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will be the mellow light of heaven or the shadows of darkness, and
whether the legacies we bequeath are those of blessings or curses.
Every passing hour of the present is shaping our future life.
These moments spent in carelessness, in self-pleasing, as if of no
value, are deciding our everlasting destinies. The words we utter
today will go on echoing when time shall be no more. The deeds
done today are transferred to the books of heaven, just as the features
are transferred by the artist onto the polished plate. They will deter-
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mine our destiny for eternity, for bliss or eternal loss and agonizing
remorse. Character cannot be changed when Christ comes, nor just
as a man is about to die. Character building must be done in this life.
We fear that repentance will come to the self-indulgent, tainted soul
all too late. A few resolves, a few tears, will never reverse a guilty
past life nor blot out of the books of heaven the transgressions, the
willful, knowing sins of those who have had the precious light of
truth, and can explain the Scriptures to others, while sin and iniquity
are drunk up like stolen waters. As though written with an iron pen,
they may be found
lead
in the rock forever.
Need of Alarm
I would make my brethren alarmed if I could. I would urge
upon them with pen and voice, Live in the Lord, walk with God,
if you would die in the Lord, and enter by and by where the Lord
abideth forever. Be not disobedient to the heavenly warnings; grasp
the neglected appeals, the entreaties, the warnings, the rebukes, the
threatenings of God, and let them correct your wayward, sinful heart.
Let the transforming grace of Christ make you pure, true, holy, and
lovely as the pure white lily which opens its blossom on the bosom
of the lake. Transfer your love and affections to Him who died for
you on Calvary’s cross. Train your lips to speak forth His praises,
and to offer up your prayers as holy incense.
I ask again, How can any who have the precious, solemn message
for this time indulge in impure thoughts and unholy deeds, when
they know that He that never slumbers and never sleeps sees every
action and reads every thought of the mind? Oh, it is because iniquity
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is found in God’s professed people that He can do so little for them.