Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-05-26

you and | have malady which, If un-
cured by grace, will kill us forever.
Now. | want no abstraction Where is
the balmg Where is the physicianH
striking Balance.
People say there is a day Of judg-
ment coming. My friends. every day is
a day of judgment, and you and to-
day are being canvassed, inspected,
weighed Here are the balances Of the
sanctuary. They are lifted. and we
must all be weighed Who will come
and he weighed first? Here is moral
ist who volunteers He is one Of the
most upright men in the country. He
comes. "Well, my brother, get in--get
into the balances now and be weighed. "
But as he gets into the balances | say,
"What is that bundle you have along
with youg" "Oh, D." he says, THAT Is
my reputation for goodness and kindness
and charity and generosity and kindli-
ness generally" "Oh, my brother, We
cannot weigh that We are going to
weigh you-you Now stand in the
scales-you, the moraist Paid your
debtsl" "Yes. you say, paid all
my debts. Have you acted ia an up
right way in the community "Yes,
yes. " "Have you been kind to the poOrl
Are you faithful in a thousand relations
in lifel' "Yes. " $50 far. so good. But
now, before you get out Of this scale |
want to ask you two or three questions
Have your thoughts always been
right2" "No. you say; "no." Pat
down one mark Have you loved the
Lord with all your heart and soul and
mind and strength. mo, you say.
Make another mark "Ccme now, be
rank and confess that IN 20, 600 things
you have come short have you notY
Eyes. Make 10, 000 marks. Come now.
get me a book large enough to make
the record Of the moralist's deficits. Ny
brother. stand in the scales, do not fly
away from them. put on your side
the scales all the good deeds You ever
did, all the kind words you ever ut
tered. But on the other side the scales
put this weight which God says l
must put thereon the other side the
scales and opposite TO yours l put this
weight, by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh living be justified. Weighed
and found wanting
Creeds won't Save.
Still, the balances Of the sanctuary
are suspended and we are ready to
weigh any who come Who shall be the
nextY Well. here is a Journalist. He
comes and he gets into the balances,
and as he gets in l see that all his re-
ligion j. in genufections and in outward
rbservauces. A. he gets into the scales
say, "What is that you have in this
pocketg' oh he says, that is
Westminster assembly catechism.
say: Very good What have you in
the other pocket2" "Oh!' he says,
"that is the Heidelberg catechism.
VERY good. What is that you have
under your arm, standing IN this bal
ance Of the sanctuary =" OH be
says. THAT is a church record. - Very
good. What are these books on your
side the balancesT' "Ohp he says.
"those are Calvin Institutes. My
brother, we are not weighing books. we
are weighing you. 1t canrct be that
You are depending for your salvation
upon your orthodoxy. Do you not know
that the creeds and the forms OF religion
are merely the scaffolding for the build
ing? You certainly are not going to
mistake the scaffolding fer the temple
Do you not know that men have gone
to perdition with a catechism in their
nocketg' But" says the man, Il
cross myself often. "Ah that will not
save YOU. But, says the man, 81
am sympathetic for the poor. THAT
will not save you. Says the man, 81
sat at the communion table. " THAT
will not save you. bat, says the
man. Il have had my name on the
church record. " THAT will not save
you." "But | have been professor OF
religion 40 years. " THAT will not save
YOU. Stand there on your side the bal
ances. and | will give you the adyan-
tage-I will let you have all the creeds'
all the church records, all the Christian
conventions that were ever held, all the
communion tables that were ever built,
ON your side the balances. On the other
side the balances | must put what God
SAYS must put there Iput this .OOO'-
600 pound weight on the other side the
balances, Having the form of godli-
ness, but denying the power thereof.
Weighed and found wanting
Two Great Questions.
Still the balances are suspended. Are
there any others who would like to be
weighed or who will he weighed Yes;
here comes a worldling He gets into
the scales. | can very easily see what
his whole life is made up Of. Stocks,
dividends, percentages, buyer ten
days, "buyer 80 days. "Get in, my
friend. get into these balances and be
northumberland for this life and
weighed for the lie to come He gets
in. 1 find that the two great questions
in his life are, "How cheaply can l buy
these goodsg" and "How dearly can
sell themr" | find he admires heaven
because it is land Of gold, and money
must be "easy." l find. from talking
with him, that religion and the Sab
bath are an interruption, a vulgar in
terruption, and he hopes ON the way 70
church to drum up new customer
} All the week he has been weighing
fruits, weighing meats. weighing ice.
} weighing Goals, weighing confections'
weighing worldly and perishable COM
J modities, not realizing the fact that he
himself has been weighed. "On your
} side the balances. o worldlingl will
give you full advantage. | put on your
side all the banking houses. all the
storehouses, all the cargoes, all the in
surance companies, all the factories, all
} the silver, all the gold, all the money
vaults, all the safe deposits-all on your
side But il does not add one ounce,
for at the very moment we are congrat-
; ulating you on your fine house and
upon your princely income God and
, tho ongols ora writing in regard tC