is the only\par way a man can be saved-he says that if an angel from heaven come to this earth and\par preach any other doctrine that that, that angel would be accursed.\par \par Then take this scripture: Jesus said it himself. He said it upon the memorable\par occasion just before H4e ascended into heaven. He had been upon the earth and\par these are His last words. Listen: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to\par every creature," \i\f1 every one. \i0\f0 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he\par that believeth not shall be damned." That is His own declaration.\par \par Then this scripture: "He that sinned under Moses' law died without mercy under two\par or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought\par worthy 5who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of\par the everlasting covenant an unholy thing?"\par \par Now this moral man, this self-righteous man, in assuming to stand upon his own\par righteousness in the sight of God, has declared that he did not need a Savior-that he\par was not a sinner, that he did not need a physician. He has trodden under foot the\par Son of God \f2\'be \f0 he has counted that blood that was shed upon Calvary an unholy\par thing; he has done despi6te to the Spirit of grace. And this scripture: "If thou shalt\par confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that He hath\par risen from the dead, thou shalt be saved."\par \par These are the two plans of Life, and it seems to me that the way is so plain that there\par can be no mistake about it. Here's the law. You cannot deny that it is holy; that it is\par just; that it is good; that if God made you, you are a moral, dependent creature and\par under law, and that law7 says that you are to love God; you admit that law to be holy\par and just and good, and that you are to love God with all your heart. Certainly you\par would not leave out a part of your affections that could be fastened with love upon\par God. And that if you are under obligation to love Him at one time, you are under\par obligation to love Him at all times and to love Him supremely at all times. And that if\par you are under obligation to love your neighbor today, you were yesterday and you\par w8ill be tomorrow, and if you are under obligation to love him at all, you are under\par obligation to love him as you love yourself, because he is entitled to what you are\par entitled to, and if you love him you will not hate him at all you will not tell lies on him,\par nor steal from him, nor bear false witness against him, nor covet anything that he hasif\par you love ,your neighbor as you love yourself you won't do any of those things.\par Now then, the supreme question for you to answer is, "Hav9e I done this?" Have you\par complied with this law?\par \par I close with this: With all men, white and black-with all people that you have ever\par known or heard of or of which this scripture gives any description \f2\'be \f0 there is a sense\par of right and wrong. They do know some things as right and some things as wrong.\par But says one, "The heathen that have not the law, Paul says that their hearts and their\par consciences convict or acquit them with reference to some things, as to wheth:er they\par are right or whether they are wrong."\par \par Now it follows that wherever there is a right and a wrong there must be a law which\par makes one thing right and another thing wrong. And it also follows that where there\par is a law and a law-maker and subjects of law, there must be responsibility to the law,\par and wherever there is responsibility to law, and a violator of the law, there must be a\par judgment. There must be a trial. There must be an arraigning of the guilty before tha;t\par bar \f2\'be \f0 that tribunal of justice \f2\'be \f0 and when he comes to stand before that bar then\par the supreme judge is just.\par \par Now what hope has he that he will be acquitted and not condemned? What\par reasonable hope? What one that can give sleep and rest when he thinks about it? Do\par you. feel satisfied about it? Why is it that you are disturbed at times with fear and\par apprehension? If you are satisfied about it, why is it that when you have been alone\par you have condee king came in he said to\par him, "Friend, what doest thou here without the wedding garment?" And the man was\par speechless. The king said, "Take him and bind him hand and foot and cast him forth\par into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."\par \par If my mind ever reached a conclusion, with all the earnestness with which I ever\par believed in a proposition and with all the assurance with which I ever rested my soul\par on any foundation, I do rest it upon the dec?laration that whosoever believeth in the\par Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. That other way is closed. It's barred. We are lost\par under that.\par \par This is the only way of escape, and now I want to implore you tonight to do what\par you have never, perhaps, done before in your life. Fasten your mind upon the two\par roads that open before you. One or the other take. Do you take the road that will\par make you stand at the last in your own righteousness? Or do you take the road that\par will@ make you stand in the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Two\par ways open out before your feet. Death is in both and after death the judgment.\par May God's Holy Spirit impress upon you with an impression that can never be\par effaced the vast importance of a speedy settlement of this question. The Lord says,\par "Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth."\par \par Jesus says that God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son to die for\par sinners, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.\par The blood falling from the Cross flows to you \f2\'be \f0 flows in its saving power \f2\'be \f0 and\par tonight will you count it an unholy thing? Will you tread under foot the Son of God?\par Will you do despite to the Spirit of, grace?\par \par Let us unite in prayer, that at the parting of these two roads, the way of life and the\par way of death, every person in this house may decide this question forever.\cf0\f5\fs20\par } dd< 09. CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Symbol,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f5\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\ C. IF THINE EYE OFFEND THEE\par \cf2\fs24\par TEXT: If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into\par the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell\par fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. - \cf1\ul Mar_9:47-48\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 What is briefly the meaning of the word, "offend?" If thy hand offend thee, if thine\par \i\f1 eye \i0\f0 offend thee, if thy foot offend thee; what is the meaning of this word? WeD find it\par in the English in the word "scandal;" that is, "scandal" is the Anglicised form of the\par Greek word here used. But the word "scandalize," as used in the English, does not\par express the thought contained in this text, since that is a modern-derived meaning of\par the word. Originally it meant the trigger of a trap that trigger which, being touched,\par caused the trap to fall and catch one \f2\'be \f0 and from its original signification it came to\par have four well known Bible meaniEngs. An instance of each one of the four meanings,\par fairly applicable to our text today, will be cited.\par \par First, it means a stumbling-block, that which causes any one to fall, and in its spiritual\par signification, that which causes any one to fall into sin. If thy hand causeth thee to fall\par into sin; if thine eye causeth thee to fall into sin; if thy foot causeth thee to fall into sin,\par cut it off, pluck it out. It is more profitable to enter heaven maimed than to have the\par bodFy cast into bell. The thought is as you see it in connection with a stumbling block,\par that you fall unexpectedly into the sin, as if you were going along not looking down\par and should suddenly stumble over something in your regular path, where you usually\par walked. Now, if thine eye causeth thee, in the regular walk of life, to put something in\par that pathway that, when you were not particularly watching, will cause you to\par stumble and fall into sin \f2\'be \f0 that is the first thought oGf it.\par \par Its second meaning is an obstacle, or obstruction that causes you to stop. You do\par not fall over this obstacle, but it blocks your way and you stop. You do not fall, but.\par you do not go on. To illustrate this use of the word, John the Baptist, in prison,\par finding the progress of his faith stopped by a doubt, sent word to Christ to know,\par "Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" evidently showing that\par some unbelief had crept into his heart that had caHused him to stop. He was not going\par on in the direction that he had been going and hence, when Jesus sent word to John\par of the demonstrations of His divinity, He added this expression, using this very word,\par "Blessed is the man who is not offended in me." Blessed is the man who in me does\par not find an obstacle that stops him. Anything that is an occasion of unbelief fulfills this\par meaning of the word. If thine eye causes something to be put in thy path that suggests\par a doubt as to Ithe Christian religion, and by that doubt causeth thee that had been\par going steadily forward to stop, pluck it out.\par \par Let me give another illustration. In the parable of the sower, our Savior, in\par expounding why it was that the grain that had fallen upon the rock and came up and\par seemed to promise well for a while, afterwards, under the hot sun, withered away\par and perished, says, there are some people that hear the word of God and, for a\par while seem to accept it, but when tribJulation or persecution cometh they are\par offended \f2\'be \f0 they are stopped. That is the meaning of the word strictly. Persecution\par and tribulation cometh and an obstacle is put in their path that causes them to stop.\par Now, if thine eye causes an obstacle to be put in thy Christian path, that causeth thee\par to stop and not to go forward, pluck it out.\par \par Yet another illustration: You remember that our Savior, who had announced a great\par many doctrines that people could easily uKnderstand and accept, suddenly, on one\par occasion, announced a hard doctrine, very hard, and from that time it is said that\par many of His disciples followed Him no more. They stopped. Now, there was\par something in them, in the eye or the hand or the foot, that found an occasion of\par unbelief in the doctrine He announced, and they stopped.\par \par I remember a very notable instance, where a man, deeply impressed in a meeting,\par and giving fair promise of having passed from death to life, Lhappened to be present\par when the scriptural law of the use of money was expounded, and he stopped. He\par stopped. Some obstacle stretched clear across his path. It was the love of money in\par his heart. He couldn't recognize God's sovereignty over money. As if he had said,\par "If you want me to cry, I will cry; if you want me to join the church, I will join it; if\par you want me to be baptized, I will be baptized; but if you want me to honor God\par with my money, I stop."\par \par Now the Mthird use of the word: It is sometimes used to indicate, not something over\par which you stumble and fall into a sin, and not an obstacle that blocks up your\par pathway, but in the sense of something that you run up against and hurt yourself and\par so become foolishly angry. As when one at night, trying to pass out of a dark room,\par strikes his head against the door, and in a moment flies into a passion. Now, if thine\par eye causeth thee to run up against an object that when you strike it offenNds you,\par makes you mad, pluck it out and cast it from thee.\par \par These three senses of this word have abundant verifications in the classical Greek\par and a vast number of instances in the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New\par Testament. But there is a fourth use of the word to which I will have occasion to\par refer more particularly at the conclusion of the sermon, in the climax; that is, where\par the eye has caused a man to turn aside from the right path and to reject the wise\Opar counsel of God, and to indulge in sin until God has given him up; then God sets a\par trap for him right in the path of his besetting sin. In the eleventh chapter of Romans\par and in the ninth verse you will find that use of the word: "Let their table be made a\par trap for them." That is to, say that God, after trying to lead a man to do right, if he\par persists in doing wrong, the particular sin, whatever that may be, whether it be of\par pride or lust or pleasure, whatever it may be, that pParticular besetting sin \i\f1 which \i0\f0 has\par caused him to reject God shall be made the occasion of his ruin, and in the track of it\par God will set the trap, and the man is certain to fall into it and be lost.\par \par Now, these are the four Bible uses of this term, "offend" Greek: \i\f1 skandalon, \i0\f0 the\par noun, and \i\f1 skandalizo, \i0\f0 the verb. If thine eye causeth thee to offend, that is, if your\par eye causes you to put something in your path over which you will unexpectedlyQ fall\par into a sin; if thine eye causeth thee to put an obstacle clear across your path, so that\par you stop; if thine eye causeth thee to put some object against which you will\par unthoughtedly run and hurt yourself and become incensed; if thine eye causeth thee\par to go into a sin that shall completely alienate you from God, and in the far distant\par track of which God sets a trap that will be sure to catch your soul, pluck it out.\par The next thing needing explanation\fs15 : \fs24 People wRho look at the shell of a thing may\par understand the text to mean mutilation of the body. They forget that the mutilation of\par the body is simply an illustration of spiritual things. Take a case that you will\par understand. One of the most beautiful and sweet-spirited girls in this city, before\par whom there seemed to stretch a long and bright and happy future, was taken sick,\par and the illness, whatever the doctors may call it, was in the foot and the blood would\par not circulate. The doctSors could not bring about the circulation and that foot finally\par threatened the whole body. Then the doctors said, "This foot must be cut off; it must\par be amputated." And they did amputate it. They amputated it to save her life. They\par cut off that member because it offered the only possible means of saving the other\par foot and both hands and the whole body and her life. It was sternness of love,\par resoluteness of affection, courage of wisdom that sacrificed a limb to save the body.\par TNow using that necessity of amputation as an illustration, our Savior says, "If thy\par hand offend thee, cut it off; if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. If thine eye offend thee,\par pluck it out." But that He does not mean bodily mutilation is self-evident from this,\par that if you were to cut off your hand you could not stop the spiritual offense; if you\par were to pluck out the eye you could not stop the spiritual offense on the inside of the\par soul; no lopping off of external branches wouldU reach that.\par \par But what our Savior means to teach is this: That a wise physician who discovers\par seated in one member of the body a disease that if allowed to spread will destroy the\par whole body, in the interest of mercy cuts off that diseased limb so, applying this to\par spiritual things, whatever causes you to fall into sin, cut loose from it at every cost.\par One other word needs to be explained-the word Gehenna. I have explained it a\par number of times, but will explain it very bVriefly again: It is a little valley next to\par Jerusalem that once belonged to the sons of Hinnom. It came to pass that in that\par valley was instituted an idol worship, and there the kings caused their children to\par pass through the fire to Moloch, and because of this iniquity a good king of Israel\par defiled that valley, made it the dumping ground of all refuse matter from the city. The\par excrement, the dead things, the foul and corrupt matter were all carried out and put\par in that valleyW. And because of the corruption heaped there worms were always there,\par and because of the burning that had been appointed as a sanitary measure, the fire\par was always there.\par \par That was used as an illustration to indicate the spiritual condition of a lost soul, of a\par soul that had become entirely separated from God and given up to its own devices;\par that had become bad through and through; that had become such a slave to passion,\par or lust or crime that it was incorrigible, and thXe very nature of the sin which\par possessed it was like a worm that never dies. There was a gnawing, a ceaseless\par gnawing going on, referring to the conscience, and there was a burning and a thirst\par going on. Now those images our Savior selected to represent the thought of hell.\par Having explained its words now look at the text: "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it\par out." What is the principle involved in that extortion? First, that it is a man's chief\par concern to see that he does not Ymiss the mark, that he does not make shipwreck;\par that he does not ruin himself. That is the chief concern of every boy, of every girl, of\par every man and woman, to see to it that you do not miss the mark of your being; that\par you do not shipwreck; that you do not go to utter ruin.\par \par The next thought involved in it is that in case you do miss the mark, in case you do\par make shipwreck, in case your soul is lost, then there is no profit and no\par compensation to you in anything you evZer had. For what shall it profit a man if he\par gain the whole world and lose his own soul? If he misses the main thing, if he makes\par shipwreck of his own soul, then wherein does the compensation come to him that in\par his life he had this or that treasure, this pleasure or that, that he was able to attain to\par this ambition or that; that he for such a while, no matter how long, was on top in\par society or fashion in the world? What has it profited him if the main thing worthy of\par supreme[ concern is lost?\par \par The next thought is this: Whatever sacrifice is necessary to the securing of the main\par thing, that you must make. That is what this text means, and no matter how dear a\par treasure may be to you; no matter how much you esteem it, if it be necessary that\par you should give it up or that your soul should be lost, this text calls on you to give it\par up. A man may have in a ship a vast amount of money which he idolizes, but in the\par night he is alarmed by the cry of \fire; he rushes upon the deck and he finds that the\par ship is hopelessly in flames and that the only way of escape is to swim to the shore.\par Now he stands there for a moment and meditates, "I have here a vast amount of\par money, in gold. If I try to take this gold with me in this issue in which the main thing,\par my life, is involved, it will sink me. My life is worth more than this money. O,\par glittering gold, I leave you! I strike out, stripped of every weight and swim for my\par life." I]t means that he ought to leave behind everything that would jeopardize his\par gaining the shore.\par \par A ship has a valuable cargo. It has been acquired by toil and anxiety and industry. It\par may be that the cargo in itself is perfectly innocent, but in a stress of weather, with a\par storm raging and with a leak in the vessel rising, it becomes necessary to lighten that\par ship. Now whatever is necessary to make it float, to keep it above the water, that\par must be done. If there be anythi^ng which, if permitted to remain in that ship will sink\par it, throw it out. They that do business in great waters know the wisdom of this. Why?\par It is a question of sacrificing the inferior to the greater and better.\par \par The next thought involved in this text is this: Whenever it says,. "If thine eye offend\par thee pluck it out," I do venture to say that it is a demonstration, by the exhortation\par addressed to you personally, that if ruin comes to you it comes by your own consent.\par _I mean to say that no matter what is the stress of outside seduction, nor how\par cunningly the devil may attempt to seduce and beguile you, that all the devils in hell\par and all the extraneous temptations that may environ a man can never work his\par shipwreck, if he does not consent.\par \par What is the next point involved in this text? That whenever one does consent to\par temptation, whenever the ruin comes to him, it comes on account of some internal\par moral deliquency. Out of the heart a`re the issues of life. Out of the heart proceed\par murder, lust, blasphemy and every crime which men commit. I mean to say that as\par the Bible declares that no murderer shall inherit eternal life, that external incentives to\par murder amount to nothing unless in him, in the man, in the soul, there be a\par suspectibility or a liability or moral weakness that shall open the door to the tempter\par and let in the destroyer.\par \par Now if that be true we come naturally to the next thought in thias text, that if God\par saves a man, and if God can save a man, He must save him in accordance with the\par laws of his own nature. That is to say, that God must, in order to the salvation of that\par man, require truth in the inward part; that nothing external will touch the case; that\par God's requirements must take hold, not of the long delayed overt act, but of the lust\par in the heart which preceded the act and made the act. And therefore, while a human\par court can take jurisdiction only ofb murder actually committed, God goes inside of the\par man and says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." From hate comes\par murder. If God saves you He must save you from the internal hate. Human law takes\par hold of a case of adultery. God's law goes to the eye: "Whosoever looketh upon a\par woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." God\par requireth truth in the inward part. And I tell you if you are saved you must be saved\par internally; you mustc be saved not only from the guilt and penalty of sin, but you must\par be saved from the love of it and from the dominion of it.\par \par Now, the next point: With that law looking inside, looking at your thoughts, looking\par at the springs of action, the question comes up, "How shall one keep from making\par shipwreck? How shall one save his soul? How shall one so attain to the end of his\par being as that in the main thing he shall not miss the mark?" Well, he has got to look at\par it as an excdeedingly sober question. There is no child's play about it. You must not\par rely upon the quack remedies of philosophers and impostors, or rely upon any\par external rite, upon joining the church or being baptized, or partaking of the Lord's\par supper.\par \par The awful blasphemy of calling that the way to heaven! God requireth truth in the\par inward part, and if you are saved, you must be saved inside. As a wise man, having\par as my chief business to save my soul, I must scrupulously look at eevery thing with\par which I come in contact.\par \par Some men's weaknesses are in one direction and some in another, but the chief thing\par for me is to find out my weakness \f2\'be \f0 what is my besetting sin, where is the weak\par point in my line of defense, where am I most susceptible to danger, where do I yield\par most readily? And if I find that the ties of blood are making me lose my soul, I must\par move out of my own family, and therefore in the Mosaic law, it is expressly said, that\fpar "If thine own son, if the wife of, thy bosom, shall cause thee to worship idols and turn\par away from the true God, thou shalt put thine own hand on the head as first witness,\par that they may be stoned." Thou shalt not spare. It is a question of your life, and if\par your family ties are such that they are dragging you down to death, O boy, O girl, I\par tell you to strike out for your life. And that is why marriage is the most solemn and\par far-reaching question that ever came up for human gdecision. More souls are lost right\par there, more women go into hopeless bondage, more men are shipwrecked by that\par solemn tie, than by anything else.\par \par Look next at your associates. With whom do you associate? Knowing your\par weakness, knowing the point upon which you are most easily led astray, what is the\par moral effect on you of the company you keep? Does it tend to strengthen you against\par that susceptibility? Suppose your inclinations, your weak point, is distrust of the truthh\par of God. Faith is hard for you. You have to battle on that. Now, as you value the\par salvation of your soul, turn from the man or from the woman whose influence\par continually leads you to distrust God and His promises. You ought to move away\par from that kind of an association if that is, your weakness; if that is your danger point\par you ought to move away from it sooner than you would move from the edge of a\par precipice, from a den of rattlesnakes, and as you run stop your ears and cryi, "Life,\par life, life! I am shunning you, O companion, that I may have life."\par \par There are men in this town \f2\'be \f0 I know them and you know them-that have caused\par hundreds of weak Christians to stumble, to fall into the sin of unbelief, by the eternal\par suggestions of doubt and cavilings and besmirchings, that they cast upon the holiness\par of religion, the divinity of Jesus Christ and the uncertainty of hell. A devil to you is\par such a one, a devil to you.\par \par Consider jbooks! Maybe your tendency is to lust. Maybe you are like a young man\par that came to me in tears and said, "I am a slave, bound hand and foot, without\par powers of resistance!" Then in the name of heaven never read one of those foul\par books that excite lust. Never look on obscene or indecent pictures that beget it.\par Never go to dances that suggest it, Stay away, as you value your life. "If thine eye\par offend thee, pluck it out. If thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is profitable to thee tko go\par into heaven with one eye and one hand and one foot, rather than to lose thy body\par and soul in hell."\par \par I tell you that a very large proportion of the realistic novels of the present day are\par written with a view to shipwreck souls. And as a man cannot touch pitch without\par being defiled, as no man can put fire in his bosom and not be burned, no man can\par read them without being injured by them. You may think you are too strong, and you\par may prate about nude art. And yetl, if art comes to you in the guise of a harlot, if art\par comes to you, for instance, like the Stella of the Cotton Palace, that had been\par exhibited in saloons as an enticement to death, don't look. It is a matter of life with\par you, my boy. Your soul's salvation is dependent upon it.\par \par Now it is a desperate case; and it is a desperate remedy that it calls for. I know it is\par bad to lose the foot or the hand or the eye, but you had better lose all your members\par and save your soul mthan to keep your members and go to hell. For into hell you go in\par that path, as sure as God reigns. There is no hope for you.\par \par Boys, if your business calls upon you to sell whiskey, if \i\f1 your \i0\f0 business calls upon you\par to desecrate God's holy day, then quit the business. Starve rather than live that way.\par I would no more make money by selling whiskey by which men's souls are lost, I\par would no more support my family by working on Sunday, than I would by robbery\par and nstealing. "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out." It is a question of life and death\par with you. That is all there is in it, and you can make your own selection. I tell you, if\par anything in the ties which bind you, in the comrades which are about you, in your\par business, in your pleasures, if these games and dances (and you are a good judge on\par that), if they tend to deaden your moral sensibilities, if they tend to cool your religious\par fervor, if the trend of them is to lead you away forom God, if they are foes to Christ,\par then in the name of God, turn your back on them or you are lost. That is all there is in\par it. You are lost.\par \par Here are the things by which the loss generally comes: First; the lust of the flesh. That\par man makes himself a beast, that is all you can say about him. He counts himself the\par brute that perishes who is the slave of animal passion. His case is piteous. Oh, to be\par the slave of such a debasing, rotten thing! I tell you, you are lost,p lost, if you cannot\par by some means effect your freedom. And of all the degrading deaths to die, the idea\par of a soul dying on account of lust!\par \par The next is love of money. Oh, you know and I know, that there are some men on\par the church book whose love of money raises the question whether they are saved.\par You are bound to raise the question, "Is that, can that be a child of God?" Oh, the\par love of, money! That is a root of all evil. If you hang on to your money, if you let that\qpar love of money dominate your soul, it will wreck your soul. That is all there is n it. It\par is, cut off or die, pluck out or die, one or the other. Desperate case, desperate\par remedy.\par \par The next is the pride of life. Just do look at him. You can see the smirk of conceit on\par the face. You can see the self-complacency and the evident consciousness of\par superiority over the lower classes. Pride of life! Proud when morally rotten, proud\par when the seal of condemnation is on that frace; pride of life, when the devil already\par has your quarters prepared for you. Pride of life, when you go out of this world a\par bankrupt and when your associate shall be that prince of pride, who himself fell from\par heaven by pride.\par \par The most helpless species of pride is intellectual pride \f2\'be \f0 the pride that comes to a\par man because he is a philosopher, because he is a scholar, and the pride that will not\par come down to the humility that is required in the gospel. Oh, hosw he puffs out his\par cheeks, how he scorns those that are following after the things that are well enough\par for women. and children and idiots, but an intellectual man \f2\'be \f0 oh, yes, an intellectual\par man! Very seldom is such a man ever saved, very seldom indeed.\par \par Now, to close this matter: Right in the track of your besetting sin when you have\par yielded to it, when you have refused to use the remedy that has been pointed out,\par right in the track of it God sets His trap. Whtat does He say? "I warned that man. I\par warned that woman. I showed them plainly that that path led to death and hell, and\par they would none of my counsel. They turned away from me. I called: they would not\par hear." They go on, until at last God says to His Spirit: "Give him up. Give him up to\par his own devices. Let him eat the fruit of his own way and set a trap that shall catch\par him right in the track of that besetting sin; you are sure to get him. Now when you get\par him here is his puicture."\par \par I do wish you would listen to Bunyan's Pilgrim:\par \par "The Holy Spirit led Christian into a house and says, 'I will show you a\par picture.' So He took him by the hand and led him into a very dark room,\par where there sat a man in an iron cage. The man seemed very sad. He sat\par with his \i\f1 eyes \i0\f0 looking down to the ground. His hands were folded together as\par if there was no hope. And he sighed as if his heart would break.\par \par "Then says Christian: 'What doves this mean, this dark room, this iron cage,\par these folded hands, these awful sighs of despair? What does it mean?' The\par Holy Spirit says: 'Ask the man himself.' Christian said: 'What art thou?' 'I\par am what I once was not.' 'What wert thou once?' 'Once I was a fair and\par flourishing professor of religion, (mark that) both in my eyes and in the eyes\par of others. I thought I was fair for the Celestial City and I used to have joy at\par the thought that I would get there when I died.' 'Wewll, what are you now?'\par 'Now I am a man of despair. I am shut up in this iron cage. I cannot get out.\par O, now I cannot get out.' 'But how did you come into this condition?' 'I left\par off to watch and be sober. I laid the reins on the neck of my lust. I sinned\par against the light of God's Word. I sinned against the goodness of God. I\par have grieved His Spirit and He is gone. He is gone, and I have admitted the\par devil and he is here. I have provoked God to anger. I have so hardened my\pxar heart that I cannot repent.'\par \par "But there is hope; O Holy Spirit, is there no hope for such a man? 'Ask the\par man,' says the Spirit. 'O man, the Son of God is very merciful. Is there no\par hope for you?' 'None in the world. I have crucified Him afresh. I have\par despised His person. I have despised His righteousness. I have counted His\par blood an unholy thing. I have done despite to the Spirit of Christ. Therefore,\par God has shut. me up in here. God shut me up in here and there cyomes to me\par in here nothing but threatenings and horrible apprehensions and awful\par memories of what might have been.'\par \par "'For what did you bring yourself into this condition? What did you get by it?\par What did you have in view to get into such a fix?' 'For the lusts, pleasures\par and profits of this world, in the enjoyment of which I did then promise myself\par much delight, but now every one of these things is an undying worm and a\par tongue of flame.' 'But can't you now turn andz repent?' 'God's Word gives\par me no encouragement. God has given me up to eat of the fruit of my own\par ways. Oh, eternity, Oh, eternity, Oh, eternity, how shall I spend eternity!\par Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched?'"\par \par I do call heaven and earth to witness this day that I put before you life and death. I\par say you must turn from your sin or you are lost, wholly, absolutely and forever lost.\par And you ask me what is the remedy? Blessed be God, I can give it to y{ou. I can\par show you the remedy. There is no use in saying there is no remedy. There is. There\par is an adequate remedy. What is it? In the first place, settle it right now that the chief\par thing you have to do in this world is to save your soul, that everything else is\par subordinate to that, and that whatever tie of family or association, or books, or\par business, or pleasure, or fashions, God helping you, whatever of them has a\par tendency to lead you to death on your weak point, turn you|r back on them for your\par life. Use every means of grace that God has provided for your escape. Accept now,\par from the heart, the Lord Jesus Christ as your righteousness.\par \par Then remember that you cannot cast evil out of the heart and leave it empty. Put\par something in it. Fill it up! Fill it up! Then these pleasures cannot come back. Fill it up\par with what? This is the crisis of it, and I stand on this, even if I go to judgment on it. In\par the fifth chapter of the letter to the Gal}atians and sixteenth verse, "Be ye filled with\par the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."\par \par And I say today that God has made .provisions by the power of the Holy Ghost to\par crucify the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life and the love of money, and\par everything that is noxious and hurtful and that has a tendency to wreck your soul. Be\par filled with the Spirit.\par \par I would not risk it by simply saying you will quit sin, quit doing the evil thing. You\par~ cannot do it; no, you cannot do it. You cannot with an empty heart keep the devils\par from coming back. Your last, state will be worse than the first. Fill it up with the\par Spirit of God. But you say, I have not the Spirit. Ask for Him. Whatever of the\par Spirit's power is necessary, get that much; get that much; don't stop at less. I do say\par that it is possible for a man to be so filled with the Spirit of God that, while he cannot\par be sinlessly perfect in this life, yet sin will not have dominion over him. He will not be\par the bond slave of it. He will keep his soul on top. He will keep his body under. Ask\par for it. Ask for it - the blood of Jesus first to wash you, the Spirit of God to fill you\par and guard you. That is the remedy.\par \par Will you take it? Will you accept it? Do you hear anything? Listen! Can you not hear\par the sound of the breakers on which ships are wrecked? Do you not hear the dash of\par the waters? Oh, soul bestir thyself! If anybody here is in earnest today \f2\'be \f0 I do not\par say a word to triflers, not a word-but if anybody here will make his salvation the\par chief concern, if anybody here regards the whole of the body as more than a part, if\par anybody here regards eternal life as preferable to eternal death, and you are willing\par to be in earnest, then close the eventful transaction here today and kneel down, kneel\par down, not to me, not to an angel; come up and show in the presence of men and\par angels and devils, your sincerity, and that you are not ashamed, and that you are not\par afraid, and that you come because God tells you to come. I ask you to kneel down\par here and pray that God's Spirit may be with you and abide in you.\par If you are a backslider, under the dominion of sin, come along like any other sinner\par and ask for that infilling of the Spirit of God that will enable you to pluck out the right\par eye, to cut off the right hand, to cut off the right foot, if necessary.\par \cf0\f3\fs20\par \par } 1 }u10. IF THINE EYE OFFEND THEE{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 10B\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 11. SOWING WILD OATS NOT CONDUCIVE TO SALVATION \par \cf2\fs24 \par TEXT: Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that \par God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and \par worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him. - \cf1\ul Act_10:34-35\cf2\ulnone . \par \par \cf3 It is almost, if not quite impossible, in preaching, to emphasize one truth of a system \par without disparaging some other in the mind of the hearer. And oftentimes, either \par through an imperfection in the preacher's method, or from an infirmity of the hearer, \par the accentuation of the peculiar truth under discussion results in monstrous error in \par the opposite extreme. It is a good thing, therefore, for the preacher to ascertain in \par some fashion what impressions are being made in the minds of his congregation by \par his pulpit ministrations. \par \par I cite three instances which sufficiently account for the selection of my theme today. \par The first occurred many years ago, when, in my early ministry, I was preaching to \par Old Providence church in Burleson County. At the conclusion of the service in which \par I had emphasized salvation by grace through faith, and described the impossibility of \par salvation by works of righteousness which we may do, I was invited to dine with a \par lady member of the church who seemed greatly troubled in mind. When the \par opportunity for conversation arrived she amazed me by propounding, pointblank and \par solemnly, these questions: \par \par "Brother Carroll, do you regard it as a positive disadvantage to a woman \par seeking salvation that she has lived a chaste, modest, pure life; that she has \par been a good daughter, a good sister, a good wife, a good mother? Are a \par harlot's chances better than hers? And is it an advantage to a man seeking \par salvation that he has been a prodigal, a reprobate, an outrageous, \par outbreaking, shocking sinner, familiar with all unclean things? And ought we, \par who are burdened for the salvation of our children, to encourage them to \par hasten to the depths of unrighteousness because a rise from the bottom is \par more probable than from a position half-way down?" \par \par I was horror-striken by these questions, evidently propounded with all seriousness \par and anxiety of mind, and I said, "My sister, is it possible that you derived these \par impressions from my preaching?" "Well," she replied, "I don't know what to think. I \par am perplexed. But it seems to me, that the gospel, as you preach it, offers a premium \par to the worst cases, and that the comparative probabilities of salvation give all the \par advantages to exceedingly vile sinners." Of course, I made clear her \par misapprehension of the gospel, but the incident made me more cautious in my \par methods of presenting single truths. \par \par The second incident occurred some ten years ago. In a conversation with a skeptic, \par he charged that the trend of the average preaching was virtually an encouragement to \par gross immorality in order to conviction of sin sufficient to lead one to a Savior. \par The third incident was quite recent, a youth justifying himself in sowing a crop of wild \par oats by the plea that only prodigals stood any showing of salvation. The last incident \par revived the memory of the preceding ones and led to a serious reflection on the \par comparative effects of morality and immorality on the probabilities of salvation by \par grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. \par \par The conclusion reached by the reflection may be stated in the form of a proposition: \par Scripture, reason and experience, unite in teaching that the probabilities of one's \par believing in Christ and thereby being saved by grace are enhanced more by previous \par morality than by previous immorality. But even here in the very statement of this \par proposition, great caution is necessary. \par \par Let it be carefully noted that the only salvation contemplated by this proposition is \par salvation by grace and not of works; that this salvation finds its only meritorious \par ground in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ; that we come in touch with the \par merits of His atonement by faith in Him; that no antecedent good works in us, and no \par foreseen repentance and faith on our part is the ground\fs15 . \fs24 or reason of God's election \par of our souls unto eternal life. \par \par If the proposition can not be maintained without surrendering all, or even one of \par these clear teachings of Scripture, then its position is conceded to be untenable. At \par the outset, therefore, it is maintained inflexibly that on no part of the ground does \par man first give to God that it may be recompensed unto him again. It is also \par disclaimed with equal emphasis not only that the morality of any fallen being is \par perfect, but that it can be morality at all, except as superinduced by divine grace. \par It may then be asked what remains of the proposition? Much, every way. This much \par at least we may affirm-that one who walks in the light perceived is more apt to reach \par fulness of light than one who turns his back on it and walks the other way; that one \par who yields to the Spirit's motions however given, and one who uses the appointed \par means of salvation, will more likely attain the salvation, than one who turns a deaf ear \par to the former or wilfully declines to avail himself of the latter; that indulgence in \par known sin blunts the moral preceptions, sears the conscience, hardens the heart, \par increases the evil environment, decreases opportunity. \par \par For example: The fourth commandment of the moral law is, "Remember the Sabbath \par day to keep it holy." Among the beneficent objects of this law we may reckon these: \par \par \cf2\b\f1 (1) \cf3\b0\f0 To give time to think of our relations to God; \par \cf2\b\f1 (2) \cf3\b0\f0 To give time to learn of these relations and their consequent duties. \par \par Now on this day Christ is preached and the word of life is taught. And since faith, \par the faith of our proposition, comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word' of God, \par how can they believe except they hear, and how can they hear, if through the \par immorality of Sabbath desecration, they forsake the assembling of themselves \par together? How can the immorality of secularizing the Lord's day be conducive to \par believing? \par \par These reflections lead me to select a subject today as set forth in the tenth, eleventh, \par and fifteenth chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Let us get the whole case before \par us: \par \par "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the \par band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all \par his. house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. \par He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God \par coming in to him, and saying unto him, 'Cornelius.' And when he looked on \par Him, he was afraid, and said, 'What is it, Lord?' And He said unto him, \par 'Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And \par now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he \par lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside: he shall tell \par thee what thou oughtest to do.'" \par \par Omitting a part, I read again: \par "Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied \par him. And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius \par waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. And \par as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and \par worshiped him. But Peter took him up, saying, 'Stand up; I myself also am a \par man.' And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were \par come together. And he said unto them, 'Ye know how that it is an unlawful \par thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another \par nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or \par unclean. Therefore I came unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was \par sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?'" \par \par Cornelius then goes on to recite the visitation of the angel directing him to send for \par Peter, and concludes by saying, \par \par "Immediately therefore I sent to thee: and thou hast well done that thou art \par come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things \par that are commanded of God." \par \par To which Peter replies, \par \par "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation \par he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." Then \par he goes on and presents the gospel to them, and they are all instantly \par converted and the Holy Ghost is poured out on them. \par \par This transaction excited attention in Jerusalem, and they called Peter to account for \par it. In his defense of his conduct, he said this, \par \par "And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six \par brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: and he \par shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto \par him, 'Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who \par shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.' And as \par I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. \par Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He said, 'John indeed \par baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.' \par \par Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who \par believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God? \par When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, \par saying, 'Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.'" \par \par Now in the fifteenth chapter, in the council at Jerusalem, we have these words by \par Peter, referring to the same thing: \par \par "And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto \par them, 'Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made \par choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the \par gospel, and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, \par giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference \par between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith:" \par \par Now, having read these scriptures, I select as a text the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth \par verses of the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: \par \par "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation \par he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." \par The salient facts in this case are obvious. Here is a man who feared God and \par wrought righteousness, and yet he was not a saved man, because the object in \par sending for Peter was that Peter might "tell him words whereby he should be saved;" \par and because after he heard Peter, "God granted him repentance unto life;" and \par because after he heard Peter, he believed in Jesus Christ, and "God purified his \par heart" by that faith; because the Holy Spirit bore witness to his faith just as He did to \par the faith of Peter himself. Peter, being a believer on the day of Pentecost received the \par baptism of the Holy Ghost, that gift of the Holy Ghost, which was to be given unto \par them which believe in Jesus Christ. It was like the gift that Cornelius received, and it \par was given to the apostles who believed; so it was given to Cornelius who believed. \par It is evident then from this scripture that Cornelius was not a converted, a saved \par man, before he met Peter. No man with the record before him can fairly take that \par position. And that being true, we have another view of the case, which is that he was \par under the Spirit's injunction, and so he feared God and continually prayed to Him \par and continually offered up alms. \par \par Whatever you may think about it, that is the scriptural statement of the case. He \par feared God. He was endeavoring with all the light before him to honor God; to do \par what under this light seemed to him to be the will of God. Then we have this \par statement, that these alms and prayers of this man came up as a memorial before \par God; they memorialized heaven and they were received in heaven as an indication of \par the attitude and character of the man who offered them. \par \par It is also stated that God accepted what this man had done; that it made an \par impression on the divine mind; that it made a favorable impression on the divine \par mind, and that it did not count anything against him that he was not a Jew. And that is \par the tremendous truth impressed upon the mind of Peter. Under God's dealings with \par him concerning this case, he said, "I perceive (I did not see it before; I did not \par understand before, but now I perceive; from the evidence which has been brought to \par my mind, I now perceive) two things: first, that God is no respecter of persons as to \par nationality; second, what God does have respect to is character, shaped under His \par guidance, whether in a Jew or a Gentile." \par \par "Whosoever feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him." Not \par accepted in the sense that he is saved; not accepted in the sense that he has become \par a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it yet teaches a tremendous truth, and it is a \par truth which I feel constrained to press upon your hearts and consciences today. And \par what is that truth? It is not to the credit of any man; it never will be to the credit of \par any man; it never will be regarded as anything but loathsome and shameful to any \par man that he commits sin. It will never be an advantage to a man that he was an \par outrageous sinner. It will always be to the disadvantage of a man that he had been \par vile. It does not increase the probabilities that he will be a saved man that he has \par gone out sowing wild oats. It decreases the probabilities that he will be a saved man, \par that he has gone out and sowed wild oats. \par \par It never will be to the credit of a girl or a woman that she was sinful. There never will \par be a time when it will be an advantage to a woman that she was a harlot. There \par never will be a time when it will be a discredit to a woman that she was a good \par daughter, that she was a good wife. It was God who said, "Thou shalt not steal," and \par who also said, "Believe on Jesus Christ." Disobedience to one does induce \par disobedience to the other. \par \par Now unless these positions are true God goes against His own nature which led Him \par to inscribe with His own finger the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone. \par "Thou shalt not have any other god before me." Now, how can it be creditable, with \par that commandment there, that a man would become an idolator? "Thou shalt not \par take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Under that law, how could it ever be to \par the advantage of a man that he was noted for profanity? How could heaven ever \par have pleasure in that as an inducement to accept Jesus Christ, or increase the \par probabilities that he ever would accept Him? \par \par The New Testament gives us an account of very many thousands of people being \par converted, and mentions the conversion of but a few harlots. Thousands and \par thousands of women who were not harlots were converted. A few harlots were \par converted, and so vivid an impression did this make upon the public mind that the \par attention was fixed more upon those than upon the many. There were hundreds and \par thousands of harlots in the time of Christ, but the life they led was not conducive to \par an acquaintance with Him, and but few of that great number ever found Him. And \par those who did find Him did not find Him because they were harlots and' were not \par recommended to Him on that account, and their shame was not put to their credit. \par Not only this, but whenever a bad man, an outrageous sinner, was saved, really \par saved, it never was a matter of glory to him afterwards that he had been so vile. It \par was a matter of shame to him. Paul never gloried in his crimes. Whenever he referred \par to them it was with deep, profound shame that \i\f2 yet \i0\f0 oppressed his heart, that he had \par been so vile. It is a bad sign, it is a sign arguing a doubt as to the conversion of one \par who has been an outrageous sinner that he rolls that fact under his tongue as a sweet \par morsel; that he counts it a feather in his cap; that he parades it before men as \par something to rejoice in, that puts upon him special honor. No, young man; sin is sin, \par and in all eternity it can never be to your advantage that you were extraordinarily vile; \par sever, never. \par \par If God in that first commandment requires men to seek Him and to believe that He is, \par it was not to the discredit of Cornelius that, under the dim light, he had groped after \par God and prayed to Him. When God's law commends mercy to man and pity and \par sympathy, it memorialized heaven of the character of Cornelius that he gave much \par alms to the destitute. It was always then, is now, and will be at the last, an advantage \par to Cornelius that he had never been as vile as some. \par \par Now, there is a tendency in sin to debase, and there is a law in sin that the wicked \par wax worse and worse; and that is true always. God says, "Thou shalt not steal." Is it \par a commendation to be a thief? God says, "Thou shalt not kill." Does it increase a \par man's probabilities of becoming a Christian that he has been a murderer? God says, \par "Thou shalt not lust." If one has become so corrupt that his eyes can not cease from \par sin, and loathsome and slimy thoughts, like unclean worms, writhe and twist in his \par brain, and his heart has become like a cage of unclean birds-does all that, think you, \par increase his probabilities of salvation? \par \par Now, we ought not to make a mistake in either direction. Here is the truth; that is, \par what the preacher aims at-what he means to say is, that no man can have a morality \par perfect enough to save him, and that if he relies upon his works of righteousness for \par salvation, he will miss the mark as this scripture teaches. It said to this moralist, \par Cornelius, it said to this man, comparatively a good man, it said to this worshipper, \par "You send for Peter and he will tell you words whereby you can be saved; there is \par sin with you and God will grant you repentance unto life; there is skepticism in you \par and God will grant you faith unto life; though you are a good man, as men call \par goodness, if you had to stand before God in His immaculate purity and be saved or \par lost upon your record, you would be lost. But yet it is well-pleasing to God that you \par honor Him as far as you do; it is more acceptable to God that you are an honest man \par than if you were a thief; it is more to be approved by the divine mind that you should \par tell the truth than to tell a lie; it is better for you that you should remember God in \par your younger days than that you should put off seeking God until you are old, and \par though God's grace is so great, His mercy so abounding, that even an aged sinner \par may be saved, and a vile aged sinner may be saved." \par \par It always will be true that it would have been better if he had found God in his youth. \par Now there never will come a time, it is impossible even in eternity that there should \par come a time when a man can say, "It is better that I was a spendthrift, and that I was \par disobedient to my parents; that I was a bad sinner, that I was a thief and a drunkard, \par that I brought sorrow to my mother's heart and anxiety, and that I debauched my \par person and became loathsome." It never can be that it was best that he should have \par lived that way. \par \par I wish we could get that into our minds. I am sure I did not intend to make that \par impression on the mind of that good sister at Old Providence church; she \par misunderstood me; she misconstrued what I said. How could she think that I would \par teach that it was an advantage for a girl to be sinful; that it was a feather in a young \par man's cap that he was a prodigal and a spendthrift? Unrighteousnesss is sin; it is \par never good; it is always abominable and vile. It never can be made a matter of glory; \par it is always a matter of shame. \par \par And yet it is true that the grace of God is sufficient for the salvation of the vilest on \par repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a restful thing, it is \par bound to be considered a restful thing, to see salvation coming to a man like \par Cornelius. We must not count it against him that he was reputable. We must not \par count it against him that he was honorable. We must not count it against him that he \par loved the truth. We must not count it against him that he was merciful. We must \par consider that any approximation in his life and conduct to the moral law under the \par monitions of God's Holy Spirit was such as God would approve and not condemn. \par I have given some attention to the statistics of this subject, and they show that the \par probabilities are that the less vile you become as a sinner, the more, humanly \par speaking, is the prospect of becoming saved through the blood of Christ. Is that \par true? Let us look at it carefully. Is that true?\fs15 , \fs24 Is it a scriptural idea? I stated it once, \par and a man said, "That cannot be true." "Why?" "Because it is against the Scripture." \par "What does the Scripture say?" "The Scriptures say the publicans and harlots go into \par the kingdom of heaven before you." "Before whom?" \par \par I admit that publicans and harlots went into the kingdom of heaven before some \par people, and that it was more probable that they would go in ahead of that other \par crowd. But what was that other crowd? Compare the two classes-was that a better \par class than this one? Our Lord said that for a pretense they made long prayers; that \par they were whited sepulchres, inwardly full of rottenness and dead men's bones; that \par they lived by extortion and devoured widows and orphans. They were as loathsome \par sinners in the sight of God as these harlots. They were worse sinners than these \par publicans. They had only an external sanctity, which was itself an abomination to \par God. \par \par Hypocrisy is no more conducive to acceptance of Jesus Christ than idolatry and \par extortion is no more to the credit of a man than to be a spendthrift, and on the whole \par I am inclined to the opinion that the probabilities are, humanly speaking, that the \par spendthrift will go into the kingdom of heaven before the miser does. But I do not \par say that he will likely go into the kingdom of heaven before what is called the average \par man - honest, reputable man. The miser is viler than the spendthrift. He is a meaner \par character than the spendthrift. His soul is shriveled more. He is guilty of more heinous \par offenses than the other. \par \par It remains true-is bound to remain true if God is God, if His law stands good, if the \par Ten Commandments constitute the rule of human life, it must always be true \f3\'be \f0 that it \par is better to have been honest and truthful and fair and merciful than to have been the \par opposite. If I see a young man disrespectful to his parents; if I see him weak as \par water, yielding to dissipation by night and by day and undermining his health and \par weakening his mind, I know that it does not increase his chances of salvation. I know \par that if he is ever saved, it will be nothing to his credit that he had gone as far down in \par degradation as he did; that it always would have been better if he had bees more \par upright, temperate, respectful and obedient to his parents; it always would have been \par better. \par \par Do you know that very few gamblers are saved, very few drunkards are saved, very \par few harlots are saved? The grace of God is rich enough and deep enough for their \par salvation, but it is a very small number of them that are saved. But if it were true that \par living a life of that kind increases the chances of one's being saved, we would not \par have such statistics. \par \par Let us take the history of this church. I venture to say that ninety-nine per cent of \par those who have been converted since God established this church were not extreme \par cases of lawlessness; and yet you know that since this pulpit was erected, every \par preacher that occupied it has declared the fulness of the grace of God as sufficient to \par save any man, even though on the very brink of hell, if he would only turn to God for \par mercy through Jesus Christ. \par \par Having made that point plain, I suppose, I want now to make another point plain. I \par want it to be just as plain as the first, that if a man shall say within himself, "I am \par reasonably truthful; I am reasonably temperate in my life\fs15 ,\fs24 ; I pay my debts (which \par some members of the church do not, to their shame); I stand in the eyes of the \par community in which I live as a man whose word is as good as his bond, and \par therefore I am good enough; I do not need any Savior" \f3\'be \f0 when he takes that \par position \f3\'be \f0 I am bound, in view of the truth, in view of the teaching of God's Word, \par to say that he is very nigh to hell, whoever he may be. \par \par I know Cornelius did not act that way. I know that- he walked in the light that he \par had and was not satisfied with it. He wanted more. He prayed to God for clearer \par views of truth. He stood ready to welcome the truth. Listen to this one sentence \par describing him and see how it is: "And Cornelius said, 'Immediately therefore I sent \par to thee (just as soon as it was made plain to me that there was clearer truth than I \par had ever received, immediately I acted on it) I sent for thee and thou hast well done \par that thou art come. Now, therefore, we are all present here before God to hear all \par things that are commanded thee of God.'" \par \par That readiness of mind, that docility of spirit, that teachableness, that the man who \par relies upon his morality has not, but he has made a god of his imperfect righteousness \par and has put that up as a savior. Hence, Paul teaches that if you are raising this \par question about putting a bridge across the chasm that separates God and man there \par is no difference between a truth and a lie, or your short bridge and your longer \par bridge, since neither can reach the other shore. Now, it was in that sense that Paul \par said there was no difference. He did not mean to say that there is no difference \par between a truth and a lie; he did not mean to teach that it makes no difference \par whether a girl is pure and modest or sinful in speech and life; he never meant that. \par But he said as touching the question of salvation by one's personal righteousness, in \par that respect it made no difference. \par \par Let us discriminate. Let us not apply a sense to words that the apostle never applied \par to them. He did say, in effect, that a moralist who thought to enter heaven in his own \par righteousness, and a vile man, an immoralist, would both alike fail of heaven. Didn't \par he declare all under sin and as for pure and perfect righteousness, there is none \par righteous \f3\'be \f0 no, not one? They are all under condemnation and guilt, and Christ is \par offered as a means of perfect salvation to all men, whether Jew or Gentile. \par There is something here to think about. Let us suppose that the judgment day with its \par decisions has come and gone a thousand years, and up there in heaven is Lydia, and \par Dorcas, and that nameless woman who kissed the feet of Jesus. What I mean to say \par is that even that long after the judgment day it will never be a matter of congratulation \par to that woman that she had been so vile a sinner, and that it will never be a matter of \par regret to Lydia and Dorcas that they had lived purer and more useful lives. Let us not \par mistake on these points. \par \par We have an illustration in point: A few days ago I was invited to conduct a meeting in \par Baylor University. That meeting has been going on about ten days. I never in my life \par saw a meeting commence at the start with such power and continue with such \par power. On a number of occasions I saw a greater per cent of the unconverted \par people in that audience express an interest in salvation-their own salvation-than I \par ever saw before in my life but once. Now, I maintain that even if I had an equal \par audience of hardened sinners, town-bums, political ward-healers, men steeped in \par iniquity, that the same proportion of -the unconverted would not have been moved to \par Christ. \par \par But antecedent to that, when will any preacher have so great an audience of the \par hardened classes? And how can they believe except they hear? Their life is not \par conducive to a hearing. Think about that. \par \par You are on a .question of probabilities. I say the same proportion of them would not \par have been as easily reached. And why? Because of the trend of sin to blind the eyes \par and harden the heart, and make the soul impervious to the reception of the truth, and \par to increase skepticism more and more. And speaking of probabilities, there would \par not have been so many, and I take pleasure in telling these young people that it never \par can be to their disadvantage that they have not become vile; it never can be a \par discredit to them that they have refrained from drunkenness and debauchery and a \par shameful life in the sloughs and sinks of iniquity. But yet if I saw one of them very \par near the pit of hell, on the edge of it and he would listen to me, I would try to lead \par him to Christ, whose grace is sufficient for the salvation of the vilest sinner. \par \par Suppose one is not in the habit of going where the gospel is preached-does it \par increase the probabilities that he will be converted? Suppose he does not go to \par church more than once in six months or a year, what are the probabilities in his case? \par Use common sense to decide the question. If it is to the advantage of the man not to \par come; if his chances are increased by staying away; if he is more likely to be saved \par by forsaking the assembling of the people of God, then we are making a mistake in \par urging the people to come up every week to the services of God. I say that but few \par people whose habit is to stay away from the place of worship and the means of \par grace, may hope for accidental opportunities of eternal life. Law is law either in the \par kingdom of grace or in the kingdom of nature. \par \par When I look in the face of my own child, I would, God knows that I speak the truth, \par I would rather she would, give her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ when she is young \par and the younger the better, if it be a genuine surrender to Christ I would rather that \par her childhood, like Timothy's, should be devoted to the service of God than that she \par should wait and bring only the remnants of life to be laid on the altar of God, and it \par will always be better if she is saved at ten years of age than if she waits to be saved \par at fifty years of age. If that is true, then it is not true that one is under obligations to \par honor God at ten years of age; that there was no law obligating us to accept Christ at \par twelve, at fifteen, at twenty, at thirty, at forty, and the obligation came only at fifty. \par You know that is not true. \par \par Then it is better to "seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call- upon Him while \par He is near." I say it is better to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness \par before you seek the things of this world. I say it is better to bring the child-heart to \par Jesus than it is to bring the aged heart to Him. And yet, as men in a life-boat go out \par to a wreck whose minute guns and despair mingle with the roar of the breakers, so I \par would strive to save the aged sinner and preach to him that even in the eleventh hour, \par on his repentance, God will save him. \par \par I have felt constrained to present these things to you today in the interest of \par righteousness. There are boys in Waco who glory in the fact that they are vile; who \par count it a feather in their cap that they have despised their mothers; that count it a \par special mark, a peculiar distinction, that they are becoming drunkards; that they are \par sowing a big crop of wild oats. Not so. Not so. Not so. "I perceive that God is no \par respecter of persons." \par \par I mean to say that because you are an American or an Englishman or a Spaniard or a \par Hottentot, that signifies nothing so far as commending you to God is concerned. He \par is no respecter of persons as to nationality. God being just, does hold it as a \par memorial of a man whatever he does in the direction of truth and righteousness. It is \par bound to be so. True, He will not count that imperfect righteousness sufficient to \par justify him at the judgment bar. Tell me why it is that when Jesus looked upon that \par young man who had such a respect for law and order, such a regard for God and \par His commandments, why is it that Jesus, looking on him, loved him? It is true that \par God loves all sinners. But that is not the thought expressed here. It means that there \par was approbation of whatever of right there was in him. \par \par I have endeavored to present these two truths side by side, that it was better for \par Cornelius that he had followed what light he had, and yet, even Cornelius had to \par repent toward God and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. I \par want us to unite in prayer that the whole truth of the gospel may be seen in its \par symmetry, so that in looking at one view of it we do not lose sight of other views of \par it; that we may ask God to give us full and clear conceptions of divine truth as a \par system. Especially should we pray God to remove the impression that it will be any \par advantage to you that you should be an infidel for a while. \par \par O, how many thousand times I myself have regretted that I ever did distrust God; \par that I ever was skeptical about revelation; that I ever did turn from the Bible! There \par never will come a time when it will be of advantage to me, when it will cease to be \par anything but a shame to me, that I did not from the first with a full heart, receive all \par the truth of God. Let us hate with unspeakable hatred a sham, a hypocrite, a whited \par sepulchre, but also hate that flaunting of sin in its tawdry rags, of shame, as if there \par was glory in it. Both are abominable in the sight of God.\cf0\f4\fs20 \par \par \cf3\f0\fs24 \par } Ia11. SOWING WILD OATS NOT CONDUCIVE TO SALVATION{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Bold;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f3\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f4an;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red128\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 12. THE CASE OF SIMON MAGUS\par \par \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 SCRIPTURE READING: \cf3\b0\i0\f0\fs12 \cf2\b\i\f1\fs23 Acts 8:5-24.\par \par \b0\i0\f0\fs24 TEXT: Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was baptized, he\par continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which\par were done. - \cf1\ul Act_8:13\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf4 We have presented to us here the conflict between the miracles wrought in the name\par of the Lord Jesus Christ and the so-called miracles wrought by sorcerers and\par necromancers. I do not know anything so silly as the supernatural claims of those\par who deny Christ, and yet go around pretending that they are able to work miracles,\par through spiritualism, or through sorcery, or magnetism, or anything of that kind. But\par here you find the gullibility of the people. You would hardly think that if a man should\par come and claim to be a divine healer that the people would run after him, and yet\par they did run after this blasphemous man, Simon Magus. And right here in Waco, if a\par man were to come and claim he could do supernatural things, they would pay money\par to see him and quite a number of them would believe it.\par \par "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized he continued with\par Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." Now if he\par had been performing real miracles it would not have excited any wonder that another\par man could perform miracles, but he evidently saw that Philip was doing things that he\par knew he could not do, and it excited his astonishment.\par \par During this last week I have read over two or three volumes of matter written by\par Alexander Campbell, and particularly containing his views upon the Holy Spirit. His\par theory was that the demonstration of the Spirit that precedes baptism was merely the\par miraculous display of divine power that accredited the Word, that after a man\par believed and was baptized, that then he did receive the Holy Spirit, but that the only\par work of the Spirit on the man or in the man prior to his baptism was the miraculous\par display of divine power that accredited the Word; and that as the Word was\par sufficient to confirm, and that anybody had the ability to believe, that it was a\par metaphysical delusion to talk about being enabled to believe by any Spirit-power.\par Well, here we have a case. Simon Magus himself believed also. He believed upon\par these miraculous displays which confirmed the evidence, and there was no other\par touch of the Spirit in his case. Now let us see how his case is distinguished from the\par others.\par \par "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received\par the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come\par down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet He was\par fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)\par Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."\par \par The Holy Ghost which they here received was the power to work miracles\par themselves, to speak with tongues, to do supernatural things. Now Simon had not\par yet seen anything like that. He had seen Philip working miracles and heard him\par speaking with tongues, but he had not seen that power communicated by any sort of\par a process to anybody else. Now he witnesses the apostles communicating the\par powers they had to other people, and communicating it by a kind of rite, or\par ceremony, or laying on of hands, and when the apostles laid their hands on them they\par received this gift of the Holy Spirit. That suggested an entirely new thought to Simon:\par "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost\par was given, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me also this power, that on\par whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost.'"\par \par Here seemed to this man to be an exceedingly lucrative power; that if he had the\par power, by just putting his hands on a man, to make that man speak with tongues, or\par to make that man work miracles, or to make that man have the gift of discerning the\par Spirit \f2\'be \f0 if he just had that power, what a good thing he could make of it. And so it\par instantly occurred to him to buy that power. And he offered money for it, but Peter\par said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee." The original here shows that there is\par only one verb, and it means, "Thy money and thou perish," that is, "You will perish\par and your money will perish, and may you perish together, because thou hast thought\par that the gift of God could be purchased with money."\par \par Here I want to say two or three things. The world is running wild on money, more\par than on everything else put together. There is more worship today of Mammon than\par perhaps at any previous period of the world's history. But there are some things that\par money cannot buy, I do not care how much of it you have. "Thy money perish." It is\par a perishable thing. "Thy money perish with thee, because thou didst think that the gift\par of God could be purchased with money."\par \par There is nothing that God gives us that we can buy. That is a sweeping statement, but\par there is a more real, substantial joy in the Christian's heart than ever could have been\par obtained \i\f3 by any \i0\f0 outlay of money.\par \par Let us look at some of the things. What a great thing it would be to rich people if,\par just before they die they could buy repentance; if instead of having to repent\par themselves they could buy it. The church so-called, which has encouraged rich\par people to believe that, and that by great donations made in their wills, or just about\par the time that they are passing away, that there is some value in these good works in\par securing the gift of God, has helped to perpetuate the thought in the world that while\par you cannot buy repentance outright, yet by a sufficient outlay of money you can\par indirectly get in. The whole of it is false.\par \par Take the thought as it is presented in the question of indulgences. You know that\par indulgences were advertised and auctioned, sold openly in the market, in Germany.\par A man would want to commit an offense or he would want absolution for an offense\par that he had committed. Now, by purchasing an indulgence he would secure the gift\par of God absolutely, for God only can forgive sin. "Thy money perish with thee,\par because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money."\par There is no way to purchase anything that relates to religion. You cannot buy a\par substitute. You may hire a substitute in the case of war, human war, but you cannot\par hire a substitute in religion. You cannot have a proxy. Your father cannot stand for\par you, your mother cannot, your wife cannot, your brother or your sister cannot. If\par your brother were to die, you could not buy one hour of life for him. No man can\par ransom his brother from the grave, and the redemption of their souls is precious and\par it ceaseth forever.\par \par Such is the testimony of God's Word, showing the limitation after all, that there is in\par the power of money. How narrow its scope! How few things it can purchase! And,\par after all, how immaterial these things are! They do not count for much. You cannot\par buy faith in Jesus Christ. If you were to propose tomorrow to give a million dollars to\par endow an orphanage or a school, or to build a church, \i\f3 you \i0\f0 could not purchase one\par hair's breadth of the divine favor with that million dollars. And so far as obtaining that\par favor is concerned, you are just as near to getting it by standing in absolute poverty,\par and not even able to give one nickel. That is one place where .the rich and the poor\par meet together-when they touch the divine privileges, the privileges of God, the gift of\par God.\par \par I was in a church once, I won't say where because I do not desire to be too\par personal, and do not desire to wound any one, but I was in a church once, a very\par large, fine city church, every bit of it given by one man. He gave every dollar of it,\par and the idea in his mind that prompted him to give it was this: He had a wayward\par son. That son had died in his dissipation under circumstances that left no reasonable\par hope of his salvation. Now this man built that church with the superstitious idea that if\par he took all of that son's part of the property and put it in the church, that in some\par way it might affect his condition in the other world. That was a great mistake. No\par money given to such a thing can accomplish such a result.\par \par We now come to look at the case of Simon Magus. He had everything that\par Alexander Campbell said is needed. He had the miraculous display of divine power\par that confirmed the Word, and on that confirmation of the Word he believed. But he\par was not right. Now what was the matter with him? What was it that he lacked? Let\par us see! "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter." The word "matter" here in the\par Greek is "word." "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this word," that is, the gospel\par which we preach. Thou hast no part in it. Thou hast no lot in it. You believed it with\par such faith in you as you had, and you were baptized upon that faith, but there was no\par virtue in it and you have no part nor lot in this word that we preach. Why? "For thy\par heart is not right in the sight of God." \i\f3 Thy heart \i0\f0 is \i\f3 not right in the sight of God!\par \i0\f0 This leads us to the solemn thought that to have a part, to have a lot, in the Word of\par the gospel, there must be rightness of heart in God's sight. Now I put out a question.\par What is it that makes any man's heart right? What power is it? "I will take away your\par stony heart. I will give you a heart of flesh," saith the Lord; that is, a heart that can\par feel. "And I will put my Spirit in you and then you will keep my commandments."\par Our Savior says that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts and blasphemy and\par murder and everything of that kind. They come from the heart.\par \par Paul says \f2\'be \f0 I am not going to quote the precise words-he says that there can be no\par bodily sin, no sin of the body. There cannot be any sin of that kind. He says that all\par sin is without the body. What he means is, that the body in itself possesses no\par intelligence-that sin is a transgression of the law, and that the body cannot transgress\par the law. The mind, the heart, the soul of man, must commit whatever sin is\par committed. It is true that he may make his body an instrument for sin, but the sin\par must come from the inside. It must come from the thinking, rational part. It must\par come from that spiritual essence which was communicated when God breathed into\par man's body the breath of life and he became a living soul.\par \par Now, unless the inner man is made right in the sight of God then he can have no part\par or lot in this matter. As our Savior says, "Except a man be born from above, except\par a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now that was a\par matter which Simon lacked, and just one scripture, if there was not any other\par scripture, answers everything that was ever said upon that subject by Mr. Campbell.\par It says that in order to believe, in the gospel sense of that word, that the man's belief\par must be from the heart: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." That it\par must not be simply an intellectual conviction based upon the testimony; that there\par must be a transformation in the mind.\par \par Let us look at the case a little further. Now comes an exhortation: "Repent therefore\par of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be\par forgiven thee; for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of\par iniquity." Now when he offered to buy the gift of God with money it revealed to\par Peter his true condition. He was a member of the church, but that was a revelation to\par Peter showing his standing in God's sight, and Peter described that condition by two\par phrases, "the gall of bitterness" and "the bond of iniquity."\par \par According to all the ancients the gall was supposed to supply the venom of serpents\par and beasts, and as you all know it is exceedingly bitter; the bitter gall, the gall of\par bitterness. That refers to the principle in the man, but the "bond of iniquity" refers to\par the habit of life. "I not only perceive that in thy heart there is all the malice and venom\par of opposition to God, but I perceive that in your life and practice you are in\par bondage. The fountain is impure and the stream is impure. The source of your\par thoughts and of your motives is all corrupt, and the thoughts that are the fruits of\par those motives and desires are also corrupt."\par \par That being his dreadful condition he gives an exhortation, and while it seems that\par there are only two thoughts in the exhortation there are really three. "Repent of this\par thy wickedness." Every scholar, judging the original language, knows that there is\par more in -that expression than "repent," for the word "repent" does not take an "of"\par after it. It is equivalent to this: "Repent and turn from thy wickedness."\par \par In other words, it expresses both conviction and repentance, and conversion in its\par etymological sense, conversion meaning to turn around; just as if he said, "Repent\par and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out," and just as is expressed in the\par fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. There is just one verse of it. I want to read it to you\par because it presents that thought so clearly, about repentance: "Let the wicked man\par forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the\par Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly\par pardon. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is\par near."\par \par Now there is in this exhortation in Isaiah precisely the three thoughts that are in\par Peter's exhortation. One is a change of mind, of the thought; another is a turning\par away from the wickedness, and the third is a calling upon God for forgiveness. These\par are the three things that he calls on Simon Magus to do: "Repent and turn from your\par wickedness and pray God." Pray for what? Why should he pray? "If the thought of\par thine heart may be forgiven thee." We cannot understand his going to God and\par asking for anything else but forgiveness. "God be merciful to me, a sinner. God\par forgive me for this misunderstanding of thy gift and of thy religion. I repent. I turn\par from my wickedness, and I pray God to forgive me." That is the thought, that is the\par critical thought.\par \par Why then does Peter put in this word, "perhaps?" The Apostle Paul brings it in in a\par somewhat similar connection, although not in quite so intensive a form, in one of his\par letters to Timothy. He is giving directions to preachers how to bear with certain\par incorrigible cases. He says, "If God peradventure will give them repentance to the\par acknowledging of the truth," that is, a man who goes out after a case of this kind\par does not go out with the certainty that he does in some cases of wickedness. Here\par the wickedness is so extreme, it has taken such an extreme form, that an element of\par uncertainty attaches to it. But as you don't know the power of God you go out,\par thinking that peradventure God will give that man repentance to the acknowledging\par of the truth.\par \par Now, Peter struck just such a case as that in Simon Magus. This sin which he had\par committed seemed to be a sin against the Holy Ghost. It was a question in Peter's\par mind whether it amounted to that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which has never\par forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come. You know there are some\par things forgiven as to the next world which are not forgiven here. For instance,\par David's sin was forgiven as to eternity, but he had to bear the consequences of it in\par time. "But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness." It is\par different from any other sin in this, that from the time it is committed He is gone\par forever; gone here and gone yonder. "It hath never forgiveness." Chastisement won't\par reach the case. So Peter did not know, but thought maybe this man had committed\par that sin. It seemed to him at least possible that that unpardonable sin had been\par committed, but as he was not clear in his own mind that it was a case of\par unpardonable sin he gives him the direction that all preachers should give to every\par sinner, "Repent, turn from thy wickedness and pray God to forgive you:'\par \par Now let us see how that affected Simon. Here was evidently a power displayed by\par Philip that he (Simon Magus) never had, and it was evidently supernatural. Here was\par a still greater power displayed by Peter, by which he could not only himself work\par miracles, but by the laying on of his hands he could impart that power to others to\par work miracles. And when this man said to him, "Thy money and thyself perish; thy\par heart is not right; thou art in the gall of bitterness; thou art in the bond of iniquity"-that\par awful denunciation hurled against his guilty soul made him tremble, but it did not\par make him pray. Here is what he says, "Then answered Simon and said, 'Do ye pray\par to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.'"\par \par Right there the man's history stops. I mean the Bible part of it. Right there, on that\par "perhaps." We can only conjecture as to the ultimate fate of this man. It does seem\par that if he had gotten down right there and cried to God for mercy, that there would\par have been something said, there would have been some intimation of it. There would\par naturally appear some record that would lead us to hope that this man was saved.\par But it stops and draws a veil over the case and makes it inscrutable to our sight.\par While the Bible does not refer to him again, Josephus does describe a sorcerer\par named Simon, that has led many men to think that it was the same man and if the\par Simon the Sorcerer whom Josephus tells us about is this man, then we know he is\par lost, for there was present, working his evil ways and endeavoring to thwart all the\par purposes of God, and one of the great instruments that led to the destruction of\par Jerusalem not a great many years afterwards, a certain Simon the Sorcerer. I do not\par know that it was the same man. History does not make it right clear, but it does\par make it probable that he was the man, and if so, then this profane history flashes a\par light on this case that supplements the testimony of the Word of God.\par \par Now you have before you this lesson on prayer: that a man must repent; that a man\par must turn away from his sins, forsake them; that a man must pray that God should\par forgive him. And how can I enforce, any more than the mere presentation of the\par thought has enforced itself, this sublime exhortation of the prophet? I, do not ever\par know what to tell anybody more than that-that he must repent, that he must forsake\par his sins, and that he must pray to God, through the virtue of the atonement, to forgive\par his sins.\par \par If you cannot get a man down on his knees, I do not see how you are ever going to\par get him up into heaven. If the spirit of grace and supplication never comes upon him,\par I do not see any hope for him.\par \par Do you pray? Particularly when you feel your sins, do you pray? Do you pray that\par God, who puts His power and His omniscience and His love where the blood is, do\par you pray to God to meet you there, at the mercy seat, and take the burden and the\par guilt and the defilement of that sin off of you?\par \par I venture to say that a work of grace never obtained in any community that did not\par have this accompaniment, and the sinners prayed. You hear me sometimes, when\par people come up to join the church, ask them an occasional question, "Did you feel\par that you were a lost sinner in the sight of God?" "Yes." "What did you do then?"\par That is the next question, "What did you do when you felt that?" Now if there has\par been a genuine conversion you may rest assured that whoever felt that kind of a\par conviction, prayed, and \i\f3 they \i0\f0 nearly always answer, and always do in the case of a\par true conversion, if they understand the object of the question, "I prayed to God for\par Christ's sake to forgive me." As Paul says, "Forgive ye one another as God also for\par Christ's sake has forgiven you."\par \par Now when they do pray for forgiveness, and pray for it through Christ, that sort of\par praying has in it the element of faith, for while the word, "faith," is not referred to by\par name in the case of the publican, the word, "justification," is. Jesus says, "That man\par went down to his house justified." The Bible says, "We are justified by faith." It is\par through faith that we reach justification. If I come up to the place where the blood of\par the atonement has been sprinkled, I feel that my only chance for forgiveness is\par through the virtue of that blood of my Substitute, I look at that blood and I say, "0\par God, for Christ's sake forgive me," then have I not faith in that blood?\par \par So we find what our Articles of Faith state, viz: that repentance and faith are\par inseparable graces. Wherever you find true repentance, you find true faith, and\par sometimes \i\f3 they \i0\f0 shade into each other so that it is difficult to analyze as to the order\par of their coming, as the whole exercise of the mind is sometimes merged into such a\par short space of time that it is hard to distinguish the order of the exercise. But\par wherever there is true penitence, true penitential prayer, then there is salvation.\par I close by .giving one other scripture: "How shall they call on Him in whom they have\par not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" So\par you see that the calling upon Him is intimately connected with faith. Faith comes by\par hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord\par shall be saved, but how shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?\par That publican looked to that. He did not ask pardon outside of Christ, but in Christ.\par He did not ask pardon on account of any good in him, for he was all evil, but he\par asked 'pardon on account of the good in Christ, for He was all good. The sinner's\par prayer is, "In Christ, have mercy on me." And so then Peter tells this man to repent\par and turn from his wickedness and pray God for forgiveness, which is equivalent to\par saying, "Repent and pray and have faith," for they are all involved in it.\par Now I submit this case to you. It shows to what particular object we should address\par ourselves in dealing with sinners. What is it? When Philip went down there among\par those sinners, what did he do? The Scriptures say that he held something up before\par those people. What was it? He preached Christ unto them. And that connects back\par with what Luke says, that through His name repentance and remission of sins should\par be preached.\par \par Let us hold up Christ before the sinner, because if he is to be saved, he is to be\par saved in Christ. If God's power reaches him, or God's omniscience reaches him, or\par God's love reaches him, it reaches him where that blood is and nowhere else. Hold\par up Christ then as the object to which he should look.\par \par Then we should preach repentance and turning from sin, producing works meet for\par repentance, or reformation; faith in the divine Redeemer, that faith evidenced by\par calling upon the name of the Lord, by asking God for Christ's sake to forgive sin.\par That is the order of the gospel.\par \par I don't know who of you here are not converted, that have perhaps mere nominal\par church connection, or maybe you don't belong to any church. I do press this thought\par on you-that if your heart is not made right in the sight of God, nothing avails you; that\par no man can see the kingdom of God that is not born from above; that no man can\par find forgiveness of sin outside of the atonement made by Jesus Christ, and that no\par man can get that who won't ask for it. You have got to ask for it. The Word of God\par declares that the wrath of God is poured out upon all men that call not upon His\par name.\par \par Now this is a question of your needs. Do you, as a sinner, not as a righteous person,\par get down on your knees and ask God to forgive you? You say, "Yes, I do that." On\par what account do you ask it? I press that question on you. Why should He forgive\par you? I assure you that unless your faith takes hold of the blood shed in the atonement\par by the Lord Jesus Christ though you should pray until doom's day, your prayers will\par avail nothing. Your prayer should be, "God be merciful to me a sinner, through the\par propitiation for sin, for Christ's sake."\cf0\f4\fs20\par }  y-12. THE CASE OF SIMON MAGUS{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,BoldItalic;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f3\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f4\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Romiched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs32 13. THE WAR BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT\par \cf2\fs24\par TEXT: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your\par whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of\par our Lord Jesus Christ. - \cf1\ul 1Th_5:23\cf2\ulnone .\par \par \cf3 Here is a remarkable prayer which Paul offered for the Ephesian Christians:\par \cf2 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of\par whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant\par you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by\par His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that\par ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all\par saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the\par love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the\par fulness of God." (\cf1\ul Eph_3:14-19\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par \cf3 And here is a wonderful statement:\par \cf2 "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that He might sanctify\par and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present\par it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing;\par but that it should be holy and without blemish." (\cf1\ul Eph_5:25-27\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par \cf3 And here is a wonderful voice:\par \cf2 "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.\par And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and\par white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." \par (\cf1\ul Rev_19:7-8\cf2\ulnone .)\par \par \cf3 These scriptures serve to introduce our text, which is a prayer of the Apostle Paul\par for the Thessalonians \f1\'be \f0 a prayer that they may be completely sanctified; that the\par sanctification may touch the spirit, the soul and the body, and that it be so complete\par as to secure absolute blamelessness and holiness.\par \par You will understand at once, then, that what I wish to talk to you about this morning\par is sanctification. I am led to discuss this theme from various conversations reported\par as held upon the streets of Waco recently, participated in often by young people,\par and sometimes those who are little informed upon the subject of sanctification. It has\par been presented to you on the streets and variously and oftentimes in such a way as,\par in my judgment, to do incalculable harm. And because I so strongly believe this, and\par because I do believe that there is a sanctification which the Scriptures teach, I have\par been led to discuss the subject now.\par \par The first thing \f1\'be \f0 always is to know what a word means, and this word, like almost\par every other word, has a variety of meanings, and the particular meaning has to be\par determined always from the context. You take a passage of Scripture in which it\par occurs and you determine from that connection which one of its meanings belongs to\par that particular place. But any one who takes the concordance and groups every\par place in the Bible where that word occurs, without examination of the connection in\par which it occurs, will find himself confounding its various meanings so as to have a\par very unintelligent conception of the word. While it has a great many meanings, I want\par to call your attention now to two of its most prominent meanings. The first is where it\par is applied to inanimate things. In that application it means to set apart.\par \par For instance, God sanctified the seventh day. He set it apart, separated it from the\par other days. He sanctified the altar. He sanctified the Book. Wherever the word is\par applied to any inanimate thing that has no soul, no intelligence, it always has that sort\par of a meaning. Where it is applied to a moral and an accountable being, the other\par important sense is that it means to make holy. And that is the meaning upon which\par what is called the "doctrine of sanctification" rests, and that is the meaning which the\par apostle has here \f1\'be \f0 "I pray God that you may be made completely holy" \f1\'be \f0 holy in\par your spirit, holy in your body-that is the meaning of the word.\par \par The next thing to be determined is, when it starts. It is always best to have the\par beginning point clearly established. I shall not elaborate anything today, but shall try\par to speak very plainly and so everybody can understand me.\par \par It begins in regeneration. \f1\'be \f0 A principle, or germ of spiritual life, is imparted to us in\par regeneration. Our articles of faith say that regeneration consists in giving a holy\par disposition to the mind. Well, now, in regeneration is implanted this germ of life, and\par sanctification is the unfolding and developing of that principle of life. You may say\par that it is regeneration in its consummation. It is the unfolding a nd developing of the\par principle of life put in us when we become children of God, when we are born unto\par God. This is so well understood by all who have ever made any sort of a study of the\par Bible that I shall not stop here to present any proofs of a proposition so very plain.\par The next thought is that as it is an unfolding, developing, a bringing to a\par consummation of the principle of life that is imparted in regeneration, it is necessarily\par progressive and not instantaneous. Prog ressive \f1\'be \f0 that is a capital point. When\par people come to you and claim a sanctification received like justification, that is,\par instantaneously, you may know that it is not Bible sanctification, no matter what they\par tell you about it. Justification is instantaneous, because it relates to our legal state. It\par is a declaration of the law that we are acquitted. But sanctification relates to our\par internal and spiritual state.\par \par Now, the regeneration may be instantaneous. I t takes place at some particular time.\par But the unfolding and developing of that must be progressive. Therefore, from the\par days of the Lord Jesus Christ until now, our Baptist people have always held,\par without any swerving, even a hair's breadth, that sanctification commences in\par regeneration and that it is progressive; that it is the unfolding and the developing of\par the principle of spiritual life imparted when we become the children of God.\par Now, having made those general stateme nts, I want to call your attention to a state\par of the Christian in this life. That state is represented by two scriptures \f1\'be\par \f0 Galatians 5:17, and \cf1\ul Rom_7:14\cf3\ulnone . If you will have the patience, and I think you\par ought to have on such a subject as this, suppose we read those two scriptures very\par carefully. \cf1\ul Gal_5:17\cf3\ulnone : "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit\par against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the\par things that ye would." That is the first scripture.\par \par From the very moment that this principle of spiritual life is put in us, a war\par commences between the spirit and the flesh. They are contrary to each other and\par they are continually fighting against each other. Now it is the work of sanctification to\par carry on that fight of the spirit against the flesh, so that, as it is expressed in another\par scripture, "By the Spirit ye do mortify (that is, crucify) the sins of the body and put\par them to death."\par \par The other scripture is in the letter to the Romans, the seventh chapter beginning with\par the fourteenth verse: "For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold\par under sin, for that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that I do not; but what I\par hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is\par good (because I say I do not wish to do that). Now then it is no more I that do it,\par but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no\par good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I\par find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not that I do.\par Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I\par find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in\par the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring\par against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in\par my members. O wretched man that I am!' who shall deliver me from the body of this\par death?"\par \par Now it is utterly impossible for that language to come from the lips of one who is\par sanctified, soul, body and spirit. And it is equally impossible for that language to\par come from the lips of one who is not a Christian at all. Why? Because it says, "I\par consent unto the law that it is good." No unregenerate sinner could say it. It says, "I\par delight in the law in the inward man." No unregenerate man can say it. He knows he\par does not delight in it. I would do the Spirit's commandment, I would obey it. There\par is not that will in the unconverted man.\par \par So, then, these two scriptures represent a state in which sanctification has not yet\par been consummated, but in which regeneration has taken place, in which a war is\par going on of the flesh against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. As sanctification\par progresses the spirit triumphs more and more over the flesh.\par Now, let us look at another point. How is the process of sanctification carried on? It\par is carried on by the growth (mark the expression), by the growth of our spiritual\par graces. I will not speak of all of them, but I will take some of them to illustrate what I\par mean. Faith is one of the Christian graces.\par \par Now, if our faith is weak our progress in sanctification is slow, but if our faith is\par strong, and keeps getting stronger, then our progress in sanctification progresses as\par our faith develops.\par \par In the second letter to the Thessalonians, in the first chapter and third verse, the\par Apostle Paul says, "I thank God that your faith groweth exceedingly." Notice that \f1\'be\par \f0 "your faith groweth exceedingly." Now, compare that with the prayer once offered\par to Jesus: "Lord, increase our faith." Not only by the growth of faith, but by the\par growth of hope, which rests on faith. If our faith is weak our hope will be weak; if\par our faith is strong our hope will be strong.\par \par Now, in the fifteenth chapter of the letter to the Romans, and in the thirteenth verse,\par the Apostle Paul \i\f2 says, \i0\f0 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in\par believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit." Now,\par here is an expansion of our hope. It gets clearer, brighter, broader and stronger as\par our faith gets clearer, and brighter, and broader and stronger. Not only, then, with\par reference to the grace of hope, but with reference to the grace of love.\par Take the passage in the third chapter of First Thessalonians, and the twelfth and\par thirteenth verses:\par \par \cf2 "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another,\par and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end that He may\par establish your hearts, unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father\par (listen at this), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."\par \par \cf3 Now here is an unblamable state of holiness referred to, just like in all the other\par passages I have read, and the apostle declares one of the principles by which you\par continously approximate that state of unblamableness in holiness, and he says that\par that principle is love \f1\'be \f0 love which grows and abounds, and gets stronger and\par broader, and by the power of that increasing love you go toward that state of\par unblamable holiness. In his prayer for the Ephesians he had in his mind a mighty\par consummation, which was that they should be filled with all the fulness of God, and\par hence he offered that remarkable prayer that Christ might dwell in their hearts by\par faith, that they might be rooted and grounded in love, that they might be led on to\par know what is the height and breadth and depth, and to know the love of God, which\par passeth knowledge.\par \par That is the process by which they were to reach it, and hence the Apostle Peter at\par the close of his second letter says, "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord\par Jesus Christ," showing that it is a growth, that it is a development.\par Then take what he says, which you have often heard me quote: "Add to or supply\par with your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, Godliness, brotherly\par kindness, charity," and then he goes on to show that this marvelous development is\par consummated by an abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory. From these\par scriptures (for it is not at all my purpose to talk at any great length), I think you see\par by what process sanctification is carried on.\par \par Now, very plainly, I want to answer a question: Is sanctification consummated here,\par so that a man can say, "I am completely sanctified?" So that a man can say, "I am\par unblamable in my holiness, in spirit, in soul, in body?" That is the question.\par I am exceedingly sorry that anyone should ever have presumed to say "yes" to that\par question. I am sorry because it directly and flatly contradicts the most positive\par declarations of God's Word.\par \par In the first letter of the Apostle John he states two distinct propositions: "If we say\par we have not sinned (with reference to the past), if we say we have not sinned, we\par make God a liar and the truth is not in us." But there is another proposition. He \i\f2 says,\par \i0\f0 in the same connection, "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the\par truth is not in us." That is a very positive declaration. If we say that we have no sin\par we deceive ourselves. Now, whoever is completely sanctified is already in the\par heavenly state, ready to be presented to the Bridegroom, without spot, or blemish,\par or wrinkle, or any such thing. I will show you directly how awfully presumptuous\par such a statement is.\par \par Take another scripture, in the first book of Kings, and in the eighth chapter.\par Solomon, in offering that wonderful prayer at the dedication of the temple, a prayer\par that was evidently inspired, for God answered it at its close by a visible manifestation\par of His presence, and filled the temple with glory - in that prayer Solomon says, "If\par they sin against thee." And then he adds, "For there is no man that sinneth not."\par Mark it: There is no man that sinneth not. Then in the seventh chapter and twentieth\par verse of the book of Ecclesiastes, the language, is much stronger. Here it is: "There is\par not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not."\par \par Take the declaration in the third chapter and seventh verse of the letter of James, "In\par many things we offend all." In many things, and the truth is, whoever talks about\par being sinlessly perfect advertises to the world his ignorance of the exceeding\par broadness of the divine commands, advertises the fact that he is not near God, for no\par man can be near God without being overwhelmed with a sense of his unworthiness\par and sinfulness.\par \par I take some scriptures to prove it. Isaiah was the saintliest man of his time. If any\par man could claim to be a sinless man Isaiah could have made that claim, but on one\par occasion God permitted him to get close to Him. Listen at the record: "In the year\par that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,\par and His train filled the temple. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am a man of unclean\par lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the\par King, the Lord of hosts."\par \par Take Job. In the common acceptation of the word, the ordinary worldly acceptation\par of the word, God has said that Job was a perfect man, and he was a better man than\par any that I have ever known who claimed sinless perfection. And yet Job was not\par sinlessly perfect. He contested with pride anything that his friends could say to hi m,\par but when the Almighty spoke to him out of the whirlwind, and he stood face to face\par with infinite holiness, he said, "I abhor myself and repent in sackcloth and ashes."\par And that is one of the marks that you are becoming sanctified. It is that feeling of\par deep humility, that sense of your unworthiness, that absence of all proud assurance,\par arrogance, boastfulness; that lowliness of mind and heart that would enable Paul, the\par nearer and nearer he got to holiness, to say, "I am t!he chief of sinners." He would\par see his own littleness and unworthiness the nearer he got to God.\par \par But to meet an objection, consider another scripture. It is alleged that the scriptures\par which I have cited are all balanced by this scripture, where John says, "Whosoever\par is born of God doth not commit sin." Well, if we take that language absolutely in the\par sense they allege, then it means that there is no such thing as sanctification in\par contradistinction from regeneration at" all, and that not simply one man is sanctified,\par but every Christian is sanctified. It would not mean that one here and one yonder has\par attained to a sinless perfection, but it would mean that everyone is sinless and perfect\par who has become a child of God at all. That is self-evident. Now then, as it would\par mean too much in that it would destroy the very distinction that those who claim to\par be sinlessly perfect are seeking to establish, and wipe out all lines of demarcation\par betwe#en the children of God-therefore it cannot be used in this connection.\par \par In that connection, John speaks of sinning unto death, and he says, "There is a sin\par which is unto death and there is a sin which is not unto death, and whosoever is born\par of God doth not commit sin." Hence it may mean that whosoever is born of God\par cannot commit that sin that is unto death-that is, the unpardonable sin-but he may\par commit sin which is not unto death.\par \par But you are not forced even to $take that interpretation of it, but you may take the\par interpretation held by many pious men, that when John says that whosoever is born\par of God cannot sin, it means that the inward spiritual man, though a sin is committed,\par that the inner man never consented to it. It may mean that, as when he says, "It is no\par longer I that do it, but sin that remaineth in me." It is susceptible of that interpretation,\par or as others plausibly allege, it may mean that whosoever is born of God doth not\p%ar commit sin habitually, i.e., as a rule of life. So that there are many ways of explaining\par that particular passage of scripture without putting it in the pathway of the\par unmistakable declarations which I have read.\par \par To recapitulate: First, I answered the question when it started. Then I showed what it\par was an unfolding and developing of the principle of life imparted in regeneration, then\par how it is unfolded, and what principles operated in the unfolding.\par \par Now, in c&onclusion, I squarely meet the question as to its consummation. When is it\par consummated? For that every one of God's children will one day be wholly\par sanctified, I haven't a shadow of doubt, but the question is, when? I will ask Paul to\par answer. He says: "Brethren, I have not yet attained it, neither count I myself yet\par perfect. Not yet. But there is one thing I do. I forget the things which are behind, and\par I press forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ' Jesus. I\par am going after that." What is that high calling? What is the mark of the prize of the\par high calling of God in Christ Jesus? It is that your spirit is to be made absolutely\par perfect, and that your body is to be made absolutely perfect, and that the united and\par glorified spirit and body, so made perfect, shall be without spot, or blemish or\par wrinkle, or any such thing, in the presence of God.\par \par Now, then, when? In the twelfth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews we fi(nd an\par answer to a part of it. Paul says to these Hebrews, "You are coming (you are not\par there yet, but you are coming) to God, the Judge, to an innumerable company of\par angels, to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the spirits of the just\par made perfect." Where? Yonder. You are not there. Yonder the spirit of the saint is\par made perfect.\par \par I mean to say that when the soul of the Christian is separated from his body, that\par spirit is then perfected and so enters h)eaven. This side of death you cannot find it.\par The other side of death you see it and you are invited to approach unto it.\par But this is only a part of sanctification. The marriage has not come yet, and the\par marriage will not come until the whole man is without spot, or blemish, or wrinkle, or\par any such thing.\par \par Well, when is the rest of it consummated? Paul says, "Behold, I shew you a mystery.\par We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of a*n\par eye, at the last trump." Here is the change that takes place in the bodies of those that\par shall be alive when Christ comes. Those who live at that time, the Christians who are\par alive when He comes, instantly experience a change, a marvelous change of body.\par Corruption puts on incorruption, and mortality puts on immortality. Death is\par swallowed up in victory, and the body is glorified and made like unto the glorified\par body of our Lord.\par \par At the same time, the bodies of t+hose spirits made perfect the spirits perfect in\par heaven and their bodies imperfect in the dust-then the omnipotent power of God\par passes upon the realms of death, and wakes the sleeping saints. They rise; they go\par forth; they put on immortality and glory; and there is the sanctified body. Now Christ\par brings with Him, says the Scripture, the. sanctified spirit when He comes, and puts\par the sanctified spirit into the glorified body, and then, and never until then, is\par sanctification c,ompleted. Then ring the bells of heaven. The marriage is come and the\par bride is made ready. There is now no blemish in her. There is no spot in her. She is\par unblamable in holiness, then, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then\par presented. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that He might present it to\par himself as without blemish, or spot or wrinkle or any such thing, unblamable in\par holiness.\par \par That is the Bible doctrine upon that subject, and it is a glor-ious and a wonderful\par doctrine. But it is a sad thing that the minds of children should be poisoned with a\par view that would make a sinful man, yea, even while he is lying, claim to be sinlessly\par perfect. It is an awful thing. Brethren, I do think that there ought to be a waking up\par such as has not been in our history, upon the subject of teaching the true doctrines of\par God to our children.\par \par The older I become, the more the importance of the Sunday School rises in my sight.\pa.r You ought not to permit one single child that comes to the Sunday School to be\par ignorant of what is sanctification. He ought not to have to go out without armor to\par meet an adversary on the streets or anywhere else. He ought to be taught what is\par sanctification, when it commences, how it is unfolded, what are the principles by\par which it is accomplished, and when it is consummated in spirit, and when it is\par consummated in body.\par \par What a grand lesson would that be, and yet, how few of our young people know\par anything about it! To me sanctification is one of the sweetest and holiest doctrines of\par the Book of God. Spiritually oftentimes it makes me almost faint with desire. Lord\par Jesus, I want to be perfectly holy. I want to be pure in my heart and in my body. I\par want to get rid of all defilement, all sin. I want the war between my spirit and my\par flesh to come to an end in which victory shall be counted with the saints of God.\par \fs20\par \cf0\f3\par } rrP! 14. THE EVILS OF RELIGIOUS COMPROMISE{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1030=13. THE WAR BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman;}{\f1\froman\fprq2\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f2\froman\fcharset0 TimesNewRoman,Italic;}{\f3\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator R13\deflangfe1033{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fnil\fcharset2 Wingdings;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue128;\red128\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs24 14. THE EVILS OF RELIGIOUS COMPROMISE\par \cf2\par I wish to illustrate the evils of religious compromise by considering the four\par consecutive propositions submitted by Pharaoh to Moses, and will read them in the\par order in which th2ey were proposed. God through Moses had demanded of Pharaoh\par that His people should be allowed to leave Egypt and go three days journey into the\par wilderness to sacrifice to Him. Pharaoh peremptorily refused. But after four plagues\par in succession had fallen on Egypt, he began to propose compromises.\par \par Compromise 1.\par \cf3 "And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to\par your God in the land." (\cf1\ul Exo_8:25\cf3\ulnone .)\par \cf2 Which Moses reject3ed.\par \par Compromise 2.\par \cf3 "And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your\par God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away." (\cf1\ul Exo_8:28\cf3\ulnone .)\par \cf2 Moses rejected it and brought on Egypt three additional plagues.\par \par Compromise 3.\par \cf3 "Go now ye that are men; and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. But let\par your little ones remain." (\cf1\ul Exo_10:8-11\cf3\ulnone .)\par \cf2 Moses rejected it and brought two 4plagues more.\par \par Compromise 4.\par \cf3 "And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; let your\par little ones also go with you; only let your flocks and herds be stayed.*** But\par Moses said, Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left\par behind." (\cf1\ul Exo_10:24-26\cf3\ulnone .)\par \cf2 These four propositions may summarily be expressed thus:\par \par \cf4\b 1. \cf2\b0 You may serve God, but it must be here in Egypt.\par \cf4\b 2. \cf2\b0 Yo5u may leave Egypt to serve Him, but you must not go far away.\par \cf4\b 3. \cf2\b0 You may leave Egypt to serve God and you may go as far away as you\par please, but you must leave your children in Egypt.\par \cf4\b 4. \cf2\b0 You and your children may go out of Egypt and as far as you please to\par serve your God; but you must leave your property behind.\par \par The devices of Satan in endeavoring to prevent a clear testimony to the truth on the\par part of God's people, are remarkably alike in 6all ages. The first device of Satan with\par reference to the truth is to persecute; to see if it cannot be destroyed by persecution.\par If that fails, his next device is to imitate the powerful works of the truth, and to make\par it appear that his servants can do similar things; and when that fails, then he falls upon\par his last expedient, the expedient of compromise. And there are presented here the\par four compromises with which he usually attempts to seduce the people of God from\par perfec7t allegiance, from complete obedience.\par \par I want to examine these four compromises. The first one is this: God had\par commanded His people to separate from the Egyptians and that the separation\par should be an actual and a complete one. They were commanded to come out from\par among them. They were commanded to go to a place that He would give them.\par Now, the compromise proposed is this: Worship God as you choose, but don't\par separate from us. Offer your sacrifices here in the land. Fa8irly translated, this\par proposition means about this: We are willing to acknowledge that Jehovah is one of\par the gods, but we have gods also, and now let there be a mutual recognition of the\par claims of these several gods. We are willing that Jehovah shall be one, but ours must\par also be recognized among the number. Be charitable. Don't monopolize.\par \par Put the several gods of the several nations upon an equality, and let us meet in a\par Chicago World's Fair -parliament of religions, a9nd let this quasi acknowledgment of\par equality be general. Here is Jehovah and there is Buddha, and there is Confucius,\par and here Mahomet. All religions are good and any religion is good and it doesn't\par make a great deal of difference. Indeed what is the difference?\par \par It was the device of the ancient Greeks and Romans. They were perfectly willing to\par give Jesus Christ a niche in the temple of their gods. They were willing to recognize\par Him as a deity, but He must also recognize: Jupiter, Pluto, Mercury, Saturn, Venus,\par Bacchus and all their other gods. This was the proposition.\par \par And just here it would be well to answer a question: Did the representatives of the\par Christian religion do right in that parliament of religions in placing Christianity in an\par attitude of receiving the other religions as guests and upon terms of equality, and\par receiving them as guests by a host so polite as not in any way to reflect upon their\par claims, but allow them on the ;hearth of the Christian religion and at its own\par hearthstone and altars to reflect upon the Christian religion? My deliberate conviction\par is that it was the most disgraceful and treasonable surrender of the truth that this\par world has ever known.\par \par Consider its effect on the false religions. The followers of Buddha went home and\par said to their disciples who had been shaken by the missionaries of Christianity: "You\par are foolish to be so shaken by these missionaries. We have just< returned from their\par home and our religion was put by the side of theirs, and if anything, we had the\par advantage, and they are much more ready to accept ours than theirs." Never since\par Christ gave the great commission has there been such a backset to the work of the\par missionaries in the land of Buddha as there has been since the return of these men\par who were received into the United States in this parliament of religions upon the\par footing of equality with Christians.\par \par Th=at was exactly the proposition of Pharaoh: "Sacrifice to the Lord your God in\par Egypt. Do not invidiously put one over another. Be broadminded. Be charitable.\par Don't run in a narrow groove. We acknowledge your divinity and you acknowledge\par our divinity."\par \par What if Elijah had been present! He would have stood up and said: "How long halt\par ye between two opinions; if Baal be God, follow him. But if Jehovah be God, follow\par Him." Both cannot be. The claims are fundamentally antagoni>stic and subversive of\par each other. There could much more readily be a dozen suns in the solar system than\par there could be a dozen deities governing worlds. There could much more easily be a\par dozen different and conflicting laws of gravitation than there could be a dozen deities\par governing the world.\par \par Suppose Paul had been present, what would he have said? He would have said,\par "The things which these people sacrifice to their idols they do not sacrifice to God,\par but to de?mons, and you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of\par demons; you cannot take the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devil."\par \par When Washington said in his farewell address to his people, "Beware of entangling\par alliances," he condensed in that short saying supreme earthly wisdom, and it is\par heavenly wisdom when applied to questions of religion.\par \par There can no way be selected by which the witnesses of the truth f God can more\par readily sacrifice the power of @their testimony and divest themselves of any practical\par and important influence over the world than by putting themselves in a position that\par will make the religion which they represent only one of many and a matter of\par indifference as to which one the people shall choose.\par \par Moses said, "What you propose we cannot do; our command from God is to come\par out and be separated. Egypt is not our place. We cannot obey the Lord half way. It\par is impossible for us to receive any blessingA from Him while we trifle with plain and\par specific commandments which He hath given us."\par \par Then Pharaoh said, "If you won't separate here in the land; if you won't sacrifice\par here in the land, then we offer you this compromise: Don't go very far away; let it be\par a little separation. Let the line that defines between us be a dim one. Don't be\par invidious, representing yours as clear light and ours as solid darkness. Take a twilight\par position on it; that is, you are neither all lBight nor all darkness, but you are mixed light\par and darkness."\par \par How many tens of thousands of people are caught at the present day by this\par compromise? "Don't separate too far. Let it be a matter of some difficulty to\par determine whether you have separated at all or not. Just a little way."\par \par Allow me to enforce some maxims that will apply to other things as well as to\par religion. There is no weakness comparable to the weakness of taking a half way\par position on any matCter. You are deprived of all of the power that would accrue to\par you from a clean cut and decisive stand, and you are subject to all the harm that will\par result from slightly leaving the camps of either hostile party. In other words, neither\par the one nor the other can regard you as a friend; both must look upon you with\par distrust. Neither will put any confidence in you, neither God nor the devil. You are\par where you have deprived yourself of any benefit from either side and where you\par D have brought upon yourself the suspicion of both sides.\par \par Now let me illustrate the feebleness and folly of all such methods. In the beginning of\par the Revolutionary war, it was not proposed that there be complete separation from\par England. Many thought it wiser to fight as British subjects. But after their struggle had\par gone on for some time, it at last dawned upon the minds of thoughtful men that they\par had put themselves in a position of exposedness to extreme danger, and a positEion of\par unusual weakness. They said:\par \par "If we are not separated from England, then we are rebels. We are in arms\par against our sovereign. We are not even entitled to the position of belligerents\par in the sight of the nations of the world. We cannot expect any recognition\par from foreign powers. We have not the courage that comes from taking a\par clear, well defined position. We are deprived of potent incentives with which\par to stir up our people. We cannot offer them the rewards Fof true and\par complete independence."\par \par And at last this conviction found utterance in the speakings and writings of the\par leaders. They came out openly and fearlessly: "There is for us not one atom of hope\par except in complete severance, entire independence, and when we take that position,\par we may send to any foreign power representatives from our government and expect\par recognition and help." That is one of the most familiar lessons of the Revolutionary\par war.\par \par The Ghistory of Texas is another illustration. When it was proposed to strive against\par the tyranny of Mexico, what they called a consultation was held-not a convention,\par but a consultation. This consultation declared for the old Mexican constitution of\par 1824, and appointed a provisional government, a provisional council, a provisional\par army, and the object stated was: "We are not endeavoring to separate Texas from\par Mexico, not at all; we simply ally ourselves with one of the parties in MexiHco, and\par we are fighting for the re-establishment of the constitution which prevailed when we\par were invited to come here and settle." That was their position.\par \par The weakness of it was manifest to many minds. Wise men spoke out against it: "By\par our own confession we are in arms against the central government." The troops that\par captured Goliad and that captured San Antonio, all of them, were without regular\par commissions or any regular authority. They could not in any way be heldI together.\par And then they were continually subjected to this possible calamity-that any defeat\par would put every captive at the mercy of the government of Mexico, and they could\par be shot down, and legally shot down as traitors and rebels. This lame method was\par followed to a ridiculous and ruinous extreme. Every letter they sent out, every man\par they commissioned was with reference to continuance with Mexico.\par \par Even this feeble provisional government, for such a feeble purpose, wJas rendered\par more impotent by divided jurisdiction - a governor and a council with vaguely\par defined and conflicting powers. It was through the unwisdom of this council that so\par many precious lives were fruitlessly lost-every man whose life was lost under Grant,\par or in the Alamo, or under Fannin, or under Ward, or under King, making an\par aggregate larger than the army with which Houston won the battle of San Jacinto.\par Thoughtful men inquired: "Why should we send commissioners to the KUnited States?\par They will say, 'We can't help you while you occupy that position. It would, be\par interference with the internal affairs of another nation. If you expect sympathy in the\par United States; if you expect recognition by the American government, you must put\par yourselves in a different attitude. You must, through the voice of the people in\par convention assembled, sever forever your connection with Mexico. Come out from\par them and be separate; locate yourselves, be somewhere; tLhen we will come and help\par you.'"\par \par That is the precise thought involved here. Israel cannot accomplish anything by\par separating just a little way, and Pharaoh knew it, and that is why he offered to\par compromise. Neither can Christians accomplish anything by separating only a little\par way from the world, and the devil knows it. Hence his offer to compromise. Your\par religious convictions stir within you. You feel impressed to turn toward God, and if\par the devil cannot restrain tMhat, he says, "That's all very well; have those feelings; pray\par a little; come out a little; separate a little; but don't go very far; hold on to the world\par and don't take any clean-cut, decisive position." That is the very compromise upon\par which the usefulness of over half the Christians in this world today is wrecked.\par I will make a plain statement. You may regard it as an audacious one. I stand upon it\par anyhow \f1\'be \f0 nine-tenths of the professed Christians in Waco today are powNerless as a\par testimony for God, because the line of separation is a dim one; because they go not\par very far away from the position occupied by the devil. They get no internal\par enjoyment; they bask in no smiles of God; they are not able to break down the\par bulwarks of Satan because they cannot ask God's favor, nor can they ask the devil's\par favor. They are just a little separated; they are in a spiritual twilight that is neither day\par nor night. Their whole condition is an anomalous oneO. They may easily be counted\par both as traitors to God and traitors to the devil.\par \par When Pharaoh found that Moses could not be seduced by any such offer and the\par plagues descended upon him hotter and hotter all the time, he, still fighting for every,\par inch of ground, makes his third proposition of compromise, which is this: You grown\par people go into the wilderness; separate as widely as you please, but leave your little\par ones here with us.\par \par Wherever a man's treasure iPs, there is his heart, and it would amount to but little for\par men and women to go off and draw a line of separation between them and the devil\par and then let the devil educate their children. That was the very compromise which\par brought on the flood, the very one. The song of Seth married the daughters of Cain.\par The children followed the mothers. They remained in the devil's camp.\par \par He now says to you church members: "If you think it best to be a Christian, be that,\par but don't wQorry your little ones with Sunday School. It is well enough for men of\par mature minds who are converted-it is well enough for them to go to church and\par worship God, but don't worry the children. Wait till they are grown; wait till they are\par converted; wait till they occupy the position that you occupy; but leave them with me\par in the meantime. You go on now, but leave your children here with me." That is his\par proposition. He knows that he who educates the children of the people is the maRster\par of that people.\par \par I do not know of a more seductive form of compromise the devil's ingenuity could\par devise than this-never say anything to these little ones about God; just leave that out;\par hands off of childhood. And mark you, how plausibly his agents put it. They say,\par "Don't preoccupy the child's mind; let him grow up, and then when he is grown,\par decide for himself." Which is equivalent to this: "Religion, you let this child alone;\par irreligion, you preoccupy him. SWe will take possession of that .pliant mind; we will\par educate it; we will fortify it; and when we have made a Gibraltar of his heart, and\par when we have blinded his eyes and deafened his ears and hardened his heart and\par bound him hand and foot, why, then you may turn your batteries loose on him." That\par is the proposition.\par \par And occasionally you find a Christian, or a so-called Christian, who occupies the\par position taken by the too chivalrous French Count d'Estaing at Savannah.T He came\par upon that town with a formidable army of both French and Americans. It was easy\par to take immediate possession of it. The wily British general said, "Give me twentyfour\par hours to consider your proposition of surrender. I want to sleep on it." And the\par Frenchman allowed it. The British general did not sleep on it; he stayed awake day\par and night; he brought up his reenforcements; he strengthened his fortifications; and\par when the twenty-four hours had expired he was ready to Umeet any assault that could\par be made upon his impregnable works. When too late, the assault was made. \f1\'be \f0 It\par was a butchery-twelve hundred killed and wounded men paid in their blood for the\par Frenchman's folly.\par \par Well, now, that is just exactly what the devil says to us: "Let grown people be\par Christians, but don't interfere with the little ones; don't you establish Sunday\par Schools; don't you try to lead them to Christ; leave them in my school, and when I\par have fortVified, then you may assault if you choose."\par \par Let us proceed with our lesson. When the plagues still descended heavier and\par heavier and hotter and hotter on Pharaoh, and God's stern and inexorable word\par relentlessly repeated itself, "Let my people go," he said to Moses, "I will consent to\par let you go, grown people and children; let them go as far as they choose, but leave\par your property behind." Which being translated is: "All I ask you to do is, after you\par have acknowledged GWod's sovereignty over your person and over your child, don't\par acknowledge it over your purse. Take this maxim: 'Religion is religion and business is\par business.' We will let God have Sunday, but not the other six days; we will let Him\par be Jehovah in the church, but not Jehovah in the counting-house; not Jehovah in the\par office; not Jehovah in our property. Let your property stay behind."\par There is no doubt in the world that the devil successfully works this compromise on\par many profesXsors of religion; people who willingly concede that they are under\par obligations to the Lord Jesus Christ as to their person, as to their wives, as to their children, but draw a line of demarkation when it comes to the question of money or property. "This is\par mine; I deny that I must give it to God, and I deny that the Lord Jesus Christ has a\par right to sit over my treasure and watch it. I deny that He is king over the money that I\par have made."\par \par Well, if you grant that much to the Ydevil, that is enough. He will destroy your\par usefulness. He knows that God will not occupy a part of the throne. He knows that\par God will not occupy three hundred and sixty-four days in the year if you deny Him\par the three hundred and sixty-fifth. He knows that God will not occupy eleven\par chambers of your heart if you deny Him entrance into the twelfth. He knows that if\par you take away one hair's breadth from the total of God's sovereignty, you destroy\par the sovereignty.\par \par In Zother words, if He is God at all, He is God over all, and if He be not God over all,\par He is not God at all. That is to say, any God whose sovereignty you deny over your\par property, you may, by parity of reasoning, deny His sovereignty over your person.\par And if you deny Him Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and\par Friday and Saturday, you may, by the same reasoning, deprive him of Sunday.\par What was the reply of Moses to this? He says, "Our cattle shall go with us; not a\par ho[of shall be left behind us, not a hoof. We are the Lord's, our wives are the Lord's,\par our property is the Lord's, and the Lord commands us to come out and be separate\par and to be wholly separated and to bear undimmed testimony to the sovereignty of\par Jehovah." It resolves itself into this: Never acknowledge any being as God unless\par you are willing to acknowledge Him as God over everything. You injure yourself,\par you put yourself in a position of weakness, you deprive yourself of the benef\its of the\par position you do take if you have a reservation of any kind whatever.\par \par Now, that makes the difference between men; that makes the difference in their\par success. Let me illustrate this thought by a preacher. Here is a preacher who says\par that he is called of God to preach; that he is the servant of the Lord; that he is\par purchased with a price and that he claims nothing as his own. That is his original\par position. But after such a declaration he begins to reach out and ]make some kind of\par alignment with the world, the flesh and the devil. He attempts some kind of\par compromise, and then wonders why he has no power; he wonders that somebody\par else, not his equal, is succeeding where he is failing. The truth is simply this: the man\par never did burn the bridges and ships behind him; the man never did come out and\par take a clean-cut and decisive position absolutely, wholly and forever committing\par himself to the service of God as God's minister and relying ^solely and wholly upon\par the divine power, and God will not be with him, and will not bless him.\par \par I mean just this: that whenever God calls any man to preach, whatever may be his\par natural ability, whatever may he the fulness or the deficiency of his acquirements or\par education, whatever may be the poverty of his purse, if that man will absolutely trust\par God and will rest on His promise, and will go out fearing neither the world nor the\par devil, and will preach the truth and rely_ wholly upon the Spirit's power, then all the\par powers of hell cannot keep him from being a success. But whenever he begins to put\par on Saul's armor, whenever he begins to make alliances, whenever in his mind, in his\par heart, in his secret moments, he leans upon any earthly broken staff, he is like\par Samson shorn of his locks, and is as any other man without knowing that he is as any\par other man. It is the easiest thing in the world for the devil to put out his eyes and take\par away all h`is strength, or utilize it by making him blindly grind in his own mill.\par The Apostle Paul, who had profoundly studied this question, and who had been\par instructed from heaven, addressing the Corinthian people in the language of one of\par the scriptures that I have read to you, said,\par \par \cf3 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship\par hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light\par with darkness? And what concord hath Christ wiath Belial? Or what part hath\par he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God\par with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will\par dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my\par people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith\par the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." \par (\cf1\ul 2Co_6:14-18\cf3\ulnone .)\par \par \cf2 Here, then, is a lesson that bevery Christian can very safely apply to himself. Look at\par these promises: "I will be your God, I will be a father to you, I will be in you and\par dwell in you; no weapon that is fashioned of hell will prosper against you; when you\par lie down you will lie down in safety; the angels of God will camp about you; your\par heart shall be full of gladness even in the days of sorrow, and when you come to die\par there shall be no bitterness in death to you, and I will take you home triumphantly to\parc myself."\par \par These are the promises, and having these promises, as says Paul, let us cleanse\par ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear\par of God. Here is Christian power, just as much for a private member of the church as\par for a preacher. Nothing on earth that you may gain by any compromise will\par compensate you for the loss of God's presence; for the loss of the power that He\par confers upon you.\par \par Then, as Christians, he decisive; occupy a definite position; be somebody. Don't be\par a wandering star. Don't be an erratic meteor. Don't be a restless, roving wave of the\par sea. Don't be a well without water. Don't be a tree twice dead, plucked up by the\par roots; but come out and be separate and testify bravely for God, and whatever may\par be the portion of any other man or woman, you shall have power from on high and a\par conscious realization of the divine presence while you live and when you die.\cf0\par }