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Uuided by the egoism that par' vades the natural man, they npue out their own shame and become guilty of sinning against the principles of Christiauily and of the teachings of the Bible. But truth is mighty, and will prevail. See their confession though " We cannot abide by the truth." Hoping this pamphlet will be the means of bringing some one to con- sider over the truths contained therein, and to consider over the well-be- ing and the seriousness of living the life rf the ungodly, enly sins against society, but the little sinner who never did anything wrong in his own estimation, but who at the same time is laboring under a debt due to both these powers. The little sinner thinks that he will never be discovered or called upon to make good that which he has secretly done. We LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. in secular d to over aay doubt \\y affairs, 1 TluH is distinction le. Aaron ngregation stration of administer judge them vero under e find this time up to in spiritual lent of sec- B people in ome people eople with- int'd to rule ivea a gov- B with mat- ^hy should r position ? 1 the ad- and minglo Come ihe unclean V for them ut still there or the same untvy must f this chap- are ordained tiiat be are ,ual powers, izen, but to nces of both of living' they would an the open ,t the little mation, but both these discovered done. We id. must remember that the all seeing eye of Qod sees all, and that without repentance he must pay up, or else suffer for his sin, let it be great or small. For instance, a person may ask the loan of a small sum of money, intending never to return the borrowed money or any article he may receive upon the same terms. " Oh," he says," it's a mat- ter of no importance. Ue that I received it from will never miss it," not thinking, possibly, that he is committing a sin, and that the law demands the restoration of all such things two- fold and three-fold. This is a sin not only to be deprecated but despised by all right thinkmg people. Again, small thefts (the above is theft) may have been committed by some of those who professed godliness among the Roman.s, and that stirred up Paul to warn them of the evil of falling into this condemnation I find on reading the Biblical his- tory of the Romans, and especially of the Cormthians, that a great many of them did not live up to the true principles of the true Christian, and that they were given to a great many of these small things that are contrary to the true spirit of Christianity. We can easily see this to be the case by the careful reading of his epistles to his converts scattered among these heathei^ countries. Ah, these small sins ! They eat as doth a canker, and will as surely swallow up the doer if unrepented of as he who may sin a sin against the law of the land. They are small, and apt to be looked over and passed by by our fellow men as something not worthy of notice, but these sm&U sins are a crime against the law of the Lord, for all sin, let it be ever so small, ia a crime against God. " He that breaks the least of these commandments is guilty of all." They are debts due unto God if not to man that he will demand payment for. Hence the necessity to ' Owe no man anything." I said that these small sins were a debt due unto God ; they are also a debt due unto him who has been hurt by them. By the old Mosaical law there had to be reparation made for all such sins by restoring unto the injured party, as I noted already, two-fold and three-fold. This holds good in our day, if we do not live up to the teachings of Scripture by keeping a pure conscience towards God and towards man. This does not apply to theft alone, but to every other thing that is done contrary to the principles of Christianity. The Chris- tian must not be entangled again with such things as these, but must avoid them. When a man's past sins are forgiven, is it not a sorry thing to find him again givftn to such things as these that may before long become to him mountains of iniquity, and, if not repented of, may be the means of separating him from his Saviour, and become a castaway from the hope of inheriting eternal life ? Not only may it do so, but it will surely work the destruction of him that is given to the committing and living in these little sins, as they like to call them. When a sinner returns and comes to the Saviour he receives pardon for his past sins, let them be what they 8 LA>M''UL AND UNLAVVKUI, r)KHT8. may. How careful Hiich hHouH bo for foar of a^ain falling into condonination and into the powor of tlio ovil ono who will glory fur niore over the fall of a professing Christinn than ho would over many who live lewd and wicked lives and continue to do his bid- ding. Second repentance is hardly to be looked for, and he who is given to practising such does not and will not sec the error into which he has fallen, therefore will never seek repentance that he may be forgiven. " But it has happened to them according to the true proverb. The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." The.se are the barren professors, tlie barren fig trees that cannot and will not bring forth fruit. Instead of bearing fruit they live in sin ; will I go so far as to .say they have never put on the Lord Jesus Chri.st. They have never left off the world to serve the living God. This would be the most favorable viow to take of them who endeavor to serve 3od and Mammon, which they cannot do, for we mu.st serve either the one or the other. We must be in Christ or out of Christ — there is no half way. We 'cannot serve God and Mammon." "Owe no man anything." I do not mean to be understood that all debt is a sin. A per- son may have in worldly transactions put on his shoulders a debt that he may eventually pay — a legal transaction between one man and another. This should be avoided as much as we are able, and the precept to " owe no man anything " carried out to the letter. What prosperity there would be in our land if every inhabitant was entirely free from debt. Our country would be raised from the slough that it is in and prosperity would reign on every hand. Is it not this wordly debt that is keeping in poverty and want three-fourths of our population. This year's harvest or this month's wages is eaten up by debt incurred a year ago or mayhap two years ago. Such should not be the ca.se, but the maxim to live "» ithin our means .should be the motto of every individual. But more immediately, I am dealing with spiritual debts, or, should I call it, sinful debts, debts incurred by .sinning against our neighbor. Aye pro.sperity would reign on every hand, too, if our country wan free of this sinful debt incurred by the professing Christian as well as those who do not profess to be on the Lord's side. What peace, what quietness, what amity, what plentitude would be in the ccmmunity if all were free from debt, both spiritual and secular. These are some of the things that were troubling Paul concernin*,' his converts at Rome and that made them reb.ds and disobedient to the powers that were ordained to rule over them in religious and secular matters. They were net mindful to "ow« no man any- thing." Allow me to remark that the secular powers he refers to here were heathen powers, and yet he would have his people subject to LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKHTH. falling into ill glory far would over ) do his bid- d he who is le error into inco that he rding to the ain, and the rhcso are the i^ill not bring will I go 80 hrist. They This would ivor to serve serve either [Ihrist— there u" " Owe no sin. A per- alders a debt eeii one man are able, and |to the letter, [habitant was ,efl from the Iry hand. Is and want est or this or mayhap laxim to live idual. But or, should I neighbor, ountry wa^^ IChristian as lide. What ild be in the ,nd secular, concerning,' jobedient to jligious and man any- ters to hero le subject to them. Ho'/ much more should wo in our day live in subject'on to the.se powers that are over us, .such as inagistrates, judges, etc, unto the highest in the kingdom. Hut we too oftt n strive to settle our own diirerences, thereby keeping up a continual animosity and vari- enco. Do I advise going to law ? Not by any means, for the for- giving spirit ha.H no need of law or of lawyers. Very often, though he that is of a forgiving spirit will be made the butt of many thingp, whereas if ho would repel by force ho would bo left alone. Poor souls they are who will make any such the butt of their rancor, for it will .surely return upon their own hoatls with double fury. Again, the backbiter and slanderer is shouldering a debt he may find it hard to pay. They are a grevious and loathsome thing in a community. They were among Paul's converts at Rome. And whero are they not ? We find them among professing Chris- tians everywhere. The tongue is a hard thing to tame, and if not restrained and kept within bounds, may turn out to bo a firebrand of hell ; but the wise man knows how to refrain his lips, and will shun as he would a viper the consequence of an unruly tongue either in himself or in others. What wrath, what strife is engen- dered by such busy-bodies, They cannot bo condemned enough. Their work is the work of the dtvil who is master of them who wantonly let their tongues locse upon a fellow mortal to his hurt. Let them be who they may, whether professors of religion or the outsider, minister or layman, the best that can be said of them is that they obey their own master, the devil and Satan, and not the Christ whom they profess to serve, and whom they profess to be loyal subjects of. The backbiter and slanderer cannot have any part in Christ, for his work is contrary to all that is good and to the spirit of Christianity. They forget the injunction of the Apostle Peter not to be " busy bodies in other people's matters." The sen- sible man has tnough to do to attend to his own business without meddling with the affairs of others. " Busy-bodies ;" aye, the slan- derers are far worse than they. They cannot be denounced enough. Their work is vile, their nature is vile. It is the vile, the animal nature that tolerates or partakes of the work of the backbiter or the slanderer, and those who have come to Christ in sincerity and truth have no part or lot in such work. They have put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man, the new naturo, which condemns the work of the flesh, the backbiter and slanderer. The backbiter and slanderer are an enemy to society, to all that is good, to Christ and to God. And why ? Because the reputation and charf.cter of either man or woman is beyond the value of gold or silver. A person's reputation and character is worth more to him than all the gold that glitters, than all the earthly riches that could be heaped upon him. It is of more value to him than heaps of gold in his pockets, than the riches of millionaires. These will neyer 10 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEDTS. give perfect peace, joy or consolation. They are only a momentary bubble at best, and instead of peace and joy brinjr misery and anx- iety of mind along with it. A man's character and reputation is ditferent, and when deprived of it is hard to be restored. Tlie de- priving and restoring of a man's character is like a bag of feathers. The depriving him of it is like unto taking the featliers and scat- tering them to tlie four winds of heaven, letting thiinfall where they uiay, one here and one t'lere. The doers of such are cursed of God and every intelligent man. It is '''orse than deprivation of life, whether the party so treated be innocent or not What is it. but murder, consigning a man to oblivion in the community (the term may sound harsh, and may sound a discord in the ears ot" the refined), but murdering him if not worse, for in reality they consign him to a living death. He still lives, but «s one dead, and yet these parties who do this work may be honored and respected among men. But such should not be. The doers of so much evil should receive the utmost disdain from their fellow beings, and the measure they meted out measured to them again. The restoring of a man's char- acter after being treated in this way is like going and picking up the feathers and putting them back into their place. Can it bo done ? !t^ot once in a thousand. A person without reputation or character has no life among the people of the coinmnnity in which he lives) He is despised and rejected by his fellow beings, and all the time lie may be entirely innocent of the slanders raised against him and reported as true. It is written, " Behold how great a mat- ter a little fire kindleth." How true in regard to the work of *' a backbiter and the slanderer. A small (as it is commonl}' teri.iCd) white lie when reported about any person may in a short time be- come a barrier between the slandered and the people of the neigh- berhood ; not that alone, but between him and his God. We ought to think of this, think what joay the Consequence be before wo would report anything about our fellows. It is a detriment ti) obtaining reconciliation with God. I do not say but God may become reconciled to a person although laboiing under tlu; condemnation of men, but it may be harder to obtain the peace that is the portion of all true believers. Even if the reported tale hi true, it is a slander still, because it should be settled before th proper authority instead of being circulated and passnd from mouth to mouth, in such a case the further the tale travels, the mor< there is added thereto. Hence the proverb becomes true, that n smad spark will kindle a great fire, will become a mountain in thr path of hiin who has been so foully dealt with. I said that instead of circulating such reports that it should be brought before the proper authorities for proper settlement, and the part\' so charge I given a chance to clear himself, or if guilty, judged inequity an i righteousness and punished according to the extent he has tran - LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DF.HTS. 11 gresseJ, or for^ivon as we shall see fnrtlicr on When this is not (ionc the talc bearer who foully slan debt of the slanderer, of the backbiter, which he owes both to God and man. We must understand that no man is guilty before he is proved auilty before the proper auth- orities and by witnesse.s. I am not a believer in the detective busi- ness of our day, that is, they go to extremes'. In our country I un- derstand that it is a crime to call a man charged with murder a murderer until he is proved to be so, and sentence passed upon him by a judge. There is more than this in it, as I showed above. There is no justification in our day for boycotting any man when we have such law machinery as we have for administering justice to all parties and within the reach of all. Here it becomes doubly true that the slanderer is a false witness bearer, and doubly guilty while circulating foul reports. We are to suppose a man guiltless until condemned. Some may become the guileless victims of others in this work of darkness. This shows how careful we ought to be when listening to a tale-bearer's story about our neighbors and ac- quaintances lest we become guilty of countenancing thtir sinful practice, I think it should be the duty of all men to refuse the tale of the slanderer and busy body until such time as it shall be brought before the proper authorities for adjustment and judicially examined into. If we do not we are consenting unto the deeds of them who may be notorious falsifiers and slanderers. Bring the matter before the proper authorities that righteous judgment may be executed in our land. Do I advise any man to go to law ? Not by any meaus. I was speaking of the slanderer and his work, anii the half has not been told of the evilness of these things. Let a per- son keep a ruly tongue in his head and he will have nothing to fear from these powers, but, on the contrary, praise and honor. It is the coward, the slanderer, who has not wherewith to back his words who is afraid of these powers, who will keep on smiting in secret because he cannot make his cause good before a projior tribunal, that is in danger from these powers and a nuisance in the community. He that has his cause just and honorable has nothing to fear and will speedily bring his cause before the pioper parties for adjudication. Oh, the slanderer has a debt due to society and to God. The malicious slanderer does not take into consideration that LAWFUL AKD UNLAWFUL DEUTS. 15 e not to consent ■takers of tlieir jnting when he elihood is false. ;en. The right thorities or else II such tales and 1 evil thing and nging the guilty ie spirit of for- ■ the backbiter, understand that he proper auth- e detective busi- iir country I un- with murder a passed upon him I showed above. ; any man when inistering justice becomes doubly id doubly guilty a man guiltless | victims of others il we ought to be eighbora and ac- ing their sinful n to refuse the ne as it shall be t and judicially nto the deeds of rers. Bring the judgment may rotolaw? Not id his work, ant ngs. Let a per- nothing to fear d honor. It is o back his words ep on smiting before a proiier nuisance in tlie ble has nothing e proper parties o society and to )nsideration that a when he pasf.cs judgment upon another that l)e passes judgment upon himself and becomes guilty of what he reports his neighbor to be guilty of. Liars. Dare we call them liars ? Yes, this is the proper name to be applied to all such, let them be ministers or laj'men, or the indifferent and careless, all they who practice this sinful prac- tice come under the name of liar, and what do we read : " Without lure dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idol- ators and whosoever loveth or maketh a lie." Astounding, is the lliar classed and on the same level with these notorious sinners, [evertheless, it is a fact, they are no better than the worst of them. '^e will tind people 'vho do not think anything of making a lie; bhey consider it a small affair, a matter of no consequence. But let them read the text nnd see what it says. They will find it in the Jook of Revelations, 21 : 8. It is astonishing what a small lie may imount to when carried from Jip to lip, it may in the long run )ecome a mountain of iniquity in the path of him who made it, and lim about whom it was told. A person addicted to lying would )ecome terribly offended if charged with one of the other crimes lentioned in the text, but what is the difference between. them ? 'here is none in reality. How common a thing it is to lie and |^alsif3\ They forget that we are to speak the truth to one another, md I can assure you that a person will never lose anj'thing by Celling the truth. The truth may be sharper than a two edged |word, but in the end will turn out to be precious jewels and a rown of glory to hiin that abides by the truth, It. is as precious ;weh mete for Masters crown and in the crown that He shall give jjnto all them that bve his appearing. In the above text we find le true character of the liar, the back-biter and slanderer. Is it ftliy wonder that at that day when the Lord .shall descend from fieaven with a shout to judge the quick and the dead, that they, if ihey continue to live in their pernicious ways will be left outside the gate. Ah, no ! " for it is a shame to speak of these things that are done of them in secret. *• They are secret workers of iniquity, servants of Satan, living in obedience to the ruler of darkness of this world. How can they escape the damnation of hell ? Let .every one speak the truth to his neighbor is the motto of every ""^rue Christian man or woman. These were thorns in Paul's side, [e was troubled on finding this class of people among his converts it Rome, and who would not be, for one of this class can keep the [whole country side in anxiety and vexation of spirit. We find him [commanding them to obey the magistrates and them who had the [rule over them in the Lord. These secular governors were infidel, I but still he would have them come before them for judgment, [rather than that they should be biting and devouring one another [in this manner while not living the peacable lives of Christians. [Therefore he tells them to "owe no man anything, but to love one I [ : I I 16 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. another, for he that loveth another hath fuliille>l the hiw," for all this was a debt they were putting on their own shoulder-*, and that they were to avoime to Christ that Who are great ley not on a par etc. I said the lot but to the lost I the righteous but 1 not a physician, verted state may must be orought Irn of any of these 'texts mean those convicted of sin I, but it is equally ost sheep of the .^sgresned greatly fection taught us. g to God's elect, Is the wrath and |it in, for the Lord ley are like the ,fir wandering far Ihave many elder lefer to those who them to sin is a is is what Paul ,ey were sinning against God. They that do any such do not need to look for but wrath and tiery inrlignation which .shall devour all adversaries, "for if any man sin wilfully after having received the knowledge ot the truth there remaineth no more a sacriKce for din, but a certain fear- ful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which sijali devour the adversaries." It is well to understand the distinction between these two classes of people. An unconverted man though I yet in that condition u.ay be one of God's chosen, just as well as he jwho laid hold of eternal life; they are both the Lord s, The one is )utside the fold, the other inside; the one has never been converted )r never came to the knowledge of the truth, the other professes that, both have been converted and have laid hold of eternal life. I do not s;iy that these last have been converted if they lo not live godly lives and eschew evil. What a debt these last Incur if they fall away from their profession. Shall they be ever pie to pay it ? I will let the reader answer the question. There one thing sure, they are not what they profess to be or they joald not wantonly bring disgrace on the cause they have espoused. They are trampling under foot the Lord Jesus and lount the blood of the covenant an unholy thing. How can Ihey escape the just wrath of Almighty God while living as do \he ungodly or those who have not yet laid hold of the handles )f the plough that they might be on the Lord's side. "Jesus said mto him, no man having put his hands to the plough and looking )ack is fit for the Kingdom of God." What carefulness this ll^hould stir up within the bosom of them who profess to bo the dis- JSiples of Chri it, striving to avoid all manner of evil, to avoid be- coming again entangled with the ways of this world or living in sionformity to the natural inclinations of the natural man. Let us lee these things if we would be couK«ed the children of the Highest. ■^his should be the motto of him who would live a godly life, "Seek fgood and not evil that ye may live, and so the Lord the God of hosts shall be with you ;" " Hate the evil and love the good, and establish Judgment in the gate, it may be then that the Lord God of Hosts twill be gracious to the remnant of Joseph." Let a man do this and [he shall never fall, but will prosper and be counted faithful. Ihave i often used the expression that there is no use in being one day for jthe Lord and the next day for the world ; no use in having on the I cloak of a saint on the Sabbath day f.nd the rest of the week the i cloak of the world, with its selfishness and covetousness. The godly must choose between those two and decide which side he is on. There are only the two ways, the one leading to life, the other to destruction. " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve ; as for me and my house wo will serve the Lord." " Owe no man anything but to love one ai.other,for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the la>v." .1 M. ! 18 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. Again I find they were disobeying His own commandments ; this they did in the above, and yet His commandments were not grievous in this way. They were incurring adebc. Paul never put on the shoulders of his convertsat Rome, or any other place, grievous burdens to be borne ; neither does any true minister of the Gospel of Christ. The burden of the Gospel is to do good and eschew evil. " Take My yo^v: upon you and learn of Mo, for I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest for your souls ; For My yoke is easy and My burden light." This is all the burden that any mm need to shoulder in laying hold of eternal life. " Learn of me." Hj is the source of all true wisdom; there is no wisdom like the wis- dom that cometh from above, and he that accepts of this teaching and be guided by it, will not have anything to fear, Taught in this way we will be mindful of observing the Lord's commands, mindful of living holy lives, mindful to keep away from all those things which are contrary to the life of a Christian, that they may be counted worthy of inhsriting the rest with all them who truly love the Lord and who are guided by His word as contained in the Holy Scriptures. This is not a heavy burden. There ls nothing in the bib^e that puts a heavy yoke on them that follov after right- eousness, but it will be a burden to all them who do not take it as the foundation of faith, who do not search it that they may come to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, who do not cherish it as the word of God sent forth for a testimony unto all people that they might know how God deals and rules among the sons of men; the record that he gave concerning His sons.that they may lay hold of Him as their Saviour and of its teachings, and the rule of life contained therein. It will be a burden to them who have the oppor- tunity to study its pages if they come short of inheriting eternal life, but to them that live the life of the godly it will be a bright light shining in a dark place, a lamp to their feet The burden of the Gospel is light and easy to carry. This is all the burden that Paul put on the shoulders of his converts, that they came short of obeying or carrying, but he found them wandering away from the paths of righteousness in doing that which is not lawful ^and right Hence the injunction to "Owe no man anything," but to live in peace and in harmony with theiir fellow men. He warned them to pay unto all their dues : " Render unto all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor," that by so doing they would add to the glory of the Christian Church and their own well-being. These parties to whom this epistle was written were under the government of the Roman Empire, as were the majority of the people to whom Paul wrote his epistles. It seems that they were negligent in paying to the Roman rulers that which i^ was their | LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEDTS. 19 oommandments ; Imcnts were not Paul never put icr place, grievous ter of the Gospel il and eschew evil. I am meek and Is ; For My yoke den that any mm Learn of me." Hj lorn like the wis- of this teaching fear, Taught in Lord's com'nands, ay from all those ,n, that they may 1 them who truly ■i contained in the ?here is nothing in )llov after right- do not take it as they may come to do not cherish it to all people that ; the sons of men; they may lay hoM d the rule of lite \w have the oppor- inheriting eternal will be a bright t The burden of the burden that |ey came short of g away from tht lawful >nd right, " but to live in " Render unto all to whom custom, I by so doing they 3h and their own duty to pay as subjects in the kingdom. With this I have very little to do, only to bring to the notice of the reader that it shows a true Christian spirit to render unto all our rulers the honor that is their due from us as subjects in the kingdom, or else provide better [men to rule our land decently and in order. The despised of men may be more worthy than the king up- ^on the throne in the sight of God. The lowly, the meek, are to bo )referred before the haughty and the proud. For this cause pay re tribute, also to show that they were law-abiding citizens. Wc do kot know, nor can we understand, ^he ways of God with man, how [e chooses one and leaves anothci, how he chooses a sinner and javes amoral man out in the cold. We do not know, nor can wo understand, what the Christian people in the timeof the Apostles had sutler. They were living under a tyrannical government who jexe heathens and given to the idolatrous wor.sliip of idols and graven images. We can easily understand that the Christians labored under , great many uiiacuUles and disadvantages, and suffered for their re- ligious principles in striving to live up to the laws and principles laid ^own by the Apostles. They were bringing upon themselves the latred and malice of them that had the rule over them. We can [asily learn that these powers would not show them any mercy be- luse they did not worship the same idol gods as they did themselves. ?his would naturally stir them up to live at variance with these powers thereby incurring a debt they should in no way have upon jheir shoulders; hence the injunction to honor these powers and to pay ihem tribute : to " Owe no man anything." Possibly, too, they rere at war with these powers that were ordained of God to main- lain the peace in the land, which never should be the case so long ifcs they are ruling in equity and righteousness. They were not to ■-jillow these powers to interfere with their religion or religious prin- ciples, only to be obedient to them while attending to the secular pifiairs of the kingdom. They, in doing so, would advance the cause ^of Christ and His Church upon earth, whereas, in disobeying these 'powers, they were bringing discredit upon themselves and the cause they espoused. He recommends them io render unto all their dues : " Fear to whom fear." They were coming short of this when they were not living in harmony with the rulers, both in secular and spiritual things. Neither of the powers are a cause of fear to any person as long as they do that which is lawful and right, but to the evil-doer, I find this is the kind of fear vtc should have toward God — the fear of doing wrong ; fearful lest we may do one wrong action that would cause the anger of the Lord to be visited on us. There is no slavish fear required. The man that is afflicted with slavish fear of any of these powers, or of God, has not yet come to the freedom of God's people. They have not yet put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 20 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEHTS. I mid are still lacking the peace that is the portion of true believers. The fearful man puts on the cloak of a guilty man or admits of guilt. I would put it this waj' : Let us love God and be fearful of doing wrong. The man who loves God has the true^fear in himself, within his heart. True love is true fear. If we love a man wo will do our utmost to please him and {»bey him, and will be ever on the watch lest we do anything that will annoy or displease him. This should be the way with man towards Cod. He that comes .short of this does not obey the precept to " Owe no man anything." He that does not fear God has a debt upon his shoulders that he will find to bo a liaavv burden if he does not return unto the Lord that he ma}' re- ceive the forgiveness of sin through Him "That loved us and gave Himself for us.'' Come to the Lord Jesus and get this debt removed, and get the true fear of God within your heart. Nothing that man can do will make it one iota lighter. Nothing that man can do will take it off". The Lord Jesus alone can do this, and will surely take the load of sin away from off all them that come unto Him, and He will also put the true fear cf God within the heart. The prayerless soul docs not think he will receive anything from the Lord. The careless and indifferent will be left without the consolation of God's people Are you in debt ? Come to Jesus ; He has paid it all ; He will surely take it from off your shoulders. There is none left with- out this invitation : " Look unto Me and be yo saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else." This is the invita- tion of Christ, and he that will accept of it will receive the peace, the joy of being forgiven all the debts that he owes. Let his sins be what thev may, there is plenteous redemption purchased by Christ to wash away the sins of the foulest sinner. The trouble lies on our own side in that we will not come to Christ. " Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." This is the way with the great majority of people at the present time. They live careles.s and indifferent to the well-being of their souls, to the fact that all them who are yet unconverted have a debt to pay, and " He that will come will come and will not tarry," and will demand payment for the debt thafis due. They will not come to Christ while they may. Flee to Christ who is the only refuge for all, for without Him no man can .see the Lord's face in peace, without Him as our Saviour we are without hope and without God in the world. Without Him we have nothing to look for but wrath and fiery indignation which shall devour all adversaries. We are all the adversaries of God without Christ, who is the only mediator be- tween God and man. Christ is the refuge held out to all people that they may fly to aim and be at rest. Why will you delay, kind reader, in finding this rest for your soul. "There is none other name given among men whereby we can be saved." Look where we may, go where we may, we will find no rest until we come to Christ as LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEUT8. 21 e believers. udinitH of I fearful of in liiinself, lan wo will 3ver on the him. This les abort of r." He that 'll find to be , he may re- 13 and ^ave bt removed, \rf that man can do will surely take II m, and He e orayerle.ss i Lord. The ' ion of God'.s d it all ; He le left with- |1 j'e ends of the ir.vita- •e the peace, Let his sins irchascd by The trouble Ye will ay with the ive careless 'act I hat all He that d payment while they 'or without ithout Him od in the wrath and We are all ediator be- people that "elay, kind other name bre we may, to Christ as f Ho is freely oftVrod in the Gospel. I do not moan that any man is ,to come to Him literally speakinpf. but to come to Him in the light [of the Gospel, putting on the Lord Jesus Chri.st, forsaking the things of the world, with the lusts thereof. This is the way to bo freed from the spiritual debts, let them bo small or groat. Christ las paid it all for them who love Him and who are called ac- cording to His purpose. Look away to Jesus, Soul, by wee oppressed ; ' Twas for thee He suffered. Come to Him and rest. All thy griefs Ho carried, All thy .sins He bore ; Look away to Jesus, Trust Him evermore. But I must go back. Hatred is another thing found among •people who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They who are the victims of this virtue, if you will allow me to call it by that name, come far .short of being the true followers of the Lord. Hatred has no place in the bosom of the God-fearing man. ;Love occupies the place of hate, and he who gives place to this last Jhas not the true fear of God before his eyes. The very opposite is required of the Christian, and they who give place to this evil thing are shouldering a debt due both to God and man. Hate. What is it but the reverse of all that is good ? An odious thing to be found in anj' perse . Those are they who are full of envy, liiU of malice, full of the evil spirit. I cannot define it as I would Hke, but I can say this much that it has no place in godliness. Hate is the germ from which springs one half of the sins that are committed in the world. There would not be one-tenth tne murders in our land if hate and malace were out of it. The divisions, the variance, the carnal mind would be done away with. Where we find hate, we find the carnal mind and we find worse, for we can ind the carnal mind without hate. Hatred and malice — What can say about it, but to tell the reader to cast it away from him, and bo cultivate the opposite virtues, love, long suflfering, patience, etc. [f we hate a person, we abhor him, we detest him, we abominate lim and we loathe him. Webster says that hate "is a generic word md implies that one is inflamed with extreme dislike. We abhor /hat is deeply repugnant to our sensibilities of feeling." To have this feeling towards another is contrary to all that is good and Holy and contrary to God, who is love. Malice is first cousin to hate, i)nly that it is more wicked. They are conjoined together so closely that it is hard to distinguish between them, and I don't think they 22 LAWrOL AND UNLAWFUL DRBTII. i; i are ever soparako. Malico dosiros nnot ler hurt, Jmte inav not. A inaliciouH man wants to do all the harm in his powrr. tie \h not Mitisfitid with hating, but ho wants to devour, to see the fruit of hate brought to perfection. Hero I call a;:fain Webster to my help. He define.s malice to be " enmity of lieart, malcvolfnco, ill will, a .spirit desiring harm or misfortune to another, a disposition to injure another, unprovoked malignitv or spite, a depraved inclination to mi.schief, intention to do an act which i.s wrongful without just cause or excuse, disregard for the safety of others, &c." Proud tyrants, who maliciously destroy, And ride over ruins with malignant joy ; Humbled in dust, so to their cost shall know, Heaven our avenger, and mankind their foe. This is malice. I wrote about backbiters and slanderers ; hero is the foundation from which they build. Without malice and hate, and envy, we would have none of these characters in the'community. Let us away with it then from out our hearts, and let love take it.^ place that we may be called the children of the Highest. These three evds are attributes of the sixth commandment " Thou shalt not kill." It may be surprising to some, but nevertheless it is a fact; a man given to these is a breaker of this command. Malico can bo overcome by lam who has this trait in his character by cultivating the opposite giace of love. It is like to anything else, if allowed to ffrow will .soon gain the mastery, but by cultivating love this evil will be done away with. Envy comes next, and is first cousin of the other two, but its work is not so direful as that of the other two. Milton defines envy " Pain, un.'asiness, mortification or discontent, excited by the sight of others' superiority or success, accompanied by some degree of hatred or malignity, or often or usually with the desire, or an effort to deprecate the person, or with pleasure in seeing him depressed." Envy, to which the ignoble mind's a slave, Is emulation in the learned or brave. This is envy, and it should not be found in the breast of either Christian men or women who profess to have put on the Lord Jesus Christ They that allow envy to dwell within them are not obeying the precept to " Owe no man anything." Far from it, but on the contrary, they are shouldering new debts day by day. On every occasion of its showing itself it is the cau.se of sin and a fall away from the paths of righteousness. There is no room for Christ in that soul who harbors this sinful virtue, if you will allow me to call it by that name. Those who harbor it must consider it a virtue, or else they would soon cast it away by striving against it The promise is unto all that will overcome, let their failing be what ^ii LAWrUL AND UNLAWFUL DKHTB. it may, and who may not overcome tlils failing if they manfully Hj^lit (i;;ainst it ? God will liolp them, help tl.oso who ure fighting' for freedom from the inclinations of the natural man, from the f-in- fulness that is in man by nature. The envious may not actually do a ^roat deal of harm to otliers in the community ; it must bo helped along by malice and hate before it could do this, but still envy is the foundation of many .slanders, and even murder. It may not amount to as much as malice. A malicious person wants to do harm, and only wants an opportunity to strike his victim. Envy may not want to ^o to extremes in the majority of men. Jealou.\y and envy are one and the same, and we know to what extent jealousy will lead a person. If it should gain the mastery over a man he is ready to do almost any evil deed, such as murder and rapine. It is the mother and inventor of ways and means whereby we gratify our animosity and hatred. Those who are given to this evil are not the true followers of Christ. He was all other things but this. Let me remark here that it is well to bo jealous in the right, to be affected with godly jealou.sy, coveting to be more like Jesus, coveting more holiness. This is not the jealou.sy I have been writ- ing about, but the sinful jealousy that causes sin, that causes men and women to fall into the condemnation of the devil. Christ was afflicted with godly jealousy — ^,jealous that He might show unto us the way in wliich to live the true Christian life. This should be the way with every one of us who may be calling on the name of the Lord, jealous that wo may be his followers, that we may be counted on the Loril's aide, that we may live the true Christian life, that we may work the works of God. On reading the history of the crimes committed in our day, we find that jealousy is at the root of a great many of them. It is a world of iniquity in itself, and they that give way to it are lending themselves to Satan that they may do hi.s will. Why should I go on enumprating these evils that lead a person to shoulder a debt i^ainst God and, maybe, against man ? Their name is legion that lead the Christian the wrong way if he does not watch against them. We find them all mentioned in the first chapter of Paul'."! epistle to the Romans, or a great many of them : " Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malicious- ness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperer.<», backbiters, haters of God, dispiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God that they who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them." Here we have the whole matter in a few sentences that keeps the world in sin and iniquity. The doers of such cannot please God, and if ill i 1 1 f ;i I II I 24 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. professing tD be on the Lord's side, v/hile living in these sins, are heaping unto themselves wrath against the clay of wrath anJ the righteous judgment of God. How many in our country profess godliness while living in these sins. They have no fear of God be- fore their e^-es. Black and long as this list is, they are not all named therein. We read in the epistles to the Galatians, " Now the works of the tlesh are manifest : adultery, fornication, unclean- ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatrod, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murder, drunkenness, revelling and such like, of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of Gad." Need I make any remark on the condition that these are in who are given to the doing of such things. The Scrip- ture language is plain. They shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Here let me say that this has no reference to them who may have committed those things, but they that continue to live in them and practice them, and possibly take pride in the doing of them to show unto others how smart they are and how free from sin. It is a noticeable thing that it is the worst of men who are the more apt to tiad fault and criticise others. And why ? Because they think that by so doing they shall be able to hide their own sinful natures. They boast before men how pure, how holy, how sinless they are, while within thev are all manner of evil filled up with dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Or let me put it this way : By chastising another, maybe for a small offence, they strive to show unto the world how pure and faultless they are themselves, and how thej'^ love to live law-abiding^citizens, while they may every day be do- ing and practising and tolerating what may be far worse. Such will re- ceive themselves the greater damnation. Same may esteem one of these things mentioned above worse than the others. There may bj difference of opinion as to the extent of guilt in committing any one of the above sins or crimes, but in the sight of God " there is no difference." It is a fact that murder is a great deal worse than a great many of the others mentioned. It is worse than wrath, Adultery is worse than envy. But we must take into consideration that he that doth any one of them shall not inherit eternal life un- lest repented of. The wrathful man will be lost just as surely as the murderer ; he that backbites just as surely as the adulterer. In God's sight the smallest sin that we can commit is a crime worth \ of the just anger of Almighty God. " He that breaks the least ot these commandments is guilty of all." It would be weii for peopK to take into consideration these things. These little sins, what ari.' they but the bane of society and all that is good. They are the debts that will likely remain unpaid, because they will be passed by unnoticed and without b.iiug repented of, while for the greater ot grosser sins the doer will be brought to time and to repentance, LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTG. 25 n theso sins, are f wrath and the country profess < fear of God be- they are not al) alatiana, " Now lication. unclean- iance, emulation, 3r, drunkenness, IS I have also told 11 not inherit the le condition that ngs. The Scrip- ihe kingdom of ce to them who mtinue to live in in the doing of I how free from of men who arc ■ why ? Because hide their own , how holy, how of evil filled up put it this way y strive to show iselves, and how every day be do rse. Such will re- esteem one of There may b>j ommitting any ' God " there is eal worse than rse than wrath. o consideration eternal life un- t as surely as adulterer. In crime worth} vs the least of eii for peopKi sins, what are They are the 1 be passed by the greater of to repentance. Sooner or later the great sinner will be brought to know the nature of the otfence and will repent, unle.^s so far gone that he has been given over to Satan for time and eternity. True repentance is all that is necessary for the solvation of the blackest i?inner, let him be who he may. Let the wicked turn from their wickedness and let them fiee unto the Lord, for he is ever gracious to forgive and ac- cept of the returning sinner. Look at the joyful receiving by the father of the returned prodigal son who devoured bis livinj among harlots. The father went out to meet him, fell on his neck and kissed him, commanding them to put new shoes on his feet and a ring on his hand. This would not do, but he must be clothed and ^ that with the best raiment that could be found. This is what the L( rd God and the Saviour will do to all them that will return unto Him in godly repentance, let their sins be what they may. " Come unto Me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other God besides Me." " All ye ends of the earth;" notice the words. There is no exception made. All 'arc welcome. There is no distinction made in these words between one man and another, between the moral man and the sinner. Let no person say there h no room in Heaven for a sinner. " For I say unto you that there is more joy among the angels of God in Heaven over oi;e sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance." Aye there is joy, there is room in Heaven and the door will never be shut against a returning wand- erer. The returning sinner is always welcome to come to Jesus and be saved from the consequence of his sins, from the punishment ^that was due unto him for his sins and iniquities. Christ can wash itbe foulest sinner and make him clean. There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Emanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see, That fountain in his days And there may I, though vile as he, " Wash all my .sins away. The door of Heaven is open and no man can shut it against any man or woman, whatever they may have done wbile^living in sin and ignorance. Cannot God forgive, cannot Christ* forgive ? Come and see whether he will forgive you or not. He that never refused or turned his back on a suppliant, will he not forgive and clothe with his own righteousness. He that did so much that sin- ners might live and be reconciled t3 God, will he not accept and 26 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. forgive? He will forgive, and that freely — without money and with- out price — the dns that you may have committed, let them bu as black as the bla'ikest. All I can i^ay to you, kind reader, is to come and see. " taste and see that the Lord is good ; His mercies last- ing be." What about them who continue to live in thes- things that I brought before the notice of the reader, who continue to live the life of the ungodly '? Nothing but woe. It is strange that any man should think that he is on the Lord's side and living in any of these vices. Vices if allowed to gain sway, will add sin unto sin, not alone in the party tolerating thtm,but be also a detriment to the whole community. Also that any person should allow them to get the mastery over him; they are like unto bad habit;?, hard to gst rid of. They eat as doth a canker and their end is everlasting destruc- tion. By whatsoever sin or vice a man is carried into bondage, by the same he is kept in bondage. Let us thereior flee these things for they cannot but heap upon the doers wrath and anguish, and at last cause a separation from the loving God and Saviour. Let the professing Christian beware these vices, for him to bo taken by them is far worse than they who nave never laid hold of eternal life. The professor professes to have come to the knowledge of the truth, and having done so and living as do the world, what does he need to look for but wrath and fiery indignation that shall devour the adversaries. It must be their own fault, they haye God's record before them in the Bible. The record, the testimony that He gave unto all men as a rule of life by which they might be guided through the wilderness of this world. Therein His warning voice is sounded against all who ma}'^ live unholy lives, and therein we find the joyful message of salvation unto all them who will lay hold of it and its teachings, and the Saviour, that it holds out to all them that will accept of him as their Saviour and Redeemer. It is the record that God gf^.ve of His Son. The foundation of belief in His name, the foundation of the faith that leads to life eternal, the foundation of the government of the civilized world and of the church of the living God. Believe it. It is the word of God given unto us by inspired penmen. The more diligent, use of it that we make the better for us and for all mankind. Alas! that any should think different Take it up and read it ; search its pages and you will find before long that it will become interesting — that it has a word to you, a message from God. "Of the making of many books, there is no end," but if all the books in the world were gathered to- gether, there is more wisdom, more know'edge in the Bible than in them all. Why throw it away ? Its truths are more precious than gold that perisheth, yea, than much fine gold. He that will follow the teachings contained therein will soon learn the meaning, and learn to avoid these vices that I have been bringing before your notice. Will learn the meaning of the words of the text, "Owe no LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. 27 guided oice ".s kVe find hold of them is the in His al, the of the Id given ihat we should |nd you has a books, red to- ll an in s than follow ig, and e your lOwe no man an3'thing, but to Inve one another, for He that loveth another hath fufHlIed the Law." Thus speaks the high and lofty One, Ye tribes of earth give ear ; The words of your Almighty King, With sacred reverence hear. Amidst the Majesty of Heaven, My throne is fixed on high ; And through eternity I hear, The praises of the skies. But allow me to go back and bring to your notice one or two more of these vices, which, if allowed to reign in our hearts, will at last eat as doth a canker in that place that is prepared for the lost, for "they shall depart into everlasting tire." First then let us look at the "inventors of evil things." Who are they? They are evil doers of the blackest type. They are not content with slander and backbiting, but they must limit it, must invent evil things, perhaps out of their own minds for the downfall of some human being, and when he is down gets the ingenuity of the mind to work that he may be kept down. " Inventors ct evil things." Well might Isaiah cry about these : " For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered pervcrsness; none calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity and speak lies, they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, they hatch cockatrice's eggs and weave the spiders webb ; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh forth into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works, their works are works of iniquity and the acts of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood, their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace, they know not, and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made them crooked paths, whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace, I don't think that I can describe them better. Their character is contained in this quotation : " Inventors of evil things." Think of it The appellation of itself suggests what they are. There is a debt on their shoulders that they will find hn,rd to remove. Wilful sinners. They have no fear of God before their eyes, neither that of man or the good of society. They are like unto the brute beasts to be taken in their own craftiness and be destroyed. Clouds, they are full of evil-boding to all chat they come in contact with. They are not satisfied with what may actually be the case, but they must invent ways and means whereby they may add sin to sin and evil ■■'■ -i 38 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. 'i to evil. Can we have any such among professors of Christianity? Surely not, but still we can find among them " busy-bodies in other peoples matters," and what are those chatactcrs but " busy-bodies," these very same inventors of evil things, and 1 doubt not but that there are many such inside the fold of God's people. If so, their condemnation is all the greater, for they do not only sin against light and knowledge, but against God, against Christ, against all the laws of God and man, and against the well-being of the com- munity in which they live. Their " hands are defiled with blood." It is not necessary to be actual bbod-shedders to be thus called or put under the appellations of being detiled with blood. Vicious ac- cusation against a neighbor may be so termed when it defamei him to such an extent that it will be to his hurt when it deprives him of his character and causes his downfall to .such an extent that his living is laken away from him. Slanderers and backbiters come under this name when they deprive a man of his character and reputation. They are actually sprinkling their hands with his heart's blood. This is the way that I look upon their doings. How much more is it so when they themselves invent their evil tales or accusations and keep on inventing and accusing until they have finished their nefarious work. The writer of these pages ought to know the meaning of the phrase ' Inventors of eviF things," for he has sutfered untold misery because of their work. Tongue or pen cannot describe the extent to which they are ready to go in making their cause good and to keep the uproar going. Day by day, hour by hour, they cease not. When one evil thing is played out they must hatch another to keep the pot boiling. We have .them in our land, men and women who study day by day to bring before the public some useful article, some new invention that will be for the advancement of society, but these day by day study how they may be the means of destroying a fellow being, and how they may mort effectually bring to pass that for which they are working. They are murderers in heart and intention. Thev have their hands defiled with blood. Are you ^iven to concocting against your neighbor, if so, remember that a day cometh " that shall burn as an oven and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Oh ! turn from these things to serve the living God, that it may be well with you in that day ; ' But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall." " None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth." This is another phase of the "inventors of evil things " They do not de- sire either justice or truth. They are like Satan; they work in secret; their work cannot stand the light of day. They must bo LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. 29 hid, and their Works hid from all eyes that do not belong to their own company. They are cowards that dare not bring the cause be- fore a proper tribunal to be adjudicated and settled in equity and righteousness. They love rather to serve Satan and the works of datkness than to ask for righteous judgment and to plead the truth. .And why ? Because they cannot sustain themselves, and have to suffer themselves the just anger of every right thinking peoples. " None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth truth ; they trust in vanity and speak lies ; they conceive mischief and bring forth in- iquity." This is the "inventor of evil things. " "Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood." Woe betide them ; the sword of the Lord is hanging above their heads and it will surely descend if they continua in their evil doings. None such can escape from the wrath to come, but by turning from their ways unto the Lord God and to Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man, and He is able and He is willing " to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him." Ah ! friend, what a debt this class of people is shouldering day by day, "Owe no man anything' is not before their eyes. What shall the reckoning be ? The balance sheet must be balanced some day and ♦^.he doers of these things must go down. Will it not be wisdom to turn from these things to serve the living God before the day of grace passes by. Part^on may be had by returning to the Lord Jesus and by forsaking the sins that do so easily beset us. The promise of salvation is unto all without distinction, let their sins b-^ what they maj'. Tarry not ; the door may be closed against you if you continue to live in and tc practice this evil vice. How wretched was our former state, When slaves to Satan's sway ; With hearts disordered and impure, O'erwhelmed in sin we lay. But! O my soul for ever praise. Forever love His name; Who turned thee from the fatal path. Of folly sin and shame. It is the Lord's work to save any soul, and it is wondrous in our eyes; but they that live the life of wickedness will have no part in this wondrous work, the salvation of their souls. There is noth- ing in store for the " inventor of evil things " but wrath and condem- nation "upon the Jew first, and also on the Greek." The Jew comes first to show that thej^ who profess to be on the Lord's side are doubly guilty if they continue to live in sin and in conformity to the wickedness of ?-!ii3 world. "Unto whom is given, much is ex- pected." Church members, communicants, professors who profess I^L__ mi in 30 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. to be niembers of Christ's body. They are they who the venpfeance of the Lord will be doubly visited upon if they live in sin, if they live '• inventors of evil things." They belon.qj more to the ."syna- gogue of Satan than to the church of the living God. Clouds, they are without water, for whom is prepared the " blackness of dark- ness, forever." Ls it not a woeful thing that we sluuid be able to find any such among our church going people, but such is the case. We can find them there spewing out th 3ir own shame, and who will sit down at the Lord's table, eating and drinking in remerahiawceof Him who did so much for the reronoiliation of a .«tinful world to God, who died, the just for the unjust, that they might live and that unto God, and not *o the gratifying of the lusts of the flesh. I say, IS it not a woeful thing to find they who do this in remembrance of Him ; be found before the sun goes down, concocting and invent- ing against their fellow beings. I can point them out. This should not be the case. They a;\i eating and drinking wrath and condem- nation to themselves. Think of the society of God's people. The binding together that should be between them who are witnessing for the Lord, and that they are the Lord'.s. There is no .society on God's earth that should bind men and women together as solid and into such afft;ctionate relationship as that of partaking of the Lord's supper. Vowing in the presence of God and all the people congre- gated together that they are the Lord's, that they have left the world and the things of the world, and have made choice of that good thing that shall not be taken away from them that live ac- cording to His word. Should it not stir up the confessor to live up to his vows, to live as godly a life as he can. Is it not a sorrowful thing to find some of these very parties to be " inventors of evil things," and that before the sun goes down. I personally know them who are guilty of this very thing, who after partaking of the holy things went out into the world and l.ved until the next com- munion as did the world. Lived to all appearance without the smallest care whether they lived up to their vows or not, without thinking that lie who eateth unworthily eateth and drinketh dam- nation to himself. But bloody hands and hearts unclean, And all the lying race ; The faith Ie3s and the scoffing crew, Who spurn at offered grace. They seized by justice shall be doomed, In dark abyss shall lie ; And in the fiery burning lake, The second death shall die. " Inventors of evil things." I cannot emphasiz3 the words LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. SI enough. " Their feet run to evil." They cannot be denounced (Miouf^h. They are full of guilo. full of hypocriay, full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. They are they who come to you in slicep's clothing with a smile on their lips, with words as sweet as honey, but all the while with the object in view of finding some means whereby they may do you an injury; whereby they may strike you in secret They hunt for mischief as doth a hound a foK, afraid lest they misa their mark and loose the prey. They will come to you with smiling faces and conversation affable, but all the while they are hunting for blood, hunting for an occasion to strike you unawares. A sneak is the most abominable wretch on the earth, a coward and a slave of Satan is he who is the " inventor of evil things.'' Have they not a debt to pay both to God and man/ Aye ! that they have, and pay it they must. The " pledge" they must restore or else they must suffer for their works of iniquity. The promise is unto them only who will forsake the evilness of their doings, and who cling to Christ as their Saviour and Redeem- er. These do noi do this, they are without hope and without God in the world. They sin against light and knowledge, not thinking what their end may be. "They have not the fear of God in their hearts, which is true love ; love to God and man ; neithei' have they the Gospel light in their hearts. It cannot be .said of them that the Lord put " His laws into their minds and wrote them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God and they shall h> to Mo a peo- ple," but the very opposite. They are under the government of Satan and obedient to his laws. Zealous how they may fulfil his desires and do his works. The" law of the Devil is within their hearts, and in their minds, and they strive unceasingly to do his will. " Having eves full of adultery that cannot cease from sin." " Clouds, they are without water, unstable in all their ways." " Woe ! unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the erifor of Balaam for a reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." " Inventor.? of evil things !" Hear Paul's description of them. " Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues thev have used deceits ; the poison of asps is under their lip.s." These are they who turn the community in which they live up-side-down; who continually seek evil that they may do their master's bidding, that they may work the works of darkness ; deceitful in all their ways. Builders and carriers of evil tidings and adding thereto as it moves along. Never satisfied with the original story, but they must concoct, and plan, and invent to seal it, if possible, with a shadow of truth. They are a disgrace, a nuisance, a thorn in the side of the community in which they live, and yet some of them will profess godlines.s, and that they have been called out of dark- ness into light, and that, the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ. 1 32 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEnXS. *J ^4 \m iiiii ii; i!! Woe unto them, for they shall oat the fruit of their own doinffs. Their reward is in store for them. " He that soweth to the Hesh, .shall of the flesh reap corruption." This is sure, they shall reap that which they sow; "And shall utterly perish in their own corruption." There is no way of escape left open for this class of people. " INVENTOR OF EVIL THINGS " Think of the words. They may be more numerous than many would think, and not easily discerned, for they hide themselves behind the mask of friendship and benevolence. They profess benevolence, and to be a man's bosom friend, but they are only waitnig an op- portunity to do an injury. Like the lion who hides before his prey may see him and be warned of the danger that may be ap- proaching, these wait for the souls of men. The lion crouches down in the grass or thicket, ere he springs to destroy his victim. So do they. They hide behind snilin^ faces and guiltful tongues, seeking an opportunity to destroy their victim. And far worse; they manufacture those things that they desire. Tl ey invent their own devices that t ley may destroy, and bite, and devour. "Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. Wandering stars." How shall they escape the damnation of hell. There is an old saying that there is hope while there is life. It is true to some extent, but we are not to tempt the Lord our Ood, for he may close the door of mercy. Let them return from their wickedness and do that which is lawful and right and all shall be well. It is those that continue to live in sin for whom there is no hope of salvation. " As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." No ! it is not God's will that any man should perish, for He is a God of love. God is love. A God of mercy; full of mercy ; full of compassion unto all, and upon all them that call upon Him ; and that return unto Him in repentance ; and by de- parting from the evilness of their ways. " Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let them re- turn unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon them, and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon." This i^ the hope of the Gos- pel, that God is a forgiving God. But they that continue to live in sin do not need to look for this clemency. This would be tempting God, to continue to live in those things which are contrary to His just commandments. It would be well to consider over these mat- ters and to take knowledge of Paul's precept, to " Owe no man any- thing, but to love one another ; for he that loveth another hath ful- filled the law." The tale is not half told of those things that eke into the Christian man's daily walk if he does not fighb against them. But ah ! we will always find the true Christian fighting against all man- ner of such evil things, and will come out more than conquerers through Him that loved them and gave Himself for them. He LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEDTS. 33 abifletli faithful, so will the true convert. The story of the " In- ventor of evil things " has not hulf been told, but for the present I will leave it alone, and for the reader's special consideration. And now [ will call your attention to some other things that cause people to be laboring under a debt. I mentioned a great many al- ready, but the list is long, and here I will write down a few more of them : " Lovers of themselves, blasphemers, unthankful, un- holy, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, etc., etc. None who are given to any of these obey the gospel of the Lord Josus Christ. They are evil virtues that are In man according to nature and must be rooted out, or else become a burden that will sink them who carry or give way to such into the depths of perdition. They have not put off the old man with his deeds ; they are living in enmity against God. The natural mind has full sway that leads many to do that which is Contrary to the life of a Christian. Verily, they have no part in the Christian. He that is led and governed by these things is yet outside the pale of the Christian church. They forget that for every one of these things a man will be brought to account. They must be shunned, must be avoided, must be rooted out before we can live the true Christian life " Owe no man anything." Let me now call your attention to drunkenness. This is the bane of sjciety, and it causes more harm and sin than all other evils that society is afflicted with combined, and will surely work out the everlasting destruction of him who has been taken in its snare. The drunkard " shall not inherit the Kingdom of God," providing they continue in their drunkenness in their downward course. How many drunkards come to reformation ? Very few. The habit is tenacious. The craving after strong drink is so strong that it is well nigh impo.ssible to stop. Without reformation the drunkard will as surely land in the place of torment as if he were there al- ready. The drink habit gets a hold of the mind in such a way that it is well nigh impossible to get rid of it, and the habit of the drunkard is always leading downward, and that at lightning speed, down to poverty, shame and want, down from one degrading sin to another. Tie farther down, the more degradation and less sense to discern between right and wrong, the less intuition and desire to fight against it. " Did you ever reflect upon the power of a man's imagination in headlong flight, without a guiding rein ? Its break- neck pace increases at every bound. No amount of sensual grati- fication can check its wild career. On, on it rushes, goaded by its own insatiable passion, toward that awful precipice in its path, over which it must surely plunge, and then, ah, what then 1 ! " This is the case of the drunkard. They have no control over the cravings that have taken hold of them ; so that down, down is the flight of iF" 1 1 ii Wi 84 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEDT8. the drunkard, Tlie more they drink the more they desire ; the harder to break off from drinking. It takes a very strong eflfort of the will to break otf this evil habit; but it can be done. The drunkard can have his flagon oi wine and turn to the Lord who will help him on to perfect reformation and holy life. Who does not know the evils of intemperance, and yet what does our religionist do to destroy it from under heaven and of God's earth. I find that a great many will go on from day to day showing their weak bro- thers the evil example of drinking, thereby leading away from the right path and into that of the drunkard. They will go up to the bar in an hotel and treat, and drink ; neyer thinking that they may be the means, of sending a soul to Hell. This is one of the little sins that we never think about, but may amount to a great one be- fore the evil example is rectified. This is the consequence of show- ing an evil example. I am sure that the Lord Jesus never did, nor does He now allow His disciples such an example. The re- verse is true. The poor drunkard who had no control over him- self may be cursing to day in Hell some professing Christian who led him to take his first glass of liquor. How careful we should be. This is not the only thing in which the power of example tells a sorrowful tale. Are they not responsible for their evil oixample that lead another astray ? I answer, yes ! they are re- t^Mnsible. For instance, a respectable young man is quietly sitting jjru^he bar room of one of our hotels, (he ought to be any other pla » A Christian man, possibly high up in the estimation of his neighbors as a Qod fearing man, walks in and up to the bar, asks those sitting about to take a social glass of liquor with him, and this young man among the rest who may never have taken any before. He takes his first glass ; the work of destruc- tion has commenced ; he goes from glass to glass ; downward and downward he goes unf il he becomes a confirmed drunkard, until he lies in the drunkard's grave. Who is responsible for the downfall of that young man ? Can the Christian who led him astray say, " I am innocent from the blood of this man ?" I assure you he cannot say so, in truth. His one action was the cause of theother's destruction. Did he not shoulder a debt ; aye ! that he did, that he may have to settle before the bar of the judgment seat of Christ. He may, like Pilate, take a basin of water and a lowel and wash his hands and wipe them dry saying, I am inocent from the blood of this man, nevertheless Pilate was guilty when he passed sentence on an innocent man. So it is the case with him above. By his evil example he slew an innocent man. The Christian n:an is guilty in putting the temptation before the young man ; possibly saying, "it won't huri/ you." That caused his downfall. Pilate was guilty of shedding innocent blood. The Christian tempter is also guilty of shedding innocent blood. " Woe unto him who puts a LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKBTS. 35 stuniblinf; block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." This is the case when we offer unto another a gla.ss of intoxicating liquor, let him be whom ho may. It should not be offered to the drunkard any more than the young man who never tasted it before. Our aim should be to show the drunkard the evil and the curse of drinking to excess, that every glass he takes is a step nearer de- struction, nearer hell. What shall the end be, both to the tempter and the tempted? It is like Satan's work, setting temptations and snares before young and old, and we all know ^hat the consequence will be to him and to all who are the means of leading others astray. Let us flee these things. Houses of accommodation we must have, they are a necessity for the travelling public, but why patronize the bar-room or use intoxicating liquor. " Who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babblings, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes ? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At last it biteth like a ser- pent and stingeth like an adder. Their eyes shall behold strange women and their hearts shall utter perverse things. Yea ! thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he th*"^ lieth on the top of a mast. They have stricken me, thou shalt s^j, and I was not sick, they have beaten me and I felt it not. When Jnl I awake ? I will seek it again." This is the drunkard's conditi as described in scripture, and is it not enough to awaken the dorr xnt faculties of any man? Study the drunkard and see how true the scriptures describes his condition, how it marks out the drunkard's failings. " When shall I awake, I will seek it again." How true from one drunken debauch to another. The drunkard is something like the horse-leech, continually sucking but never full. Should it not, think you, awaken the dormant faculties of men to obliterate the intoxicating cup from off the face of the earth, to beware of this awful thing that leaves so much destitution and destruction in its path ? Can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burnt. Some may say to me, there is no sin in taking a glass of liquur. I don't believe there is, either, but let it be taken in such a way that there will be no evil results follow, as in case of sickness or when pre- scribed by a physician. Can it not be truly said of the professing Christian who leads another astray in this matter that he is drunken, but not with wine Drunk with the intoxicating wiles of the devil. Men are drunk and have been drunk, but not with wine or strong drink. Is not this the case when they know the evil, the destitution, the misery, the want, the woe that is caused by this traffic when they patronize and sui)port it? It is a fact, they are shouldering a debt due to God and to man. When shall they pay it. When shall they be able to psy the destruction of one soul 96 LAWrtii AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. who has been le tempt and lead another astray. We do not tm\ such things as a license law mentioned in scripture and there ul'.juld bo no such thing on the statute book. It is a law for de- stroying men's lives, not for saving or protecting them. The Oovorniacnt cannot clear themselves in this matter while granting an unright(^ous permission to sell that which is the cause of doing so much evil to the subjects over whom they rule. Aj^ain, every man is responsible for his own doings. Do they not know the consequence of selling liquor ? If they do, their con- demnation is all the greater. Some of our liquor dealers may not know the circumstances under which they are laboring, but the majority of them are intelligent enough to know what they are do- ing, and the destruction that follows in the wake of the liquor traffic. They know that destruction and misery lies in the track of whiskey selling, therefore, their condemnation is all the greater, and they should give it up f.nd find some other employment Again, I say that they are responsible for all the sin ami crime committed by intoxicated men. Some may say that this is going too far, and say they are not responsible for the dteds of another man. We shall see. I will not take one iota back from the state- ment I made. If they had not sold the liquor, the man would not have been drunken. If they had not sold the liquor, the crime would not have been committed. The drunkard would not have been drunken ; he would have his own faculties of mind about him so that he would be able to exercise judgment. I do not say that they are actually guiltj' of committing the crime, but they are re- sponsible. It is like unto luring a man to do an evil deed ; the employer and the employed have both their hands in the act ; they are both equally responsible, equally guilty. I do not fear that this assertion can be successfully confuted. What a debt, then, is on the shoulders of our hotel-keepers and whiskey vendors. When shall they be able to pay it ? When the Oak that fell last winter Shall rear its shattered stem. Give it up : Give It up ! ' If this should fall into the hands of any such, take warning and give it up. I cannot tell you all. I cannot tell you one half of the awfulness of the state of those who cause others to wander from the way, from the paths of righteousness and cause them to commit sins and crimes against 38 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTa i God and man. I would not be unjust or condemn any man or class of men without just cause. But the work of whiskey is terrible, and why should intelligent men and women carry it on. They forget that they shoulder a debt that they must pay if they con- tinue to live as they do in selling the means of death unto others. The work is awful, and they have nothing to look for but the utmost of God's wrath and indignation. """^Dthing but eternal de- struction, for none such can or will inherit the Kingdom of God. For your own sakss, stop selling unto others that which de- stioys them and you, that sends you both into eternal doom, into everlasting destruction. How can they help baing lost, for they work the ruin of their customers, and by so doing their own ruin as well. Drunkness, what is it ? I have explained to some extent in the above what drunkenness h and its consequence, but the half is not told, nor can I write it on paper ; the state of the drunkard, his helplessness, his inability, his unconquerable thirst after the intoxi- cating cup. He is a helpless creature, to some extent, in the hands of the Demon that is destroying him. And all this, because of his fellow men, of the vendors of intoxicating liquor, because of the government who licenses the nefarious traffic. Is it not a terrible thing that our governments would tolerate and make laws to make legal the sale of such a destructive element ? Yet it is so. They derive revenue from it, they say. The treasury would be lacking a great pile of money if the license law became extinct. Let them think so, but the truth is far from this, the truth is the reverse from this. If all the money spent in whiskey, or a .small portion of it was returned to the Government in place of th j license fee, it would be more full than it is. But what can we do for the poor drunkard who is helpless to save himself by reason of this nefarious traffic. Help him up by all means. Help him on to the solid rock that he may stand in the time of trial. Help him up and into the right way that leads into the celestial gates, that he may inherit Heaven at last. This can be done by extending to him the helping hand with words of loving kindness, for they are able to lift up the most de- graded and put them on a basis of the best of citizens. But what is drunkenness ? What is the crying sin, the be- setting and besotting sin of our country ? What is it that degrades and debases man below the level of the brute, that untits him for the duties of social and domestic life 1 What is it that carries strife and contention into every neighborhood ? What invades the do- mestic circle, binishing affection and severing every tie of endear- ment? What entails poverty and wretchedness and infamy upon the innocent, literally "visiting the iniquities of the fathers on the chiidren unto the third and fourth generation?" What draws forth the sigh from the lonely and broken-hearted mother as she L,AniUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. 39 strives to cover her shivering infant with her scanty rags, or to stifle the cries of hunger by the charities of her neighbors ? What inflicts disease in its most painful and loathsome shape ? What bloats and deforms the human countenance and effaces the image oil the Creator from the creatures ? What is it that sweeps "as with the besom of destruction " more human victims into an un- timely grave than sword and pestilence combined ? What fii^s your poor-house^, with paupers and your hospitals with invalids ? What crowds your jails with criminals and gives employment to the hangman ? " It is drunkenness, intemperance, the sale of intoxica- ting liquor. Will the Govetriraent treasure such a monstrous thing ? Should they not rather aboliuli it from the land ? Should tiicy not hound it from out our fair Dominion and cry up in its place total prohibition, total abstinence ? Forbid its manufacture, its sale. " Many people are born with a propensity to this vice. They suck it in with their mothers' milk, for it is a well-ascertained fact that other things are hereditary besides cancer and consumption and in- sanity. The vice presents some of the characters of physical dis- ease, and the drunken parents transmit to their children a proneness to this *dtal indulgence." How careful we should be to avoid it. GeneTations yet unborn may suflfer because of druuken parents. " The drunkard will be cold, and the glass is warmth. They are hungry and drink is food. They are miserable and there is laughter in the flowing cup. They are sunk in their own esteem and the bowl or bottle surrounds the drunkard with a bright-colored halo of self respect. So long as the fumes are in iiis brain he feels him- self a man. They drink to forget their poverty and remember their misery no more." In these quotations you find some of the drunkard's pecularities, but the half is not told. I will quote you a few more. " Drunkenness expels reason, distempers the body, diminishes the strength, influences the blood, causes internal, ex- ternal, eternal incurable wounds. Is a witch to the senses, a demon to the soul, a thief to the purse, a guide to bigamy, lechery and villiany It is the wife's woe, the children's sorrow, makes a man worse than a beast and act like a fool. He is a self-murderer who drinks to another's good health and robs himself of his own." The list is not ended. "The eff'ects of drink is hard to fathom. Here is more of its direful work. " Are you good at arithmetic ? I will give you some losses to add up and calculate how much they come to. "They are loses made by everyone who indulges in strong drink. Loss of money, loss of time, loss of health, loss of business, loss of character, lose of friends, loss of good conscience, loss of feeling, loss of mind, loss of life, loss of the immortal soul. It is a long and terrible account to sum up, but it is an easy one to begin, and I .see even boys beginning it at the beer shop, young men adding to it. at the tavern and billiard saloon. Stop ! Stop ! Reckon up all ti?e 40 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. losses before you go farther. Can you afford such losses in this lite ? Can you afford them in the long run of eternity ?" It has been reckoned that not less than $140,000,000 every year is spent in intoxicating liquors in the United Kingdom of England , Ireland and Scotland. What about the rest of the civilized world ? The islands of Great Britain are only a small portion of the world. Talk about the wealth of nations, you here see it going to waste. Talk of an empty government treasury ; here you find enough money wasted every year to till ifc. Talk of revenue from the license law. Away with it. Reduce the sum by one half and apart altogether from the ruin it works in so many cases on all that is good and noble and bleased and beautiful and holy, how great waste. A couple of short stories by eminent authors showing whab the condition of the drunkard is and how helpless he is to contend against the stubborn disease that is leading him to an early drunkard's grave, and I will leave this point to the consivorse than that into which David fell, and that he found it so hard to get out of. He is not to be treated as an outcast, or one that is not worthy of notice. He is more to be pitied than despised. Their souls are as precious as any one else'.s, as precious as that of the :^ost moral man in the land, as that of the King upon the throne. They can never be reclaimed by showing them the cold .shoulder, ox by treating them with cold look and haughtiness, but by showing them kindness, and in love, warning them of the danger in which they stand, and the eternal doom that awaits them if they do not break away from the evil habit that is hastening them to the drunkard's grave. Why give them the cold shoulder or thrust them out of the way, as too many do, possibly saying that there is no place in Heaven for the likes of them. All are welcome to come to Christ, and by giving a little help, they may be encouraged to fight against this habit that is devouring them, both soul and body, and if continued it will, at last, cause the loss of both soul and body, and be cast into the drunkard's grave, into Hell. It is only too true that the drunkard " shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." but there is hope for even such, by forsaking the evil that is swallowing them up and turning to the Lord who is ever willing to save all them that put their trust under the shadow of His wings. Reformation is pos- sible, and why not lend a helping hand. Do not say that it is no business of yours, if they like to live such a life it is their own fault. As I tried to show already, we are all responsible to a great extent by our evil example, and by witholding the charitable, loving help of kind words for the fall of many of those we come in con- tact with. We are all our brother's keeper, and if we see him wandering away from the right paths, are we not responsible ? If any one saw a wicked crime committed, and would not stret?h forth a hand to prevent that crime from being committed, and it being in that one's power to prevent it, is he not participating in that very crime ? The means were in his hands, but he did not use them. In common law, is not this what they term an accessory ? The same is true concerning our daily walk through this life. This may be a hard saying, but nevertheless it is a fact. It is something like unto drawing sin " with a cart rope." I quote from Cannon Farrar : " The world can only be amelior- LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. 45 ated by the church of Christ, and you are the church of Christ; members, healthy or diseased of His Jiving body ; branches, fruit- ful or corrupt, of His living vine; stones, chosen or rejected of His spiritual building. Personally, individually, (He speaks of the liquor traffic more particularly) the task of which I have spoken, the unending efforts of the amelioration of the world are incumbent upon you. If you do not regard them as yours, if each one of yoij is not m his degree and measure, doing his share with such talents as God has given him, in such a way as God has indicat<3d to him, then, so far as he is concerned, the church is weakened, her task is noglested, her warfare is unaccomplished, her lamp is smouldering; "ye," not the clergy only, but ye. all of you, all true Christians, "ye are the blessed of the Lord," " ye, " "ye " and your children; "ye," not the clergy only, but everyone here present, individually and ■collectively, so far as you are in the least degree faithful to your vocation aad ministry, * * * The aggregate of those, who on a single day, waste their means, rob their families, and destroy themselves in our thousands of gin shops, is far vaster than the number of those who come to worship God in His house. Can we wonder, if oil every side the Stygian pool of lust and drink plasters the banks with mud. We send our Bishops to be martyred in cen- tral Africa, but there is work that every one of us ought to be do- ing at our very doors. You have a fellowship, every one of you, in this Eolidarity of evil. You cannot wipe off from your souls, as with a wet cloth, as though it was no concern of yours, the stains left by the sins of others. From each one of you radiates invisibly, an interminable webwork of which the implicated consequences, if summed together, are incalculable. But, if it be so in evil; if it be some cherished hatred of yours which shall strike a murder- ous blow in another century, in another hemisphere, it may be; if some immoralities of yours may be the ruin of souls yet unborn; if your idle words, if your unhallowed deeds may develop quite naturally into consequence, at which now you would shudder ; so is it also, thank God, with any good you do; it may put on white robes and go forth as an Angel to bless the world. Oh ! if we could all, every one of us be made to feel how awful is our common responsibility for the general evil, how urgent is our individual duty to labor for the common good, we should see in a regenerated world the fulfillment of the olden prophecy. God would pour out His spirit upon all flesh; our sons and daughters would prophesy; our old men would see visions, and our young men should dream dreams, and in London, and in England, and in all the world there should be deliverance, " saith the Lord of Hosts." I leave it for your consideration. The lack of considering over such matters as these is to be deplored, for it causes may a one to err from the way, Consider what manner of debt we are incurring by not doing our 46 LAWTUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS, duty in fighting against all manner of evil, let that evil be what it may, that causes another to ^'all from the way, the whiskey traffic especially. We find people who will hold up their hands in holy horror at some sins and crimes being committed, and say, and cry aloud, away with him, " It is not fit that he should live," who may have been the very cause of him doing that very thing that they so loudly condemn — making another suffer for their own doings and carelessness, by laying before him the evil example, the stumb- ling block. And it is very often the case that such characters as these are the very ones who cry the loudest in the markets and street corners against all manner of evil and evil doers, and deninnd the punishment of all such who may unwittingly have transgressed against the law of the land. And why? Because they try to cover up their own evil deeds, that they may appear before men as the righteous of the righteous. Like the woman taken in adultery, who was openly taken in the very act, and brought before the Lord Jesus for sentence. Who were her accusers ? Tho hyprocritical Pharisees, who in their own imaginations never did anything wrong, but in actuality were steeped up to their ears, in the like sins, if not worse. She was guilty, but what were her accusers in their inward lives, but a mass of rottenness and filth, and if revealed unto the world would cause the ire and just castigation of every right thinking man. " Judge not by appearance, but judge right- eous judgment " Did I say that they were guilty of like crimes? We can suppose from the text that this was the case. It was a common thing among the aristocratic Jews as well as among our own aristocracy of the present day. The poor are not given so much to this sin. " He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her," They were at last brought to a knowledge of what their own hearts were. They were convicted that they had no just cause against the woman, and that they were themselves worthy of punishment as she was, if not more so. The same is true to-day, that the open law-breaker is not the greatest criminal in the land. There are others who rcay be ten times worse, who are never brought to public chastisement. The sneak, the secret smit- er, the contentious, the evil example shown may be, and are as bad as the worst of those. They are the root from whence the other springs. Take these away, with a few other of these secret things, such as hatred, variance, malice, false accusers, backbiter, viciousness, inventors of evil things, ftc. Take these, and such like out of the land, and we will have none of the open law- breakers in our fair Dominion, When a deed is done, there is no use in crying aloud against it, or the doer. It is done, and cannot be undone. "' There is no use in crying over spilt milk; " no amount of chastisement will undo the deed or bring the doer one step nearer to God, or bring him one step nearer to reconciliation m LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEUT8. 47 with the Ahnighty Jehovah. Eyen, if by punishmont the evil could be rectified, which I deny, would it not have been better to have prevented it. " A stitch in time saves nine." "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." Education, and not punishment, does away with sin and crime. Moral suasion and not condemnation will eradicate sin from the land. Qood ex- ample and not evil example will life society up from sin and iniquity, and will place it on a level with the true Christian church. " Example teaches more than precepi" Precept's are very good, but a man must live up to his own precepts before he can rec- eommend them to others, or become of value to others. " Thou that preacheth a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? " " Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? " Let him be a doer as well as an adviser, if he wishes to SCO fruit from his good intentions. There is no use in saying to the drunkard, stop drinking, and that it will land him in eternal woe if he continue drinking. It belies our words and plainly tells him that we do not mean what we say, so the consequence may be worse than if it had not received a precept. There is no use in praying for the extermination of any evil, if we live and tolerate that evil in our own lives. There is no Use in praying unto ihe Lord for blessings upon ourselves and the community in which v/e liv., if we do not act in accordance with our prayers. There is no use in telling a man that it is wrong and sinful to do certain things, if we do it ourselves. This would be the work of the Pharisee, or I should rather say of him that knocks the foundation out of so- ciety, he who says do, and does not himself who orders others to do right, and lives in open opposition to his own commands. Let him be minister, church member, adherent or infidel. This is the charactei of the sanctimonious hyprocrite that forgets the precept to "owe no man anything, but to love one another, for he that loveth an- other hath fulfilled the law," and that by neglecting this precept, he is shouldering a debt due both unto God and man. The road that a true Christian has to walk in, is a narrow one, and he can never be too wide awake to avoid the many snares and wiles of the Devil who sets thera there, that hs may cause the Christian to fall from the way of perfect peace and felicity with his Lord and Saviour. We must not pamper with these things, these little sins that are passed by without notice. But let the cry of every one be, who calls upon the name of the Lord and professes to live the life of the sanctified ones, " Horror took hold on me because, 111 men. Thy law forsake ; X in my house of pilgrimage. Thy laws, my song do make. 48 LAWrUL AND UNLAWFUL DEnTR. Thy name by night, Lord I did mind, And I have kept Thy law ; And this I had, because Thy word, I kept, end stood in awe.'* Let a man say this, and let him live up to it, and all will be- well. Saying it, and doing the opposite thing as a great niany dt), is only opening the door tor Satan to walk in, and giving him the opportunity to upset all that is good and holy, which he is only too glad to do. We cannot serve God and rnamnjon, and by proles- sing to be zealous observers of the law outwardly, and inwardly living in all manner of wickedness, show plainly that we are serving the mammon of unrighteousness, and Satan the adversary of all that is called good and holy. " Let a njan examine himself," whether those things are so in regard to himself or not. He should find no difficulty in deciding which side he is on, if he lives in those things that f.re contrary to the dictates of a good conscience, he is serving the mammon of unrighteousness, and may not only bring himself, but a score of others down to the verge of perdition ; on the other hand, if he lives in striving against those things, avoiding giving the least occasion for the adversary to speak reproachfully, he is on the side of God and of Christ. There are no two sides to this question. We must be on the one side or the other, we must be on the side of sin or on the side of Christ, we must be in or out of Christ ; there is no half way. What side are you on, dear friend ? Have you decided yet this momentous question, if not, it is time you did. It is time to be up and doing, for we know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. All these debts must be settled and paid up before the day, when the Lord shall come, when we shall have to give an account of all these things. The balance sheet must be squared up in this present life by commg to Christ, thereby, receiving the forgivenness of sins. None other can cleanse the soul from sin but Him. Have you settled it with Him who is ever ready to accept of a returning sinner, who is well pleased at the opportunity of being reconciled unto the returning sinner, let him be who he may. let hi-^ sins be what they may, there is plen- teous redemption purchased by Christ — " In that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness." This fountain is open to-day in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by coming to Him a sinner is cleansed from all things, whatsoever he may have done. There is no other means, whereby a sinner may be reconciled to God. There is no other means, whereby a sinner can be cleansed from his sins, but by the blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary's cross for the remission of sins. Covered with the Blood of Christ; all is well, I use the word Blood advisedly ; there is nothing in the blood shed on the cross, of itself ; 'W*-'' LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKHT8. 49 that is long ac/o coMfjcaled and uiixcrl with the earth at the foot of the cross, anl there it remains. It's a typical word, signifying the spiritual bcni'Kt (U'rived therefore. Dr 'cdrnagesays: " If a man liail depended upon the apjdictttion of the Hteral blood of Cirist, tlicKi would not have been a soul saved for the last eighteen cen- turies,' anfl he goes on to say : " Wo only have to exercise as much ctMiimon sense in religion as we do in every thing else. Pang for panjr, hunger for hunger, fati^^ue for fatigue, tear t'oi tear, blood for blood, life for life, we see eyery day illustrated. The act of substi- tution is no novelty, although I hear men talk as though the idea of Christ's suffering substituted for our suH'oring, were something ab- normal, something distressingly odd, son)ething wildly eccentric, a solitary epi-iode in the world's history, when I can point you to five hundred cases of substitution, and voluntary suffering of one in be- half of another." It is the substitutionary work done on the cross and not the literal application of the Blood. Christ suffering in the room and stead of the believer, rendering up unto God a far more pleasing sacrifice than^that of bulls and goats, " which never could make the comers thereunto perfect." In the Jewish dispen- sation, the blood was taken, thereby, showing that an atoning offer- ing was offered up in their daily and yearly offering's; this is done away with in Christ. His blood was shed once for all, and there is no more application made of it. It all bears a spiritual signifi- cation. The great object we all should have in view is to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus, to follow in His footsteps in humility, in meekness, in doing good and eschewing evil. This, all may have, by coming to Him with humble and contrite hearts, be- lieving upon Him, trusting Him fully with the well-being of our souls. If we do this, there is no danger but all will be well at last, if we live according to the teaching of His written word contained in the Holy Bible, but it roust be remembered that, if living in con- formity to this world, we have no part or lot in Him who died, the just for the unjust, that we might be at peace with God. Come to Him then without delay, without one plea or excuse for past sins, and He will surely have mercy upon you, for He hath said and will not, repent him ; " If any man come unto Me, I will in no wise Cist out;" again, "Come unto Me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth." There is no exception made between one man and an- other, between one sinner and another ; let him bo black or white, great sinner, or small sinner, Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female, they are- all welcome to come to Christ and live, for He never refused any that came to Him, fully trusting Him alone for salvation. Come to Him, friend ; whoever you may be; whatever you may have done in times past, there is peace and joy awaiting you on coming to Christ. Come to Christ, and though your sins were as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow, though you may T I 50 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTB. be counted tlio ofTscouriiig of society b}' your fellow men, Jesus will save you upon coining to Him, and by forsaking and repenting of your past evil doing. God is niercifu! and will forgive. He re- mains to bo gracious if you will only come Ic Him in the light of the Gospel ; that is, accepting of Jesus as your Saviour, believing that Ho suffered in your room and stead on the hill Golgotha, and that His blood shed there was for thu- remission of your sins : Good news from Heaven, good news for thee ; There flows a pardon full and free. To guilty sinners through the blood Of the incarnate Son of God. He paid the debt that thou didst owe; He sufi'ered death for thee below ; He bore the wrath divine for thee ; He groaned and bled on Calvary. Good news fro-.i Heaven, good news for thee ; The Saviour cries, " Come unto Me," All ye with toil and fears oppressed ; Come weary one. Oh ! come and rest. . He loves thee with o'erflowing love ; He hears thy prayos in Heaven above ; He, all thy pastures shall prepare, And lead thee with a shepherd's care. This is the Gospel message unto all people, and why doubt it, or make delay in ni£.king our " calling and election sure." We can- not be saved if we do not want to be saved and go to Him for sal- vation. We cannot be saved if we continue to live in those things that I have been describing. We must forsake sin as well as believing that the Lord Jesus did all this. We cannot serve God and Mammon. We cannot be on the Lord's side and on the side of the world. There is no middle course. We must be in or out of Christ. What side are you on, friend ; ask yourself the question ^ I leave it for your consideration. By man condemned, without a friend, Will Jesus heed his cries ? 0, blessed Lord, how quick thy words, " To-day in Paradise." From the cross the Saviour cries, Come with "Me to Paradise;" Look to Me, believe and live, Accept the life I freely give. LAWrUL AND UNLAWFUL DEHTS. 51 Tlioujib vilo as he, O sinner, flee, While Jesus calls, be wise. His word believe, and now receive, A life in Paradise. What is it that keeps men and women from becoming par- takers of this blessed redemption. Ignorance and lack of con- sideration. The careless and indifferent never think of those things, not knowing what the consequence will surely be, if they continue in that comlition. They do not consider that there is a day coming that will separate tlie wheat from the tares, that the wheat will be gathered into the barns and store-houses, and the tares gathere happened to them according to the true pro- verb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that wa." washed to her wallowing in the mire," and without a loving hand to help them, will perish. Why should we trample them under foot and look with disdain at our fallen friend, or acquaint- ance, and say, you are not worthy anj'^ longer of my acquaintance or friendship, and pass him by with cold looks and a sneer on our lips, as something unworthy of notice, not knowing, but before long we may be assailed by temptation and fall just as low as he, we may be more lucky than the other by keeping our fall a secret, but in the sight of God there is no difference ? The hiding of our faults from our fellow men does nut make any difference ; possibly, it would be betteir for us if they were exposed and corrected, than to lie dormant in our own breasts, and unrepented off, saying, there is none seeth me. The eye of Almighty God seeth and will bring to justice all who live ungodly, and who do not repent of their evil deeds, for He soa^cheth the hf>arts &> 1 trieth the veins of all men. Will the secret sinner be hid ? I-ar from it. All sin is done in secret, the works of darkness, fxt us lift up the fallen brother as much as we are able, by exercising towards them the spirit of love, and putting on our shoulder t^)is kind of debt that will be to our credit during time and eternity For as much as we are able, let us do good unto all men, especially onto the household of faith, "knowing this, that love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law." " Any thing that is more than this, Cometh of evil." Faith, hope, and charity is the foundation of the Christian church throughout the world. The word charity means very much the same as the woyd love in scripture language, the greatest of 68 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. m all the graces, and one that is more lacking among Christians than any other. "They all seek their own, and not the things that be of Jesus Christ." They all, to a great extent, seek their own good, and not the good of others. Selfishness is more often met with than Christian charity ; carnal de.sire, than brotherly love and kindness. " Though I would speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I bestow all ray goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it protiteth me nothing. What shall I say, then, but draw your attention to this grace of loving, and to ask you to consider of it, and to exercise it as I have tried to show in the above ? I cannot bring it before you as i would, but this I must say, that without love thi soul is dead without Christ and without hope in the world. Love to one an- other is the corner stone upon which the church of God is built, and without it. it has no foundation whatever ; it is all a mass of corruption and vanity. Christ cannot dwell in an unloving church; where He dwells there must be love, heartfelt love to Himself and to all humanity, not only towards those that are ins'de, but those that are yet outside, in praying and striving to bring them in that the house of the Lord may be tilled. There is room there for all, let them be what they may, or their sins what they may. There may be some in this very neighborhood, just around you, who now are perishing for want of a loving hand to help them. " I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Let us, therefore, follow in the footstep of the Lamb of God. Love is the foundation upon which the nation is built, and that binds them together as a nation, and without it our nation would soon crumble and become a heap of ruin. I repeat it. ^Vithout love dwelling in our hearts to our fellow men, we would soon become a heap of ruin, without either a name or place in the annals of history. It is the few that are exercising this grace that are keeping society up to the standard that it is in at the present time. It is for the sake of the few Christian people that are in the world, that we enjoy the pro.sperity that we do enjoy, amd that the world standeth. For the sake of the few loving people of the Lord the rain descends upon the earth, thereby, giving bread to be eaten and wealth to the industrous, but the coveteous take warning. What they are coveting may be a thorn in their side to all eternity. It is a sarrowful thing to think that there is less of this grace of loving, and charity, to be found among the people of our country at the present day, than any other grace. Selfishness run rampart all over the land. All seek their How they may till thei'- coffers with the wealth of this own world, and how they may txalt themselves in the oyes of their fel- low men. Emulation is the .rder of the day. It is not the teach- LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. ings of God, of the Bible, to be always seeking one's own good but it is the teaching of the Bible from beginning to end, to seek after the good of others, and how we may do them good ; how can we seek to do good to others unless we love them ? We may do so in emulation, but that is of no value, it must be done in love, the love of our hearts going along with our good intentions and deeds. Let us get this debt of love on our shoulders, then, that we may go on from strength to strength and be forever with the Lord at last Think of it, dear friend, think of it. Think of the professing Christian looking with dry eyes and careless mien upon the multi- tude of pi fishing souls around him, that does not cause him a tremor Doe it not show selfishness? aye, it shows selfishness of the meanest kind, for it shows as much as to say, I am all right myself, let the Devil have the rest, for what I care. Does such an one think that he shall enjoy the pleasures of Heaven, while seeing his friend, his acquaintance, suffering the pains of hell and the torment of the damned, because he did not stretch forth a hand to save him? \V ill it not be a load upon himself, weighing him down to all eternity. Let his frie«^d. his acquaintance, be what he may, let him be loaded down with sin of whatsoever dye, the more sin he has on him, the more anxiety that should be exorcised for his redemption. The greater the sinner he is, the greater the hold that Satan has upon him, the greater the eflfort that must be put forth for his re- lease. Mr. Spurgeon uses this parable of a tyrant ordering a sub- ject into his presence and saying to him, "What is your occuj)ation?" " I am a blacksmith ! " " Well," says he, " I want you to go and make a chain a certain length," and he gave him nothing to make it, " and on a certain day I want you to bring it into ray presence." That day came. The V>lacksmith appeared with the chain. The tyrant says, " take that ^ain and make it twice that length." He took it, worked a long tiuie and made it twice that length, and brought it back. The tyrant says, " Take that chain and make it twice the length." He made it twice the length, and he had to get friends to help him get it in the presence cf the tyrant, and when he brought it back, the tj'rant s»ys to his men standing around. " Take that man and bind him hand and foot arid cast him into the dungeon ;'" and says Mr. Spurgeoa : " Thar is what every man that is serving the God of this world, is doiag — forging the chain that is going to bind him " The Devil will laugh when he gets a man folded in such a chain, and this i.s vr»-Y like unto great sinners, and the moralist, too. The moralist is bound in the chain of over-right- eousness. He is Kjntented as he is, but, I was talking of the great sinner, and that the farther he gets under the power of Satan, the harder it is to work out his redemption. It will not do to throw him away as something unworthy of notice, or say he has sinned, let him suffer. Hjs soul is precious and must be redeemed, or else 70 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. lost to all eternity. Cold looks and an angry denunciation will not do, they only add link by link to the chain that binds the sin- ner ; and that has to be broken. A necessity for the redemption of lost souls springs from a heart full of love, a heart yearning after the salvation of sinners. • You will find no cold looks or angry de- nunciation in the heart of the loving soul, the true follower of the Lamb of God ; instead of finding such, you will find heart sorrow, and heart prayer for the salvation of the fallen one, that he may be restored, his chains broken, and his pardon made perfect. This was the manner of love that was in the Saviour's heart when He laid down His life for the salvation of His own, of His own people ; whatever thej- may have sinned. Look at the Saviour's oflfering, study what He suflfered, and think is it not your duty, and mine, to foUovv in His example in rescuing lost souls from the torments of hell. He laid down His life lor the salvation of peiishing hu- manity, without questioning what manner of men they were, or what manner of r>innerH they were, and is it too much to ask you to do likewise, not your laying down your life, that is not necessary in our day, but to love your fellow men so much that you will not hesitate to siietch out your hand to help them, let them be of what- soever class they ma^^ they are all the creatures of God, they were all created for His own f^'iory. They may have sinned, and done de- spite the spirit of grace, yet they are God's creatures, worthy to be plucked as brands from the burning, burning — the fires of hell. Is it not a hard heart, a cruel heart, a heart wanting the smallest par- ticle of love that will see another perish, and carelessly pass by like the Priest and the Levite, on the other side, leaving the victims of Satan and sin to do for themselves, as a great majority of our niinistors and church officers do; not only pass by, but scatter them, and cast their names out as ungodly, not remembering that they may belong to God's sheep " ^^'oe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord." It is hard for those who have fallen into the ways of sin and into the power of Satan to free themselves, n< t only hard, but well nigh impos- sibli' , they must bf helped or else perish. The chain with which they are bound is so firmly welded together that very few who have fallen within its folds are able ^ > free themselves. I am here talk- ing of the duty of man to mini, and not the work of conversion by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is necessary to set their hands to breaking the bands of the returning sinner and set him free. You will find an instance of this, in raising Lazarus from the dead. Christ gave two commands, one to Lazarus, "Lazarus come forth;" the other to those around, " Loose him and let him go." Lazarus wjh just as truly alive when he came forth, bound hand and foot, in obedience to the first command as he was after his bands were loos- ed by those around him. The same may be the case of many a LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DRUTS. 71 man. The Holy Spirit truly converts in the first instance, but still the convert may not be pleasing unto men. There may be bonds for them to untie. They may like to hold him still in bondage by acting the elder brothers, and by not accepting of him as a child of God. Oh ! friend, loose any such who may be your acquaintance, and let him go. He may be worth more than many moralists, who in their own estimation, never did anything wrong. Not only let liim go and love him, but by showing him acts of loving kindness, help him onward, and upward, that he may stand upon the solid rock, and become a respectable member of society. Pray like Mary and Martha, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," and lead the Saviour to the tomb of him who may have fal- len under condemnation, praying with all the fervency of heart tor thu redemption of the fallen, for the conversion of the uncon- verted. " Lord if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Note the comforting answer. " Thy brother shall live again." The fervent prayer, the loving prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I think that I mentioned already, that we must act according to our prayer. If we pray for the conversion of any person, let the hand of help be extended to him, to lift him out of the slough of sin and iniquity. There is no use in praying for ourselves, or for others, unless our actions bespeak our words, unless we live up to our prayers. The words of Christ, " Thy brother shall live again," may be the Lord's answer to the prayerful soul who may be implor- ing for the pardon of some fallen iran, the sins he has com- mitted, are net to be taken into consideration, for see the extent of the condemnation that Lazarus was in : " Lord by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." Mark the Saviour's an- swer, " Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst s«e the Glory ot God?" Bring the Saviour to your fallen brother or sister, and behold the marvellous work of the Holy Spirit in raising from the dead those who are dead m trespasses and sins. The conversion of any man is a raising to life, and that the glorious life of the sons of God. Have a hand in this glorious work of redemption let the object of your charity and love be loaded down so much with sin that it can be said of him, that he stinketh, the greater the glory you will have, the brighter the gem that will be in your crown of rejoicing. Do not say, he has com- mitted sin and transgressed against the law of ordinances, for you 3annot free yourself from that charge, but do, like Jesus, call aloud for mercy, as in agony, as it were sweating drops of blood, and your Lazarus will come forth to your joy, the ends of the law have been satisfied, the law has no farther claim upon him, or her, as the case may be, " but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law." "Anything more than this 72 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBTS. Cometh of evil." Vengeance crieth up the opposite, he hath sinned, let him suffer. Remember his soul is precious, and a never-endin£f eternity before him, and what have you to do with vengeance ? Leave that in the Lord's hands. He never told you or me to seek vengeance, " but to love one another." " Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather gave place unto wrath." On the other hand, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Let us leave it there. Why should we seek vengeance ? It is not our bu.siness to seek vengeance, but, "to return good for evil." No judgment is commit* ted unto us, for if we judge another, with the same judgment we judge ourselves. I quote from Mathew Henry : " When a body hath done you any ill turn, do not desire or endeavor to bring the mischief or inconvenience upon him. It is nut forbidden to the magistrate to right those that are wronged by punishing the wrong doer, or to make, and execute justtnd wholesome law against male- factors, but it forbids private revenge which flows from anger and ill will, aud this is fitly forbidden, for it is persumed we are incom- petent judges in our own case. Nay, if persons wronged, in seeking the defence of the law, and magistrates in granting it, act from any pique or quarrel, and not from a concern, that public peace and or- der be maintained and right done ; even such proceeding, though seemingly regular, will fall under this prohibited self revenging. See how strict the law of Christ is in this matter, Matthew, 5-38-39- 40, it is forbidden, not only to take it in our own hands to avenge ourselves, but to desire, and thirst after even that judgment in our case, which the law affords fo)- the satisfying of a revengeful humor." This is a hard lesson on corrupt natures, therefore, he sub- joins that it is better to give place unto wrath. Not to our own wrath; to give place to that, is to give place to the devil. We must resist and stifle that, and smother and suppress it; but to the wrath of our enemy, give place to it, i.e., be of a yielding temper, do not answer wrath with wrath, but with love rather, yielding pacifies great offences, etc. Here we have a calm, disinterested view taken, and why should we doubt it? There are so many instances in Scripture in which we are told not to avenge ourselves, and by seeking to avenge ourselves, we become guilty of breaking the law. The great commandment of all is, " Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy strength of mind and body, and thy neighbor as thyself,'' and " Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grdge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." These words do not need any great comment; they are plain. It is the children of thy people we are commanded not to avenge ourselves off, and who is the children of "thy people," but those of the neighborhood ? We have no strangers in our day, let them be sinless or sinful, they belong to our nation, therefore, we are to love them as ourselves. We are to LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DRHTfl. ft count no man an enemy, but we are to admonish them as brothers if thoyhave offended, and bring them back into the paths from whicii they have wandered. We cannot do this by exhibiting towards them a revengeful spirit, which will drive them further into sin. It is the brute nature, the vile nature, the animal nature that is in man that seeks revenge. The divine nature, the nature of Christ seeks to for- give. Which would you sooner, friend, obey:' Which side would you sooner be on, the side of Christ, or the side of the Devil ? What more can you do to accommodate Satan than the destroying of another man ? What more can you tlo to be in his service, than to avenge yourself, for you do him double .service, you hand him over your victims, and you yourself personally do him service. I quote from Flavel, an 'eminent divine, who calls it Pagar norality to demand the exaction? of the law. What else is it? It is not Christianity ; very far from it. " Let us enquire what is Christian forgivenes.s. It consists, not in stoical insensibility to wrong and injuries. God hath not made men blocks, that they have no sense or feeling, nor hath he made a law inconsistent with their very natures, but allows us a tender sense of natural evils, though He will not allow us to revenge them by moral evils; nay, the more deep and tender our sense of wrongs and injuries, the more excel- lent is our forgiveness of them, so that a forgiving spirit doth not exclude .sen.se of injuries, but the sense of injuries graces the for- giveness of them. # # # This gracious unity inclines the Christian to pass by injuries ; so to pass them by as neither to re- tain them revengefully in the mind, or requite them when we have an opportunity ; yea, and tlmt freely, not by constraint, because we cannot avenge ourselves, but willingly. We abhor to io it when we can, So that as a carnal heart thinks revenge its glory, the gracious heart is content that forgivenness should be its glory. I will be even with him, saith nature. I will be above him, saith grace; it is his glory to pass over transgression. And this it doth in obedience to the command of God. Their own nature inclines men another way. It lusteth to revenge, but the fear of God re- presseth those emotions. God hath forbidden me, yea, God hath for- given me as well as forbidden me prevail upon him, when nature urges to revenge the wrong. « * » * jt speaks your religion excellent thit it can mould your hearts into that heavenly frame to which they are!so averse, yea, contrarilv disposed to nature. It is the glory of Pagan morality that it can hide men's lusts and passions; the glory ]of Christianitj', that it can destroy and really mortify the lusts of nature. Would Christians but live up to the excellent principles of their religion Christianity would be no more rivalled by Pagan morality, the Christian challenged to imitate Socrates. Oh ! Christians, yield not the day to the heathens. Let all the world see the true greatness, heavenliness, and excellency of our LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEUTS. vepresentficl ])attorn, and by true mortification of your corrupt nature enfiirco an acUnowUMlf^uiont from tlie wurld that a greater than Socrates is hero. \l^ that is really a ni 'ek, humble, patient, iieavenly Christian, wins this <^I>ry to his religion, that it can do more than all other principles or rules in the world. In nothing were the most accom|)lished heathen more defective than in the for- giving of injuries, it was a thing they could not understand, or if they did, could never bring thfir iieart;; to it. Witness that rule of their great TuUy, " It is the first office of justice/' saith he, "to hurt no man, except first, provoked by injury." The addition of the ex- ception .spoils his excellent rule." This i.s what the Rev. John Flavel wrote three centuries ago; are we yet so much given to Pagan morality, that we v,-'!I h;ive to avenge ourselves to keep u]) the moral standard of the nation. Where has the religion of three centuries gone, if man nnist carnally, maliciously design ven- geance upon another. I have no hesitation in saying that if this is so, the love of God is lacking in the heart, and that he who zealou.sly desires the hurt of another, in the way of .sati.sfying ven- geance, is, yet an outsid .t to all that is called God, and an enemy to the God of the Bible and to the well-being of society " Dearly beloved, aven'::e not yourselve.s." Need I say anything more to convince you that it is more of our duty to forgive [and be recon- ciled to our fallen brother, than to prosecute and be avenged for whatsoever he may have done. But you may say, the law mnst bo fulfilled, for it saith, 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the word- of this law, to do them." If you have redeemed your fallen brother from the power of sin, you have realized the end of the law. The law has no further power over such a man. " For he that loveth anotlier hath fulfilled the law." Do not hesitate or be dubious on this point; it is plain enough, that he who is redeemed from the power of sin, is freed from the law. This holds good, wliatever the sinner may have sinned ; whatever his crime may be. Love sin- ners ; yes, love them as Christ loved tliem when He laid down His life for them that tliey might bo redeemed from the power of the law, and be reconciled unto God. Love them ! yes, love them, plucking them as brands from the burning, while even hating the garments defiled by the flesh, by sin, by many a crime against good law and order. " Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but to love one another, for he that loveth another liath fulfilled the law. Whatsoever is more than this cometh of eyil-" There is an- other phase in the fulfilling the text. " Cursed be he that coiu- firineth not all the words of this law, to do them. That I wish to cai! your attention too. I will simply give you Matthew Henry's com- mentary on the text. " Tlie solemnity concludes with a general curse upon him that comfirmeth not, or as it might be read, that " performeth not all ttie words of this law, to dc them." By our LAWFUL ANI> UN'LAWFUL DKHTS. 76 olit'dience to tlio luw, we .set onr seal to it, and so confinii it as by our (lisol)(j(lifiu'o we do what lies in us to disannul it. The ai)Osti(', t'i)llowinj^ all the ancient versi<,ns, reads it, "Cursed is everyone that continues not " lest those that were jJfuilty of other sins not men- tioned in this coninnnation, .should think themselves safe from the curse; this last reaches all, not only those who do the evil which tin; law forbids, but those, also, who omit the j^ijod which the law re- iiuircs. To this, we all say, Anun! owning ourselves under the curse justly to have deserved it, and that we must certainly hnve perished forever under it, if Christ had not "redeemed us from the curse of the law,'' by being " made a curse for us." This is suf- ficiently ])lain without comment from me, that all are under this l»an of the law, until they come to Christ who fulfilled the law in behalf of all believers, let their sins be what they may. There is no danger of us coming under any ban of the law in helping a fallen l)rother or .sister, but tl ere is every danger that in seeking revenge for the injury done, we come under the curse, and far short of fulfilling the law. The whole law is contained in this one short sentence, " Tliat ye love one another as I have loved you." Some may say that thi.s has reference to the brethren in the Lord ; most certainly, and 'dso the outsider, for if we do not exercise towards them tliis grace of loving, they ape likely to remain uutside, and if they have fallen into sin they x^'ill likely perish, unless f. hand is stretched out to them in love, and lift them up out of the slough of henig " dead in trespasses and sin." The curse of the law lias vanished away in the case of both the helper and the helped on their becoming reconciled to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Free from the law. Oh, happy condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remisision; Curs'd by the law, and bruised by the fall, ■ Grace has redeemed us, once for all. Once for all, Oh, sinner, receive 't. Once for all. Oh, brother, believe it ; Cling to the cross, the burden will fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all. Let us help our fellow men, then, of wliatsoever type, or cliaraetcir, bringing them to Jesus, that their burden may fall, and be saved froni eternal damnation. You may say he vs wicked, I can- not liave anytliing to do with him. Away with him out of my sight. Friend, for whom did Christ die, and for whom did he offer up the atoning sacrifice on the cross ? For the moralist or the sin- ner } He t..lls us that He came, not to "call the righteous but sin- ners to repentance." He suffered and bled, and died for sinners, let their sins be what they may ; go j'ou and do likewise, not to die 76 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKDTS. the death, but loving them like unto Jesus, who, ' Having Iova.I flia own, He loved thtm to the end." Yon f,'o and do likewise and you will fulfill the denmnds of the law for yourself and Him. Doubt it not, Above all, do not say you want revenpre. " Dearly- beloved, avenge not yourselvcH." There is a sentepoe in the Lord s prayer that is worthy of attention, i.e., " Forgive us our sin as we forgive them that sin against u.s." What are we to understand by it, but that any person who offers it up, and who in his heart is harboring vengeance to be executed upon a fellow being, Is asking God to send unto hin)self the vengeanCo> ho wished to overtake his neighbor, asking God to execute on him.seh' the punishment he is seeking to descend upon the other. It will not do to say, I forgive, and go on seeking to avenge our-selves This would be adding to our own fault, for we then work in secret. What is revengo, or tu avenge ? It was common a few years ago, wlion the country was in its infancy, for the able-bodied men to congregate in large bodies for the purpose of cleaning up the new fallows, or bush, lately chopped down. They called ♦' se gatherings " logging bees." At one of thes gatherings one da} . an accident happened that was the cause of one of the parties t ngaged, to get a leg broken by the rol- ling back on him of a log. He must have revenge for his broken leg. Where, and how was he t) get it. The accident was not the cause of men, and he could not have any satisfaction out of them, and he had to satisfy his vengeance upon the log by ordering it to be burnt to ashes. Did it do him any good to have the log burut(' Not one particle, only his vengeance was satisfied. This is just the same as out seeking to avenge ourselves in any way. We niay feel relieved, but I rather think that in the ease of the majority of peo- ple, depression of spirit would be the result. I am sure that with the true Christian this would be the case He would be found de- ploring that a fellow- being was made to suffer, and why need he suf- er? "Ye ought rather to forgive such an one, lest he be swallowed up with over much sorrow." This I think would be the words that would issue from the mouth of the heart-loving Christian upon seeing another suffer. What can we say about those .who keep a brother or sister in bondage. Dare I go as far as to say that they are those who are without natural affection, vicious bodies who care not, neither do they know why their friend or neighbor was made to suffer, who cannot understand how a sinful sinqer can receive forgiveness of sins not knowing that it is just as easy for God, and for Christ, to forgive the blackest, as well as the whitest of sinners. "Is the Lord's hand shortened that it cannot save?" But the most of men cannot see as God seeth. Oh, let us save our fallen brethren; they may not be so deep in the mire as we may think, or what report makes them. They nay become greater lights in ithe Q&XMQ of the Lord and righteousness, than those who have lived LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKIITS. 77 lives above reproacli. "They that are forgiven much, loveth much." I liavo reference in these pages to fallen mankind, as a whole, as well as to those who have openly fallen under the condemnation of the law. It in very often the case that they, who are the most zealous in the worKs of darkness an , upon conversion, the mo.st zealous on the sie if on the side of the Lord, if relieved from his yoke. Why should we, then, bind upon any man a grievous yoke to be borne ? We cannot form an estimate of what a man may be worth while yet held by the chains of sinful slav ry and woe. He is not hjs true isclf until after he lias been freed, converted ; until after he has put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, '• which, after God i.s created, in true ri^djtuousneasand true holiness." There is a division here in the life of a man, which separates him from the life of the ungodly, which separates him from the world, and the things of the world, and places him on the other side cf the line, on the side of God and of Christ, on the side of righteous- ness and all that is good. We have his character as a man of the world, in the first instance, and his character as a Christian, in the second. As we labored under the banner of sin and built up a character, this must be all left behind on coming to the Lord, and as babes in Christ, begin life anew, as the children of the Most High begin to build again a new character in tlio Lord ; let us be- ware, therefor, how we bring disgrace upon our new life. We are not like unto when we were born into the world of earthly parents, weak infant'^' growing up and surrounded by many temptations whi^ii yo! ' may fall into, and for the time, may be swallowed up, but ti. • wLu have come to j'ears know the Uifference between good and evil ; although infants in Christ, we know the difference between right and wrong, therefore, rendering us without excuse if we fall into the many hurtful lures and wdes of the Devil, bringing disgrace upon the holy fellowship into which we are taken. Why not, therefore, help those that are outside to leave the character of the world behind them, that they may be build up anew in the Lord whatever their former life has been ? Do not say that any person has sjo grossly sinned that you cannot help him, or that the law for- bids you to help him. Can you not forgive ? Is your heart so hard that yoa would sooner see a human being perish and go to hell, be- fore you would forgive him ? If .such is the case with you, you have never ta.sted that the Lord is gracious, you have never known the J03 of being forgiven, you have never received the consolation tlint is the portion of the true people of the Lord. All the law de- mands of you, or me in its fulfillment, is to exercise the spirit of 78 LAWKl'I, AND I VLAWt'lM. hKHTfl. forgivinf,', for it fully luoctH tl\o onr he what I. iiiny. Look at Dhv'kI aiiil Absulnm, in vvliich cuso David sliows a spirit of Christian for;;iv»'iu'ss that was ^'rcat. Ifoar his cry, "(), my son, Ahsah)ni, my son, iny son Ahsalom, vvouM to God I had difd'for tlioe; O. my son Ahsah)n),niy son my son!" Absaloiii for h\'^]\ treason ami rilR-llion in tryin;,' to M>urp tht; throno of Davidjiis father, caused the death nf a ^'rejit many of the p(>o|>h> of Isratd, and for which hv. sntlered deatli. llf (hserved it, you say, but who did the will of the Kin<,', Joah, or lie who wished to spart- his life I What hron<,dit the sore cry from the heart of tho Kinj^ ! " Would to (iod I had died for t\ee." Was there not an aehinL,' void in the heart of the Kin;;:' Truly there was, and the xunu! may he heard in Heaven, when tin^y l'»arn the sentence tliatminy passes on man to destroy man "Would t" Ond T had died for thee, (>, my son Ahsolom, my >.on, my son'" And di God, through Jesus Christ, the Mediator, for the sins thtit W((ri) pasi. How often ho arjj;uefl this point with his adversaries, that, hy ol»-ier\ in;,' the law no nin i conlil be reconcih'd toOod. "By th deeds of the Jaw 110 lloh can lie saved." ^Vhy shouhl wc then enforce it f* After that the law has been fully satisHed, the suliject of the law is as fa)' from bcui^ reconciled to God as ever, if not farther ; the tendency is to drive him away, and make him ton times worse than at the be^innin^'. Follow peace with all men. How can wc follow jjcace, if we use the weapon that, in a great sens'3, is the cause of animosity, variance, and hatred. Did you ever see a man fond of ^oing to law and fond of (|uarrelling with his neighbors prosper ? I never did. J heard a remark tlmt the ^'ainer in u law-suit, is the actual loser. I know not whether that is so or not, but one tlung I do know, " But to love one another, for ho that loveth another huih fultilled the law." Getthisdebt of love on your shoulders, if you want to be counted the friend of God and of man, and you will fulti'l the law to its utmost de- mand in the case of all men, " For love worketh no ill to his n'.'i<,dibor, therefore, love i,s the fultilling of the law." " What, then, shall we say that grace hath found," but wliero love abounds there is no further need of law, for the law is fulfilled to its uttermost title ; there is no further need of it. Love begets love, and wdien it once enters the heart, it continually works up and gains responsive love, therefore, fd Jesus Ohrist. His mes.sage of salvation was unto all the world, and He bound His disciples to obey Him in this respect while preaching the Gospel to every creature. They were to make no distinction between one man and another, between one class of people and anothf r class of people, " ana that repentance and re- mission of sins .should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." His disciples and God's people, in a marked degreo, are separated from the world, but this, more pro- perly speaking, relates to the forsaking of sin and leaving the world to take care of itself. We must proclaim peace and pardon to those who are outside the fold before we can bring them in, and how can we proclaim peace and pardon unless we first forgive our triends or acquaintances, or they who we may have deemed to have sinned. Charity and love must begin at home, in our own hearts, before we can enjoy the joy and felicitude of seeing those who are outside come in. See to what extent this spirit of forgiveness is to be exercised, " I said not unto you, until seven times, but until seventy times seven." How many degrees of sin does this com- prise ? Will it not take within its folds the grcate.st of sinners. We are commanded to forgive four hundred and ninety times. This also shows that He had no particular reference to His own disciples or to Christian believers, for surely he that professes to be called after the name of Christ will not deliberately sin a sin that needs so much forgiveness, or coiitinu3 to commit a sin so often that requires to be forgiven .so many times. He had reference unto all people, and he laid down this precept in answering Peter, teaching him that he was to exerci.se the spirit of forgiveness to such an ex- tent that he was to refuse it to no one that applied to Him, (o freely forgive thera, whatever their sins were. Let us, therefore, obey the law of Christ in this matter of forgiving, and not be bit- 82 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DKHTS. ter against one anotlicr, as the manner of some is, in invoking the law with its terrors to take hold of any indiyidnal, let his sins be Nvhat they may, and meet the demands of the law by forgivinf;- and loving him; "but to love one another, for he that loveth another liatli fulfilled the law." The natnrnl man cannot exercise this spirit of forgiving. Tlie 'rrace is lacking, that enables the true Christian to forgive another his otltinue. This graceful s])irit is contrary to nature, and the natural man '^'^nnot abide by it, or understand how the man of God can show so much mercy to him that has given oft'ence. The natural man .seeks revenge, the carnal mind must be satisfied, there- fore, he return.^j insult for insult, injury for injury, and demands that the utrmst rigor of the law be meted out to the oti'ending party, not thirdcing or knowing he may be doing the greater injury Idms'^lf, or that the King of Heaven and earth may be crying out, "Would to God I had died for thee, O, my son, my son" He that is after God's own heart, seeks to undo the evil by pardoning and covermg up the fault of his oHTending friend and acquaintance. '• He that covereth a transgression, seeketh love, but he that re- poateth a matter separateth very friends!" Thjese are words of the wise man Solomon, and. Oh, how true. The distinction is plainly seen between the two classes. The work of the Christian is here made manifest, for he covers up the transgression, hi narrow way, Patiently win them ; Tell a poor tvanderer, a Saviour has died. ■ What more need I .say ? Our duty is plainly laid down, both • Ig LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEDT8. here and in the Bible. Which o^ these debts are you laboring under, the debt that shall be to your credit, both here upon earth, and shall follow you tu the Mansion abovf:, and that will be bright j,'eins in your crown of rejoicing, or the debt that weighs you down in the present life, and that will be a burden to you to all oternityf Take a moment's con.'tideration over the matter before you put this book to one side. Under ordinary circumstances it is not a hard thing to avoid the one and accumulate the other, and to live the life of a good Christian, if you put your shoulder to doing so. The one is as prosperous in this world as the other. The one will gain you just as much of this world's goods, and far more than the other debt that he who serves Satan is putting upon himself, that I have mentioned in these pages, and that will drown you in the perdition of ungodly men. Awake thou that sleepest, think over these things ! They might be put before you in a more varnished style, but, I think that I have written plainly enough and intelligently enough so that I may be understood. What say you now ? If you have not put on the Lord Jesus Christ, what wait you for ? Time is precious, it is fleeting ; it waits for no man; life is short, eternity is long ; ask yourself the question, where will you spend it ? If you have never considered over where you will spend eternity, it is high time you did. You cannot be too young, for you can read ; if you are old, the more necessary it is for you to be up and doing. The longest life is not any too long to prepare fc ' ernity,and why pass over the present without giving a momei.. . thought to the weighty matter of your eternal welfare? " For now is the accepted time, for now is the day of salvation." Let your song be until you have received a promise of salvation, urn Pass me not. 0, gentle Saviour, Hear my humble cry ; While on others Thou art smiling, Do not pass me by. Let me at Thy tlirone of mercy, Find a sweet relief ; Kneeling there in deep contriiion, Help my unbelief. Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Having received the consolation of God's ehiMr .a yoursoh, by endeavoring to " make your calling and eleciion suv.?," wYe.n yci have found the Saviour; help others ti and Hirn, l^ra,? the L\WFl-L \ND UNLANVtUL DEBTS. sh Saviour to some other poor sinner fcliat he may return from the error of his way unto the living God. Never be content without \vinnin<.j souls for Christ; be ever on the watch to do some little act of kindness that may draw some poor wanderer to the Lord that he may be saved from the wrath to come. Remember the hymc. Must I go, and empty handed, Thus, my dear Redeemer meet; Not one day of service gave Him. Lay no trophy at His feet ; Must I go, and empty handed, Must I meet my Saviour so ; Not one soul with which to greet Him, Must I empty handed go ? Ah. friend, think of what Jesus did for the salvation of sinful worm of the earth. Think of the saciilice that He offered up on Calvary's Cross for the remission of sin. Thiiik of what He's suf- tering in the garden when He sweated drops of blood. His suffer- ings in the garden were terrible. Thiiik of the love He had for lost souls when He willingly endured so much in the Garden — on the Cross. Think of the love God had for sinners when He sent His Son to suffer such untold anguish in the room and stead of mortal man. Think of God allowing Him to undergo such untold anguish that sinful man might be reconciled to Himself, through and by the offering He offered up. Think of eternity, and where you will spend it, whether in Heaven or in Hell. Think of the misery that shall he the portion of the lost, that they go to a place " Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." Think of these things I say, and can you dare to live as those do who are careless and indifferent? Dare you refuse to call uoon the name of the Lord? Dare you continue to live in sin? Dare you condemn your brother, and that for whom Christ died, and who may be crying to-day, like David, " Would to God I had died for thee, O my son, Absalom; my son, my son." '' Is Ephraim my dear son, is he a pleasant child, for -ince I spake against him ; I do earnestly remember hmi still, therefore, my bowels are troubled for him; I will eurely have mercy on him." Dare you withold your mercy when you can fulfill the law by showing mercy ? I have no reference to myself, or to any other particular individual; we have a" broken the bw, and labor under the curse of law until Jesus conies and takes the curse of the law away, but the despised of men may be the chosen of God, and as you would have yourself obtain mercy, show it unto others 80 LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DEBT.S, whatever they are. Tliink of wliat Jesus dlil, and ^o you and do likewise. Follow Hi.s example. Hear what Pie says : I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed , That thou Dugh'.st runsotiied be, jLiiid quickened from the dead. In this wav I have tried to bring those things before your notice. Now I ask you, if j ou have never done so, to go to the throne of grace, calling upon the name of the Lord, "For whoso- ever calleth upon the name of the Lor»l shall be saved." Plead with Him until you find mercy. "Faithful is he that calleth you and he will also do it." He is always willing to accc^pt of a return- ing wanderer. He "will in nowise cast out." I remember the time that I dare not bow the knee in prayer, thinking that I had no right to do so, that such as I had no right to draw near untn Gods footstool seeking mercy, but there is the place for all to coim^ to. There is a day coming in Vv ' 'ch they shall bow down before Him in sorrow, because they negiv3te*i the day of grace while in the land of the living, while alive upon earth. "Unto Me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear," saitli the Lord God Why not do so now ? Now at the present time. Without any fur- ther delay, bow your knees in prayer, supplicating the Lord to have mercy upon you, and you will surely escape the wrath to come. I have done for the present, hoping that at no distant day I may ad- ilress you again. Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer. That calls me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father's throne. Make all my ivants and wishes known. ' In season'.s of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief; And oft escaped the tempter's snare, By thy re (urn awcct hour of /rayer. Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, Thy wings shall my petition bear, To Him who's truth and faithfulness^ F-ngage the waiting soul to bless; And smce He bids me seek His face, . .- Believe His v/ord and trust His grace ; I'll cast on Him my every care, - ' And wait for thee awpet hour of prayer. rL^.i^' 4 / LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL DRHia. One offiT of salv;;tion, To all the worlil make known ; The only sure t'ouudation, , Is Christ the corner stone. No other name is given, No other way is known ; Tis Je.sus Christ, the first anl last, fir 5<'/?v'.s', and fh' nhnie 87