The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-07-09

herd lOOk upon tnOsc WHO, lnOliSu
they are not His sheep. have climbed
up some othe: way. and thus must
the Lord of hosts look upon those
who pretend to be soldiers OF the
cross while they are His armed cne-
mics.
Furthermore: Outward morality
will be no covering for the hidden ini-
quity of the spirit. The gospel OF
Christ makes no assault upon good
works. They are as beautiful in
Gods eye as in ours Prnctuality,
truthfulneess, almsgiving, affection
and many other excelcnces Of life
that might be mentioned will always
be admired of God and man, hut we
take the position that good works
cannot be the ground Of our saliva
ton. What we do right cannot pay
for what we do wrong. Admit that
YOU have all those traits OF character
which give merely worldly respecta-
biity 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 mat
ters to be settled? All, my friends,
we must have an atonement. No
Christ, no salvation. The great Re
deemer comes in and says, Z 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 should
ers He carries US up over the noun
tain of our sins and the hills of our
iniquities. Christ's good works &C
cepted are sufficient for US, but they
who reject them, depending upon
their own, must perish. Traits OF
character that may make us lnfuen-
tial on earth will not necessarily open
to rs the gate of heaven. The plank
that will be strong enough fora house
floor would not do for a ships hulk.
Mere mortality might be enoug h
here, but cannot take you through
deaths storm into heavens harbor.
Christ has announced for all ages,
Il am the way, the truth, and the
life; him that cometh unto me I viii
in no wise cast out. But pitiable IN
the day Of accounts will be the con-
dition of that man, though he may
have given all all his estate to benev-
olent purposes and passed his Life in
the visiting of the distressed and done
much to excite the admiration Of the
good and the great, II he have no IL
innate relation to Jesus Christ. There
is pride and q depravity in his soul
that he has never discovered. A
brilliant outside viii 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 no flesh living be
justified.
Again: Exalted social position will
be no cloak forsin. Men look through
the wicked doors of prisons, and see
ing the incarcerated wretches e1-
claim; "Oh, how much vice there IS
in the world" And they pass through
the degraded streets of city, and
looking into the doors of novels and
the dens of corruption they call them
Godforsaken abodes. But you
might walk along the avenues through
which the opulent roll in their -four
ishlng pomp and into mansions ele-
gantly adorned, and find that even
in the admired walks of lie Satan
works mischief and death. The first
temptation Satan wrought IN a gar
den, and he understands yet most
thoroughly how to nsinuate himself
into any door os-ease- and splendor.
Men - auently Judge of sin by the
- IN which it is committed, but
2sy in satin is 20 God as loath-
He as iniquity in rags, and IN the
sy of Judgment the sins of Madison
enue and Elm street will all be
zen in one herd. Men cannot es-
at last for being respectfully
l. You know Dives was clothed
T z purple and fine linen and Jared
sumptuously every day, but his fine
clothes and good dinners did not save
him. He might On earth have drunk
something as rich as champagne and
cognac, but at last he asked for one
drop of water. You cannot trade off
your attractive abodes here for a
house OF many mansions on high,
and your elegant shade groves here
viii not warrant you seat under the
tree of life.
Furthermore: Mere soundness Of
religious belief will not hide our in
iquities. There are men whose heads
are as sound as Jonathan Edwards
or John Wesley, whose hearts are as
rotten as Tom Paine's or Charles
Guiteau's. It is important that we
be theoretical Christians. It is utter
folly in this day for man to have no
preference for any one form Of faith,
when it is so easy to become conver-
SAINT with the faith of the different
sects. An intoxicated man staggered
into my house one night begging for
lodging. He made great pretensions
to religion. I asked where he went
to church. He said: Nowhere; [
belong to liberal Christianity" But
there are those who never become
Christians because their obstlnacy
prevents them from ever taking fam
view of what religion is. They are
like brute beast IN the fact that
their greatest strength lies IN
their horns. They are combatants,
and all they are ever willing to do for
their souls is to enter an eccleslastl-
cal fight. 7 have met men who would
talk all day on the ninth chapter OF
Romans, who were thoroughly help
less before the fourteenth chapter OF
John. But there are those who, hay
ing escaped from this condition, are
| NOW 1enendino entirely 1pOn their