Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-05-22

"Yes.' Make 10, 600 marks. Come now,
get me book large enough to make
the record of the moralist' s deficits My
brother, stand in the scales, do not fly
away from them. I 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
I put this weight which God says /
must put thereon the other side the
scales and opposite to yours put this
weight, s'By the deeds Of the law shall
no flesh living be justified. Weighed
and found wantingl
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
next? Well, here is Journalist. He
comes and he gets into the balances,
and as he gets in I see that ell his re-
ligion is in genufections and in outward
observances As he gets into the scales
say, "What is that you have in this
pocket?' .'Ohp' he says, ''that is
Westminster assembly catechism. I
say: every good. What have you in
the other pocket p s'Ohl" he says,
''that is the Heidelberg catechism. y
every good. What is that you have
under your arm, standing in this bal
ance of the sanctuary p 'sOhr' he
says, s'that is a church record" every
good. What are these books on your
side the balances?' "Ohl'' he says,
"those are Calvin s Institutes. 8" ''My
brother, we are not weighing books, we
are weighing you. It cannot 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 catechism in their
pocket7'' ''But," says the man, 81
cross myself often ''Ahl that will not
save you" s'But," says the man, ST
am sympathetic for the poor. !" "That
will not save you" Says the man. 81
sat at the communion table. - t'That
will not save you. t'But," says the
man, 81 have had my name on the
church record" 'tThat will not save
you" ''But have been professor of
religion 40 years. Z" '"That will not save
you. Stand there on your side the bal
ances, and will give you the advan-
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 I must put what God
says must put there. put this ], 000,
900 pound weight on the other side the
ho1o hn form Of cyO61f-
ness, but denying the power thereof. "
Weighed and found wantingl
Two Great Questions.
Still the balances are suspended. Are
there any others who would like to be
weighed or who will be weighed? Yes;
here comes a wording. He gets into
the scales. 1 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
weighed-weighed for this life and
weighed for the life to come. !" He gets
in. find that the two great questions
in his life are, GLOW cheaply can I buy
these goods?" and "How dearly can
sell them3'' I find he admires heaven
UtCdu0O 1t 10 q VI SOAO1 anu AlOhOJ
must be "easy." I find, from talking
with him, that religion and the Sab
bath are an interruption, vulgar in
terruption, and he hopes on the way to
church to drum up new customer
All the week he has been weighing
fruits weighing meats, weighing ice,
weighing Goals, weighing CONNECTIONS,
weighing worldly and perishable COM
modities, not realizing the fact that he
himself has been weighed. son your
side the balances, o worldlingl I will
give you full advantage. I 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 it 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
| the angels are writing in regard to
your soul, Weighed and found want
ingl'"
But must go faster and speak Of
| the final scrutiny. The fact is, my
! friends, we are moving on amid aston
ishing realities. These pulses which
now are drumming the march of life
may. after awhile, call halt We walk
on a hair hung bridge over chasms. All
around us are dangers lurking, ready
| to spring on US from ambush We lie
down at night, not knowing whether
we shall arise in the morning. We start
out for our occupations, not knowing
whether we shall come back. Crowns
being FURNISHED for thy brow or bolts
forged for thy prison. Angels Of light
ready to shout at thy deliverance or
| Gopdc Of 1orIroco c%ro<obipo,