Connecticut western news., 1890-07-02

not the rules of Lord Chesterfield.
 PROFESSION DOES NOT MAKE MAN
 GOOD.
 Again, let me say that the mere pro- fession of religion is but poor wrap ping of a naked soul. The importance of making a public profession of relig- ion if the heart be renewed cannot be exaggerated Christ positively and with the earnestness of the night be- fore his crucifxion commanded it. But it is the result of the Christian charac- ter, not the cause of it. Our church certificate is poor title to heaven. We may have the name and not the reality. There are those who seem to throw themselves back with compla- cency upon their public confession of Christ, although they give no signs of renewal If Satan can induce a man to build on such rotten foundation as that he has accomplished his object. We cannot imagine the adherence with which God looks upon such a pro- cedure. What would be the feelings of a shepherd if he saw wolf in the same fold with his flocks, however quiet he might seem to lie, or general if among his troops he saw one wearing the appointed uniform who nevertheless really belonged to the opposing host?
 Thus must the heavenly shepherd look upon those who, though they are not his sheep, have climbed up some other way, and thus must the Lord of hosts look upon those who pretend to be soldiers of the cross while they are his armed enemies. If any of you find yourselves deficient in the great tests of Christian character do not, beg of you, look upon your profession of re- igion as anything consolatory. If you have taken your present position from a view that you have of Christ and your need of him, rejoice with joy un- speakable and full of glory and clap your hands for gladness; but if you find yourself with nothing but the name of life while dead in trespasses and sins, arouse before the door is shut. That gilded profession-the world may not be able to see through it, but in the day of divine reckoning it will be found that you have no cloak for your sin.
 OUTWARD MORALITY AND HIDDEN IN
 EQUITY.
 Furthermore, outward morality will be no covering for the hidden iniquity of the spirit. The gospel of Christ makes no assault upon good works. They are as beautiful in Gods eye as in ours. Punctuality, truthfulness, almsgiving, affection and many other excellences of life that might be men tioned will always be admired of God and man, but we take the position that good works cannot be the ground of our salvation. What we do right can not pay for what we do wrong. Ad- init that you have all those traits of character which give merely worldly responsibility and influence, you must at the same time acknowledge that during the course of your life you have done many things you ought not to have done. How are these difficult matters to be settled2 An, my friends, we must have an atonement, No Christ, no salvation. The great Re deemer comes in and says, 'I will pay your indebtedness. So that which was dark enough before is bright enough now. The stripes that we deserve are fallen upon Christ. On his scourged and bleeding shoulders he carries us over the mountain of our sins and the hills of our iniquities. Christ's good works accepted are sufficient for us, but they who reject them depending upon their own must perish.
 Traits of character that may make us influential on earth will not neces- sarily open to us the gate of heaven. The plank that will be strong enough for house floor would not do for a ships hulk. Mere morality might be enough here, but cannot take you through deaths storm into heavens harbor. Christ has announced for all ages, 'I am the way, the truth and the life, him that cometh unto me will in no wise cast out" But pitiable in the day of accounts will be the condition of that man, though he may have given all his estate to benevolent purposes, and passed his life in the visiting of the distressed, and done much to excite the admiration of the good and the great if he have no intimate relation to Jesus Christ. There is pride and depravi- ty in his soul that he has never discov- cred A brilliant outside will be no apology for depraved inside. It is no theory of mine, but an announcement of God, who cannot lie. By the deeds of the law shall nd flesh living be justi- fed" Open the door of heaven and look in. Howard is there but he did not secure his entrance by the dungeons he illumined and the lazzarettos into which he carried the medicines Paul is there, but he did not earn his way in by the shipwrecks and inprisonments and seourgings On a throne overtop- ping perhaps all others except Christ's, the old missionary exclaims, By the grace of God I am what am.'
 SOCIAL POSITION A TRANSPARENT CLOAK.
 Again, exalted social position will be no cloak for sin. Men look through the wicket door of prisons and seeing the incarcerated wretches exclaim, "Oh, how much vice there is in the world p And they pass through the degraded steeets of a city and looking into the doors of novels and the dens of cor ruption they call them God forsaken abodes. But you might walk along tho avenues through which the opulent roll in their fourishing pomp and into mansions elegantly adorned and find that even in the admired walks of life Satan works mischief and death. The first temptation Satan wrought in a | garden, and he understands yet most | thoroughly how to insinuate himself