The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-19
AS NATHAN SAID TO DAVID.
But the Application Must Now Be Made
by Each Individual Sinner.
People Fortunately Not Subject to Fallible
Men for Final Judgment-Christ the
Only Infallible Judge.


There are certain things concerning which
men always and everywhere are in agreement,
Esop's fables recommend themselves to all men,
Fifty years ago there was no school-boy who
did not get the significance of the stories in the
back part of Webster's spelling book. The
story of the milkmaid, Of poor dog Tray, of
the boy up the apple tree, and of the OK that was
gored-all these strike the common sense and the
universal conscience. It is in making personal
application of story to himself that man
fails There is no man but believes that all other
men ought to do justice and love mercy. Nobody,
not even James brother, admires
treachery. Benedict Arnold did not admire
it. Broadly all men admit that a certain
course of conduct is right Looking outward,
away from themselves, men love what is just
and kind; but looking inward there is kind of
blindness. David is indignant at the story of
Nathan. His anger is greatly kindled. The
man who had done this thing ought to die, be-
cause he had no pity That is the sense of just
ice looking outward and working freely. State
the case to body, and he will condemn the
robbery and state what ought to be done with
such man. Now Nathan says to David, 'Thou
of the case. Now David may do one of two
things stand by his hot condemnation of the
act, although it is his own: or, if he is not man
enough for that, kill Nathan and so get him out
of the way. That last has been very popular
method. The prophets have been stoned,
because they made personal application.
1t takes good deal of man to apply general
theory to himself. Demonstration is the thief
of time" Millions of school boys have written
that in copy-books and assented to it in their
minds, but all of them have let the thief in.
The singular greatness of David is that he
abide6 by his judgment of the act, although it
was his, and the penalty falls on him. He says:
II have sinned," and the penalty falls-not death
to himself, but death of what he loved better
than himself. He had life RENTED to him.
such as it was. "The sword never departed from
his house. He lived to be betrayed by his
friends, to be warred against by his own son.
He had life, but it was fitful fever.
The ability to see the truth and respect right
conduct in our neighbor, is great. Men like to
see other people repent. There is some talk of
the ignominy that one must suffer if he becomes
a Christian and belongs to church; but there
is nothing of the kind Such talk is mere sur
vival in words of what was once fact There
is no fire nor ashes of fire now associated with a
profession of the religion of Jesus Christ. 1t
does not injure man in any trade or profession,
or in society. An honest hearty, outspoken de-
sire and attempt to do ones who's duty is not
AS rule, your father and mother, all your
friends and associates, would be glad to hear
that you were active Christian. 1t is not the
Christian part of any man that you dislike.
1t is that in Christian that is not yet Chris
tian-possibly his bigotry his cruelty. his avar
ice, his meanness of some sort The love of
Jesus Christ creates no new meanneSs in a man.
But it may possibly place some old meanness in
bright light.
The fault frd with men is this: they are
limo RI aHf hoip hhnp xull fhaxy
will not do themselves. Looking outside they
approve, looking inside they hesitate I know
men who never seen In church, but their
children are. These would not make a
home in city in which there was no church
They believe in churches, in Sunday-schools, but
they no not attend them. Intelligent men of
business help TO build churches and pay preach
ers, not as private enterprise but as a public
good. Only, it is much to be desired that these
men move on. What is good for the community
is good for the man. l ought to do what / am
glad to see my neighbor do. What on the WHOLE
is finer than reverence toward God and love for
men. l say love for men because as we are sit
uated '1ove for man" does not fill the present
bill. The particular part of humanity that my
love can help are near to me-withn the corpo-
ration. have names and some of them number.
1t is said of Charles Sumner that he loved the
colored race. 1t is known that he was valiant in
obtaining for that race certain rights; but as to
the individual colored man, in his immediate
neighborhood, he was a trif1e chilly.
All men are human and humane, and have
moral judgment and sympathy when they are
reading novel or watching a play. No man
admires the logging of Uncle Tom, or the de-
sertion of King Lear or the character of Iago
All men ask that the story come out WE'LL that
the villain be dead and the hero alive, and mar
ried, and heir to an estate. My boy inquiries,
concerning new book if there is any dying of
it to be read to him.
If genuine goodness is so popular. why is there
not more of itl How to bring the moral of a
story to personal application is a conundrum to
preachers. Nathan had an advantage over mod
ern preachers in that he was prophet He had
gift of insight and he also was sure of his case
and he knew that David was man enough to
stand the statement of a fact. But some mod
ern preachers fall into blunder. They are not
all OF them prophets. Not all of them have in
sight. They are not always sure of the facts of
q particular Jesus Christ knew the
thoughts and history of the Samaritan-woman
He talked to her plainly and He made mis-
take. l do not know the thoughts and interior
history of the people before me- therefore, am
very diffident in saying: Thou art the man."
All can do is to tell the story and trust you to
say: II am the man." I can do no more as a
rule than to state the principles of life and leave
you to apply them.
boy goes to school. goes to college, goes to
theological seminary, and is ordained to preach
He thinks he knows what his neighbor ought to
do, what an alderman ought to do, what a
mayor ought to do. what the President ought to
do. do not see how his observation, expert
ence and peculiar training fit him to know any
one of these things. 1t is tolerably difficult to
put yourself in the place of merchant, a law
yer, banker, cattleman, an Indian, an At
rican, a heather Chinese an employer of a
thousand hands, or in the place of a hand a
manufacturer of overa]ls in fierce competition
with other manufacturers, and the girls who
work for him at sixty-fve cents a dozen. We
know SO little of the other. 1t is possible
that the man saunrering down street, with his
hands in his pockets. is working as hard as the
man who is boring a WELL
The speech of Daniel Webster at the compile
ton Of the Bunker Hill monument was com
posed on the bank of a trout brook. AS he
landed the denzens of the pool he said, ''Vener-
able men, you have come down to us from
former generations" The Bible is mostly the
meditation of men out of doors-herdsmen
shepherds, fishermen, soldiers men ac-
quainted with the outside of camels
L