The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-07-16

character; but God will after while
tear open the whited sepulcher and ex-
pose the putrefaction. Sunday faces
cannot save him; long prayers cannot
save him: psalm-singing and church
going cannot save him. God will ex-
pose him just as thoroughly as though
He branded upon his forehead the word
''Hypocrite." He may think he has
been successful in the deception, but
at the most unfortunate moment the
sheep will bleat and the oxen will
below.
One of the cruel bishops of olden
time was going to excommunicate one
of the martyrs, and he began in the
usual form-"In the name of God,
amen" "Stopr' says the martyr, don't
say in the name of Godp" Yet how
many outrages are practiced under the
garb of religion and sanctity! When,
in SYMBOLS and conferences, ministers
of the gospel are about to say some
thing unbrotherly and unkind about a
member, they almost always begin by
being tremendously pious, the venom
of their assault corresponding to the
heavenly flavor of the prelude. Stand
ing there, you would think they were
ready to go right up into glory, and
that nothing kept them down but the
weight of their boots and overcoats,
when suddenly the sheep bleat and the
oxen below.
Oh, my dear friends, let US cultivate
simplicity of Christian character!
Jesus Christ said: UNLESS you become
as this little child, you cannot enter
the kingdom of God" We may play
hypocrite successfully now, but the
Lord God will after awhile expose our
true character. You must know the
incident mentioned in the history of
Ottacas, who was asked to kneel in the
presence of Randolphus l.; and when
before him he refused to do it, but after
awhile he agreed to come in private
when there was no one in the kings
tent, and then he would kneel down be-
fore him and worship; but the servants
of the king had arranged it so that
by drawing a cord the tent would sud-
denly drop. Ottacas after awhile came
in, and supposing he was in entire
privacy, knelt before RandOlphus.
The servants pulled the cord, the tent
dropped, and two armies surrounding
looked down on Ottacas kneeling be-
fore Randolphus. If we are really
kneeling to the world while we profess
to be lowly subjects of Jesus Christ,
the tent has already dropped, and all
the hosts of Heaven are gazing upon
our hypocrisy. Gods universe is very
public place, and you cannot hide by
pocrisy in it.
Going out into world of delusiOn
and sham, pretend to be no more than
you really are. If you have the grace
of God, profess it; profess no more than
you have. But / want the world to
know that where there is one hypO-
critic in the church there are 500 out
side of it, for the reason that the field
is larger. There are men in all circles
who will bow before you, and who are
obsequious in your presence and talk
fatteringly, but who all the while in
your conversation are digging for bait
and angling for imperfections. In
your presence they imply that they are
every IllluS II lOhdiNs OuO oANCA o"i
you find they have the fierceness of a
catamount. the slyness of a snake, and
the spite of devil. God will expose
such. The gun they load will burst in
their own teeth; the lies they tell will
break their own teeth; and at the very
moment they think they have been
successful in deceiving you and de-
ceiving the world, the sheep will bleat
and the oxen will below.
| learn further from this subject
how natural it is to try to put off our
sins on other people. Saul was charged
with disobeying God. The man says
it was not he; he did not save the
sheep, the army did it-trying to throw
it off on the shoulders of other people.
Human nature is the same in all ages.
Adam, confronted with his sin, said:
1.-The woman tempted me, and l did
eat" And the woman charged it upon
the serpent; and if the serpent could
have spoken, it would have charged it
upon the devil. l suppose that the
real state of the case was that Eve was
eating the apple and that Adam saw
it, and begged and coaxed until he got
piece of it. 1 suppose that Adam was
just as much to blame as Eve was.
You cannot throw off the responsible
ity of any sin upon the shoulders of
other people.
Here is a young man who says: II
know am doing wEong, but l have
not had any chance. 1 had father
who despised God and a mother who
was a disciple of goddess fashion.
am not to blame for my sins-it is my
bringing up" All no! that young man
has been out in the world long enough
to see what is right and to see what is
wrong, and in the great day of eternity
he cannot throw his sins upon his
father or mother, but will have to
stand for himself and answer before
God. You have had a conscience, you
have had a Bible, and the influence of
the Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself,
or fall for yourself.
l learn further from this subject
what God meant by eXtermina ton.
Saul was told to Stay all the Amale-
kites, and the beasts in their possession.
H. Au,a1alyifa Iyinor