The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-02-04

u"iy 10 Sehelolo tnat ne does not enjoy
the duties OF religion; but only that the
more ne does, the more confident he is
OF heaven He takes only some kind Of
enjoyment in it, as man does who
thinks that by great labor he shall have
great wealth.
D. Ii you are selfish in religion, your
enJoyments will be chiefly from antici-
patton The true christian ALREADY en-
joys the peace of God and has heaven
begun in his soul. He has no, merely
the prospect of it. but eternal life actu
ally begun in him. lis has tuat faith
which Is the very substance OF things
hoped for. Nay. he has the very feel
lngs OF heaven in him. He anticipates
Joys higher in degree, but tho same in
kind. He knows that he has heaven be-
gun in him, and is not obliged to wait
till he dies to taste OF the joys OF eternal
life. His enjoyment is in proportion To
his holiness, and not in proportion to
his hope.
q. Another difference by which it NAV
be known whether you are selfish in
religion is this: That the deceived per
son las only purpose of obedience nd
the other has preference of obedience
This Is an important distinction. and |
fear few persons make it Multitudes
have purpose of obedience, who have
nv VI uo ptSi 'IeuC6 Oh ODSQlenC0 IrCf
erence is actual choice or obediencs of
heart. You often hear individuals
speak of their having had a purpose to
do this or that act Of obedience, but
failed to do it. And they will tell you
how difficult it is to execute their pur-
pose. The true Christian, on the other
hand, really prefers and in his heart
chooses obedience, and therefore he
finds 1T easy to obey. The one has
purpose to obey like that which Paul
bad before he was converted, as he tells
us In the seventh chapter of Romans.
he had a strong purpose Of obedience,
but did not obey because his heart was
not in it. The true convert prefers
obedience for It's own sake; he actually
chooses 1T and does it The other pr3-
poses to be holy because he knows that
is tho only way to be happy Tho true
Christian chooses holiness for its own
sake and he is holy.
z. The true convert and the deceived
person also differ in their faith. The
true Christian has confidence in the
general character of God that leads him
to unqualified submission to God. A
great deal is said about the kinds of
faith. but without much meaning. True
confidence in the Lords special promises
depends on confidence in Gods general
character. There are only two princi-
pies on which any government, human
or divine, is obeyed-fcar and conf
dence-no matter whether it is the g,v
eminent of family, or n ship, or
nation, or q universe. All obedience
springs from one Of these two principles.
In The one case, individuals obey from
hope Of reward and fear of the penalty;
IL the other, from that confidence in the
character of the government which
works by love. One child obeys his
parent from confidence in his parent
He his faith which works by love The
other yields obedience from hope and
fear. The truo convert has this faith or
confidence in God t" at leads him to obey
GOD because he loves God This is the
obedience Of faith. He has that conf =
dence in God that he submits himself
wholly into the hands Of God.
Tho other has only partial faith,
and only partial submission. The
devil has partial faith He believes
and trembles A person may believe
that Christ came to save sinners, and
! on that ground may submit to him, to
be saved; while he does not subm It
wholly to him, to be governed and dis
posed of. His submission is only on
condition that he shall be saved 1t is
never with the unreserved confidence in
Gods whole character, that leads him
to say, Thy will be done" He only
submits to be saved. His religion is
the religion Of law. The other is gospel
religion. Ono is selfish, the other ben
evolent Here lies the true difference
between the two classes. The religion
OF one is outward and hypocrtical The
Other is that of tho heart holy, and
acceptable TO God.
8. will only mention one more Diff
ference. If your religion is selfish, you
viii rejoice particularly in the CONVEX
sion or sinners, whore your own agency
is concerned in it but will have very lit
| tie satisfaction in it, where it is through
the agency of others The selfish per
| son re oices when he is active and sue
cessful in converting sinners, because
he thinks he shall have a great reward
| But instead of delighting in it whom
done by others, he will be even envious.
| The true christian sincerely delights to
have others useful. and rejoices when
sinners arc converted by the instrument
tality OF others as much as il it was his
own. There are some who will take in
terest in revival, only so far as them
| selves are connected with it, while it
would seem they had rather sinners
should remain unconverted, than that
they should be saved by the instrument
tality OF an evangelist, or a minister of
| another denomination. The true spirit
of child of God is to say, "Sond, Lord,
by whom thou wilt send-only let souls
be saved. and Thy name glorifled
We see from this why it is that pro-
fessors Of religion have such different
views OF the nature Of the gospel Now,
brother, If you compare this to your
own heart, can you afford to be wrong
and deceived because there arc multi