The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-17


large audience at the First Congre5a-
tional church last evening, his subject
being zone Mark of a Noble Nature"
The speaker took for his text, He
went out and wept bitterly.-Mat-
thew, 26, rs.
Mr.. Brown said in part:
Yes, Peter went out and wept Bit
terly. After denying his Lord. that
was the only thing that Peter could do.
His sorrow and his shame were too
great to be covered by words: for Pc
ter in that hour there was nothing but
bitter weeping. We feel fnstinctively
that Peter was a noble nature, and 1t
is just such glimpses as these that
confirm that expression.
One mark Of a noble nature is the
capacity for penitence.
If Peter, after his fall, had gone out
and begun to justify himself. to make
excuses for himself, how severely
would we turn away from him with
Indifference or contempt. That we
should feel would be the sure sign OF
an ignoble nature. We admire him,
not because he fell, but because, hav-
ing fallen, he went out and Wept bit
terly.
The same characteristic is found in
all men of noble fibre. See David al
ter his great transgression, utterly
overwhelmed with shame and penl-
tence, pouring out "a broken and con-
drite heart in the fifty-firSt Psalm
Pain is sometimes a sign of return
ing health, a sign that the vital forces
are still at work.
capacity for repentance gives hope
of ultimate righteousness.
If life is worth living, the agonies of
resuscitation are better than the
,1,.aa r1f a h21 f-1T-
better a conscience which sends one
out to weep bitterly than a conscience
which has been smothered into insen-
sFbility by respectable self-compla-
cency. 1t requires a certain robust
ness of moral constitution to repent
excuses come so easily instead. boy
employed by Benjamin Franklin failed
to perform the duties assigned TO him,
but never failed to offer two or three
good excuses. Franklin dismissed him.
saying that he had found that people
who showed such marked ability in
making excuses never developed the
ability to do anything else. Whatever
we may think of the nature of con-
science 1t is a primary factor in a
symmetrical manhood. Whenever its
claims have been ignored, human life
has always degenerated very rapidly.
The practical efficiency of conscience
may be impaired, scared" Paul said,
by vicious living; or it may be i'm
paired, utterly debilitated, by self
complacency, by the habit of justifying
ones self-a practice which generally
begins with sins of omission and III
timately Includes also those Of COM
mission.
The state of a man who has sue
cumbed to a fatal dose of chloroform
is Just as serious as that Of a man
who has been crushed in a wreck.
The danger which l am trying to
- 49,
attaches to Indifference concerning re-
ligiOus Matters respectable inSensi-
'bility to the law and the love Of God.
The man who has no appreciation of
the law Of God is but ill-prepared to
understand the love of God. The love
Of law and the law. of love are in
separable in the Christian life.
Peter had a heart that was always
ready to emphasize the claims of his
conscience.
When Jesus looked upon Peter, that
divine eye-glance touched his heart
and he felt how grievously he had
sinned against love. lid in that mo-
ment he also knew how grievously he
had sinned against law.
Penitence implies a certain frank
ness OF nature. Frankness is some
thing that cannot be measured by the
length of a mans confession. it is
rather in q certain attitude of spirit.
der to be frank, should take the pub
lie into his confidence and tell them
all the details Of an evil career. Frank
ness is entirely consistent with a man.
~ seserve, as in the case Of Paul. who
conf essed to a thorn in the flesh"
but what ii was the keenest common
tator has not been able to make out.
And see the publican at prayer, God
be mercifui to me a sinner, and
there he stopped; but he went down
to his home justified.
Much less does frankness consist in
telling all you know, or think you
know, about other people.
We sometimes see a man given to
harsh censorious remarks about 9th
ers who concludes his criticism by the
observation that he is no hypocrIte.
as if that had anything to do with it.
He seems to be trying to get the sat
isfaction Of being malicious and at the
same time the credit Of being ingen-
sous It is the mistake of q cold
hearted man A cold heart is just
about as dangerous as a scared con-
science When they get together the
situation is all but desperate For
tupately for Peter. though he had out
ragged his conscience with denial and
profanity, his heart was open to the
appealing glance from the eyes Of his
dear Lord.
Love is the fulfilling of the law
head: worship, penitence. praise, is
love working through the heart and
they cannot be separated without peri
TO both.
The morality of a man whose heart
is never thrilled with prayer or adora.
ton is in danger Of becoming mere
stagnant Phariseeism.
Life, like the ocean, to be pure must
never be still.
DO not be afraid Of being stirred up
emotion is foreign to a sphinX-it is
native to g soul
Can you doubt for a moment as yor
read the story of Jesus that his chal
lenge is TO your heart as we'll as tt
your conscience2
He declares his love for you; he seeks
for your love in return. You never
doubt the nobility Of your love OF
home and children and friends. Why
should you be suspicious of the love
of him who gave you these affections
First Methodist.
''The Exercise of the Spiritual Fac
ulty'' formed the theme for Dr. Bean:
discourse at tt First Methodist church
,reS+erdsv morning The text wa