Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-14
Calvary Baptist Church.


 sermon Last Evening by Rev. 1Ir. Sam.
 son-A Large Audience Present.
 At the Calvary Baptist church last evenir 6
 there was large audience who were appar
 ently much interested in the discourse q
 Rev. MT. Samson, of which we give brief
 synopsis.
 The text was from 2d Samuel, 18th chap
 ter and 7th verse. .'Thou art the man.
 The narrative in which these words occur is
 one of the most interesting and instructive
 in sacred history. David was at the meridian
 of his greatness as an Oriental monarch.
 There was nothing lacking, apparently. to
 promote his pleasure or power. We pass
 over the details of the story until we come to
 that point when David wrote letter to Joab
 and sent it by the hand of Uriah, the husband
 of Bsthsheba, in which the king desired his general to set Uriah in the forefront of the
 battle where his life would be exposed to the
 greatest danger, and where at length he fell,
 a hero among the slain, the victim of the
 foul crime of his royal master. Then Nathan,
 an eminent Hebrew prophet, appeared upon the scene. He went to David with the
 fable of the poor man and his little eve
 lamb. The recent crimes of the king had not
 so paralyzed his moral sensibility that he
 could not discover the great wrong done the poor man, and when he vigorously denounced
 the wrong and the wrongdoer, the prophet l said to him: "Thou art the man." These
 words illustrate the importance of @ per
 sonal application of the truth. Men are
 startled by the description which the Bible oSv kHo oi, ,Rr1v
 when it is applied to themselves We expect
 to read in the morning paper of fraud and 1 robbery and murder, of wars and rumors of
 wars. We know that men are morally de-
 prayed But when we come to inquire of
 ourselves we are apt to look at one side only.
 and to overlook even our greatest faults. It | vas so with David. He had been guilty of
 the greatest sins and yet doubt not he en- deavored to excuse and justify himself He was king invested with regal authority, having right to command and to be obeyed. The revenues of the empire were his to con trol. And then he was only indulgipg those inclinations which God had given him. He was only gratifying those propensities which his maker had implanted within him. Thus David reasoned, probably, to appeass his con- science and extenuate his sin. So men argue to-day. Go into our prisons and hear the excuses of the immured men and women. You will scarce find one who believes that he in guilty of the crime for which he has been condemned, who believes that he is being dealt with justly. And from the force of a long continued life of crime and blunted moral sensibility they will be sincere in the conviction of their innocence.
 Again, we see and censure slight faults in others. The reason for the obliquity of our moral vision in reference to ourselves is not to be found in a dormant conscience. If we do not see our own faults we are quick to de- tect the faults of others, and the reason for this Is to bO found in the fact that when we inquire concerning the moral quality of our own actions and apply to ourselves the stan dard of moral integrity we are influenced largely by feeling of self interest We gee the faults of others because we are disinterested. Here is a l man who is accused of some shameful im- morality but his own friends because of their interest in him. aye the last to believe 1 him guilty of the accusation. If we are quick to detect great faults in others we are l as ready to observe their peccadilloes. The | Christ said to the multitude in his sermon | upon the mount 'Why beholdest thou the | mote that is in thy brothers eye, and consid- l crest not the beam that is in thine own eye?' l It is easy for me to see the delinquencies of | my Christian brother and to condemn them, but it is not so easy for me to see my own. | And then again we are very fond of seeing | faults in others and applying truth to othere. | The most lawless men make the strictest laws l The code of law among thieves and pirates is of the severest character. The men who ar ray themselves most decidedly in opposition to Gods law are the most rigorous and cen- serious in applying their own principles of morality to the conduct of others. It was So l with David. When his own feelings as I 8 Iawmaker and judge wers interfered with when his own selfish desires and inter- l ests were involved, he thought nothing of the consequences of his sin. What had he that he should stand in the way of his sinful pleasure? The life of this poor man was as | nothing to this king so long as it was bar r1er to the accomplishment of his wicked 1 purpose. Human nature has not much changed. And then the example of David had all the force of law. The influence of bis transgression wes more disastrous than l hat of the most inveterate criminal in his ! realm. If he was king he was not above l he law, and if the king be not obedient to he law what can be expected of the subject s 1t not so with men who hear the gospel The more favored we are with the knowledge # the truth the greater our obligation to I ] pply it to ourselves and to become an exam 'le of it's power to others. Knowledge of whatever kind but especially knowledge of elisious truth is power for good or evil as it 5 applied
 It follows from these considerations that nan has real, albeit deranged, religious ature. Although men are imperfect they l ee faults in each other. They have 8 sense \. f right and wrong,-that God is right, his NV just and his word true; that every man as his own individual rights which it is VI Iroa fn inlo T6o lost confirmed criminal, recognizes this prin- lple. We see also the means which God mploys to impress truth upon men. There conscience. But conscience is more quick U ) detect the moral qualities of an act of g mother than it is to act for ourselves And a. 1erefore God has given the revelation of is word, in which is described the nature of n and our unbelief, in which we find the romise and potency of the Holy Spirit, in ft hich we find all that is necessary for our Ilvation. And God has appointed the q inistry of the word. He sent . athan to David. He had already 7 his conscience and by the law, but 1t be- me necessary to send the prophet in order lat by the living voice, in terms and tones lat could not be misunderstood, he might y to David, ''Thou art the man." The dis 'urse of Nathan was blessing to David l cad the fifty-first Psalm written upon this storic occasion. That fable about the poor an and his little eve lamb led David into @ beginning of new and better life. May ese words which we have spoken prove essing to ourselves and lead us into the be- ming of new and better and higher life a life hid with the Christ in God.
 The meetings at this church during the eek of Prayer were very interesting and ey will be continued every night during is week except Wednesday and Saturday. large number arose for prayers in the Sun y school yesterday morning, embracing any of the older scholars
 'tnton of pr. Mott, Late GOvernm ent Chemist, on AllcOck's Porous Plastsr. My investigation of AIIcock's Porous Plas- |