The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-12-02
Our Evening Sermon

it was desolate; and against the house of
Judah, when they went into captivity"
The prophesy of Gods vengeance upon
those who rejoice in the proclamation or
Dissertation of his sanctuary, might be as
truthfully made to-day, as when the
Prophet Ezekiel wrote it concerning Gods
vengeance upon Moab. The one great
mistake of the short sighted sinner, is the
willingness to accept only what comes
within the range of his own personal
scrutiny The deep-seated truth and fact
that the great ruler Of the Universe is
constantly going through system of pro-
tecting the weak, sustaining the right
eous, and confounding the ungodly, does
not come within the range of his observ-
alton. One of the great failings in man,
and perhaps as great as any other, is his
proneness to autocracy and spirit of op-
preston, where such act can be made to
appear, to his own mind, for his good,
Selfishness knows no law or rule of char
ity; the two are diametrically opposed
and the selfish heart has no greater con-
ception of the rights of its fellows than
the query as to how it may work for its
own gain at the expense of those entitled
to its respect and sympathy. 1t is upon
such hearts and lives as this that men may
well fear the visitation of the Divine
wrath, for the great Judge of all the earth
weighs very carefully and justly all mat
tiers brought before him.
And how many men and women, think
you, are to-day profaning his sanctuary,
and crying "Aha" at the very mention of
a thought of righteous living? We pre-
fer at this time to set up our ideal Moab
ite-considered Moabitish only in the
sense of meriting the prophesy of the
vengeance of the great Judge. The time,
we shall say, is Saturday night. In lit
tie home which comes under our observa-
tion, we may behold the picture of wife
and mother attempting, by all the power
of her already over-taxed energies. to put
in respectable and presentable condition
the torn and threadbare garments of a
family of little ones, that they may ap-
pear at the Sabbath school on the next
day, and keep pace with her neighbors'
children in the study of Sacred History.
After week of study at school, where
they have perhaps been made thousand
times to feel ashamed of their garments,
the little fellows are possibly
dreaming OF the coming Christmas time,
and building dreamy castles as to possible
cnjoyments. One, two, three, hours pass
wearily along, and the poor wife lays
40 how. of acf x1vit1 tho 6QSnajr-
ing cry, "Oh, God, how long can this life
continue?" Just across the way. per-
haps, resounds the merry romping of the
Moabitish children, reveling in comfort
and plenty. What can be the cause of
this great discrepancy in the conditions
Let us investigate, for moment. Call
into the place where the Moabite cries
sAha," and learn the cause and founda-
tion of the prophecy of Gods curse upon
this profaner. Helpless, degraded, despis-
ed, criminal in his own sight, and the
sight of God, stands the miserable hus-
band of the overworked wife we have
visited, and the father of the worse than
orphaned children we have seen. With
a trembling hand, as though that hand
were lifted up against its will by the pow
erful clutch of some demon, that wretch
just at the moment when the pangs OF
hunger are torturing his family, draws
forth his last dime and hands it to the
bloated imp upon the other side of the
counter How those snaky eyes glister
in their fiabby and bloated sockets, at The
sight of money in the hands of this mis-
cradle slave who stands in abject captivi
ty before him! Pursue the picture fur
ther. The poisen is taken. After a while
the fiery craving implanted there by The
imp behind the bar, asserts its demand:
in the poor diseased stomach, and the
wretch tremblingly asks for another dost
of the stuff Hal There's a change, now
The fabby eyes that glistened with eager
ness before, in anticipating the robbery o.
the wretch's family of the last penny
now CLEAN withmalice, and there is {
hideous attempt to assume an air ofinjur
ed innocence.
why" says the Moabite, "you can't ex
pect me to give away my goods-you'vt
got no money"
All, my bloated pink, right there is
where God steps in and makes a note OF
the proceedings for future reference He
has been viewing both pictures. The
same righteous Judge who is looking up
on the weary heart in the home, is look.
ing in upon the Devils work in the dog
gerry; He who answers the prayer of the
poor wife by granting sustaining grace
in the hour of trial, is striving with the
poor wretch who is in captivity, to free
himself from bondage. The two pictures
stand out in strange, in awful, contrast.
The poor wretch replies to his captor thus
No, I've no money. You've taken it
alp
Here, you get out of here! It's such
fellows as you that give a bad name to my
business. You drunken loafer, what do
you hang around here for, aChe1l you hare
no money!"
There is the point. A man without
money is of no use to the Moabite. He
would starve victims family for mon
ey; he would tear down the churches and
destroy the Sabbath Schools for money
he would tear the last morsel of food from
starving childhood, and write death on
the brow of suffering motherhood for
money; he would profane the sanctuary
of God, and write his own name upon the
lost and condemned, for money; he would
dethrone the intellect and ply his trade
through the physical torture of his vic
tim. for money; he would tear the rose
from the cheek of childhood, and send an
angel tottering to pauper's grave, for
money; he would drive out the last faint
ray of sunlight from the virtuous life,
and consign human souls to eternal tor
ment, for money; he would laugh to scorn
the prayers Of the righteous, and revel in
the orgies of the damned, for money, he
would paint hell across the door of every
aI,t lcI.a from tho hLI q n,