The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-08-19

One OF the cruel bishops Of oIden
time was going to excolnmunicate one
of the martyrs. and lie began in the
amen" Stop. says the martyr,
don't say in the name of God"" Yet |
how many outrages are practlced un-
der the garb of religion and sanctitys ,
When, in synods and conferences, min
listers of the Gospel are about to say |
something unbrotherly and unkind |
about q member, they almost always |
begin by being tremendously pioas,
the venom of their assault correspond |
ing to the heavenly flavor of the pre-
lude. Standing there, you would think
they We're ready to go right up into
glory, and that nothing kept them
down but the Weight nf their boots and
overcoat, 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 can not enter the
kingdom of Cod We may play hypo-
critic successfully now, but the Lord
God will after awhile expose our true
character. You must know the incl
dent mentioned in the history of OF
tacas, 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 nobody in the
kings tent, and then he would l1neel
down before him and worship; but the
servants of the king had arranged it SO
that by drawing a cord the tent would
suddenly drop. Ottacas after awhile
came in, and supposing he was in en-
tire 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 can not hide
hypocrisy in it.
Going out into a world of delusion
and sham, pretend to he 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 cir
cles who will bow before you,
| N
ence and talk 1atteringly, 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 thing friend
ly, but after awhile you find they have
the fierceness of catamout, the sly
ness of a snake, and the spite of a
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 de-
ceiving you and 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 [ did eat.
And the woman charged 1t upon the
serpent, and if the serpent could have
spoken, it would have charged it upon
the devil. suppose that the real state
of the case was that Eve was eating
the apple and that Adam saw it, ane
begged and coaxed until he got piect
of it. | suppose that Adam was jus
as much to blame as Eve was. 70,
can not throw off the responsibility o
any sin upon the shoulders OF othe
people.
Here is a young man who says; :"
know | am doing wrong, but | hav,
not had any chance. [ had a fathe
who despised God, and a mother VINE
was disciple of Goddess fashion.
am not to blame for my sins-it is N,
bringing up All no. that young MAI
Z has been out In the world long enough
to see what is right and to see what i
Q wrong, and in the great day of eterni
ty he can not throw his sins upon lli
a father Or mother but viii! have t.
S stand for himself and answer befor
}, God. You have had a conscience, yo!
s have had a Bible, and the influence O
" the Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself 0
y fall for yourself
Here is a business man. He says
i Il know l don't do exactly right i
trade, but all the dry goods men do il
> and all the hardware men do this, an
j. l am not responsible You can no
n throw off your sin upon the shoulder
& of other merchants. God will hol
e you responsible for what you do, an
0 them responsible for what they do.
want to quote one passage from Scrit
It ture for you-I think in the Proverb:
e IF thou be wise, thou shalt be wis
= for myself; but if thou soonest, tho
a alone shalt bear it,"
e l learn further from this subiec
}. what God meant by determination
l. Saul was told to Stay all the Anal,