Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-09-11

~ are not going to mistake the scaffoldine
for the temple. Do you not know that mer
have gone to perdition with a catechism ir
their pocket?" "But," says the man, 81
J cross myself often.'' "Ah! that will no
: save you" "But," says the man, II an
sympathetic for the poor'' sThat will moi
save you." Says the man, Il sat at the
communion table" "That will not save
you." "But," says the man, 81 have. had
my name on the church record" "That
will not save you" "But have been a
professor of religion forty years." "That
will not save you. Stand there on your
side the balances, and I will give you the
advautage-I will let you have all the
creeds, all the church records, all the Chris
tian conventions that were ever held, all
the communion tables that were built, on
your side the balances. On the other side
the balances l must put what God says I
must put there. put this million pound
weight on the other side ths balances:
"Having the form of godlness, but deny
ing the power thereof. From such turn
away" Weighed and found wantingl
Still the balances are suspended. Are
there any others who would like to be
weighed or who will be weighed? Yes;
here comes worldling. He gets into the
scales. can very easily see what his
whole life is made up of. Stocks, dividends,
percentages, 'buyer ten days" tbuyer
thirty days." Get in, my friend, get into
these balances and be weighed-weighed
for this life and weighed for the life to
come. He gets In. 1 find that the two
great questions 10 his life are: elbow
cheaply can | buy these goods?" and s'How
| dearly can cell themP' / find he admires
heaven because it is a land of gold, and
money must be '"easy''
I find from talking with Linn that religion
and the Sabbath are an interruption, vul-
gar interruption, and he hopes on the way
to church to drum up new customer! All
the week he has been weighing fruits,
weighing meats, weighing ice, weighing
| Goals, weighing confections, weighing
worldly and perisbable commodities, not
| realizing the fact that he himself has been
weighed. On your side the balances. o
worldling! will give you full advantage.
l put on your side all the banking houses,
all the storehouses, all the cargoes, all the
insurance companies, all the factories all
the silver, all the gold, all the money
vaults, all the safe deposits-all on your
side. But it does not add one ounce, for at
the very moment we are congratulsting
You on your fine house, and upon your
prncey income, God and the angels are
and found wantingp'
final scrunity. The fact is, my friends, we
are moving on amid astounding realities.
These pulses which now are drumming the
march Of life may, after while, call a halt.
We walk on hair bridge hung over
chasms. All around us are dangers lurking
ready to spring on us from ambush. We
lie down at night not knowing whether we
shall arise in the morning. We start out
for our occupations not knowing whether
we shall come back. Crowns being burn
ished for thy brow or bolts forged for thy
prison. Angels of light ready to shout at
thy deiverance, or fends of darkness
stretching out skeleton hands to pull thee
down into ruin consummate. Suddenly
the judgment will be here. The angel with
one foot on the sea and the other foot on
the land, will swear by him that liveth for
ever and ever that time shall be no longer:
"Behold, be cometh with clouds, and every
eye shall see him." Hark to the .jarring of
the mountains. Why, that is the setting
down of the scales, the balances. And then
there is a flash as from cloud, but it is the
glitter Of the shining balances, and they are
hoisted, aud all nations are to be weighed.
The unforgiveu get in on this side the bal
auoes. They may have weighed themselves
and pronounced fiattering decision. The
world may have weighed them and pro-
nounced them moral Now they are being
weighed in Gods balances-tbe balances
thar can make no mistake. All the proper
ty gone, all the titles of distinction gone,
all the worldly successes gone; there is a
soul, absolutely nothing but soul, an in
mortal soul, never-dying soul, soul
stripped of all worldly advantages, soul
on one side the scales. On the other side
the balances are wasted Sabbaths, disre-
garded sermons, ten thousand opportunities
of mercy and pardon that were cast aside.
They are on the other side the scales. and
there God stands, and in the presence of
men and devils, cherubim and archangel,
he announces while groaning earthquake,
and cracking confagration and judgment
trumpet, and everlasting storm repeat it:
weighed in the balance, and found want
ing,"
But, say some who are Christians, "Cer-
tainly you don't mean 10 say that we will
have to get into the balances2 Our sins are
all pardoned; our title to heaven is secure. |
Certainly you are not going to put US in
the balances?" Yes, my brother. We
must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, and on that day you are certainly
going to be weighed.
o follower of Christ! you get into the
balances. The bell of the Judgment is
ringing. You must get into the balance.
You get in on this side. Ga the other side
the balances we will place all the opport |
unities of good which you did not improve,
all the attainments in piety which you
might have had, but which you refused to
take. We place them all on the other side.
They go down, aud your soul rises in the
;oh
impsrfections.
Well, then, We must give you the advan-
tage, and on your side the scales we will
place all the good deeds you have done, and
all the kind words you have ever uttered.
Too light yet! Well, we must put OF your
side all the conservation of yo-r life, all the
holiness of your life, all the prayers of your
life, all the faith of your Christian life. Too
light yet! Come, mighty men of the past,
aud get in on that side the scales. Come,
Payson, and Doddridge, and Baxter, get in
on that side the scales and make them come
down, that this righteous one may be saw
ed. They come and they get in the scales.
Too light yet! Come, the martyrs. the
Latimers, the Wickliffes, the men who suf-
fered at the stake for Christ. Get in on
this side the Christians balances, and see
if you cannot help him weight it Alright.
lney come anu geG lu loo ugoI! COme,
angels of God on high. Let not the righte--
GUS perish with the wicked. They get in
on this side the balances. Too light yet!
put on this side the balances all the
scepters of light, all the thrones of power,
all the crowns of glory. Too light yet.
But just at tt at point Jesus, the Son of
God, comes up to the balances, and be puts
one of his sacred feet on your side and the
| balances begin to tremble from top to bot
tom. Then he puts both of his SCARED feet
on the balances, and the Christians side
comes down with stroke that sets all the
bells of heaven ringing. That Rock of
Ages heavier than any other weight.
But says the Christian: "Am I to be al
lowed to get off SO easily2" Yes. If some
one should come and put on the other side
the scales all your imperfections, all your
envies, all your jealousies, all your incon-
sistencies of life, they would not bulge the