The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-07-31

| through with life. To "a down in thcIr
magnificent lair. TIE laVS ma DE- their
I last sharp bargain 'rbsN have spoken
/ their last hard word -heg have commit
/ ted their last mean act Wien q tzX.uy n
habitant OF the desert roll over heipisss.
/ the lioness and wheips 81 the air with
shriekE and bowls. and lash themselves
into lamentation. and it - a genuine grie.
/ for the poor things. But when this dead
/ Ion Of mnustrous Uselessness expires,
| there is noting but drsmatiZsd woe. for
/ better IL a living dog than dead Hon
OppsrtUaiIie. Always ut Hand.
My text also means that an opportunity
[ % the living present IS better than q greas
opportunity past We spend much Of our
| time in saying. II only had We can all
/ look back and see some occasion where
We might have done a great deed, or
might have Effected an important rescue,
or We might have dealt a stroke that
would have accomplished a vast result.
/ Through stupidity or lack Of appreciation
Of the crisis. OF through procrastinatiOn.
We let the chance 20 by. How much time
We have wasted IN thinking of what We
might have said or might have donel We
spend hours and days and years in walk
Ing around that dead lion. We cannot
resuscitate Il. II will never open its eyes
again. There will never be another spring
IN its paw. Dead as any feline terror Of
South Africa through whose heart forty
years ago Gordon Cumming sent the slug
Don't let US give any more time TO the
oeplOTing OF the dead past. There are
other opportunities remaining. They may
not be as great, but they are worth our
attention Small opportunities. opportuni-
ties FOR the saying of kind words and do
ing OF kind deeds. Helplessness TO be
1 helped. Dishelrtened ones TO be en-
ccuraged. Lost ones TO be found. ThOugG
the present may be insignificant as COM
pared with the past Better is living
dog than a dead lion
The most useless and painful feeling Is
the one Of regret. Repent Of lost opportu-
mites We must. and get pardon We may,
but regrets weaken, dishearten, and Grip
pie for future work. If 4 sea captain
who once had charge Of a White Star
steamer across the Atlantic Ocean, one
fOggy night, runs on a rock of New
fCUndland, and passengers and ship per-
ish. shall he refuse to take command Of a
snail boat up the North River, and say:
1 never will 90 on the water again unless
! can run one of the White Star line"
| Shall the engineer of a lightning express.
who, at \ station, miSread the telegram
or train dispatcher and went into COLI
sion, and for that has been put down TO
the work OF engineering a freight train
say: ! never will again mount an engine
unless l can run a VeStbule EXPRESS
Take what you have OF opportunity left
DO your best with what remains. Your
shortest winter day is worth more to you
than can be the longest day of a previous
summer. Your opportunity now, as com
pared with previous opportunities, may be
small as a rat-terTier compared with the
lion which al MataboSa. fatally wounded
by the gun OF David Livingstone, in its
death agony leaped upon the missionary
explorer and with its jaws crushed the
bone Of his arm to splinters. and then
rolled over and expired but better is a
living dog than a dead lion
Life Alone l. Priceless.
MY text also means that the condition
OF the most wretched man alive is better
than that of the most favored unbelievers
departed. The chance of these last is
gone. Where they are they cannot make
any earthly assets available. After
Charlemagne was dead he was set in an
ornamented sepulcher on Il golden throne.
and a crown was put On his cold brow and
a sCepter in his stiff hand, but that gave
him no dominion in the next world One
Of the most intensely interesting things
l saw in Egypt was Pharaoh of oIden
tines, the very Pharaoh who oppressed
the Israelites. The inscriptions on his
sarcophagus and the writing on his
mummy bandageS prove beyond contro-
versy that he was the Pharaoh of Bible
times. All the Psychologists and the ex-
plOratiOns agree that it is the old scoun-
drel self Visible are the very teeth
which CRASHED against the Israelitish
brickmak rs. There are the sockets OF
the merciies5 eyes with which he looked
upon the overburdened people of God.
There is the hair that loated in the breeze
off the Red Sea. There are the very lips
with which ne commanded them to make
bricks without straw. Thousands of years
afterward, when the wrappings of the
mummy were unrOled, old Pharaoh lifted
up his q. n as if in imploration, but his
skinny bones cannot again clutch his
shattered scepter. He is a dead lion. And
IS not any man now living, in the fact
that he has opportunity for repentance and
SdIYduon, better OH than any of those de-
parted ones, who, by authority or posses
sions or influence, were positively leonine
and yet wicked?
What a thing to congratulate you on
IS your lie. Why, 1t is worth more than
al. the gems OF the universe kindled into
one precious stone. | am alivei What
does that mean? Why, it means that I
still have all opportunity Of being saved
myself and helping others to be saved
To be alive! Why, 1t means that l have
yet another chance to correct my past
mistakes and make sure work for heaven.
Alive, are We? Come. let US celebrate il
by new resolutions, new self-eXamination
| new conservation, and a new career The
smallest and most insignificant to-day IS
worth 10 us more than five hundred yes
terdayS Taking advantage of the pres
ent, let US get pardon for all the past and
security for all the future. Where are our
forgiven sins? / don't know God don't
know, either. He says: Your sins and
| iniquities will l remember no more
When the Last Shall BE First.
what encouragement in the text for all
Christian workers! Despair Of no ones
salvation. While there is life there IS
hope When in England a young lady
asked for class in a Sunday-school. the
superintendent said: Better go out on the
street and get your own class she
brought in a ragged and filthy boy. The
superintendent gave him good apparel. IN
a few Sundays he absented himself. In
quiry discovered that il a street fight he
| had his decent apparel torn off. He was
brought in and a second time respectfully
| clad. After a few Sundays he again dis
appeared, and il was found that he was
again ragged and Wretched. Then said
the teacher, we can do nothing with
him But the superintendent fitted him
up again and started him again. After
awhile the Gospel took hold of him and
his heart changed He started for the
ministry and became a foreign missionary,
and on heather grounds lived and trans
| lated the Scriptures and preached, until
among the most illustrious names of the
church on earth and in heaven is the
name Of glorious Robert Morrison. Go
forth and save the lost and remember
however depraved, however ragged, and
/ however filthy and undone a child is or a
man is or a woman is they are worth an
/ effort. | would rather have their oppo--
tunity than any that will ever be given
10 those who lived in magnificent sin and