The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-26

Mothers Prayer.
BROOKLYN, Sept. 22-The Rev DR..
Tllmage, who is now preparing to leave
Australia for India on his round-the-
world tour, has selected as his subject
for today's sermon through the press
THE Tax Collectors Conversion" the
text being taken from Luke xix, 9, This
day is salvation come to this house.
Zaccheus was a politician and tax
gatherer He had an honest calling, but
the opportunity for "stealings" was so
large the temptation was too much for
him. The bible says he was a sinner
that is, in the public sense. How many
fine men have been ruined by official po-
sitioni IT is an awful thing for any man
TO seek Office under government unless
his principles Of integrity are deeply
fixed. Many a man upright in an insig-
nificant position has made shipwreck in
a great one. AS far as l can tell, in the
city of Jericho this Zaccheus belonged TO
what might be called the ring" They
had things their own way, successfully
avoiding exposure, If by no other way,
perhaps by hiring somebody to break in
and steal the vouchers. NOtwithstand-
ing his bad reputa ton. there were
streaks of good about him, as there
are about almost every man. Gold is
found in quartz, and sometimes in
very small percentage.
Jesus was coming TO town. The peo-
pie turned out en- masse to see him.
Here He comes, the Lord of glory, on
foot, dust-covered and road-weary, limp
ing along the way, carrying the griefs
and woes of the world. He looks to be
sixty years of age when He is only
about thirty. Zaccheus was a short man
and could not see over the peoples
heads while standing on the ground, so
he got up into a sycamore tree that
swung its arm clear over the road. Je-
sus advanced amid the wild excitement
of the suTging crowd The most hon
orable and popular men of the city are
looking on and trying to gain His at
tentiOn. Jesus, instead of regarding
them, looks up at the little man in the
tree and says: "Zaccheus, come down.
I am going home with YOU Everybody
was Disguised to think that Christ would
go home with so dishonorable a man.
Christ and the Publican.
1 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 fam
lily he pronounces the benediction of the
text, This day is salvation come to this
house"
Zaccheus had mounted the sycamore
tree Out Oh mere lDQuASlllNeueSS. he
wanted to see how this stranger looked
the color of his eyes, the length Of his
hair, the contour of his features, the
hight of his stature. Come down." said
Christ.
And so many people in this day get
up into the tree of curiosity or specula-
ton to see Christ. They ask a thousand
queer questions about His divinity, about
Gods sovereignty and the eternal de-
crees. They speculate and criticise and
hang onto the outside limb of a great
sycamore. But they must come down
from that if they want to be saved. We
cannot be saved as philosophers, bat as
little children. You cannot go toheaven
by way Of Athens, but by way of Beth
lehem 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 critic
ism and religious speculation! They
take the rose of Sharon or the lily of the
valley, pull out the anther, scatter the
flower of religion that you are talking
about?" No flower is beautiful after
you have torn it all to pieces. The path
to heaven is so plain that a fool need
not make any mistake about 1t, and yet
men stop and cavil. Suppose that, go
ing toward the Pacific slope, I had re-
solved that 1 would stop until 1 could
kill all the grizzly bears aud the pan
theirs on either side of the way. l would
never have got to the Pacific coast.
When l went out to hunt the grizzly
bear. the grizzly bear would have come
out to hunt me. Here is a plain road to
heaven. Men say they will not take a
step on ii until they can make game
of all the theories that bark and growl
at them from the thicketS. They forget
the fact that, as they go out to hunt
the theory, the theory comes out to hunt
them and 90 thax- unrich Wa ,zt
ceive the kingdom of heaven in simple
ity.
A Stntesman's Example.
WILLIAM Pennington was one Of the
wisest men of this country-a governor
of his own state and afterward speaker
of the house of representatives Yet,
when God called him to be a Christian,
he went in and sat down among some
children who were applying for church
membership, and he said to his pastor,
Talk TO me just as you do TO these chill
dren, for 1 know nothing about it,
There is no need Of bothering ourselves
about the mysteries when there are so
many things that are plain. DR.. Ludlow,
my professor in the theological seminary,
taught me a lesson | have never for
gotten While putting a variety of ques-
tons to him that were perpleXing he
turned upon me, somewhat in sternness,
but more in love, and said, "Mr. Tai
mage, you will have to let God know
some things that you don't" We tear
our hands on the spines of the cactus
instead OF feastIng our eye on it's tropical
bloom. a great company of people now
sit swinging themselves on the sycamore
tree of their pride, and l cry 10 you:
''Zaccheus, come down! Come down out
Of your pride, out of your inquisitiveness,
out of your speculation. You cannot ride
into the gate of heaven with coach and
four, position ahead and laclxey behind.
Except we become as little children, We
cannot enter the kingdom of Cod God
has chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the mighty. Zaccheus, come
down. come down.
Restitution n Necessity.
1 notice that this tax-gatherer accom-
panied his surrender TO Christ with the
restoration of property that did not be-
long to him. He says, eff have taken
anything by false accusation, l restore
fourfold is, If / have taxed any
man for $4,000 when he had only $1,000
worth of property and put in my own
pocket the tax for the last $1,000, l will
restore to him fourfold. If 1 took from
him SO, 1 will give him $40. If L took
from him $40, will give him $3.50.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have
been sent to Washington during the past
few years as conscience money" sup
pose that money was sent by men who
wanted to be Christians, but found they
could not until they made restitution
There is no need Of our trying TO come
to Christ as long as we keep fraudulently
a dollar or a farthlng IN our possession
that belongs to another. Suppose you
have not money enough to pay your debts
and for the sake of defrauding your cred
"a mr.