The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-02-23
hEARl DISEASE.
Selected for The Times.)

(Selected for Inc Il1ueS-)
.'Then came certain Of the Elders Of
Israel unto mo and set before me. And
the word of the Lord came unto me, say
ing. Son OF Man. these men have set up
their idols in their hearts. Ezekiel XIV,
1-S.
Then came - So some event
had taken place before, and we are TO
read this statement in connection with
the preceding circumstance. a wall had
been built, of which the Lord God disap-
proved. It was wrong wall, altogether
wrong in it's foundation, wrong in its
structure, wrong in its material, there
fore tho Lord sent strong wind to rend
it He sent heavy showers upon 1t IN His
anger, and great hailstorms to demolish
this unholy work. These events were
open, and every one passing by could see
what was being done; every ear could
hear the furious rattle of the hailstones
as they fell in Judgment upon the sway
Ing wall.
The Lord having accomplished His
wrath upon the WALL proceeds to draw
a picture Of what He will do to the false
prophets OF backsliding Israel. He will
show them the true state OF affairs, and
thus prove that He Is the only living and
true God.
God does not content Himself With
outer Judgment only. He will try the
reins of the heart. Judgment can do but
little. Hell has played but poor part
Ii. the conversion of men The smoke Of
its torment has assembled forever and
ever. vet in the midst of that smoke have
men done. their evil deeds and dehed the
Lord Of Heaven.
The Lord will now search the heart and
turn out the idols and the favorite sin.
He will rend no more the garments which
cover falsehood- He will enter the heart,
He will name the idols one by one, bring
them forth to. Judgment and turn them
out into tho light of day. It is well 1t IS
SO. Men themselves will not tolerate an
iil-built wall. But we want in our Goa
scycssgllt, from which nothing can be me-
a Judgment which looks the soul through
and through.
Who are these men? They come to sit
down and be weighed and measured ana
Judged. And vet they are 'thc Elders OF
Israeli" No Office can save men from the
divine testing. Tho Lord takes nothing
for granted No robe is good that covers
4 traitors heart Even elders must be
judged How comforting, how terrible IS
the thought. The judge is nobody IN the
sight of God he is only a man who must
himself be judged.
The pastor cannot escape, nor the
teacher or head of the house, or the
senior member of the firm, or the mag
istrate, or the prime minister, or the
Kin, crowned ana throned, all must stand
before that bar and answer for the deeus
done in the body. Judgment shall begin
at the house of God, and no man there
shall live merely upon his certificate.
Life shall only be guaranteed to the pure
in heart-escape is impossible. The judge
thunders at the door of the heart, ana
saws from without that He is coming
within, Nor can we hinder Him. lie
will burn down the portal, if We do not
open it Into the heart He must come,
for the heart is the man.
But surely the elders were good men!
The very fact that they are in the seat
of honor would prove that. But the
higher the office the greater the respon-
siblity; elevation greatly aggravates sin.
The Bible is no rcspecter CT persons. 1t
is a book of the widest justice, with q
standard which is never lowered. It's
balances are made Of the fine gold and
5revcr vary; the hand that holds them
never tits the scale one way or the
other. we must all stand before the
Judgment scat of Christ. That being SO,
10, lis be quiet, strong in confidence, bright
III hone; for the Judge of all the earth
Will do right.
The place Of the disease indicates Its
fatal character-''in their heart. Men
vhisper when they speak Of a friend with
This disease. and there is hopelessness III
their tone But is there not higher dis
ease in the heart? is it not true that the
heart is deceitful abovcs all things and
d,sperately wicked? Is it true that the
heart delights in concealment? Is not
every man (did he but know it) suffer
ing from heart-disease? What is the
meaning of this heart-disease, this idola-
try Of the Utmost soul?
Sometimes men are forced into uncon-
genial circumstances. and they express
their reluctance or annoyance by many
a gesture and many G tone. But wheh
the disease is oe the heart it has secured
The consent OF the will, and the judgment
has been bribed to tacit approval. The
whole conscience has been put under some
narcotic, and is no longer the sharp,
wakeful critic God meant it to be when
He set it as the center of human thought
and action.
Disease OF this kind is most difficult
to cure. It is not in the skin, else 1t
might be cut out; not in the limb, or 1t
might be amputated. The evil is in the