The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-07-01

to build on such rotten foundation rs
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 q shepherd if he saw a wolf in the
same fold with his iiocks, however quiet
he might seem to lie, or general il
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-
ligion as anything consolatory. If you
have taken your present position from
u view that you have of Christ and
your need of him, rejoice with joy I'M
speakable and full of glory and clap
your hands for gladncss; 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 rs beautiful in Gods eye rs
in ours. Punctuality, truthfulness,
almSgiving, affection and many other
excellences of life that might be men
toned 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. Adj
nit 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 settled? All, my friends
we must have an atonement. No
Christ, no salvation. The great Re
deemer comes in and says, Il 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 10 us the gate of heaven.
Tile plank that will be strong enough
for a house floor would not do for q
ships hulk Mere morality might be
enough here, but cannot 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 i'll
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 a depravi-
ty in his soul that he has never discov-
cred. \ brilliant outside will 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 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 imprisonments
and scourgings On throne overtop-
ping perhaps all others, except Christ's,
the old missionary exclaims, "By the
grace of God 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"
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
the avenues through which the opulent
roll in their fiourishing 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
into any door of ease and splendor.
Men frequently judge of sin by the
places In which it is committed, but in
EQUITY in satin is to God as loathsome
as iniquity in rags, and in the day OF
Judgment the sins of Madison avenue
and Elm street will all be driven in
one herd. Men cannot escape at 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 drink something as rich as cham