Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-15
ONE FATAL FAILURE.
After All Others are Avoided, One
Cannot be Insured Against.
1T is THE FAILURE WITH GOD.
Comment Upon the Parable of the Pharisee
and the Publican.
UNFORTUNATE CONDITION OF THINGS
7 is THE FAILURE WITH GOD.
UNFORTUNATE CONDITION OF THINGS
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH. !

Publican. The point which l ask you
especially 10 think about is the failure OF
the Pharisee. And L would like you to
notice, first of all, the Pharisee's entire un-
consciousness of any failure. No more
complacent man walked the streets OF
Jerusalem. No man went up that day into
the temple of God, or came down again,
with a better opinion of himself And vet
he was making the most disastrous kind OF
mistake.
That is rather appalling, when you think
about it, because human nature does not
change much with distance of time and
space, does not alter much with difference of
dress and language. If citizen of Jeru-
salem could go about so blind to his most fatal
failure, citizen of Pittsburg may walk these
streets to-day with just as black a shade over
his eyes.
And it is worth while, accordingly, to look
somewhat closely into this unfortunate cOndi-
uOn of things by way of discovering the cause
of the Pharisees serene but disastrous uncon-
sciousness And we speedily discover that the
Pharisee was blinded to his failure by the
strong light of two kinds of success. He had
this v-ry desirable success. That his neighbors
all ;Ntught well of him. There is always
temp - IN which goes along with that pleas
ant approbation-the temptation TO put compll-
ment In the place of conscience. Woe unto
you When all men shall speak well of YOU
because, unless you are on your guard, you
VIII take that fatternC speech as the voice OF
God You Will persuade yourself that GOD APP
proves because the men in your CLUB or lhe
women IN your set approve. You VIII account
that you are doing your duty because other
people think you are. And very likely you VIII
be making great mistake.
The Pharisee had also this other desirable
success. that he thought well of himself. he
thoucht-and had some good grounds for
tnink:ar-that he was pretty good sort of
man He was tempted to take himself at his
a1Trarf H2r1r nlT1 he fr11S Tpn
TO do that However truthful We may be
in general, we all tell lies to ourselves about
ourselves There is nothing so deceptive as
The Pharisee does not seem to have done
much thinking about Gods possible estimation
OF MIN. Ii We follow the wise philosophy OF
Dr. Holmes, and find three men in every man
johns ideal John. the man as he seems to him
SELF and Thomas ideal John, the man as he
looks to his neighbor, and the real John-the
Pharlsee seems not to have thought much
about the real John. And So where he least
imagined it, he failed.
ONLY ONE FATAL FAILURE.
After all, there is only one failure which is
particularly worth regretting. and that is fail
ure with God Sometimes failure with oneself
is not really failure at ALL Isuppose that no man
was ever more emphatic in his own belief that
be had made failure of his life than Elijah
was. He wanted to die that the earth might
be rid Of such an utterly useless and defeated
much mistaken. Sometimes failure with others
is not failure at all. suppose that no life ever
ended amid circumstances more plainly indica-
tive of defeat than the life of the Master.
Forsaken by the multitude of His disciples de-
serted by His own friends. confronted by all
that people accounted good and orthodox in
the religious life of His time condemned for
basphemy and sedition, hanging alone upon
the ignominious cross, no wonder if they who
stood by watching the darkness fell upon
Calvary thought in their hearts that 1t was the
failure of failures But we know it was the
victory of victories.
There is only one fatal failure And that is
failure with God. The Pharisee had failed
with God, but he knew it not.
And here pass to a second notable charact-
erlstic of the Pharisee's failure: The fact that
he failed in the face of certain very great ad-
vantages. Those two kinds of success of
appreciation, or which spoke while il is true
they offered strong temptations, brought with
them, nevertheless great measure of strength |
and help. Take the good opinion of his neigh |
Oors which the Pharisee had, that meant ap-
probation. 1t meant that whenever this man
did good thing somebody was sure to tell him
of it. And appreciation brings encourage
ment, brings inspiration, always. 1t helps a
man to 90 on and do better next time More
than that this general appreciation constituted
for the Pharisee an ideal of character which he
knew people expected of him. That made il a
hundred times more easy for him to live up to
that ideal that helped him.
While as for the Publican, there was no deed
which he could do, good enough to get any ap-
v.
tive of his so good but somebody would misin-
teTpret it, And as for a character to maintain
nobody expected him to have a character at
all-eXeept bad one. The Publican was a
good deal like that released convict who
passed through PiUtsbu.g several days ago and
complained that he had no chance to make an
honest living. His picture was in the rogue's
gallery. The police made him move on. Every
body looked to see him do something to deserve
another term in prison. \ Ou can see readily
enough what influence that would have on a
mans life; you ct1l see how such a man would
be pulled back all the time. BY and by, unless
there was something uncommonIy good in him
he would live up to the character which people
gave him.
Then there was the Pharisee's good opinion
of himself. have no doubt but that his esri-
mate was not only honest but well founded
Men do not readily tell lies in their private
prayers. The PhaTsee had, accordingly high
degree OF sel1-respect to maintain. More than
that, he had the strength which comes from a
long habit of upright living He had the heir
of the memory Of his good life, and because he
had always been good, it was fairly easy for
him to keep on being good. Because being
good Is like learning to ride on bicycle. 1t is |
VERY HARD AT FIRST,
every motion takes an amount of individual
attention. the muscles get strained with un- |
usual exertion, and every other minute YOU |
topple over on your head. But after you get |
into the habit it is easier than walking. You |
ride without thinking. 1t was easy, in much |
the same way, for this Pharisee to be good |
That was a great help.
And the Pharisee was good. He was no ex- |
tortloner; he was not unju He was a man of /
sterling moral character. Weigh those de- |
scriptive phrases, and you Will find that they |
mean good deal Here was an upright buSi
ness man, OF the straightest honesty, having no |
tricks in his trade, telling no commercial lies |
paying his debts, dealing fairly with his EN-. |
plOyes, neither eXtortionate nor unjust And |
just as good in his home as in his store, faith.
ful husband, a model of domestic virtue The |
Pharisee'S good character went farther than
that. He was religious man, This was NV no
means his first visit TO the temple at the hour
of prayer. He was a regular and punctual
church goer. we know from his belonging to
the party of the Pharisees that he
was not only religious, but prominent IN
religion. To-day he would have been a
vestryman or a deacon. People pointed him out
as he walked that morning toward the tempIe
as one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church.
Even among the foremost he was especiallye |
phatc in strict living, in literal obedience to all
the rubrics and regulations of the church. He
tasted twice every week" Beside thai he cavh |
tithes of all that he possessed, This man fooE |
regularly a tenth part of hrs income and spent
it in works of charity.
Now you take man who is an honest mer
chant and citizen of sterling integrity. who is
q dutiful and faithful husband and father who
Is a leader among men of religion a represepta-
tive of the church, who gives SO out of every
500 to the poor, and you have pretty uood |
sort of man. And yet there was one who said |
that except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness OF the Scrlbes and mia riSpas |
We shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of
heaven" So that a man may have all the |
Craces and virtues which the upright citizen of |
Jerusalem had and yet be making spirituai
shipwreck OF his life. That is worth Thinking
abou:l
AS for the Publican, make no doubt but 1
that he described himself quite accurately |
when he prayed that God would be merciful 70 l.
bIm a sinner. Anybody beholding those two
men that day climbing the church stems |
-otl, n, ,rnn u have rnInarlad rrn,, liz 80 80