Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-30

sin nor exercised moments confidence tn
the great sacrifice. They are almost Inn
movable in their position. We cannot
present anything about the religion OF
Christ that they do not know. The Saw
iour described the fate Of such one In
his parable: "And that servant which
knew his lords will and prepared not
himself, neither did according TO his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes Theor
ries in religion have beauty of their own,
but If they resultin no warmth Of Christian
life it IL the beauty Of hornblende and field
spar. Do not call such GOODNESS and hard
ness religion. The River Of Life never
freezes over. Icicles never hang on the
aavas If haven ,SnnDdnaaR Of intAlleO4sAsl
need Of him, rejoice with Joy unspeakable
and full Of glory and clap your hands for
gladness; but II 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 1t,
but In the day ofdiyine reckoning il viii
be found that you have no cloak for your
sin. Poi"
A FLIMsY CLOAK.
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. Punctur
atty, truthfnlness, almsgiving, affection
and many other excellences Of life that
might be mentioned will always be sd-
mired OF God and man, but we take the
position that good works cannot be the
ground of our salvation. What we do
right cannot pay for what we do wrong.
Admit that you have all those traits OF
character which give merely worldlyr re-
spectability 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 settled
All, my friends, we must have an atone
ment. No Christ, no salvation. The great
Redeemer comes In and says; II will pay
your indebsednes 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 up over the noun
tain of our sins and the hills of ourin-
EQUITIES. Christ's good works accepted ara
sufficient for us, but they who reject them,
depending upon their own, must perish.
Traits of character that may make us in
fiuential on earth will not necessarily open
to us the gate of heaven. The plank that
will be strong enough for q house floor
would not do for ships hulk. Mere
morality might be enough here, but eau
not take you through deaths storm into
heavens harbor. Christ has announced
for all ages: II 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
isestate 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, II he have no intimate
relation to Jesus Christ. There is a pride
and depravity In his soul that he has
never discovered. A brilliant outside win
be no apology for depraved inside. 1t 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"
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 inn
prisonments and scourgings. On n throne
overlapping perhaps all others, except
Christ's, the old missionary exclaims; "By
the grace of God am what am"
HEAVEN CANNOT BE BOUGHT
Again, exalted social position will be no
cloak for sin Men look through the
wicket door of prisons, and seeing the in
carcerated wretches exclaim, "Oh, how
much vice there is in the worldp And
they pass through the degraded streets OF
a city, and looking into the doors Of novels
and the dens of corruption they call them
God-forsaken abodes. But you might
walk along the 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 aud death. The first
temptation Satan wrought In a garden
and he understands yet most thoroughly
how to insinuate himself into any door of
ease and splendor. Men frequently judge
of sin by the places in which it is com
mitted, but iniquity in satin is to God as
loathsome as iniquity in rags, and In the
Day of Judgment the sins of Madison av-
enue and Elm street will all be driven in
one herd. Men cannot escape ut last for
being respectfully sinful. You know Dives
was clothed In 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 of your attractive abodes
here for house of many mansions on high,
and your elegant shade groves here will
not warrant you seat under the tree OF
life. When God drove Adam and Eve out
of Eden he showed that merely living In
- 1als - O. r.y411
never save man or woman. BY giving
you 50 much earthly luxury and refine
ment he intimated that he would have
you enjoy yourselves, but he would not
have you wrap yourself up In them as
cloak to hide your sins, God now walks
in your garden as he did in Eden, ven In
the cool of the day, and he stands by your
we'll as he did by we'll in Samaria, and
he would make your comfort on earth
type of your rapture in heaven.
THE SHELL OF CHRISTIANITY.
Furthermore, mere soundness of relig-
ious belief will not hide our iniquities.
There are men whose heads are as sound
as Jonathan Edwards or John Wesley's,
whose hearts are "a rotten as Tom Paine's
or Charles Guiteau's. 1t 10 important that
we be theoretical Christians. II Is utter
folly In this day for man TO have no
preference for any one form Of faith when
1t Is so easy to become conversant with the
faith of the different sects An intoxicated
man staggered into my house one night
begging for lodging He made great pre-
tensions to religion. / asked where he
went TO church. He said; "Nowhere; !
belong to liberal Christianity" But there
are those who never become Christians, be-
cause their obstinacy prevents them from