le way, to lead a good moral and civil life in this world.
Christ is your righteousness, and he gives you your necessary fitness
for heaven without any effort on your part, any more than to just
believe on him; so all you have to do is to sustain a respectable
standing in the church, by attending to its ordinances, and you are
and forever will be all right."

Now I would ask if such talk as this is not corrupting the Word? How
any man, in the face of the sermon on the Mount, in which the deepest
humility of heart--in the way of self-denial, forgiveness of enemies,
love of the truth, obedience to every commandment, from supreme love
to God--and the lowest self-abasement is laid down and set forth in
the clearest light and plainest injunctions--how, I say, in the face
of all this, can a man speak in this way? And more. Hear the awful,
terrific denunciation at the close of this sermon: "He that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Ah! Brethren,
something more than a desire to appear respectable in the eyes of the
world, and hold an honorable place in the church, so called, is
necessary to withstand the floods and storms of temptations that are
sure to try us in this world. This is why so many make shipwreck. They
do not count the cost; and this is why they desire to make peace, when
they see and feel the army of twenty thousand temptations coming
against them, and they have only ten thousand, very poorly equipped,
to resist their attack.

The temptations to conform to the vain fashions of the world, especially
with the young, may be called legion. The temptations to commit
adultery are a host. I speak plainly, Brethren, but I must not corrupt
the Word. The temptation to acquire property from the avaricious love
of wealth, more than we can use ourselves or handle to good ends,
comes as the prince of darkness with clouds that shut out the light of
heaven from our sight. Brethren and sisters, as I love you all dearly,
let me say to you at the close of my remarks that the Lord says: "The
scriptures cannot be broken." No man can intentionally break the
Scriptures and be saved. We dare not corrupt the Word of God.

After meeting we go to Brother John Shoemaker's, where we have night
meeting, and stay all ni