The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1888-04-19
Our Evening Sermon.
"Whosoever doth work on that day,
shall be put to death. "-Ex. 35-6.

w hOSOeVer doth work on GnaJ DAY,
shall be put to death. ."-Ex. 35-6.
When Moses, upon the Mount of
Sinai beheld the presence of the Lord,
the impulsive prayer was, "let my
Lord, pray thee, go among us, for it
is a stiff-necked people. The great
laws giver was there in obedience to
the Divine command. He had gone
up on an occasion prior to this, and
came down to find his people engaged
in the worship of golden calf which
had been made Of the jewelry of the
ladies, and in his wrath he cast the
tables Of stone from him and broke
them. He was discouraged with his
people. He had been leading, and
teaching, and governing them, but
no sooner was his watchfulness relaxed
even to go to the sacred presence
upon the Mount, than they began
their idolatrous practices. Moses well
knew the evil thereof, though the
carelessness Of the people would not
permit them to understand the
enormity of it. Not wonderful that
Moses was respondent for the moment.
In looking back upon that picture Of
utter thoughtlessness or carelessness,
we cannot refrain from expressing
our wonderment at the great spiritual
improvement Of the race. Imagine
those poor ignorant Jews, worshiping
their golden calf, and obeying the
Divine command to rest from labor
on the Sabbath. We have in our
present-day enlightment the idolatry
removed. Or, have we? Presumably
we have, but in fact how is it?
Here is Christian community. We
will say if you please, that the sur
roundings in which we live are
Christianized; there is a general
recognition Of the beauty Of right
living. In such a community, with
the same laws that were thundered
from Sinai still ringing in the ears of
the race, could it be possible that any
man would dare profane the Sabbath
day, or worship golden or nickel
image? Preposterous as the thought
may seem at first suggestion, it is
nevertheless a cold, cruel and blasting
fact. There is improvement over the
old religion, however, in that the man
who worships the golden or nickel
calf Of to-day is the exception rather
than the rule. We are overjoyed at
the prospect Of moral advancement
when we behold the vast throng Of
intelligent, earnest people moving
peacefully along, to and from the
various places of religious teaching
and public worship, on the Sabbath
day Such people are bearing the
tables of testimony; they have been
to the Mount Of Instruction and Law
Giving, and learned something of the
duty and responsible of the soul.
But, as along the smooth pebbly sur
face Of the carriage-way the vilest
weeds may wantonly spring, so by
the side of the pathway of Christian
people the worshiper of the gold or
nickel calf will pitch his tent. Here,
in open and utter defiance of the
moral and statutory law, he plies his
sinful vocation. as though propitiation
for sin were a thing unknown in
history. What cares he for the
warnings Of Divine Law? He has
master whose every thought and word
is in direct antagonism to the law
brought by Moses to the erring
Egyptians. He is a standing shame
to the very name Of Christianity.
That he is permitted to retain stand
ing in respectable society, and de-
family violate the law Of God and of
common propriety, is not flattering
to the community which tolerates it.
Most communities are becoming
rapidly awakened to this class of
sinners, and there is growing desire
to put an effective stop to such
practices. Naturally, we turn to the
Bible for guidance in such cases. The
word Of the Lord is ''the frstling of
an ass thou shalt redeem with lamb"
but there comes another thought,
embodied i'll Divine INDUCTION:
"And if thou redeem him not, then
thou shalt break his neck"
Well, after a little twisting and
distorting, possibly, we can get from
that Injunction a valuable guide to
success. And the people are rapidly
getting hold Of the thought, and the
beauty thereof. Moses dealt with a
stiff-necked people, who worshiped a
golden calf. Christ to-day is con-
fronted by people who worship a
nickel calf, and this worship is carried
on openly and defantly. The Lord
said "whosoever doeth work on that
day shall be put to=death. The
Laws Of Ohio say whoever performs
common labor on the Sabbath day,
shall be punished" When, therefore,
all power of persuasion has been
wasted in futile endeaver to arouse a
sense of conscious wickedness in the
animal, there remains the desperate
alternative Of breaking the mules
neck. A man can no more defy the
laws of man than he can the Divine
Law. without liability to condign |