St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-21
JESUS UNIQUE.
A Discourse on the Command
ments of Christ.

mcHtS Oh SnFtSbs
Rev. w. J. Lhamon preached yester-
day morning at the Church of Christ on
the text, Hereby we do know that we
know Him if we keep His command
ments." |. John. H., 3. He said:
Jesus was unique; SO must we eX-
pect His commandments to be. EXter-
naliSm marks the laws of others. Jesus
seeks to rule the man by religion in his
soul. MOSaism has its Leviticus and its
Deuteronomy, with its hundreds of pre-
cepts saying how this shall be done and
how that Shall not be done, and who, and
when, and where, and all about it.
CeremOnialiSm is the fruit of external
ism. The Rabbis counted PAS positive
commandments, 365 negative oneS-6l3
in all; in addition to all this they have
ten folio volumes of traditions. The
observers of the law had little time for
Justice, mercy and truth; how could
they? Rome spent 1000 years III franz
ing her laws, and was ready for ruin be-
fore they were perfected. Kings,
courts, camps, councils, congresses.
legislatures and political parties have
been busy all through history making
and repeating laws. There is bit of
pertinent irony in the suggestion that
our legislatures convene less frequently
that the laws may be tested before they
are repealed. This eXternaliSm re-
uuireS a great deal of work. 1t seeks to
change the fruit from season to seaS'
by trimming the tree. but the fruit re-
mains the same.
Jesus sought to change his life, and
said next to nothing about its forms.
He said: Make the tree good and his
fruit will be good" And again: "Out
OF tile abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh." A young lawyer came to
Him and asked Him which was the
greatest commandment. He said:
"ThOu shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart: this is the first and great
est. The next is like ii, viz: Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as myself" The law
of love is to human society what gravi-
tatiOn Is to nature.
Christ's commandments rise out of
His life and teachings. They are not
formulated: they are not technical or
external. His parallels are pict-
ure gallery, each picture having its les
son OF commandment. He turned the
mountain side into hospital and
the seaShOre into q church. SO
lie commanded us to worship
God and heal and help one another.
Love is the great law that rises out OF
all his life. In showing the world how
to love, he has taught it how to live. So
one might speak of courage, and self
control, and martyrdom for the right.
These all are commandments that rise
out of the life of Jesus. Jesus reduced
Journalism to the minimum that he
might bring life to its maximum.
The worlds greatest benefactOrS are
those who have best learned the lesson.
We call them philanthrOpists. They
are divinely gifted lovers of men. We
do not known them because they
count beads, or go on pilgrim
ages, or wear beans in their shoes,
or burn holy candles, or eat con-
secrated waters, but because they do
something for somebody. The first
statue that England ever erected to
woman, aside from those to Queen
Anne and Queen Victoria, was raised a
few months ago in honor of 'Sister
Dora" woman who went to WalSall
lii the Black Country, and nurSed
smallpox patients till she died. At
first the rough people of the town
abused her, but at last they loved her.
and one man said: I'VE want her cut
in marbls with her cap and gown and
blessed face. It's not that we'll forget
her: no danger o. that: but we want her
to be there, SO that when strangers
come and see her standing up there,
they'll say, Who's that?' An we'll
say, Who's that That's our sister,
Dora