Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-10-13

TIE BRO ,K:SN DIVINEe i
JAY -EHH.t>

Tyxr This day Is salvation come to this |
honse."-Luke TX. 8. |
Z,ccheus was a politician aai n taxeash- |
,rer. He had An honest calling. but the
for "~stealinys" was 80 large
he temptation was too much for him. The
PfhIa SAYS be "was a sinner"-that Is. In the
public sensa. How many fne men have been
ruined ny official position. 1t is an awful
thing for any man to seek ONCE under gov
ernrnent unless his principles Of integrity
are deeply fixed. Many a man upright in an
Insignificant position has made shipwreck In
A great one. A. far ~ l can tell. In the city
Of Jericho this Zaccheus belonged to what
might Re called tho "rinR." They had things
their own way, successfully avoiding exno-
cure. II by no other way perhaps By hiring
somebody TO break In and steal the vonch-
er.~ Notwithstanding his bad reputation
there were s.reaks OF good about him as
there are about almost every man. Gold Is
found IN quartz, and sometimes in a small
percentage.
Jesus was coming to town. The people
turned out en- masse to see Him. Here He
comes. the Lord OF glory. on foot, dust COW
cred and travel weary, limping along the
way, carrying the Rriefs and woes OF the
woria. He looks 10 be sixty years OF age.
when He II only about thirty. Zaccheus was
A short man and con'd not see over the peo-.
DIG = USAJS Wutto NuAaiuk oA ~ AouuA
30 he got up into a sycamore tree that swung
IFS arm clear over the road. Jesus advanced
amid the Wild excitement OF the surging
crowd. The moet honorable and popular
men OF the city are looking on and trying to
gain His attention. Jesus, instead OF re-
earding them. looks M at the little man in
the tree and says: ''Zaccheus. come down.
I am going home with you" Everybody
was disgusted to think that Christ would go
home with 30 dishonorahIe a man.
see Christ entering the front door OF the
house OF Zaccheus. The King OF heaven
and earth sits down, and as He looks around
on the place and the family He %pronounces
the benediction OF the text. "This day is SAL
walton come TO this house."
Zaccheus had mounted the sycamore tree
ont OF mere inquisitiveness. He wanted to
see how this stranger lookeh-the color OF
His eyes, the length OF His hair, the contour
OF His features. the height OF His stature.
~Come down" said Christ.
And so many people In this day get up i'm
10 the tree OF curiosity or speculation to see
Christ. They ask n thousand queer ques.
tions about His divinity, about Gods SOW
ereignty and the eternal DEGREES. They
speculate and ~criticise and hang onto the
outside limb OF a great sycamore, but they
must come down from that II they want to
be saved. We cannot be saved as phiioso-
| pliers. but as little children. You cannot 60
10 heaven by way Of Athens, but by way OF
Bethlehem.
Why be perplexed about the way sin came
into the world when the great question Is
how we shall get sin driven out OF our hearts.
How many spend their time In criticism and
| religious speculation! They take the rose
| OF Sharon or the lilly Of the valley, pull out
the anther, scatter the corolla and say. "Is
that the beautiful flower Of religion that you
are talking about2" No flower is beautiful
after you have torn 1t all to pieces. The path
TO heaven Is 80 plain that a fool need not
make any mistake about 1t, and yet men
stop and cavtl. Suppose that, going toward
the Pacific slope, I had resolved that l would
stop until I could kill all the grizzly bears
and the panthers on either side Of the way.
/ would never have got to the Pacific coast.
When I went out to hunt the grizzly bear,
the grizzly bear would have come out to
hunt me. Here Is q plain road to heaven.
Men say they will not take a step on 1t until
bark and growl at them from the thickets.
They forget the fact that. as they go ..out to
hunt the theory, the theory m out to
hunt them. and 50 they perish.
DIR. Ludlow, my professor In the d.
logical seminary. taught me a lesson | shall
questions to him that were %perplexing he
turned upon me, somewhat in sternness,
but more in love, and said, "Mr. Talnage,
you will have TO let God know soLle things
that you don't" We tear our hands on the
spines OF the cactus instead OF feasting oul
eye on Its tropical bloom. A great com.
! pany OF people now sit swinging them
, and l cry to you: "Zaccheus, come Town
Come down out OF your pride, out of your
, inQuisitiveness, out OF your speculation
. You cannot ride into the gate Of Leaver
with coach and four, position ahes5 and
laekey behind. Except ye become little
Akttls1~ ~n A4~~@t - kkn HS~-xr ~~ ~
God God has chosen the weak things 0
the world to confound the mighty. Zaccneus
come down., come down"
notice that this taxgatherer accompanied
his surrender to Christ with the resto ,atioI
OF property that did not belong to hin. H
gays. III l have taken anything by fsece &C
cusation, I restore fourfold"-that is, IL
|. have taxed any man for &l0, 900 when he ha'
only $4,000 worth OF property and put IN N
own pocket the tax for the last $4,000. / viii
restore TO him fourfoId. II l took frcr, hin
$40. I will give him so. II took .ro.n hir
$40. l will give him *IvJ.
Hundreds OF thousands OF dollsro hav
been sent to Washington during tho pa:t fe,
years IS conscience money" l sappos
That money was sent by men who ~!nnted +,
/" Christians. hut found they could not unit
" AAat AhVIc ID NJ uCCA y
'ur trying 10 come to Christ as long as "
Keep 1rau iulently n dollar or = farthinG 4
sur possession that belongs TO another. Sup
pose you have not money enough to pa
,our debts n for the sake OF defraudin
YOUR creditors you put your property |
your wife's name. You might cry until III
day OF judgment for pardon, but you woul
not get It without frse making restitution
in times OF prosperity il Is right, against
rainy day, TO assign property 10 your wife
but II. In time OF perpiexity and tor the SAX
OF d~efraudin9 your creditors. you make sue
assignment you become a cuiprit oefo.
God, and you may RS we'll stop praying VI
/, til you have made restitution Or suppos
one man oan another money on bond c
mortgage, with the understanding that To
mortgage can lie quiet for several years, hu
AS soon as the mortgage Is given commenc.
foreclosure-the sheriff mounts the auctio
block, and the property Is struck down
halt price. and the mortgage buys /, 1,