THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S
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I would never go away from Him. I know the mystery that surges about me; but when the mystery is &t its blackest I lay hold of Christ’s hand a little tighter and say, “ Lord, I am not going to lose you.” I feel the pull of people turning away from Jesus, but I go right up to Him and say, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” And I put all my heart in my passionate speech now as I say, Man, do not go away from Jesus. Do not do it. There they go. And I will he truthful with you. They have been going ever since, and they are going yet. Do not join them. If you look at Him you never will. They dropped their eyes to the ground— I know they did— and they looked at one another, and then they turned their back on the Lord of Life and Love, and went away. And I cannot get away myself from the horrible fascination of that phrase, "And they walked no more— never again— they walked no more with Him.” You may have come up to the turn ing point tonight. It may he He stands tonight and says, “ Now choose. Make up your mind, and cast your decision for Me or against Me; with Me or apart from Me.’S Well, write down my name, sir, that I am for Christ. And, Oh! may this my glory be, that He, who has so much reason to be ashamed, is not ashamed of me. THE CONVERTED PURSE A Methodist laborer in Wesley’s time,- Capt. Webb, when anyone in formed him of the conversion of a rich man, was in the habit of asking, “Is hig purse converted?” He agreed with Dr. Adam Clarke, who used to say he did not believe in the religion that cost a man nothing. S E E P A G E 8 2 8
And they walked no more with Him. “ Such language holds the solemn sea To the sand along the shore.” And' what did they go to? 0 1 know not. To destructiveness, perhaps. Maybe they entered homes that evening, and the young folks had been learning to look towards Jesus through those people.' And when they went into those homes they said, “We are through with the Nazarene.” And possibly those children are in hell tonight because their fathers and their mothers went away from Christ that afternoon. Do not go away from Jesus. Oh, I am sick of being calm and collected as I talk. I am tired of being logical and argu mentative. And yesterday .I wished I could cry and beg of you not to go away from Jesus Christ. You young people, do not let some fool’s utter ances about evolution lead you away .from the Christ who shed His heart’s blood for you. There is a dirty atheist in this town. They tell me he is athe istic, and X know he is dirty. And he said to a minister of my acquaintance a while ago, “ So you like Burns, do you? But Burns satirized religion.” But Burns also said— “ An atheist’s laugh is a poor return To Deity offended.” I hope to have a chance to say that to that unclean, leprous snake some of these days. It won’t avail you much to make a little money if you lose Heaven. It won’t avail you much to have a nerve titillated if you are damned through it. And the reaction of losing Jesus will be a very poor harvest to reap for the little hit of amusement and pleas ure. You know this life down here is so pitifully short and , eternity so tremendously long. And the hollow laughing of some companion who may laugh you into hell but cannot laugh you out of it is less important than the “ Come thou blessed of my Father,” falling from the lips of Christ. I would not go away from Jesus if I were you.
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