ork better than the
devil himself. You might be horrified if you knew it was Satan
deceiving you, but if a professed minister of Jesus Christ preaches
this doctrine and says that God will make it all right in the end,
that though you go on living in sin, it is just the same. Don't be
deluded into believing such doctrine--it is as false as any lie that
ever came from the pit of hell. All the priests and ministers of all
the churches cannot save one soul that will not part with sin.

There is an old saying that, "Every man has his price." Esau sold
his birthright for a mess of pottage; pretty cheap, was it not? Ahab
sold out for a garden of herbs. Judas sold out for thirty pieces of
silver--less than $17 of our money. Pretty cheap, was it not? Herod
sold out for adultery.

WHAT IS THE PRICE

that you put upon your soul? You say you do not know. I will tell
you. _It is the sin that keeps you from God_. It may be whisky;
there is many a man who will give up the hope of heaven and sell his
soul for whisky. It may be adultery; you say:

"Give me the harlot, and I will relinquish heaven with all its
glories. I would rather be damned with my sin than saved without
it."

What are you selling out for, my friend? You know what it is.

Do you not think it would have been a thousand times better for
Herod to-day if he had taken the advice of John the Baptist instead
of that vile, adulterous woman? There was Herodias pulling one way,
John the other, and Herod was in the balance. It's the same old
battle between right and wrong; heaven pulling one way, hell the
other. Are you going to make the same mistake yourself? We have ten
thousand-fold more light than Herod had. He lived on the other side
of the cross. The glorious gospel had not shone out as it has done
since. Think of the sermons you have heard, of the entreaties
addressed to you to become a Christian. Some of you have had godly
mothers who have prayed for you. Many of you have godly wives who
have pleaded with you, and with God, on your behalf. You have been
surrounded with holy influences from year to year, and how often you
have been near the kingdom of God! Yet here you are to-day, further
off than ever!

It may be true of you, as it was of Herod, that you hear your
preacher gladly. You attend church, you contribute liberally, you do
many things. Remember that none of these avail to cleanse your soul
from sin. They will not be accepted in the place of what God