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As the smoke and sparks of the chimney show that there is fire within; so all the "filthy conversation" of men, and all "the unfruitful works of darkness" in which they delight, evidently indicate the pollution of the source whence they proceed. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." The sinner's speech betrayeth him. "Evil speaking" proceeds from malice and envy.
"It would be too terrible indeed, my dear child, if we were to live again unassoiled, unpurified, in all our miserable imperfections. But these have been removed by the priest's absolution, by the sinner's repentance in this world and by purgatory in the next. Those who have the happiness to live in the sight of God are without stain."
The weight of the condemnation rested on the sinner's head, and in order to maintain the glory of his character, "the blessed God" rendered his punishment as extraordinary as his former mercies, and proportionate to his enormous guilt. "Thou wilt by no means clear the guilty." "These shall go away into everlasting punishment." The sin of Adam and Eve involved the ruin of their posterity.
The greedy, vicious hours went by, and God still waited waited. Would he wait for ever? 'Nay! The intense, low-spoken word sent a shiver through the room. The revivalist passion had been mounting rapidly amongst the listeners, and the revivalist sense divined what was coming. To his dying day David, at least, never forgot the picture of a sinner's death agony, a sinner's doom, which followed.
"Do you find they read your tracts, Mrs. Buckley?" asked Frank. "No," said Mrs. Buckley, "with the exception, perhaps, of 'Black Giles the Poacher, which always comes home very dirty. Narrative tracts they will read when there is nothing more lively at hand; but such treatises as 'Are You Ready? and 'The Sinner's Friend, fall dead. One copy lasts for years."
Bunyan was convinced that the sinner's only hope was by the imputation of Christ's righteousness, which alone could justify him from ALL things, and without which he must perish.
If we will take the lost sinner's place, and claim the lost sinner's Saviour, we shall be filled by that Saviour with joy, joy because sin is forgiven, and with the joy will come the strength of soul.
In spite of the fact that Albany numbered nearly "six thousand living human souls," a brief search by the docksharps soon revealed the sinner's retreat.
Thus, when speaking of the jailor, 'who was a most barbarous, hard-hearted wretch; yet, when God came to deal with him, he was soon tamed, and his heart became exceeding soft and tender. And when alluding to the Lord's voice, in softening the sinner's heart, he says: 'This is a glorious work indeed, that hearts of stone should be dissolved and melted into waters of godly sorrow, working repentance.
I saw the rascal in broad day come down the hill to the chicken-yard. I greatly enjoy the sight of a wild fox; but fifteen chickens a sight was too high a price. So I got the gun and chased about the woods half the summer for another glimpse of the sinner's red hide. I saw him one Sunday as we were driving into the wood road from church; but never a week-day sight for all my chasing.
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