Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-08-14

erected for the despised Mordccai, SO
The unjust criticisms which we mete out
10 others are often the very condemna
tons with which we ourselves shall
be condemned by our fellow men.
But the text has a deeper and wider
meaning than merely the Interpretation
which implies that If we utter condem-
nation against our brothers our breth-
ron will In turn speak similar condem
nations against us. 1t means that II we
condemn our brethren Christ will con-
denim us. 1t means that II we do not
speak kindly Of those who have gone
wrong Christ will not become our d.
vine advocate and plead for our for
giveness. What does the Bible say in
order to impress this truth upon our
hearts? Christ gave us the Lords
Prayer as the model Of our supplica-
lions. "Our Father, which art in
heaven. hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth as it is in heaven. Forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against U.s." In other words,
we must pray that as we are ready to
forgive the sins Of others so may God
forgive us our own trespasses. My
Lord and my God. if thy pardon Is to
be Dependant upon our willingness to
forgive and pardon others what chance
have most of us of thy forgiveness!
The older l grow the more l believe
that thousands and hundreds of thou
sands Of Christian men and women are
barred from the divine Joys Of higher
Christian service because they are
harsh in their criticism upon the errors
of their fellow men. You know that
some people make the sinful boast that
II an injustice or a wrong has ever
been done against themselves they will
never forgive. How can such persons
expect Christ's pardon when they arc
willfully refusing TO obey Christ's com.
mand to Judge not so that they shall
not be Judged?
We Must Forgive TO Ne Forgiven.
Mr.. Moody was the evangelist, /
think, who once illustrated the inpossi-
bility Of receiving Christ's pardon for
sin unless at the same time we are will
Ing to forgive the sins Of others by tell
ing an incident that happened at one Of
his revival meetings. A woman was
under deep conviction of sin. She felt
that Christ was ready to pardon. She
felt that she was q. sinner, but for some
unknown reason she would not be par.
doned. At last the great evangelist
came to her and SOLD: Madam. there
Is some SIN in your life which you are
unwilling to give up. What is it? Will
you confess the sin to mer Eyes,
answered the lady, "Iswin. 1 want tc
be saved. I fsel'that Christ is willing tc
save me. But every time begin te
pray for pardon I think Of a woman
who has done me in the past a great
wrong l. cannot But S0ndemn her and
Judge her very harshly, Then, as
pray for pardon. Christ seems to say. tc
me. 'Willtyou pardon and forgive youl
sister If I'par4on and forgive your anG
I say. NOM cannot forgive her Their
Christ. with q sad face. seems to say
Then I will not forgive you" Mr.
Moody said to the iaay, ''WIll you knee
down here by this seat aud let me pray
for you?" She answered. II will" Their
the evangelist prayed that God nigh
soften her heart toward her sister thai
he would help her to forgive, as she
wanted to be forgiven. And in the
midst of the prayer the erring woman
sobbed. 20 Lord. forgive, forgive!
and she was saved. So, my brother, II
you are not ready to deal gently with
those who have done you wrong ant
also ready to forgive others Christ viii
not forgive ycu. Judge not, that We bt
not Judged. for with what judgment ~
Judge, We shall be judged. And witt
what measure We mete it shall be mca S
ured unto We again"
But l have one thought more to de
velop. and then l am done. No mai
cause after the condemnation Is one,
spoken it often happens that it car
never be recalled. no matter how mucl
he may repent. Our judgments ar
nearly always spoken judgments
therefore those evil words which
speak to others about an absent frien(
or enemy will in all proba bihty be re
| pedteO " SSCOuu dHQ thuu uH'
fourth party until those censoriou
criticisms are carried everywhere. Ant
then. my brother the damage whicl
we do unto others will be past recall.
Thus my text has the same kind o
a prs ctical application ms that which
a mother taught her little boy Will
they were spending the summer In tn
woods. The little fellow came running
into the house in tears and said: Nam
ma, there are some bad boys out ther
hooking me- When | cried Hello
they shouted back Hello When
cried Keep still the bad boys crie'
Keep still" And when l shouted
won't!' the bad boys shouted back
WON'T" "Ah," answered the Chris
tan mother, my son. those were no
bad boys answering the 'Hello!' TIL
hooking voices you heard were onl
the echoing Of your own You wer
the bad boy, If you had called I Low
you! you would have heard the SUP
posed bad boys say 4 love you!
you had called 'Come>and sing to me
they would have answered Come an
sing to mel" So the gospel invitatio
today is going to be heard great dea
in the echoings Of your own voice.
we cry out to suffering and sinful HI
manity II love you!" Christ will ca
back II love you" If We cry to thos
who have done us an injustice II FOL
| Cjvo vnur sipSr (>hrtat will echo lon n