Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-21
SERMONS OF MICAH.
How He Stood Forth Fearlessly In
Condemnation of Evils.
HIS WAS A MESSAGE OF ANGER.
Ministers Now Seek to Prevent Rather
Than Punish Wrong.
TWO PASSAGES THAT ARE IMPORTANT
WRITTEN FOR THE p1spArcH.J

dead. saved a mans life. Nobody knows
how many men he led to change their lives
in his own day by his plain preaching, nor
how. much good he has done since in the
world by the record of his helpful words.
But this, at least, we are sure of: That 100
years after he was dead he saved q mans
life. .
1t happened in this way: Jehoikim was
King of Judah, and everything was going
badly. And the Prophet Jeremiah was
moved in spirit to stand up one day-proba-
bly, at great festival and in the hearing Of
multitude-to stand aud speak by the gate
of the Temple at Jerusalem, and tell the
people exactly what he thought about the
whole bad business. He declared that if
things went on after that fashion the city
would be made a curse to all the nations of
the world. And he said that, and much
more like it, in good, plain, emphatic He
brew. which everybody could understand;
and the result was a riot The priests and
the people laid hold on the fearless
preacher, and dragged him before the
princes, crying out that he must
At Once Be Put to Death.
The wonder is that they did not tear him
in pieces. When they got him into the
presence of the princes and gave him a
chance to speak for himself, he Immediately
proceeded to repeat his sermon with numer-
Gus emphatic additions. He had no thought
of compromise, nothing to take back; in
stead of that, more and worse to speak
What could they do with him? The princes
and the elders considered the matter
At last one said: "Don't you remember
1o al ~
kiah's day, and preached Just this same
sort of stern sermon? Don't you know how
he declared that Jerusalem should be as a
plowed field, and that the Temple hill
should become as a tangled forest? And
did they put him to death? No; they lis
tened to him, and amended their lives. Let
US do that, too"
And that was what they did. At least,
they spared the life of Jeremiah.
The prophet Micah, six or seven hundred
years after he was dead, guided q company
of men on most interesting and important
journey. They had come from far country,
party of astronomers, and had lost their
way. And they had arrived at great city,
and asked direction in the streets, but
nobody could tell them, People looked
curiously at their strange dress, but could
give no answer. AT last
They Asked the King Himself,
and the King called his men together, and
they got down this old book which we are
studying to-day, and there they found the
answer. Where is he that is born King of
the Jews? the men from the East had asked.
In Bethlehem, they said; and read the
answer out of the book of Micah.
And now, to-day, the old prophet being
in his grave some five and twenty centuries,
he may still, perhaps, be Of some help, e1-
ample, guidance, even to us.
Micah lived in the days and in the land of
King Hezekiah; that is, away off in Syria,
beside the Mediterranean Sea, possibly in
sight of it, centuries and centuries ago.
What sort of time was that and what
kind of a man was Micah?
1t was an evil time We eau be pretty
sure of that beforehand, just because we
have this book of sermons. Somehow, the
only sermons which remain out of those old
days are the sermons of men who were carry
ing on a great fight against the devil We
know not how much preaching was done in
those distant ages, but only this much seems
to have lasted. The preachers, like the
generals, seem to have come to the front
only in times of trouble.
Messages of Indignation.
The message of these old preachers, In
almost every case, was message of the in
dignation of God. Sin had come to be so
strong that there must at last be battle
against it along the whole line. Of course,
there was always mention, also, of Gods
mercy. But the burden was one Of denun-
citation. We ought to have improved on
that, after these more than two-score GEN.
turies; and l am sure we have. We are
loar hot ha hoc fo Wi
is not by reformation but by prevention;
not by abusing people who have fallen into
sin, but by helping them SO that they may
not fall into sin; not SO much by providing
ambulances, as somebody says, for people
who fall over steep cliff, as by building
fences along the top to keep them from fall
ing over.
We have not learned the lesson, as Christ
taught it, even yet very perfectly. But we
are learning it. We are coming to realize
that the chief mission of the preacher is
to preach conversion, which means turn
ing back; but to lead, guide, educate peo-
pie so that they may
Not Need to Be Converted.
We are learning that the laws Of health
are better laws to know than the laws of
medicine, and that the best thing which the
doctor can do-whether his title be M D. or
D. DIS not to cure people who arc sick,
but keep them from getting sick. Still,
there is no lack of sickness, and no chance
yet of safely throwing physic to the dogs
We still need curing and converting. In
the days of Micah there was more need for
conversion than there was for anything
else.
There were two kinds of. people in Micah's
day-as there are in our own-upon whom
q nf ha
depended; those who had to DO with the
peoples pocket-books, and with the peo-
Piles prayer books. And both these Kind
of leaders had gone astrsy.
The rich oppressed the poor, laying house
to house, and field to field. The widow and
the fatherless were wronged. The pursuit
of wealth robbed life of all remembrance of
brotherliness The strong trampled on the
weak There was cruelty, tyranny, all man.
ner of injustice; there were foul tenements
and ivory palaces There was widespread
commercial dishonesty. Men were even
more ready then than now
To Tell Lies for Dollars.
There were false weights and deceitful
balances. And in the face of all this social
and industrial wrong, what were the priests
doing? They were conducting beautiful
and elaborate services. They were receiv-
ing large salaries from the capitalists who
were grinding the faces of the poor. And
they were preaching peace, saying that
everything was right and best, preaching
providence, teaching men to be content
with that state of life to which, they said,
God had called them, and to obey and rev.
erence their betters
This is what Micah saw and heard. Micah
was plain countryman, living in little
obscure village in the Philistine provinces,
named Moresheth. He had no official sta
tion, no social position, no money that we