Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-05


make ton and one hundred and twenty
more, no less. And a religion which
does not take hold of this life as well as
the life to come is no religion at all.
But, my friends, that is not the kind of
balances ] am to speak of to-day, that is
not the kind Of weights and measures.
I am to speak of that kind of bal
ances which can weigh principles, weigh
churches, weigh men, weigh nations,
and weigh worlds ''Whati'' YOU saw
sis it possible that our world is to be
Weighed?' Yes. Why, you would
think if God put on one side the balances
suspended from the throne the Alps, and
the Pyrenees, and the Himalayas, and
Mount Washington, and all the cities of
the earth, they would crush it. No, no.
The time will come when God will sit
down on the white throne to see the
world weighed, and on one side will be
the worlds opportunities, and on the
other side the worlds sins. Down will
go the sins and away will go the oppor-
tunities, and God viii say to the messen-
gers with the torch; "Burn that world!
Weighed and found wanting!"
SOME PERSONAL QUESTIONS.
God will weigh churches He takes a
cording to the worldly estimate, must be
weighed. He puts it on one side the
balances, and the minister and the choir
and the building that cost its hundreds of
thousands of dollars. He puts them on
one side the balances. On the other side
of that scale he puts what that church
ought to be, what its conservation ought
to be, what its sympathy for the poor
ought to be, what its devotion to all good
ought TO be. That is on one side. That
side comes down, ard the church, not
being able to stand the test, rises in the
balances. 1t does not make any differ
ence about your magnificent machinery.
a church is built for one thing-to save
souls. If it saves a few souls when it
might save multitude of souls,
God Will spew it out of His mouth.
Weighed and found wanting!
So GOD estimates nations. How many
times he has put the Spanish monarchy
into the scales, and found it insufficient
and condemned it! The French empire
was placed on one side the scales, and
God weighed the French empire and Ma
poleon said: "Have l not enlarged the
boulevards? Did l not kindle the glories
of the Champs Elysees? Have I not
adorned the TuiIeries? Have 1 not built
the gilded opera house?' Then God
weighed that nation, and he put on one
side of the scales the emperor, and the
boulevards, and the Tuileries, and the
Champs Elysees, and the gilded opera
house, and on the other side he put that
man IS abominatlons, that man s nber-
tinism, that man s selfishness, that man S
goddess ambition. This last came down,
and all the brilliancv of the scene van
ished What is that voice coming up
from Sedan? Weighed and found want
ing!
But must become more individual and
more personal in my address. Some
people say they do not think clergymen
ought to be personal in their religious
addresses, but ought to deal with
subjects in the abstract.
do not think that way. What would you
think of q hunter who should go to the
Adirondacks to shoot deer in the abstract?
All! no. He loads the gun, he puts the
butt of it against the breast, he runs his
eye along the barrel, he takes sure aim,
and then crash go the antlers on the
rocks. And so, if we want to be hunters
for the Lord, we must take sure aim and
fire. Not in the abstract are we to treat
things in religious discussions. If a ply
sicIan comes into a sick room does he
treat disease in the abstract? No; he
feels the pulse, takes the diagnosis, then
he. makes the prescription. And if we
want to heal souls for this life and the
life to come, we do not want to treat
them in the abstract. The fact is, you
and I have q malady which, if uncured
by grace, will kill us forever. Now, 1
want no abstraction. Where is the balm?
Where is the physician?
WE MUST ALL BE WEIGHED.
People say there is a day of judgment
coming. My friends, every day is q day
of Judgment, and you and L to-day are
being canvassed, inspected, weighed. |
Here are the balances of the sanctuary.
They are lifted, and we must all be |
weighed. Who viii come and be weighed |
first? Here is moralist who volunteers.
He is one Of the most upright men III the |
country. He comes. Well, my brother, |
get in-get into the balances now and be !
weighed. But as he gets into the bal |
ances l say: ''What is that bundle |
you have along with you?'' ooh, - |
he says, "'that is my reputation |
for goodness, and kindness, and |
charity, and generosity, and kindliness |
- so. my brother! we can |
not weigh that; we are going to weigh |
you-you. Now, stand in the scales |
you, the mOTalist. Paid your debts?'' !
. Yes, - you say, "paid all my debts. -
90 Have you acted in an upright way in !
the community?'' eyes, yes. - ''Have |
you been kind to the poor? Are you
faithful in a thousand relations in life?'' |
Eyes, $50 far, so good. But now |
before you go out of this scale, want |
to ask you two or three questions. Have |
your thoughts always been right?'
mo-" you say, ''no." Put down !
one mark. ''Have you loved the Lord |
with all your heart, and soul, |
and mind, and strength?" emo"
you say. Make another mark. ''COme /
now, be frank, and confess that in ten !
things YOU have come short |
have you not?'' eyes. - Make ten |
marks. Come now, get me
book large enough to make the record of |
that moralist's deficits. My brother, |
stand in the scales, do not fly away from |
them. I put on your side the scales all |
the good deeds you ever did, all the kind |
words you ever uttered; but on the other
side the scales [ put this weight, which /
God says l must put thereon the other
side the scales and opposite to yours put
this weight: "By the deeds of the law
shall no flesh living be justified. &"