The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-02-14
not only In the daily papers. but in the
daily intercourse of man with man.
TEACHINGS OF CHRIST.

TEACHINGS OF CHRIST.
The very fact that any ill-judge, hasty
anger, any sudden pique because of fam
cied slight, or indeed, and frame of mind
that causes us to look with dislike ana
perhaps hatred upon fellow creature,
the fact that this feeling lies at the door
that opens upon actual murder is enough
to startle any man. And yet this appears
evidently to be the teaching of Him who
judges not by the act but by the spirit
My brethren, let us beware. The
tongue is said to be ian unruly evil and
full of deadly poison" but it needs not
the tongue to formulate the word before
the mind is poisoned; and we are too
much accustomed to consider the
thoughts. il not expressed, as of no mo-
ment, utterly oblivous of the fact that by
this means, without one word, the whole
moral nature may be undermined and
the man spiritually ruined-while anger
thus secretly nursed must frequently
burst forth into murder.
II say unto you that whosoever is
angry with his brother is in dam
ger of the Judgment"
DIR. McLeod's discourse was entitled
"Be Merciful" and was on the Fifth
Beautitude, blessed are the mericful
for they shall obtain mercy" Matthew
V, Z. He said:
Mercifu: Whether we apply this word
to God or to men, 1t is a word of large
import. AS appued to God, its meaning
is infinite Mercy is a Divine attitude.
God is merciful. He delights in mercy;
He keeps mercy for thousands; lie is
rich i'm mercy; He is the Father of mer-
cies and in one of the Psalms. we are
told twenty-six times that His mercy
| endureth forever"
'bn mi c nnmpTpi-
| full world. The most enlightened of the
| old heather world had vague and poor
| ideas of mercy. 1t was part of the creed
| of the Stoics to be unpitlful. Seneca,
| even called mercy 'vicc" and "A dis
case" of the SOUL into which no wise
| man ought to fall.
| The Good Samaritan must ever remain
| one of the divirest examples of mercy,
| in action. When the priest and the Le-
| vite saw the naked, wounded and half
| dead traveller, his miserable condition
| did no draw from them an expression
| of pity, much less Gid IL move them to
do an act of mercy. They looked at the
| sufferer. but they passed by on the other
| side. But when the Samaritan saw the
sufferer he had compassion in him,
| and went to him, and bound up his
wounds, and took care of him. lie
showed mercy on him.
FAULTS AND MISFORTUNES.
| In showing mercy to the unfortunate
| and to the undeserving, we must not for
get the difference between faults and
| misfortunes nor the difference between
sins of ignorance and sins of intent and
| design. Some SINS in themselves, and by
| reason of severaI aggravatiOns are more
| heinous in the sight of God than others.
| Mercy must not be exalted at the ex-
pense of either truth or justice. God re-
| quires us to do justly, as well as to love
mercy. In the work of human redemption
mercy and truth are met together and
with the merciful God will show Himself
| merciful.
| The merciful man will not only think
and speak mercifully, but, when the OPP
portunity offers, he will act mercifully
| When he hears a tale of woe and misery
| he will not content himself with using
| soft words-such as poor things / pity
| them-his mercy will not eXpend its force
in sickly sentiment, but it will be en-
| bodied in action, and he will gladly lend
| a helping hand to raise the fallen and &c
| rescue the perishing and to forgive the
| injury that the transgressor may have
| inflicted upon his benefactor.
| The opportunities for cultivating and
exercising this Christian grace of mercy
| have always existed, and the always will
| exist. Christians are the salt of the
earth, and the light of the world. They
are-and they ought to be far more thar
| they are. Christs almoners, His mes
| senEers, His stewards, to distribute His
| bounties. They are the channel through
| which mercy should freely flow to the
| poor, and the sick, and the outcast, anc
the prodigal, and the lost. The most
| merciful are the most Christ-like, anC
| when they have done their best they will
| still only be following Christ "afar off y
| The putting of some persons under re-
| straint is not inconsistent with mercy
Jails and penitentiaries, and retormator
les and asylums for the wretched are
not necessarily unmerciful institutions
Vagabonds who roam around and who ar,
beggars from choice and not from neces
| sity; indolent, lazy, good-for-nothing mer
who prey upon the kind-hearted and tbs
credulous; men who are able to worl
and who have opportunities to work, bu
who will not work-the mission of mercy
and charity to such persons is either tC
let them die of hunger or else put then
| in some institution where they will b,
compelled to work and to earn theil
daily bread.
EXTENT OF MERCY.
The merciful whom Jesus pronounce'
blessed will deal tenderly with the errinl
and the fallen, even as God has deal
| tenderly with them. But how long an,
how often are we to be merciful? Shal
| i show mercy to my brother or my son
or my daughter, or my neighbor, twic,
| or thrice, or perchance seven times
Yes, seven times-and not only so, bu
seventy times seven. IF he trespas
against thee seven times in a day an,
seven times in a day turn again to the
saying, repent, thou shalt forgive him
| When the apostles heard these words o
| Jesus IL is no wonder they said unit,