The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-04


eer of Exodus. why should we 20 severely
excoriate those who run against another
verse of the same chapter? Undl We are
perfect ourselves. We ought 90 be is1ieHt
with our neighbor's impsrfections. Yet
IL Is often the case that the man most
Vulnerable Is the most hypeTcrticaL Per-
haps he Is prOfane. and yet has no toier-
ance for theft. when profanity Is worse
than theft, for while the latter Is rob
berry Of a man. the former Is robbery of
God Perhaps he Is given to defamation
and detraction, and yet feels himself bet
ter than some one who Is guilty of MAN.
slaughter, not realizing that the assassin
alton OF character Is the worst Kind CT
assassination. The layer for washing In
the ancient tabernacle was at its side
FURNISHED like a looking-glass, so that
those who approached that laver might
see their need OF Washing and If by the
gospel loOkfng-glass We discovered cur
own need OF moral cleansing. we would
be more economic OF denunciation.
There are wounds of the world that
need the probe and the sharp knife and
severe surgery. but the most of the
wounds want an application OF ointment
or salve, and We ought to have three or
four boxes OF that Gospel medicament n
our pocket as We go out into the word
We all need 10 carry more of the Balm
of Gilead' and less cauStic: more beueiic-
ton and less anathema When l find a
professed Christian man harsh and merci-
less In his estimate Of others l silently
wonder If he has not been misusing trust
funds or beating his wife. There is some
thing awful the matter with him.
Oar Own special Duty.
I'VE also have need Of patience with
slow results Of Christian work. We want
to see our attempts to do good immediate
ly successful The world is improving.
but improving at so deliberate a rate
fhp .
Other wheels turn so swiftly, why not the
Gospel chariot take speed electric? I do
not know. j only know that il is Gods $
way. We whose cradle and grave are so
near together have to hurry up, but God,
who manages this world and the universe
is from everlasting TO everlasting. He
takes five hundred years to do that which
He could do in five minutes. His clock
strikes once In a thousand years While
God took only a week to fit up the world
Tor human residence, geology reveals that
the foundations OF the world were aeonS
In being laid, and God watched the gla-
ciers and the fire and the earthquakes
ana tne volcanoes as through centuries
ana mlllenniums they were shaping this
world. before that last week that put on
the arborescence. A few days ago my
friend was talking with a geologist AS
they stood near pile of rocks my friend
said TO the scientist: L suppose these
rocks were hundreds of thousands of
years in construction? And the geologist
replied: Yes; and you might say millions
OF years. for no one knows but the Lord
and He won't tell II it took so long to make
this world at the start. be not surprised
II II takes long while to make 1t over
again. now that II has been ruined
while l was thinking of this sermon
looked out of the window in my room In
the Hotel Metropole, London, and / saw
hfty-eight men busy on some lots where
great building, or row of buildings, was to
be erected. Some were manag ging a der
rick with which the earth was being
swung TO carts that were TO carry it off !;
some were with sledge hammers pounding
the iron into the hard ground SO as to
loosen 1t; some were with pick-ax striking
into the embankment; some were delving
with the shovel; some were pushing the
loaded wheelbarrow. / do not suppose
that one of them had seen the architects
plan, and none Of them lay awake nights
anxious less the building be not completed
at the right time, or for fear the structure
would be badly proportioned After it is
all done, they may sometimes pass by
with kit of tools and say? with some sat
isfaction, i helped build those store
houses So We are Gods workmen, and
all we have to do is to manage our own
hammer, or AK. or trowel, until the night
comes In which no man can work; and
when the work is all completed We will
have a right to say. rejoicingly. Thank
God, was privileged to help in the rear
ing of that temple. / had a part in the
work of the worlds redemption
The Patience Of Christ.
again, We have need of patience under
wrong inflicted, and who escapes IL in
some form? 1t comes to all people In pro-
fessional life in the shape of being mis-
understood. Because of this, how many
people fly to newspapers for an explana-
ton? You see their card signed by their
own name declaring they did not say this
or did not do that. They fuster and
worry, not realizing that every man comes
TO be taken for what he is worth, and
you cannot, by any newspaper puff, be
taken for more than you are worth, nor
by any newspaper depreciation be put
down. There is a spirit of fairness abroad
in the world, and if you are a public man
you are classified among the friends or
foes OF society. If you are a friend Of so-
ciety you will find plenty of adherents.
9 nd If you are the foe of society you can
not escape reprehension. Paul, you were
right when you said. not more to the He
brewS than TO US, 'Ye have need of pa
tience.' / adopted a rule years ago which
has been of great service 10 me, and u
may be OF some service TO you: Cheerfully
consent 10 be misunderstood. God knows
whether We are right or wrong. whether
we are trying to serve Him or damage
His cause. When you can.cheerfully con-
sent TO be misunderstood, many Of the an
noydnceS and YeXatlonS Of life Will quit
your heart, and you Will come into calmer
seas than you have ever sailed On. The
most misunderstood being that ever 'trod
the earth was the glorious Christ. The
world misunderstood His cradle. and con-
la1 hot
be of much importance. They charged
Him with inebriety and called Him a
wine -bibber. The Sanhedrim misunder-
stood Him, and when IL was put to the
vote whether He was guilty or not OF
treason, He got but one vote, while all the
others voted Aye, aye They misunder-
stood His cross, and concluded that If He
had divine power He would effect His own
rescue. They misunderstood his grave
and declared that His body had been
stolen by infamous resurrectionists. He
80 fully consented to be misunderstood.
that harried and slapped and submerged
with scorn, He answered not word. You
cannot come up 10 that, but you can imi-
tate in some small degree the patience of
Christ
II admire exceedingly the behavior of
that farmer at Sedan VINO. when the
great battle was going on between the
armies OF Germany and France. and the
air was full of the sound Of whistling bull
lets and bursting SnellS, Kept risht on
blowing in his field, making straight fur
rows, now this way and now that. He
had his work to do, and as he did not
feel called TO fight, he felt called 10 ploU.
Bravo! say for that man. Bravo! / say
for you, if you allow nothing 10 divert
you and nothing TO alarm. though all the
artillery of human and Satanic hate rage
about you, keep right on ploWing.
When Disease AssaiIs Us.
again, this grace is needed to help In
time of physical ailments. What vast
multitudes are in perpetual pain while
others a.e subject 10 occasional par
oxysmi Almost every one has some dis
order TO which he is occasionally sub
jected II is rheumatism. or neuralgia, or
sick headache, or Indigestion. A draft
from an open window or hasty mastica-
ton, or overwork, brings On that old
spell, and you think you would rather
have almost anything else. but that Is be-
cause you have not tried the other.
Asthma would ike 10 trade of for erysip-
elias. and erysipelas for asthma. Almost
every Cne has something which he wishes
he had not There are scores of diseases
ever ready to attack the human frame.