Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-05-25

| world Is to be weighedp' Yes. Why, you
would think IL God put on one side Of the
balances suspended from the throne the
Alps and the Pyrcnecs and the Himalayas
| and Mount Washington and all the cities
| of the earth they would crush it, No, mo-
The time will come when God will sit
down on the white throne to see the world
| weighed, and on one side will be tho
worlds opportunities and on the other
side the worlds sins. Down will % this
sins, and away will go the opportunities,
and God will ray to the messengers with
the torch: "Burn that world Weighed
and found wantingl'
so God will weigh churches. He takes
. great church That church, great ac-
rording to the worldly estimate. must be
| weighed. He puts II on one side the bal
| ances and the minister and the choir and
the building that cost its hundreds OF
thousands of dollars. He puts them on
one side the balances. On the othor side
of the scale he puts what tina IT, hurch
ought to be, what its consccratiu& ght
to be, what its sympathy for the I 'or
ought to be- what its devotion to all i'Jod
ought to be- That is ON ono side. That
side comes down, and the church, not be-
ing able to stand the test, rises in the bal
| ances Ii does not make any difference
|
church is built for one thing--to save
souls. II it saves n few souls when it
might save multitude of souls, God will
spew 1t out of his mouth. Weighed and
found wantingl
SO we perceive that God estimates ma
tions. How many times he has put the
Spanish monarchy into the scales and
found it insufficient and condemned it
The French empire was placed on ono side
of the scales, and God weighed the French
empire, and Napoleon said; Have | not
enlarged the boulevards? Did | not kin
die the glories of the Champs Elysecs?
| Have ] not adorned the Tuileries? Have
| not built the gilded opera house, Then
God weighed tho nation, and he put on
one side the scales the emperor, and the
boulevar,ls, and the Tuilerics, and the
Champ Elysees, and the gilded opera
house, and on the other side he puts that
man S denominations, that mans libertin-
ism, that mans selfshness, that mans
goddess ambition This last came down,
and all the brilliancy of the scene van
shed. What is that voice coming up from
Sedan? Weighed and found wantingl
Personal Application.
But | must become more individual and
more personal in my address. Some peo
PIE say UnPN 90 nOU Inlnk ClcTHNDlef OIRDU
to be personal in their eligious address,
but ought to deal with subjects in the alb
stract do not think that way What
would you think of hunter who should
20 to the Adirondacks to shoot deer in the
abstract? All, MOI He loads the gun; he
puts the butt of it against his breast, he
runs his eye along the barrel, he takes
sure aim, and then crash go tho antlers on
the rocks And so, if we want to be
hunters for the Lord, we must take sure
ain and fire Not in the abstract are we
TO trcat things in religious discussions. If
"a physician comes into a sickroom, docs
he treat disease in the abstractY No; he
feels the pulse makes the diagnosis, then
he writes tho prescription And, If we
want to heal souls for this life and the life
to come we do not want to treat them in
the abstract. The fact is, you and have
malady which, if uncured by grace, will
Kill us forever. Now, l want no abstrac-
ton Where is the balm? Where is the
physician?
People say there is day of Judgment
coming. My friends, every day is day
of judgment and you and today are be-
ing canvassed, inspected, weighed. Here
are the balances of the sanctuary. They
are lifted, and we must all be weighed
is q moralst who volunteers He is one
of the most upright men in the country.
He comes. "Wcll, my brother, get in-get
into the balances now, and he weighed. "
But rs he gets into the balances l say,
"What Is shat bundle you have along with
youf" "Oh," he says THAT is my repu-
tation for goodness and Kindness and
charity and generosity and kindlincss
generally" ooh, my brother, we cannot
weigh that; We are going to weigh you
you. Now stand in the scales-you, the
moraist. Paid your dcbts?" Eyes, " you
say, paid all my debts" "Have you
acted in an upright way in the commune
ty:" Yes, yes Have you keen kind
to the poor? Are you faithful in thou
sand relations in lfes" Yes. so 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 right" "No, you say; mo Put
down one mark "Have you loved the
Lord with all your heart and soul and
mind and strength" NO, you say. Make
another mark. Como, now, be frank
, and confess that in ten thousand things
you have come short-have you notf
Yes Make ten thousand marks. Come
now, get me book large enough to max,
, brother, stand in the scales; do not fly
/ away from them. put on your side the
scales all the good deeds you ever did, al
the kind words you ever uttered but or
+ tho other side the scales / put this weigh
I which God says l must put thereon tn,
othor side the scales and opposite to your
put this weight, by the deeds Of tn,
q law shall no flesh living be justified
a Weighed and found wanting.
o Balances of the Sanctuary.
Il Still the balances of the sanctuary ar
J. suspended, and we are ready to weigh an,
, who come. Who shall be the next2 Well
t here is a Journalist He comes, and he get
: into the balances, and a. he gets in | Sc
a that all his religion is in genutlectons an,
IS in outward observances AS he gets int
y the scales l say, What is that you hay
d in this pockets" "Oh" he says, "that i
n Westminster Assembly Catechsm" ! say
2 Very good. What have you in the othe
IS pocket" oh" he says, that is tn
c Heidelberg Catechism" Every good
II What is that you have under your arr
/ standing in this balance of the sanctu
Is ary?" "Oh, he says, that is a churc
h record Very good. What are thes
10 books on your side the balances?" "Oh,
10 he says, chose are Calvin 5 Institutes
ct "My brother, we are not weighing books
m we are weighing you. 1t cannot be tina
t. you are depending for your salvatio
TX upon your orthodoxy. Do you not kno,
T. that the creeds and the forms of religio
S, are merely the scaffolding for the building