Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-07-10

they are not his sheep, have climbed nI
some other way, and thus must the
Lord of Hosts look upon those who pre-:
tend TO be soldiers Of the Gloss while
they are HE aimed enemies. If any Of
you find yourselves deficient in th5
| great tesIe of Chris.ian character, dc
not, beg 81 you, look upon your pro
fession of religion as any thing consolA-
tory. If you have taken your, present
position from view tAst YOU nave OF
Christ ard your need of Him, rejoice
with JOY unspeakable and full of glory
clap your hands for gladness, but if you
find yourself with nothing bstthe haide
of life, while dead in trespasses and
sins, arouse before the door is shut
That gi!ded profession-the world may
not be able to see through it, but in the
day of divine reckoning It viii be found
that you have nc cloak for your sin.
Furthermore: Outward morality will
De no covering for the hiddea iniquity
of the spirit TIE Gospel of Christ
makes no assault upon good works
They are as beautiful in Gods eye as in
ours Punctuality, truthfulness, aims
giving, affection ard many other excel
lences Of life that might be mentioned
will always be admired of God and man,
but we take the position that g5od
works can not be the ground of our sal
walton. What we do right can not pay
for What we do wrong. Admit that you
have all those traits of character which
give merely worldly respectability 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 settled9
All, my friends, we must have an atone
ment No Christ no salvation. The
great Redeemer comes in and says: 81
will pay your Indebtedness. So that
which was dark enough before, is bright
enough now. The stripes that we de-
serve are fallen upon Christ On His
scourged and bleeding shoulders He
carries us up over the mountain of our
sins and over the hills of our iniquities
Christs good works accepted are suffi-
cient for us, but they who reject them,
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 can not take you
through deaths storm into Heavens
harbOr. Christ has announced for all
ages, 81 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
and done much to excite the
admiration of the good and the great
If he have no intimate relation to Jesus
-hrist There is pride and depravity
n his soul that he has never discovered. !
A brilliant outside will be no apology
Tor depraved inside. 1t is no theory
Of mine but an announcement of God, !
who can not 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 |
lis entrance by the dungeons he illumed |
md the lazzarettosin which he carried |
he medicines. Paul is there, but he |
lid not earn his way in by the ship |
wrecks and impr sOnments and Scourg- |
ngs On throne overlapping perhaps
IL others, except ChriSt's, the old mis-
iOnary exclaims: by the grace of
iod l am what l am
Again: Exalted social position will be
10 cloak for sin. Men look through |
he wicket door of prisons, and seeing |
he incarcerated wretches exclaim: 80,
low much vice there is in the world!'
Ind they pass through the degraded
treets of city, and looking into the
oors of novels and the dens of cor
upton they call them Gods forsaken
bedes. But you might walk along the
venues through which the opulent roll
their fiOuriShing pomp and into man
ions elegantly adorned, and find that
ven in the admired walls of life Satan
forks mischief and death. The first
Satan wrought in a garden,
nd he understands yet most thoroughly
ow to insinuate himself into any door
f ease and splendor. Men frequently
ldge of sin by the places in which it is
but iniquity in satin is to
iod as loathsome as iniquity in rags, and
the day OF Judgment the sins of Madi-
on avenue and Elm street will all be
riven in one herd. Men can not
scape at last for being respectfully
lnfuL You know Dives was clothed
purple and fine linen and Jared
every day, but his fine
-othes and good dinners did not save
i'm. de might on earth have drunk
as rich as champagne and
ognac, but at last he asked for one
rop of water. You can not trade off
our attractive abodes here for a house
many mansions on high and your ele-
ant shade groves here will not warrant
on seat under the tree of life. When
cd drove Adam and Eve out of Eden,
e showed that merely living in gar
en- of delights and comforts will never
I'VE man or woman. By giving you
much earthly luxury and refinement
e lntimated that lie would have you
njoy yourselves, but He would not
ave you wrap yourself up in them as a
oak to hide your sins. God now walks
your garden as He did in Eden, even
the cool of the day, and He stands by
our well as He did by a well in Samaria, '
nd He would make your comfort on
arth type of your rapture in Heaven. {
Furthermore: Mere soundness of I
'ligious belief will not hide our in
Iuities There are men whose heads
re as sound as Jonathan Edwards or
ohm Wesley's whose hearts are as rot +
n as Tom Paine's or Charles Giteau's !