First, that I might myself be faithful, and that it might be said that
I am free from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God.
Second, that I might help some one to the knowledge of Christ. This is
no time for argument, for argument always calls forth discussion. It
is no time for theory. Practical, every-day people of the world care
nothing for mere theories. And it is no time for speculation, for to
give such to the people is like giving a stone when they have asked for
bread. But it is time for eternal choice. The audience of the
preacher vanishes when he thinks of the text and its meaning and he is
face to face with the Judgment when he shall be judged for the way he
has spoken, and the people shall be called to account for the way they
have heard. It is indeed a solemn word. "I call heaven and earth to
record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy
seed may live."
I
_Record_. I desire to use this word as if it were a noun for the time
being, for it will bring to us the same truth. This leads me to say
that every one is making a record, either good or bad. Deep down
through the surface of the earth you will find the evidence of storms
centuries ago; the record was indelibly made.
Two records are being kept. This is indicated in the twentieth chapter
of Revelation, where it is said, "And the books were opened." Notice
that it is plural and not singular. There is a record in heaven kept
by the Recording Angel. If it were in the memory of God it would be an
awful thing, for while God does not remember forgiven sin, he cannot,
from the very nature of the case, forget unpardoned sin, and if that is
the record one day we shall meet it face to face.
There is also a record upon earth. We have seen it in the characters
of men who have gone astray, and in the faces of those who have been
affected by their sins.
In an eastern city where I was preaching my attention was called to a
young man of brilliant prospects. He was a member of a great wholesale
grocery firm, and young men looked at him almost with envy; but he
began to drink, and at the end of a year the senior partner called him
in to say that he must change his conduct or retire from the firm. He
made promises only to break them, and finally, going from bad to worse,
he was forced to retire. One morning we read the news in the paper
that his bloated body had been found floating in the Hudson river; and
his old father, up to a few years ago, walked up and down the streets
with bowed head, giving every evidence of an almost broken heart. Sin
is an awful thing and makes its record on whatever it touches.