Crawford avalanche., 1900-04-05

I've Lesson, and Where II May Be
Found-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same. ae M xefi
| The lesson for April is from Matt.
Z: TIA, its subject being "Precepts and
Promises" The Golden Text Is Matt.
7:12. frHc. nAs bis9
| Goodness is within, not without it Is
matter of the heart. not of conformity
| TO rules. Therefore in conduct toward
men and toward God we must be genu-
Inc, humble, devogt. This applies to
beneficencc, to prayer. TO provision for
the material needs of the body, the judg-
ment of ones fellows, the fruitage Of
character, the final destiny of the soul,
as set forth in chapters 9 and z. There
are several sayings that are paralleled
| by Luke in his later chapters, as spoken
during the Perean ministry; and it may
be that Matthew has introduced them
here because Of "a connection Of thought.
Explanatory. -t,,
Judge not, that ye be not Judged or.
as in Luke, ''and ye shall not be juds cd
1t Is simple statement OF cause and re-
suit as applied between men and their
fellows, not referring TO divine judgment,
for the context gives no indication of such
a reference. 1t is certainly true that the
fault-finder is the most disliked and the
most criticised Of mer. The spirit Of
petty attack upon one's fellows in con-
tagious and rebounds upon the one who
begins it. Judgment means not simply
the formation Of opinions regarding an
others conduct, but the assigning Of bad
motives on little or no evidence, the will
ngness to believe evil rather than good.
1t is characteristic easy to acquire and
hard to be rid of. - ,,...sfg
why beholdest thou the mote;" or
rather the splinter. 1t is of course an
extreme case, a hyperbola used for en-
phasis. why do you look so hard at
the splinter in his eye when you have a
whole beam in your own?" Sarcasm,
undoubtedly. Nothing but sarcasm land
seldom that will reach the man who sets
himself up as a standard for others and
calmly informs them of their faults.
In refraining from harsh judgments we
are not to keep ourselves SO ignorant of
tho character Of others as to waste our
choicest words and deeds upon people
who will neither appreciate nor profit by
them; pearls before swine" are wasted.
In studying the life of Jesus one finds in
stances in which our Lord seems to have
sometimes ministered to people who
showed not the slightest understanding
of his grace, and derived no help. from
it. But it must have been that his supe-
rior insight perceived even in them some
possibility of reformation which he hoped
to touch. For the arrogant and self-cen
tered scribes and Pharisees he had no
time to waste; he denounced them more
sternly than any other class. They were
swine" and he cast no pearls before
sthem. However, this precept does not
mean that there is any human creature
so debased that the gospel should not be
preached to him; but rather that the more
sacred and spiritual aspects of religion
should not be wantonly exposed to ridi-
cule. You may preach repentance and re-
generation to man without expecting
him to listen to all the consoling prom
ises and inspiring devotions of the
Psalms.
ASK, and it shall be given you;' the
subject of prayer is not directly con-
nected with what Immediately precedes,
but grows out of the entire section of the
sermon. If we must order our lives in
accordance with principles so difficult Of
application, we must have divine help,
constant communion with God. Prayer
as petition addressed to a father is some
thing much simpler than prayer as com
munication with a distant and austere
Creator. Jesus sought to give men a
fresh apprehension Of the simplicity and
naturalnes of prayer. There is no trace
in his teaching of the metaphysical ar
guments for or against the reasonable
ness of prayer to which our theologians
sometimes give so much anxious thought.
hat t1ne
ments are to be neglected by the theo-
Logan. however; but it does prove that
for the ordinary unlearned believer the
fact Of prayer is far more important than
the explanation of it, A man who prays
simply because he is logically convinced
that it is reasonable thing to do may
derive much good from it, but very likely
not half so much good as the other man
who prays because Jesus commanded it
and instinct compels it.
The analogy drawn here is one that
should shape much of our theology; name
ly, the presumption that Gods ways are
kinder and better than the best of mans
ways If this had been apprehended by
some Of the theologians of past centuries
a good many of their doctrines would
never have been born. H8t
Therefore all things whatsoever ye
would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them" The Golden Rule is
quoted by nine people out of ten in
form found neither in Matthew nor in
Luke-"Do unto others as We would that
they should do to you" The meaning
is of course the same; but why people
who study the Bible should care to quote
verses which they know TO be inaccurate,
as in this case and in the Lords prayer,
we cannot sec. The application of the
rule to daily life has been the subject Of
endless discussion. Many have declared
that it is practicable in some of the So
cial relations, but not in business. Some
have held that its adoption by business
men would put an end to all destructive
mpettion-supposing that it was adopt
ed by all; and that if followed only by
minority that minority would soon be
ruined. The business policy of such men
as S. nj. Jones of Toledo--"Golden Rule"
Jones-and the preaching of such men as
Heron, Tolstoi, Sheldon, to quote at ran
dom. have called fresh attention to the
problems of Christian living. Such dis
cussions cannot help doing good, no mat
ter how much extravaganza or bad logic
there may be connected with them. The
trouble with the Christian world is that
more than half gof it has not even pre-
tended to follow the Golden Rule, and
the difficulties made so prominent are in
most cases Hypothetical difficulties, not
roo1 opac oncouufarp1 in an actual effort