Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-07-16

OF the martyrs, and he began IN the
usual form-"In the name Of God,
amen" "Stopr says the martyr.
don say in the name Of GodP " Yet
how many Outrages are practiced under
the garb Of religion and sanctity. When
in synods and conferences ministers OF
the gospel are about to say something
unbrotherly and unkind about a MEM
Der, they almost always begin by being
tremendously pious. the venom Of their
assault corresponding to the heavenly
flavor of the prelude. Standing there,
you would think they were ready TO go
right up into glory and that nothing
kept them down but the weight Of their
boots and oyercoat, when suddenly the
sheep bleat and the oxen below.
Simplicity.
Oh, my dear friends, let us cultivate
simplicity of Christian character! Jesus
Christ said, "Unless you become as this
little child you cannot enter the king
dom of God" We may play hypocrite
successfully now, but the Lord God will
after awhile expose our true character.
You must know the incident mentioned
in the history of Ottacas, who was ask
ed to kneel in the presence of Randol-
phus /, and when before him he refused
to do it, but after awhile he agreed to
come in private when there was nobody
in the kings tent, and then he would
kneel down before him and worship,
but the servants Of the king had ar
ranged it so that by drawing a cord the
tent would suddenly drop. Ottacas aft
er awhile came in, and supposing he
was in entire privacy knelt before Ran
dolphus. The servants pulled the cord,
the tent dropped, and two armies sur
rounding looked down on Ottacas kneel-
ing before Randolphus. If we are really
kneeling to the world while we profess
to be lowly subjects Of Jesus Christ,
the tent has already dropped and all
the hosts Of heaven are gazing upon our
hypocrisy. Gods universe is a very
public place, and you cannot hide hypoc-
risy in it.
Going out into a world Of delusion
and sham, pretend to be no more than
you really are. If you have the grace
Of God, profess it; profess no more than
you have. But | want the world to
know that where there is one hypocrite
in the church there are 500 outside Of
it. for the reason that the field is larger.
There are men in all circles who will
bow before you, and who are obsequi-
Gus in your presence and talk fiatter-
ingly, but who all the while in your
conversation are digging for bait and
angling for imperfections. In your pres
ence they imply that they are every
thing friendly, but after awhile you find
they have the fierceness Of a catamount,
the slyness Of a snake and the spite Of
a devil. God will expose such. The gun
they load will burst in their own hands,
the lies they tell will break their own
teeth, and at the very moment they
think they have been successful in de-
coiving you and deceiying the world the
sheep will bleat and the oxen will bel
low.
Responsibility.
| learn further from this subject how
natural it is to try to put off our sins
on other people. Saul was charged with
disobeying God. The man says it was
not he; he did not save the sheep; the
army did it-trying to throw 1t OF on
the shoulders Of other people Human
nature is the same in all ages. Adam,
confronted with his sin, said, 1.-The
woman tempted me, and | did eat. "
And the woman charged it upon the
serpent, and if the serpent could have
spoken it would have charged it upon
the devil. suppose that the real STATE
of the case was that Eve was eating
the apple and that Adam saw 1t and
begged and cQaxed until he got piece
of it. suppose that Adam was just as
much TO o. me as Eve was. You can
not throw off the responsibility Of any
sin upon the shoulders Of other people.
Here is o young man who says; Il
know am doing wrong, but have not
had any chance. had father who de-
spised God and a mother who was
disciple of goddess fashion. | am not TO
blame for my sins; it is my bringing
up" All. no; that young man has
been out in the world long enough to
see what is right and to see what Is
wrong, and in the great day of eternity
he cannot throw his sins upon his IA
ther or mother, but Will have to staad
for himself and answer before God.
You have had a conscience, you have
had Bible and the influence Of ~
Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself or TAI
for yourself.
Here : a business man. lie says. Il
know I don't do exactly right in trade,
but all the dry goods men do II and all
the hardware men do this, and l am
not RESPONSIBLE. " You cannot throw
of your sin upon the shoulders of other
merchants. God will hold you respon-
sibie for what you do and them re-
sponsible for what they do. want 70
quote oue passage Of Scripture for you
Il tnlnk IL Is III IlONSi US - N"~N
wise, thou shalt be wise for thyset,
but if thou scornest thou alone shalt
bear it.
All or None.
learn further from this subject what
God meant by determination. Saul was
told to slay all the Amalekites and the
beasts in their possession. He saves
Aeag. the Amalekite king, and some OF
the sheep and oxen. God chastises him
for it, God likes nothing done by halves.
God will not stay in the soul that Is
half his and half the devils. There
may be more sins in our soul than there
were Amalekites. We must kill them.
Woe unto us if we spare Agag. Here Is
Christian. He says; 81 will drive out
ali the Amalekites Of sin from my heart
Here is jealousy-down goes that Anal
skite. Here is backbiting-down goes
that Amalekite," and what slaughter
he makes among his sins, striking rlgnt
and leftl What is that out yonder, mt
ing up his head? It's Agag-itisw world
illness 1t is an old sin he cannot bear 70