Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-09-01

Sen OecOule pureeU ana cle0nSe0 aud
washed until we become whittier than
snow. II is surely time for some OF
Ms TO center our hopes upon the cross.
which alone can save us from eternal
death.
Many years ago the British admi-
rally sent the man-of-war Thetis TO
Mediterranean waters to hunt up a
shoal or reef or bank that had been
reported by some fishermen or the
coast of Italy and mark IL upon the
chart. The vessel sailed back and
forth without being able to locate the
dangerous reef The captain returned
to England and declared no such rocks
existed. but the first lieutenant OF the
Thetis thought differently He begged
the privilege OF continuing the investi-
cation. He labored on until at last
he located those rocks, and was pro
NOTED for the service he had done the
worlds shipping. The old captain of
the Thetis obstinately declared that
these rocks We're purely chimerical and
never existed. IF ever go near their
supposed site / shall sail over them
to prove 1 am right said he A few
months later the Thetis was conveying
the British ambassador to the city OF
Naples. One stormy night the captain
found that he was near this supposed
reef. He headed directly toward It as
he said. Now will prove that lieu
tenant n fabricatorr' The ship sailed
on for few hours, then came the
grating sound OF shallow water, then
a crashl The Thetis was a helpless
wreck. Most OF the crew were saved.
but the foolish captain would not allow
himself to be saved, to meet certain
disgrace. HE persisted" said DIR.
Stoughton, "a victim to his own unbe-
lief" Thus thousands upon thousands
OF immortal souls will perish ON ac-
count OF their lukewarm aceeptation of
the cross. They are not directly enc
mics of Jesus Christ. They belong to
what is called the liberal order of
Christians. They believe Christ was
born, that Christ died, that Christ rose
again from the dead. but they do not
believe that Christ is the only beCot-
ten Son Of God and the only way of
eternal life. And Except We believe
We shall all likewise perish" for the
Bible distinctly. declares the necessity
OF believing in Christ as a Saviour and
in Christ alone.
Lax In business Principles.
But we also find these modern
Laodiceans wonderfully negative In
reference to their business PRINCIPLES
Every Sunday morning they may be
found vending their way 10 their
church pews- Every Wednesday even
ing they may attend the midweek
prayer meeting. But the way they
act inside the church and outside of the
church may have no more similarity
than the nature OF a striped furred
leopard can be compared to the af-
fectiOnate whlnny OF the Shetland
pony whom your children are petting
at the barn door. Now, i am not as
sorting that these modern Laodiceans
have no business principles. am not
asserting that these men are any worse
than their business associates. but I
do assert that they will be just rs dis
honest as they can be in their financial
affairs and yet preserve their social
respectability.
Some time ago I was turning over
the pages Of popular magazine There
1 saw perhaps half n dozen pictures OF
men who are among the so called re-
spectacle thieves OF this country. From
an old Californian many years ago
had heard about men stealing thou
sands upon thousands of acres OF land
from the United States government.
but then / did not believe IL. because
1 lived In the crowded east. But after
/ came west and learned of the vast
distances OF those unoccupied lands I
began to realize how IL was done. In
that magazine the writer not ONLY gave
the names OF the plunderers. but also
told the numbers OF acres stolen by
each OF these individuals whose pic
lures he presented. j go TO one OF
these men and say: 'How did you
get this land? Why is II yours?"
'Oh," he says, 81 fenced IL in" "Why
did you fence II in? Did you have any
right to do SOP "No." he answers.
except the right OF taking government
land, as hundreds and thousands of
others have taken their land" Thus.
whom go into the business world. /
find thousands OF modern Laodiceans
who care not how dishonest they are
II they do not fall into disrepute by
being more dishonest than their fel-
low men. The question OF right or
wrong enters not into their financial
makeup. The question with them is,
rs II feasible, from n reputable busi-
ness mans standpoint, TO steal this or
that or the other thing and not be so
cially degradedT'
Must he Positively Honest.
What Is true OF some dishonest busi-
ness men is absolutely true In refer
ence to some dishonest political candi-
dates. / see the political strife going
on In large city. One OF the parties
has fallen into such disrepute that in
order to win ut the polls its leaders de-
eide TO nominate as a candidate one
who Is not or their kind. So they 60
and offer the nomination to a well
known Christian church member. In
nine cases out OF ten what does that
nominee do? Does he go to the polls
and bride voters? oh. no. That would
not be honest. But he does commit n
crime In the sight OF God which is lust
as heinous. Instead OF coming out fat
footed for an honest election he be-
comes modern political Laodicean.
He shuts his eyes to the dishonesties
that are being done in his name. He
says. II am not responsible because /
simply remain silent ut this political
corruption" Now. my friends, these
teachings OF my text practically mean
this: A man must be positively honest
IN all his financial dealings. He must
be positively honest In seeing that all
those who work In his name are acting
honestly, else God will have none OF
MIN. Mere negative responsibility in
Gods sight does not measure up to his
standard.
md, too. that the appalling spiritual
negativeness of the modern Laodicean
Is most frequently demonstrated In
mans relation to the amusement cues
ton. Where there is one lukewarm
Christian who will dishonor Christ in
his financial dealings there ara Ave-