The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-03-18

| Whether ye SOlQ lana IOr SO muCn Auu
she said yea, for so much.
A long time ago, two very good men,
disciples of Christ, named Peter and John,
were teaching a multitude of people,
when there came upon them certain per-
sons called Sadducees. who were greatly
grieved at the doctrines taught, for the
disciples taught that the way to the true
God was by the child Jesus. Peter had
given manifestation of the miraculous
power with which he had been endowed
by the Holy One, by his instantaneous
cure of the lame man who was brought
to him. This man-in middle life-was
utterly without the use of his limbs, and
had to be carried to the Apostle. There
was none of the pantomimic nonsense of
the modern street quack, nor any of the
solemn idiocy of the modern believers in
'faith cure" 1t was simply bold, manly
declaration: "In the name of Jesus
| Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk"
This was not faith cure, only in so far
as the healer had faith-that is, assuming
that Peter was the healer.
This marvellous cure spoke greater
things than all that could be said against
the Apostles, and the Sadducees perceived
at once that the mouths of Peter and
John would have to be closed in some
manner, lest they gather great follow
ing among the people. The two were
threatened, but maintained their firmness
of purpose in preaching Christ In no
wise could they be dissuaded from the
work before them. They were full of
the Holy Ghost. They had a grand and
glorious mission to perform. They were
as torch-bearers, holding up before the
people the great light of the Gospel.
They cared not for the puny opposition of
men, for they remembered the fact always
that the Creator who placed humanity
upon the earth was able to protect His
| faithful children, or subdue the refrac
tory ones. The Apostles were let go, and
going to their own company-there was
a great recognition of the truth of the
Gospel they preached. and great out
pouring of thanks to the true God. And
when they spake, the place where they
were assembled was shaken, and they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
spake the word of God with boldness.
None could say that aught that he pos
sessed was his own, and some, having
land. sold their possessions and brought
the proceeds and laid them at the Apos-
ties feet. But there was a certain woman,
Sapphira by name who came marching
up with the assurance, and seeming can
dor, of the best of them, and offered the
oIe 1f %ha Of
Of course nobody would think of ques-
tioning lady, and there were no fears of
sorrowful consequences for playing a
little shrewdness upon the Apostle. Now,
if Sapphira lived in the present day, she
would save money in different manner
from concealing it from an Apostle. She
would possibly boil up pumpkins into
apple butter for market, or make tempt
ing roll of fresh butter, consisting of a
shell of butter filled with rock salt. Or
possibly she might adopt the still easier
plan of not only refusing to consent to
her husbands selling at all, but quietly
robbing his pockets after he had made
the sale, in order to keep the money from
being wasted upon the Gospel. In fact,
the poor husband himself would in all
human probability get a tremendous
overhauling for fooling away his prop
erty in any such manner. But there
stood Sapphira, with the money. When
questioned by the Apostle as to whether
that was the amount for which she had
sold the property, she did not say ''wish 1
may diev' or "cross my heart or any of
the modern asseveations, she simply
said: "Yea, for so muchY' Only four
little words, yet they were all concen-
trated into one big, black, ugly, horrible
lie. A moment afterward, and in the
wrath of the Father she was smitten,
and fell dead.
With all due respect to the sisters, we
feel like congratulating them upon the
fact that this plan of Gods was not per-
petugted There might possibly be lying
enough, but there would not perhaps be
woman enough to-
But hold We have started in at the
wrong point and must ask the pardon of
the sisters as we go back. The sins of
the human family, from the earliest eX-
perience, have been laid at the door of
woman, and that may account for our
criticism OF Sapphira's course in this lit
tie real estate transaction. But now,
when we come to think of it, her hus-
band Ananias was perhaps the biggest
liar in all that country, and had already
been stricken dead for the same offense
for which his wife perished. And, as is
generally the case, the first and meanest
lie was told by the man.
This retrogression throws us off from
our text somewhat. but throws us into
great fact: That the meanest act that
the meanest woman ever did, has had
counterparts in equally mean acts by
men. The least breath of suspicion
taints woman's character for all time,
and causes self-righteous fellow-creatures
to deny her even the hope of a joyous
eternity. Yet man may be plastered
all over with infamy until you could not
find room to stick another lie, or another
mean act, and yet retain the respect of
his fellow-men, and of the ladies, too, in
many cases. Had Ananias lived in this
day, he would have given his note for the
amount due the Apostle, let it go to pro-
test, then started the story that he, had
come into possession of a fortune, in
order to avoid uneasiness on the part OF
creditors. In fact, Ananias would not
lack for expedients in every time of need,
were he living now. But in his day lying
was dangerous from the fact that it had
not reached the perfection it enjoys to-
day, and because the Apostles were en-
dowed with greater powers of detecting
sin than those of to-day. At least, such
seems to be the aspect of the case.
Let us contemplate, for a moment, the
picture of the children of men being