Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-11-09


safe thing to do, even though to many
1t is a forgotten art these days. The
real test Of a thing, after all, Is not
how 1t will look before men, but how
it will appear In the hour of death,
the morning of the resurrection, the.
day Of Judgment, the light of eternity,
and the presence of the Lord Every
thing therefore should be tested in the
light Of that day, even our religious
professions for except the Lord
build the. house they labor in vain that
build it." Ii the all important con-
Germs Of the soul no one should take
anything for granted certainly no one
should let the question of his SOULS
salvation hang ION a peradventure
when there are so many thus saith
the Lords" to anchor to.
The people of the text were sur
prised then startled, then dumfound-
ed. First 1t is mot everyone'-there
may be profession without salvation.
Then the 'not-every-one" becomes the
'many-will-say tome in that day." 80
there may be great works without sal
vation Then both. classes are dis
owned and summarily dismissed from
the presence of the Lord and the very
works they were trusting in labeled
Ubiquitous.
Isn't the whole thing startling
Here they had gone long way in
religion, and had kept it up a long
while without the deadly mistake
coming to light until they were ush-
cred into the presence Of the Lord
and made the awful discovery of their
false position from the lips of the very
One they had been so freely calling
Lord. l say, isn't the whole thing
startlingl
The question naturally arises, What
was the matter with them, wherein
was their. error? Did they not make
an open profession? Did they not
undertake Christian service Of high
class? Did they not from all appear
ance obtain remarkable success? Did
they not do all their many wonderful
works in a thoroughly orthodox man.
ner-in the name of the Lord? And
did they not cling to the hope of en-
tering heaven to the very last? Most
certainly they did, and herein hangs
the tale of their terror and crushing
disappointment. For some reason the
Lord tells them, 81 never knew you"
Not that once knew you and cannot
own you now, but l never knew you
as real pentitents, humble believers,
true followers.
Their trouble was an old one, as old
as the sacrifice of Cain. Their wor-
ship was mere will worship, which is
as truly idolatrous as heather idol
worship. 1t consists in substituting
something to take the place of obedi-
ence to the known will of God That
is, they made practice of doing what
they wanted to do instead of what
they ought to do. Like the Samaritans
of old they feared the Lord but served
their own gods They were great
err at doing than living They were
Industrious, indefatfgable workers, but
not humble, obedient wOrshipers,
They were working wonders but not
making the name of Jesus wonderful.
To all such the sentence goes out,
II never knew you" and all their
work is declared Ubiquitous by the
Lord himself. He knows us only by
what He has done In us, not by what
we do for the church or society in
His name. The mark Is not outward.
it is inward MY sheep hear nv
voice, and know them, and they fol-
low me and / give unto them eternal
life" To the rich young ruler the
crucial test was, take up your cross
and follow me-" He becomes the
source of eternal salvation to those
only who obey Him. "Ye are nv dis
ciples if We do whatsoever command
you" The heart of the whole mat
ter, then, is a personal obedience TO a
personal Christ. Does your profession.
dear reader, measure up to this stand
ard?
The story is told of a certain can
tain who, essaying to enter the harbor
of Liverpool with storm threatening
and ignorant Of the danger involved
was allowing his vessel to drift into
the flats where it would be impossible
to handle the boat when the storm,
broke The pilot, who was assigned to
bring 1t to port, demonstrated with tba
captain, and pointed out that he was
endangering his vessel and the lives
of all on beard and commanded him
to call all of the sailors forward. AS
soon as they were gathered together
he said, Men, 1t is either deep water
or death"
| would leave the pilots sharp epi-
gram with you. If you have NOT al
ready done SO will you now launch out
into the deep of personal, conscious
and complete obedience to the will of