The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1901-08-22
SIN IN HIGH PLACES.
Tendency to Excuse Brilliant Faults
Because They Are Brilliant.
DR.. TalnaEe Says the Same Law
Ought to Be Applied to the High
as to the LOw-The Sacred
ness of Life.
copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch, N. VI
WASHINGTON.

copyright. 1901. by Louis Klopsch, N. VI
Washington.
In this discourse DR.. Talmage shows
that there is tendency to excuse bril-
liant faults because they are brilliant,
when the same law of right and wrong
ought to be applied to high places and
low; text, Daniel ABB: "The same
hour was the thing fulfilled upon Neb-
ucha adnezzar, and he was driven from
men and did eat grass as oxen"
Here is the mightiest of the Baby
lonish kings. Look at him. He did
more for the grandeur of the capital
than did all his predecessors OF sue
cessors. Hanging gardens, reservoirs,
aqueducts, palaces, all of his own plan
ming. The bricks that are brought up
to-day from the ruins of Babylon have
his name on them, observation-disclosures,
son of Ma bopolas assor, king of Babylon
He was great conqueror. he
stretched forth his spear toward ma
ton, and it surrendered. But he plum
dered the temple of the true God. He
lifted an idol, Bel Merodach, and COM
PEELED the people to bow down before
it, and if they refused they must 60
through the redhot furnace or be
crunched by lion or ioness. So God
pulled him down.
He was smitten with what physicians
call lycanthropy and fancied that he
was wild beast, and he went out and
pastured amid the cattle. God did not
excuse him because he had committed
the sin in high places or because the
transgre ssion was wide resounding.
He measured Nebuchadnezzar in high
places just as he would measure the
humblest captive.
But in our time, you know as well as
1, that there is disposition to put a
halo around iniquity if it is committed
in conspicuous place and if it is wide re-
sounding and of large proportions.
Ever and anon there has been an epi-
demic of crime in high places, and
there is not a state or city and hardly
village which has not been called to
look upon astounding forgery or an b.
sconding bank cashier or president or
the wasting of trust fund or swindling
mortgages. I propose in carrying out
the suggestion of my text, as far as
can, to scatter the fascinations around
iniquity and show you that sin is sin
and wrong is wrong whether in high
place or low place and that it will be
dealt with by that God who dealt with
impalaced NebuchadnezZar.
All who preach feel that two kinds OF
sermons are necessary, the one on the
faith of the Gospel, and the other on
the morality of the Gospel, and the
one is just as important as the other,
for you know that in this land to-day
there are hundreds of men hiding be-
hind the communion tables and in
churches of Jesus Christ who have no
business to be there as professors OF
religion. They expect to be all right
with God, although they are all wrong
with man. And, while I want you to
understand that by the deeds of the
law no flesh living can be justified and
q mere honest life cannot enter us int O
Heaven, l want you as plainly to un'
derstand that unless the life is right
the heart is not right. Grace in the
heart and grace in the life; so we must
preach some times the faith of the
Gospel and sometime the morality OF
the Gospel.
1t seems to me there has not been a
time in the last so years when this lat
ter truth needed more thoroughly to
= {ol INT ba A - ~ =
It needs to be presented to-day.
Look upon all the fascinat tions
thrown around fraud in this country
You know for years men have been
made heroes of and pictorialized and in
various ways presented to the public
as though sometimes they were worthy
of admiration if they have scattered
the funds of banks or swallowed great
estates that did not belong to them
Our young men have been dazed with
this quick accumula ton. They have
said: That's the way to do it. What's
the use of our plodding on with small
wages or insignificant salary when we
may 60 into business life and with
some stratagem achieve such fortune
is tndC man mas aCn1eVeQ! "A ulHeTenl
measure has been applied to the crime
of Wall street from that which has
been applied to the spoils which the
man carries up Rat alley.
So a peddler came down from New
England many years ago, took hold o1
the money market of New York, faunt
ed his denominations in the sight of all
the people, defied public morals every
day of his life. Young men looked uI
and said: HE was a peddler in one
decade, and in the next decade he il
one of the monarchs of the stock mar
ket. That's the way to do it." To this
| day the evil influence of that profigats
| has been felt, and within the past few
| weeks he has had conspicuous imita
| tors.
There has been an irresistible i'm
preston going abroad among youn,
men that the poorest way to &c
| money is to earn it. The young mai
of Haunting cravat says to the youn,
man of humble apparel: What, yo1
J only get s1,soo year2 Why, tha