Matt. VII: 1-6.
Fault-finding is not in itself a sin; on the contrary, it is often a duty. The old Levitical law said: "Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." Under the New Testament law of love there is the exhortation: "Reprove, rebuke, with all long-suffering and doctrine;" but, as some one has well said, "A duty may become a sin if wrongfully done." The spirit of the Christian is the spirit of love and gentleness. Yet there are times when he must rebuke sin and take no compromising position in the presence of evil. To be censorious, however, is to be un-Christlike and disobedient to His wish.
There are certain thing to be said about mote-pulling and beam-pulling. The first is:
I. Take care that you get them in the right order. Beam-pulling comes first. "First cast out the beam that is in thine own eye." Following that simple direction would stop a lot of mote-pulling. "Physician, heal thy self." "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest an other, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."
II. Secondly, bear in mind that mote-pulling is dangerous business. In judging others we court judgment on ourselves. A Spanish proverb says: "If our faults were written on our foreheads we should have to go with out hats pulled over our eyes." Another familiar proverb says that "people who live in glass houses ought not to throw stones."
"Before you mark another's sin
Bid thine own conscience look within."
Mote-pulling is often the unconscious result of an unforgiving spirit. If we do not forgive others God cannot forgive us. So, both from his fellowmen and from God, there is danger to the man who judges his brother.
III. Thirdly, mote-pulling is frequently a very hypocritical performance. If we have studied ourselves carefully most of us have found that in proportion as we have become quick to discern the faults of others we have less and less discerned our own shortcomings. Frequently when we have found faults in others they were but reflections of faults in our own lives. "It takes a rogue to catch a rogue." There are a good many sins that, if we did not indulge so much ourselves, we would not see so plainly in others.
IV. Fourthly, mote-pulling is often times a most useless performance. It certainly is useless so long as there is plainly visible inconsistency, in our own lives.
V. Therefore, mote-puller, take care. It is a delicate matter to pluck a mote or a cinder out of an inflamed eye. Take care how you do it. First be sure your hands are clean. That does not mean we must live sinless lives before we begin to help others; but it does mean that we must be right with God, and right with our fellowmen. Take care that you do your mote-pulling very tenderly and gently, also. It requires a great art of tact and tenderness to help a brother by finding fault with him, though it can be done.
VI. Before your begin change places. It is best to begin that way; for you will have to change places before you get through. "For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you again." As a man soweth in his judgment of others, so shall he reap.
VII. Put on charity as a garment. Recognizing the danger, the delicacy, the importance of the work; being in right relations with God and with your fellowmen; resolve on great tact and tenderness, with a clear conscience, clean hands and clothed in the white robes of charity, you are in a condition, like Christ, to do good in the ministry of reproof. Do not forget this last condition: Put on charity as a garment. "Charity suffereth long" etc.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A GOOD MAN'S PERPLEXITIES IN VIEW OF THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE.
(By Benjamin D. Thomas, D. D., Toronto, Canada.)
"I have heard, but understand not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? . . . Go thou this way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot in the end of the days." - Dan. 12:8,13.
We learn from this Scripture:
1. That the history of humanity is full of perplexities even to the good man.
Daniel felt it in this instance. David felt it. Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all prophets felt it. No thoughtful soul has ever lived but has felt it. We seem to be standing beside this seer of a bygone age, looking into the same darkness, disturbed by the same mysterious, agonized by the same apprehensions. Life is full of anomalies and contradiction.
II. That even the good man must be satisfied to leave many of the problems that fill him with perplexity unsolved.
He cannot successfully grapple with them. They are immeasurably beyond his capacity. His relationship to God will serve to give him a better standard of judgment, will quicken thought, and enlarge the hemisphere of vision, but it will not serve to lift him out of his perplexities. He may be at rest because he knows that God is on the throne, but it will be the rest of faith, not of sight.
III. That the perplexities which present themselves in life must not be allowed to interfere with the good man's fulfillment of his duties and responsibilities.
"Go thou thy way till the end be." Your supreme business is not to know, but to do. It is not for the workmen who are engaged in the construction of a magnificent pile which is to be the wonder and admiration of the age to have a clear knowledge of the architectural ideal. All they need to know is how to use the tools that have been placed in their hands; all they need be anxious about is the particular piece of wall given them to build. They labor necessarily in the dark. All they need be assured of is that they are working under the guidance and inspiration of the great Master-Builder. Be true, be honest, be diligent, be faithful, fill the particular position into which Providence hath introduced you as well as it can be filled by the grace of God and the great Architect under whose superintendence the vast structure is being upreared will take care of the congruities and harmonies. Do not agitate yourself with questions which are beyond your capacity to understand. Do not permit the inexplicable and the perplexing in human phenomena to disquiet you. Do not obtrude into the domain of the Infinite. "Go thou thy way." Do thou thy work. Discharge thou with fidelity thy duty in the sphere into which Providence hath introduced thee. The mysteries and the incongruities, the anomalies and the perplexities, are not for thee to decipher and understand. "Go thou thy way till the end be."
IV. That there will be a period in the future when all that now perplexes the good man will be seen not to have been out of harmony with his best interests.
"For thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." There is a momentous crisis toward which the whole of life is tending. Righteousness must be vindicated. The dark, mysterious, inexplicable, must be seen to have the light of an infinite beneficence flashing through them. If not, what is there to hope for? Then God is not a God of justice. Then the Bible has been luring us with. incentives only to culminate in anarchy and despair. As God liveth there must be a judgment, there must be a period in which wrong shall be righted, in which the false shall be uncovered and the true approved, in which the purpose of God shall shine forth commanding universal admiration, in which infinite love shall be seen to have been ever operant in the affairs of the universe. It must be so, else the whole scheme of life is in explicable and unutterably unjust.
When the great consummation shall come —.
(1.) The good man shall rest — no more shall there be experienced aught to disturb, to agitate, to perplex.
(2.) The good man shall stand in his lot — his character and circumstances will correspond. The good man's "lot and the end of days" will be worthy of the great Lord to whose grace he owes it.
The time is coming when the good man shall be lifted above all his perplexities, when he shall understand why he could not understand, and see why he could not see, and know what was aforetime unknowable.
"I have heard, but understand not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? . . . Go thou this way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot in the end of the days." - Dan. 12:8,13.
We learn from this Scripture:
1. That the history of humanity is full of perplexities even to the good man.
Daniel felt it in this instance. David felt it. Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all prophets felt it. No thoughtful soul has ever lived but has felt it. We seem to be standing beside this seer of a bygone age, looking into the same darkness, disturbed by the same mysterious, agonized by the same apprehensions. Life is full of anomalies and contradiction.
II. That even the good man must be satisfied to leave many of the problems that fill him with perplexity unsolved.
He cannot successfully grapple with them. They are immeasurably beyond his capacity. His relationship to God will serve to give him a better standard of judgment, will quicken thought, and enlarge the hemisphere of vision, but it will not serve to lift him out of his perplexities. He may be at rest because he knows that God is on the throne, but it will be the rest of faith, not of sight.
III. That the perplexities which present themselves in life must not be allowed to interfere with the good man's fulfillment of his duties and responsibilities.
"Go thou thy way till the end be." Your supreme business is not to know, but to do. It is not for the workmen who are engaged in the construction of a magnificent pile which is to be the wonder and admiration of the age to have a clear knowledge of the architectural ideal. All they need to know is how to use the tools that have been placed in their hands; all they need be anxious about is the particular piece of wall given them to build. They labor necessarily in the dark. All they need be assured of is that they are working under the guidance and inspiration of the great Master-Builder. Be true, be honest, be diligent, be faithful, fill the particular position into which Providence hath introduced you as well as it can be filled by the grace of God and the great Architect under whose superintendence the vast structure is being upreared will take care of the congruities and harmonies. Do not agitate yourself with questions which are beyond your capacity to understand. Do not permit the inexplicable and the perplexing in human phenomena to disquiet you. Do not obtrude into the domain of the Infinite. "Go thou thy way." Do thou thy work. Discharge thou with fidelity thy duty in the sphere into which Providence hath introduced thee. The mysteries and the incongruities, the anomalies and the perplexities, are not for thee to decipher and understand. "Go thou thy way till the end be."
IV. That there will be a period in the future when all that now perplexes the good man will be seen not to have been out of harmony with his best interests.
"For thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." There is a momentous crisis toward which the whole of life is tending. Righteousness must be vindicated. The dark, mysterious, inexplicable, must be seen to have the light of an infinite beneficence flashing through them. If not, what is there to hope for? Then God is not a God of justice. Then the Bible has been luring us with. incentives only to culminate in anarchy and despair. As God liveth there must be a judgment, there must be a period in which wrong shall be righted, in which the false shall be uncovered and the true approved, in which the purpose of God shall shine forth commanding universal admiration, in which infinite love shall be seen to have been ever operant in the affairs of the universe. It must be so, else the whole scheme of life is in explicable and unutterably unjust.
When the great consummation shall come —.
(1.) The good man shall rest — no more shall there be experienced aught to disturb, to agitate, to perplex.
(2.) The good man shall stand in his lot — his character and circumstances will correspond. The good man's "lot and the end of days" will be worthy of the great Lord to whose grace he owes it.
The time is coming when the good man shall be lifted above all his perplexities, when he shall understand why he could not understand, and see why he could not see, and know what was aforetime unknowable.
THE LITTLE REMNANT.
"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." Isaiah 1:9.
I. The Little Remnant in History.
1. The Jews were a small people, comparatively.
2. The power of God was made manifest in them throughout.
3. The little-minority—the hope of the world.
II. The Remnant Essential.
1. Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. Christianity saved the Roman Empire under Tacitus.
3. Christianity is the core of civilization.
III. The Method of the Survival of the Remnant.
1. Scattered to the four winds of the earth.
2. Scattering increases—as said Solomon.
3. The artist spends much time and material, etc.
4. The sculptor cuts away the stone, etc.
IV. The Gospel of the Remnant.
1. Good news to us today—the few have conquered.
2. Revolutions in creeds, theology, doctrine, society.
3. "Sifted as corn is sifted" (Amos), none lost.
V. The Remnant and the Individual.
1. The individual hates the remnant. Does not like to he classed with the minority.
2. Success depends on how we work the remnant — in others, in ourselves.
3. Make the most of the little good In your own life.
VI. The Remnant and the Other Fellow.
1. The animal of humanity.
2. Not yet entirely emerged from the savage state.
3. Yet there is goodness in every individual, after all.
4. Stand by the remnant of good in the other fellow.
5. Examine the remnants in your own life. How little of good in man, yet Christ died to save him.
6. Get nearer to your fellowmen and save him.
7. Remember the text and apply yourself to wisdom.
— REV. W. H. BAKER.
I. The Little Remnant in History.
1. The Jews were a small people, comparatively.
2. The power of God was made manifest in them throughout.
3. The little-minority—the hope of the world.
II. The Remnant Essential.
1. Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. Christianity saved the Roman Empire under Tacitus.
3. Christianity is the core of civilization.
III. The Method of the Survival of the Remnant.
1. Scattered to the four winds of the earth.
2. Scattering increases—as said Solomon.
3. The artist spends much time and material, etc.
4. The sculptor cuts away the stone, etc.
IV. The Gospel of the Remnant.
1. Good news to us today—the few have conquered.
2. Revolutions in creeds, theology, doctrine, society.
3. "Sifted as corn is sifted" (Amos), none lost.
V. The Remnant and the Individual.
1. The individual hates the remnant. Does not like to he classed with the minority.
2. Success depends on how we work the remnant — in others, in ourselves.
3. Make the most of the little good In your own life.
VI. The Remnant and the Other Fellow.
1. The animal of humanity.
2. Not yet entirely emerged from the savage state.
3. Yet there is goodness in every individual, after all.
4. Stand by the remnant of good in the other fellow.
5. Examine the remnants in your own life. How little of good in man, yet Christ died to save him.
6. Get nearer to your fellowmen and save him.
7. Remember the text and apply yourself to wisdom.
— REV. W. H. BAKER.
PURIFICATION BY FAITH.
Acts 15:9.
I. Why Does God Purify the Heart by Faith?
1. Man was ruined by believing the Devil, so God has planned that man shall be saved by believing on Christ.
2. Faith gives God the glory for our salvation through Christ. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son," etc.
II. What Is Faith?
1. Faith is a living conviction not only of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but of His efficiency and mission as our Saviour.
2. Such a conviction is not a mere assent to the truth that He died for our sins.
3. It is a trust from the heart in Jesus to now save me, to now lift me out of this horrible pit.
I. Why Does God Purify the Heart by Faith?
1. Man was ruined by believing the Devil, so God has planned that man shall be saved by believing on Christ.
2. Faith gives God the glory for our salvation through Christ. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son," etc.
II. What Is Faith?
1. Faith is a living conviction not only of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but of His efficiency and mission as our Saviour.
2. Such a conviction is not a mere assent to the truth that He died for our sins.
3. It is a trust from the heart in Jesus to now save me, to now lift me out of this horrible pit.
WHAT THE SHEPHERDS SAW IN THE CRADLE.
Luke 2:13-15.
We are told what the shepherds said: "Let us go even now unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass." And what did they see when they got there? This is the question we should ponder this Christmas morning.
I. They saw a Child through whom had come to man the greatest revelation of God.
II. They saw a child born to give earth the greatest revelation of man.
III. They saw Him who was born to be the world's Saviour.
IV. They saw a Child who was born to be the earth's greatest Teacher.
V. They saw a Child who alone had the right to the sovereignty of the world. Lowly, but King! Jesus, Son of man, Son of God! We worship Thee this morning. Amen. - Alpha.
We are told what the shepherds said: "Let us go even now unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass." And what did they see when they got there? This is the question we should ponder this Christmas morning.
I. They saw a Child through whom had come to man the greatest revelation of God.
II. They saw a child born to give earth the greatest revelation of man.
III. They saw Him who was born to be the world's Saviour.
IV. They saw a Child who was born to be the earth's greatest Teacher.
V. They saw a Child who alone had the right to the sovereignty of the world. Lowly, but King! Jesus, Son of man, Son of God! We worship Thee this morning. Amen. - Alpha.
THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT.
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." — II. Cor. 9:15.
I. It is the best of gifts. The heart naturally yearns for love. "Greater love hath no man than this," etc. "Herein is love, not that we loved God," etc. "God so loved the world," etc.
II. Because it includes other gifts. Have you Christ? If you trust and serve Him you have the guarantee of all.
III. Because it improves other gifts. The presence of one possession may add to the worth of all else. Examine, sight. Thus it is with the gift Christ. And we all seem better for it. It improves everything.
1. We value nature more.
2. We value human nature more.
3. We value the Bible more.
IV. Because it makes us givers. When we receive it we become like it.
V. Because it is a gift to all. "To all people."
1. A gift, not a loan.
2. A gift, not a purchase.
"'Tis only God that is given away, 'Tis only Heaven may be had for the asking!"
3. How shall we express our "thanks?"
(a) By giving this gift to others.
(b) By giving ourselves to the Giver. - Rev. Thomas R. Stevenson.
I. It is the best of gifts. The heart naturally yearns for love. "Greater love hath no man than this," etc. "Herein is love, not that we loved God," etc. "God so loved the world," etc.
II. Because it includes other gifts. Have you Christ? If you trust and serve Him you have the guarantee of all.
III. Because it improves other gifts. The presence of one possession may add to the worth of all else. Examine, sight. Thus it is with the gift Christ. And we all seem better for it. It improves everything.
1. We value nature more.
2. We value human nature more.
3. We value the Bible more.
IV. Because it makes us givers. When we receive it we become like it.
V. Because it is a gift to all. "To all people."
1. A gift, not a loan.
2. A gift, not a purchase.
"'Tis only God that is given away, 'Tis only Heaven may be had for the asking!"
3. How shall we express our "thanks?"
(a) By giving this gift to others.
(b) By giving ourselves to the Giver. - Rev. Thomas R. Stevenson.
THE GOLDEN RULE.
Matt. VII:7-12.
In this part of a sermon on the Mount our Lord begins to draw His discourse to a conclusion. The lessons He enforces becomes less specific. They are broad, general, and full of the deepest wisdom. The golden rule, so called from its great value, stands here for a summary of our relative duties, as they are taught in the moral law. It lays down a general principle, and one especially valuable for our guidance in all doubtful questions between man and man. We are to do unto others as we would that others should do unto us. This is a golden rule indeed. This is real Christianity. It does not merely forbid all petty malice and revenge, all cheating and over-reaching. It goes much further, and settles a hundred difficult points which, in a world like this, are continually arising between man and man. It prevents the necessity of laying down endless little rules for specific cases. It sweeps the whole debatable ground with one mighty principle.
I. The excellence of this rule.
1. It is golden. It is sound through and through and very precious. The heathen emperor, Alexander Severus, is said to have been so charmed by this rule, when he heard it, that he made a crier repeat it whenever he had occasion to punish any one, and caused it to be inscribed in the most frequented parts of his palace and on many public buildings. He also professed so high a regard for Christ, as having been the author of so excellent a rule, that he desired to have Him enrolled among the deities.
2. It is brief. It is very easy to understand and easy to remember. Some one has well called it "the portable law," It is portable, easy to remember, always at hand. It is like the "two-foot rule" which the wise carpenter always carries with him ready to take the measurement of any work to which he is called.
3. It is comprehensive. "All things." It takes in the full round of life and living.
4. It is reasonable, being founded or exact justice and the original equality of all men.
5. It is beneficent. Its beneficence is seen in its relation to ourselves. As one has well said: "God seems to let us make our own laws." It is beneficent in its operation, also in its relation to others.
6. It is an ideal principle. The ideal must always be higher than present achievement, or progress ceases. Porter says: "The one must flee before the other like its shadow, and cannot be overtaken." Ultimate perfection depends on a perfect standard. This principle of the "golden rule" is perfect.
II. Some of the ways in which it may be applied. It may he applied to the civilities of social intercourse, to the practice of high neighborly charities and compassions; to the rights, properties and good name of all around us; to the social duties falling under no special name; to the matter of our regard for the opinions of others, to the question of our acceptance of a God-provided salvation. Our duty toward our neighbor takes in consideration for his soul, and the promotion of its welfare by our prayers, our persuasions, our example.
III. Some of the results of its observance.
1. Social disorders would cease. Its general application would bring the desired peace in the industrial affairs of our country. Harmony would come in the moral relationships of men; honesty and good feeling into national politics; brotherly love into a divided Christendom, and the spirit of truth and righteousness into the conduct of international affairs.
2. Mutual benefit would be gained by disaffected parties. Men would share in the prosperity and privileges and rights of properly conducted government and a free Christianity.
3. Universal harmony would prevail in church and state. The proper application of the golden rule would solve all sociological problems; it would preserve human rights, conciliate capital and labor, and extinguish Socialism. — Selected.
In this part of a sermon on the Mount our Lord begins to draw His discourse to a conclusion. The lessons He enforces becomes less specific. They are broad, general, and full of the deepest wisdom. The golden rule, so called from its great value, stands here for a summary of our relative duties, as they are taught in the moral law. It lays down a general principle, and one especially valuable for our guidance in all doubtful questions between man and man. We are to do unto others as we would that others should do unto us. This is a golden rule indeed. This is real Christianity. It does not merely forbid all petty malice and revenge, all cheating and over-reaching. It goes much further, and settles a hundred difficult points which, in a world like this, are continually arising between man and man. It prevents the necessity of laying down endless little rules for specific cases. It sweeps the whole debatable ground with one mighty principle.
I. The excellence of this rule.
1. It is golden. It is sound through and through and very precious. The heathen emperor, Alexander Severus, is said to have been so charmed by this rule, when he heard it, that he made a crier repeat it whenever he had occasion to punish any one, and caused it to be inscribed in the most frequented parts of his palace and on many public buildings. He also professed so high a regard for Christ, as having been the author of so excellent a rule, that he desired to have Him enrolled among the deities.
2. It is brief. It is very easy to understand and easy to remember. Some one has well called it "the portable law," It is portable, easy to remember, always at hand. It is like the "two-foot rule" which the wise carpenter always carries with him ready to take the measurement of any work to which he is called.
3. It is comprehensive. "All things." It takes in the full round of life and living.
4. It is reasonable, being founded or exact justice and the original equality of all men.
5. It is beneficent. Its beneficence is seen in its relation to ourselves. As one has well said: "God seems to let us make our own laws." It is beneficent in its operation, also in its relation to others.
6. It is an ideal principle. The ideal must always be higher than present achievement, or progress ceases. Porter says: "The one must flee before the other like its shadow, and cannot be overtaken." Ultimate perfection depends on a perfect standard. This principle of the "golden rule" is perfect.
II. Some of the ways in which it may be applied. It may he applied to the civilities of social intercourse, to the practice of high neighborly charities and compassions; to the rights, properties and good name of all around us; to the social duties falling under no special name; to the matter of our regard for the opinions of others, to the question of our acceptance of a God-provided salvation. Our duty toward our neighbor takes in consideration for his soul, and the promotion of its welfare by our prayers, our persuasions, our example.
III. Some of the results of its observance.
1. Social disorders would cease. Its general application would bring the desired peace in the industrial affairs of our country. Harmony would come in the moral relationships of men; honesty and good feeling into national politics; brotherly love into a divided Christendom, and the spirit of truth and righteousness into the conduct of international affairs.
2. Mutual benefit would be gained by disaffected parties. Men would share in the prosperity and privileges and rights of properly conducted government and a free Christianity.
3. Universal harmony would prevail in church and state. The proper application of the golden rule would solve all sociological problems; it would preserve human rights, conciliate capital and labor, and extinguish Socialism. — Selected.
THE CHURCH AND THE SALOON.
Text: "For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 2 Cor. 6:14, 15.
I. As to the church. What is it? The word is ekklesia; that is, "called out." The church is an association of persons called out of the world to perform definite service for God.
1. It is not a holy club.
2. It is not a social coterie.
3. It is not a company of truth seekers. We are not seeking truth; we have found it.
4. It is not an ethical society. We are not casting about for a system of morals. Our moral code is in the Bible.
5. The church is a great living organism through which God is working for the tearing down of evil and the building up of truth and righteousness on earth. The emblem of our service is the sword and trowel. What is the sword for? To make war on iniquity. What is the trowel for? To build up all forms of goodness on earth; to lay grace upon grace, as the mason lays stone upon stone, until our world shall be a temple fit for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. Thus with sword and trowel we clear the way and rear the fabric of the Kingdom of God.
II. As to the saloon. What is it? A definition must be an indictment. It is the focal expression of almost everything evil.
1. It is an enemy of man.
2. It is an enemy of the home.
3. It is the worst enemy of the State. On last election day I took occasion to make the round of the polling places in the lower part of New York City. I saw scores of sovereign citizens staggering to the ballot box. Here is the Gibraltar of evil politics. Are there witnesses to verify this indictment? Aye, thousands of them reeling about our streets. See them issuing from the dram shop; mark their flushed faces; their shuffling gait; see them as they pass by hiccoughing down to death.
Are more witnesses needed? Let the wives and children of this drunken multitude pass by. Oh, these sad-eyed, pale-faced women; God pity the drunkard's wife; and his little children, ill-clothed and hungry, shrinking from the pointed finger and the taunt, "A drunkard's child!"
More witnesses still? Let me stand by the doorway of one of our multitudinous dive, and hear the laughter of lost womanhood. The evils which are wrought in this place of infamy are scarcely to be spoken of in this presence. But inmates and patrons alike are devotees of Bacchus.
Is more evidence needed? Let us pass through the corridors of our prisons. Here are thieves, murderers, and wrongdoers of every sort. Chief Justice Coleridge says more than eighty per cent of all these commitments are due to strong drink. Put one of our daily newspapers in evidence; cast your eyes over the police reports. What is it that nerves men to deeds of shame and violence?
There are criminals of many sorts and degrees, but the rum-seller is the criminal of all criminals; for it is scarcely beyond the bounds of simple fact to say that he is the maker of them all.
Still farther. Let us visit our insane asylums. See these poor demented creatures, driveling idiots, raving madmen. It was long ago that a wise student of human nature exclaimed: "Alas, that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains!" It is stated that seventy per cent of the inmates of our lunatic asylums have dethroned their reasons by inebriety, or else are paying by inheritance the penalty of parental indulgence.
Or pass through our poorhouses. Many of the paupers are old before their time, watery-eyed and decrepit through drink.
Or go through the potter's field. Oh, what tragedies of pain and sorrow lie hidden under these grounds! Here are men who struggled vainly in the grip of habit and died in drunken frenzy; here are wives whose life was starved and beaten out of them until they were laid out for their burial in borrowed shrouds; here are little children whose fathers were so impoverished by drink that not enough was left to purchase a meager four feet of earth to lay them in.
III. Now as to the relation of the church to the saloon. We have seen that the church is an appointed organism through which God is building up truth and goodness on earth. We have seen that the saloon is the practical expression of nearly all that is iniquitous among men. How shall the two stand in relation to each other? Or what in these premises is the church to do?
1. It can choose to do nothing. It can supinely fold its hands and say: "The saloon has come to stay." God save us from that cowardly sophism!
2. The church may sanction the saloon — that is, license it. The word license is from the word licet, which in the original is an impersonal verb meaning "it is permitted;" but brought over into the English tongue it becomes intensely personal and means "I permit it." And that is the meaning of a vote for license — "I permit it." What is it that we permit? The dram shop is authorized to do what?
3. The church may undertake to sanction the dram shop — that is, throw the cloak of ecclesiastical help and comfort over it. That is the last proposition which, in certain ecclesiastical quarters finds favor. It is incredible that so preposterous a thing should be seriously proposed. The saloon is totally bad; it has done evil and only evil all the days of its life.
4. There is but one other attitude which the church may assume, namely, it may antagonize the dram shop to the uttermost. War to the knife and the knife to the hilt! No quarter! There are thirty continuous miles of saloons in the City of New York, and every red light that streams from them marks an open mouth of hell. What can the church do but antagonize this thing? What shall ministers do but denounce it? If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, what shall the suffering people do? Let us befriend the drunkard and the drunkard's wife and children, and defend them from their foe. Let us not undertake to cleanse what has been proven in the nature of things to be essentially unclean. Let us not lay a blessings upon that which God has cursed. We must needs do our best and uttermost to rescue the dram-seller from the error of his way, to break the chains of the inebriate and set him free; to heal the wounds of the poor and helpless whom the drink horror has stricken down. But as to that unmitigated evil — the dram shop — we can offer naught but bitterest enmity. The vow of Cato, "Carthago delenda est," must be ours. No quarter to the dram shop! The thing must die, because it is accursed of God. — D. J. Burrell.
I. As to the church. What is it? The word is ekklesia; that is, "called out." The church is an association of persons called out of the world to perform definite service for God.
1. It is not a holy club.
2. It is not a social coterie.
3. It is not a company of truth seekers. We are not seeking truth; we have found it.
4. It is not an ethical society. We are not casting about for a system of morals. Our moral code is in the Bible.
5. The church is a great living organism through which God is working for the tearing down of evil and the building up of truth and righteousness on earth. The emblem of our service is the sword and trowel. What is the sword for? To make war on iniquity. What is the trowel for? To build up all forms of goodness on earth; to lay grace upon grace, as the mason lays stone upon stone, until our world shall be a temple fit for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. Thus with sword and trowel we clear the way and rear the fabric of the Kingdom of God.
II. As to the saloon. What is it? A definition must be an indictment. It is the focal expression of almost everything evil.
1. It is an enemy of man.
2. It is an enemy of the home.
3. It is the worst enemy of the State. On last election day I took occasion to make the round of the polling places in the lower part of New York City. I saw scores of sovereign citizens staggering to the ballot box. Here is the Gibraltar of evil politics. Are there witnesses to verify this indictment? Aye, thousands of them reeling about our streets. See them issuing from the dram shop; mark their flushed faces; their shuffling gait; see them as they pass by hiccoughing down to death.
Are more witnesses needed? Let the wives and children of this drunken multitude pass by. Oh, these sad-eyed, pale-faced women; God pity the drunkard's wife; and his little children, ill-clothed and hungry, shrinking from the pointed finger and the taunt, "A drunkard's child!"
More witnesses still? Let me stand by the doorway of one of our multitudinous dive, and hear the laughter of lost womanhood. The evils which are wrought in this place of infamy are scarcely to be spoken of in this presence. But inmates and patrons alike are devotees of Bacchus.
Is more evidence needed? Let us pass through the corridors of our prisons. Here are thieves, murderers, and wrongdoers of every sort. Chief Justice Coleridge says more than eighty per cent of all these commitments are due to strong drink. Put one of our daily newspapers in evidence; cast your eyes over the police reports. What is it that nerves men to deeds of shame and violence?
There are criminals of many sorts and degrees, but the rum-seller is the criminal of all criminals; for it is scarcely beyond the bounds of simple fact to say that he is the maker of them all.
Still farther. Let us visit our insane asylums. See these poor demented creatures, driveling idiots, raving madmen. It was long ago that a wise student of human nature exclaimed: "Alas, that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains!" It is stated that seventy per cent of the inmates of our lunatic asylums have dethroned their reasons by inebriety, or else are paying by inheritance the penalty of parental indulgence.
Or pass through our poorhouses. Many of the paupers are old before their time, watery-eyed and decrepit through drink.
Or go through the potter's field. Oh, what tragedies of pain and sorrow lie hidden under these grounds! Here are men who struggled vainly in the grip of habit and died in drunken frenzy; here are wives whose life was starved and beaten out of them until they were laid out for their burial in borrowed shrouds; here are little children whose fathers were so impoverished by drink that not enough was left to purchase a meager four feet of earth to lay them in.
III. Now as to the relation of the church to the saloon. We have seen that the church is an appointed organism through which God is building up truth and goodness on earth. We have seen that the saloon is the practical expression of nearly all that is iniquitous among men. How shall the two stand in relation to each other? Or what in these premises is the church to do?
1. It can choose to do nothing. It can supinely fold its hands and say: "The saloon has come to stay." God save us from that cowardly sophism!
2. The church may sanction the saloon — that is, license it. The word license is from the word licet, which in the original is an impersonal verb meaning "it is permitted;" but brought over into the English tongue it becomes intensely personal and means "I permit it." And that is the meaning of a vote for license — "I permit it." What is it that we permit? The dram shop is authorized to do what?
3. The church may undertake to sanction the dram shop — that is, throw the cloak of ecclesiastical help and comfort over it. That is the last proposition which, in certain ecclesiastical quarters finds favor. It is incredible that so preposterous a thing should be seriously proposed. The saloon is totally bad; it has done evil and only evil all the days of its life.
4. There is but one other attitude which the church may assume, namely, it may antagonize the dram shop to the uttermost. War to the knife and the knife to the hilt! No quarter! There are thirty continuous miles of saloons in the City of New York, and every red light that streams from them marks an open mouth of hell. What can the church do but antagonize this thing? What shall ministers do but denounce it? If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, what shall the suffering people do? Let us befriend the drunkard and the drunkard's wife and children, and defend them from their foe. Let us not undertake to cleanse what has been proven in the nature of things to be essentially unclean. Let us not lay a blessings upon that which God has cursed. We must needs do our best and uttermost to rescue the dram-seller from the error of his way, to break the chains of the inebriate and set him free; to heal the wounds of the poor and helpless whom the drink horror has stricken down. But as to that unmitigated evil — the dram shop — we can offer naught but bitterest enmity. The vow of Cato, "Carthago delenda est," must be ours. No quarter to the dram shop! The thing must die, because it is accursed of God. — D. J. Burrell.
CONFORMING TO THE LOWER.
I asked the secretary of a well-known Christian organization why it was they were changing their button from a good sized, conspicuous to a much smaller one, and he said, "Well, you know such and such an organization uses small buttons, and the boys think people will take our button for theirs when it is smaller because, they look so much alike." That is the great trouble in the world today. Too many are compromising their Christian life and trying to bring it down on a level with worldly things instead of having the worldly things come up to a higher level with them.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Wants No Modernized Bible
1910
King James Version the Best of All, Says Writer in Success Magazine
We are just old-fashioned enough to take no stock in the modernized Bible which is shortly to appear, "couched in every-day language, with obsolete words and phrases eliminated." The King James Bible has done more to preserve the good old Saxon words and style, which are the best English literature has produced, than anything else.
Instead of a movement to get us further away from that vigorous, simple, classic style, and in the interest of establishing the finest literary ideals possible to a people destined to use the curious hybrid which the English language has become, it would be more sensible to frown upon all efforts to improve on the King James Bible. It is the greatest treasure house, inspiration and teacher of good English that we possess. — Success Magazine.
King James Version the Best of All, Says Writer in Success Magazine
We are just old-fashioned enough to take no stock in the modernized Bible which is shortly to appear, "couched in every-day language, with obsolete words and phrases eliminated." The King James Bible has done more to preserve the good old Saxon words and style, which are the best English literature has produced, than anything else.
Instead of a movement to get us further away from that vigorous, simple, classic style, and in the interest of establishing the finest literary ideals possible to a people destined to use the curious hybrid which the English language has become, it would be more sensible to frown upon all efforts to improve on the King James Bible. It is the greatest treasure house, inspiration and teacher of good English that we possess. — Success Magazine.
You'll Not Be Sorry
1910
If You Follow the Following Suggestions
You'll never be sorry—
For living a straight life.
For doing your level best.
For being kind to the poor.
For looking before leaping.
For hearing before judging.
For thinking before speaking.
For harboring clean thoughts.
For standing by your principles.
For stopping your ears to gossip.
For being as courteous as a duke.
For asking pardon when in error.
For bridling a garrulous tongue.
For being square in business dealings.
For giving an unfortunate fellow a lift.
For promptness in keeping your promises.
For putting the best construction on the acts of others.
You will never never be sorry, for giving light to the blind, knowledge to the ignorant, strength to the weak help to the struggling and a Savior to the heathen. — New Orleans Times Democrat.
If You Follow the Following Suggestions
You'll never be sorry—
For living a straight life.
For doing your level best.
For being kind to the poor.
For looking before leaping.
For hearing before judging.
For thinking before speaking.
For harboring clean thoughts.
For standing by your principles.
For stopping your ears to gossip.
For being as courteous as a duke.
For asking pardon when in error.
For bridling a garrulous tongue.
For being square in business dealings.
For giving an unfortunate fellow a lift.
For promptness in keeping your promises.
For putting the best construction on the acts of others.
You will never never be sorry, for giving light to the blind, knowledge to the ignorant, strength to the weak help to the struggling and a Savior to the heathen. — New Orleans Times Democrat.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Life Saving on Conditions
Sept. 1910
A treatise on "How to Be Kind but Cautious" might be written by a woman who played the part of good Samaritan in a New York subway station. Another woman had fainted. What she needed to bring her to in a hurry was smelling salts, but nobody had smelling salts.
"I think she has a vinaigrette of her own in that bag," said the Samaritan, "but in the absence of a policeman I am afraid to open it to find out." Something that looked like a small bottle could be discerned through the meshes of the chain bag, and the crowd, valiantly shifting responsibility, said: "Go ahead and open it."
"On one condition I will," said the Samaritan. "I want three bystanders to watch me and sign a written statement that I have taken nothing from the bag but the vinaigrette. I know this town too well to take any chances of being accused of theft."
The oath was drawn up in a jiffy, three signatures were appended, the Samaritan opened the bag, found the vinaigrette, and proceeded with restorative measures.
A treatise on "How to Be Kind but Cautious" might be written by a woman who played the part of good Samaritan in a New York subway station. Another woman had fainted. What she needed to bring her to in a hurry was smelling salts, but nobody had smelling salts.
"I think she has a vinaigrette of her own in that bag," said the Samaritan, "but in the absence of a policeman I am afraid to open it to find out." Something that looked like a small bottle could be discerned through the meshes of the chain bag, and the crowd, valiantly shifting responsibility, said: "Go ahead and open it."
"On one condition I will," said the Samaritan. "I want three bystanders to watch me and sign a written statement that I have taken nothing from the bag but the vinaigrette. I know this town too well to take any chances of being accused of theft."
The oath was drawn up in a jiffy, three signatures were appended, the Samaritan opened the bag, found the vinaigrette, and proceeded with restorative measures.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Work of the Salvation Army Presented
Michigan, 1903
SOUP, SOAP AND SALVATION
MOTTO OF SLUM WORKERS SALVATION ARMY
WORK OF NOBLE MEN AND MEN ILLUSTRATED
LAST NIGHT BY ENSIGN BENNARD AT THE HALL
Many Scenes Taken From Life Were Very Pathetic
The Salvation Army hall at the corner of State and Union streets was packed last night when Ensign Bennard gave his stereopticon lecture on the Salvation Army and Its Work.
In introducing the Army itself and its beginning, the pictures of several of the most prominent officers were shown. These included Gen. William Booth and wife, Commander Booth- Tucker and wife, Brigadier Kate Cox and others. An interesting incident was related concerning Brigadier Cox's work in Detroit. She was thrown into jail for preaching on the streets and Frank C. Andrews of Detroit advised her to keep the law and she would not be put in jail. Within a week Andrews himself was confined in the cell next to the one occupied by Brigadier Cox and upon a charge much more serious than preaching salvation on the street corners.
The first special work shown was that among the fallen women and girls, and pictures true to life were shown of the Salvation Army lasses waiting at the doors of the saloons and dives for the women as they came out late at night. But the lassies do not only wait at the doors, they go inside and their influence is so great among the wicked people of the great cities that the chief of police of New York once remarked that he had rather have two Army lassies than half a dozen of his policemen to quell a riot in the worse parts of the city. In the work among the fallen women the Army has established and maintains homes where these sinful women and girls may go and begin life again. Some of them are kept for six months, some for a year and some for still longer periods. There are 5,000 girls passing through these rescue homes every year and the good done by them is incalculable.
The work in the slums was next shown and the motto of the slum-workers was given — Soup, Soap and Salvation — for it is generally necessary to give soup and soap before anything can be done along the line of salvation. Pictures were shown of Army Officers and girls starting out for work in the slums, equipped with mops and brooms, for in the slums it is necessary to fight, "dirt and the devil."
The social work among the poor workingman is an interesting phase of the Army work. Some of the shelters, which are really hotels, which are conducted by the Army in the larger cities, were presented to the view of the audience and a good idea of the work was gained. In these shelters beds are provided for 10 cents night and the clothes of those who stay over night are thoroughly disinfected and the taking of a bath is also compulsory. In this country there are 68 of these shelters and in the world there are more than 6,000,000 men sheltered over night every year. In this line of work are also the salvage stores where old garments are fixed over and furniture and everything necessary for housekeeping is sold for fraction of what it would cost at the regular stores of the city.
The farm colonies of which there are three in the United States were next shown and the method of their operation was told. The people who are placed on these farms are brought from the slums of the cities and are given so many acres of land to work. On these colonies the government has established post offices and the Army has built schoolhouses so that the children may be as well educated as the children of any farmer in the land.
The other subjects shown were about the prison work and work among the waifs. Many of the scenes thrown upon the canvas were pitiful in the extreme and the change after the Army had brought its influence to bear was wonderful.
Interspersed between the subjects were several illustrated songs in some of which the audience joined and some of which were solos by the ensign.
The meeting was closed with the old song, "God Be With You," illustrated with beautiful pictures.
—Daily Eagle, Traverse City, Michigan, Aug. 5, 1903, p. 1.
SOUP, SOAP AND SALVATION
MOTTO OF SLUM WORKERS SALVATION ARMY
WORK OF NOBLE MEN AND MEN ILLUSTRATED
LAST NIGHT BY ENSIGN BENNARD AT THE HALL
Many Scenes Taken From Life Were Very Pathetic
The Salvation Army hall at the corner of State and Union streets was packed last night when Ensign Bennard gave his stereopticon lecture on the Salvation Army and Its Work.
In introducing the Army itself and its beginning, the pictures of several of the most prominent officers were shown. These included Gen. William Booth and wife, Commander Booth- Tucker and wife, Brigadier Kate Cox and others. An interesting incident was related concerning Brigadier Cox's work in Detroit. She was thrown into jail for preaching on the streets and Frank C. Andrews of Detroit advised her to keep the law and she would not be put in jail. Within a week Andrews himself was confined in the cell next to the one occupied by Brigadier Cox and upon a charge much more serious than preaching salvation on the street corners.
The first special work shown was that among the fallen women and girls, and pictures true to life were shown of the Salvation Army lasses waiting at the doors of the saloons and dives for the women as they came out late at night. But the lassies do not only wait at the doors, they go inside and their influence is so great among the wicked people of the great cities that the chief of police of New York once remarked that he had rather have two Army lassies than half a dozen of his policemen to quell a riot in the worse parts of the city. In the work among the fallen women the Army has established and maintains homes where these sinful women and girls may go and begin life again. Some of them are kept for six months, some for a year and some for still longer periods. There are 5,000 girls passing through these rescue homes every year and the good done by them is incalculable.
The work in the slums was next shown and the motto of the slum-workers was given — Soup, Soap and Salvation — for it is generally necessary to give soup and soap before anything can be done along the line of salvation. Pictures were shown of Army Officers and girls starting out for work in the slums, equipped with mops and brooms, for in the slums it is necessary to fight, "dirt and the devil."
The social work among the poor workingman is an interesting phase of the Army work. Some of the shelters, which are really hotels, which are conducted by the Army in the larger cities, were presented to the view of the audience and a good idea of the work was gained. In these shelters beds are provided for 10 cents night and the clothes of those who stay over night are thoroughly disinfected and the taking of a bath is also compulsory. In this country there are 68 of these shelters and in the world there are more than 6,000,000 men sheltered over night every year. In this line of work are also the salvage stores where old garments are fixed over and furniture and everything necessary for housekeeping is sold for fraction of what it would cost at the regular stores of the city.
The farm colonies of which there are three in the United States were next shown and the method of their operation was told. The people who are placed on these farms are brought from the slums of the cities and are given so many acres of land to work. On these colonies the government has established post offices and the Army has built schoolhouses so that the children may be as well educated as the children of any farmer in the land.
The other subjects shown were about the prison work and work among the waifs. Many of the scenes thrown upon the canvas were pitiful in the extreme and the change after the Army had brought its influence to bear was wonderful.
Interspersed between the subjects were several illustrated songs in some of which the audience joined and some of which were solos by the ensign.
The meeting was closed with the old song, "God Be With You," illustrated with beautiful pictures.
—Daily Eagle, Traverse City, Michigan, Aug. 5, 1903, p. 1.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Epiphany Sermon, Jan. 6, 1896, Marion, Ohio
1896
An exceedingly able sermon was preached at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Sunday morning by Rev. J. W. Armstrong, who took his text from Matthew 2:1-2, "Now when Jesus was born in Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men — Magi — from the East to Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen a star in the East and have come to worship Him.'"
The speaker said that the unceasing current of time ever carrying us onward has brought us to the Epiphany. "Epiphany means the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. It has been celebrated and observed in the church since the second century.
"The idea of exclusiveness was among the Jews, but the real idea shows Him in this manifestation for all nations. The One born King of the Jews has become sovereign of the world. Though born a Jew His mission is for all men — all nations, for the Epiphany shows that He is to have universal dominion.
"The gospel of Christ shows that spiritual dignity rests not upon spiritual descent but upon spiritual character. The symbol of exclusiveness is shown in the rite of circumcision and this was exchanged for baptism, the symbol of universality.
"These Magi, or Magicians, were priests or scholars of the East. Their science led them to the new King just as the shepherds were led by a carol-song. By attention to their calling they discover and are led by the star to the infant Jesus. The inquiries of Herod and of the religious men of Jerusalem brought them nothing. The re-appearance of the star satisfied them, and so often we are disappointed in turning to the kings and priests of the world in our inquiries, but if we look up and learn of heaven we will be guided as these were.
"As the star of God was on before the Magi, so is the star of God on before each of us."
As to the Gentile expectation, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?", Mr. Armstrong said: "Astronomy arises out of man's need of religion — out of his efforts to read the secrets of the heavens. This craving of the Gentiles expresses yearning for light and knowledge. The wish for light — the expectation of the manifestation of God, is the mystery which lies beneath the history of the whole ancient world."
In speaking particularly of the Epiphany, he said, "It is significant that the king is found as a child — the Royal Child is the answer to their inquiries and desires — this is monarchy of divine right.
"In the adoration of the Magi, the wisdom of the world is bending before the child. 'Heaven lies about us in our infancy.' The child's view of God and the world is singular, one of wonder, beauty and goodness. Man disjoints, separates and impairs. 'When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.'
"And may not our hearts in some measure interpret that? Some there may be whose early star has disappeared and others may have followed many a star but which did not guide to life and light.
“The gifts they presented — 'gold and frankincense and myrrh' — were the most costly products of the countries from which they came. So 'tis our duty to present our best gifts."
In the evening Mr. Armstrong preached on the Epiphany also.
—The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1896, p. 4.
An exceedingly able sermon was preached at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Sunday morning by Rev. J. W. Armstrong, who took his text from Matthew 2:1-2, "Now when Jesus was born in Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men — Magi — from the East to Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen a star in the East and have come to worship Him.'"
The speaker said that the unceasing current of time ever carrying us onward has brought us to the Epiphany. "Epiphany means the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. It has been celebrated and observed in the church since the second century.
"The idea of exclusiveness was among the Jews, but the real idea shows Him in this manifestation for all nations. The One born King of the Jews has become sovereign of the world. Though born a Jew His mission is for all men — all nations, for the Epiphany shows that He is to have universal dominion.
"The gospel of Christ shows that spiritual dignity rests not upon spiritual descent but upon spiritual character. The symbol of exclusiveness is shown in the rite of circumcision and this was exchanged for baptism, the symbol of universality.
"These Magi, or Magicians, were priests or scholars of the East. Their science led them to the new King just as the shepherds were led by a carol-song. By attention to their calling they discover and are led by the star to the infant Jesus. The inquiries of Herod and of the religious men of Jerusalem brought them nothing. The re-appearance of the star satisfied them, and so often we are disappointed in turning to the kings and priests of the world in our inquiries, but if we look up and learn of heaven we will be guided as these were.
"As the star of God was on before the Magi, so is the star of God on before each of us."
As to the Gentile expectation, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?", Mr. Armstrong said: "Astronomy arises out of man's need of religion — out of his efforts to read the secrets of the heavens. This craving of the Gentiles expresses yearning for light and knowledge. The wish for light — the expectation of the manifestation of God, is the mystery which lies beneath the history of the whole ancient world."
In speaking particularly of the Epiphany, he said, "It is significant that the king is found as a child — the Royal Child is the answer to their inquiries and desires — this is monarchy of divine right.
"In the adoration of the Magi, the wisdom of the world is bending before the child. 'Heaven lies about us in our infancy.' The child's view of God and the world is singular, one of wonder, beauty and goodness. Man disjoints, separates and impairs. 'When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.'
"And may not our hearts in some measure interpret that? Some there may be whose early star has disappeared and others may have followed many a star but which did not guide to life and light.
“The gifts they presented — 'gold and frankincense and myrrh' — were the most costly products of the countries from which they came. So 'tis our duty to present our best gifts."
In the evening Mr. Armstrong preached on the Epiphany also.
—The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1896, p. 4.
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