The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1903-12-11
LOCAL AFFAIRS.
SOCIAL TOPICS.
COMPARATIVE MORALITY.-RY o. q
WRIGHT.

COMPARATIVE MORALTTY.-RY o. o.
WRIGHT
To sin is to miss the mark; and st
Paul assures US that all have sinned
and come short Of the glory Of God.
We must confess that welfare sinners.
II we say that we have not sinned we
make God liar. And if we profess to
walk with God when we are walking
in darkness, then we are liars and we
prove it by our evil doing. Yes, we
are bad lot at best. If the truth
could be known we are probably worse
than we appear to be-, worse than we
imagine ourselves or each other. l
have never met but few perfect
people, aGd the most Of them are out
siders who have never been able to find
church good enough for them. We
are all sinners. Let us start right at
least. Some of us are worse than
others; some better perhaps. Some
are more to blame than others no
doubt. There are sins Of ignorance,
sins of error, sins of impulse, and pre-
sumptuous sins. The Lord makes a
difference, and He knows. Some of
US deserve many stripes and we shall
get them. Some of us do not, perhaps,
deserve many stripes; and in that case
we shall suffer the lighter penalty of
the law, which is ever merciful as we'll
as just.
What is the end of the law? Love.
All the laws of God grow out Of the
divine nature which is love. Penalties
are proofs of love. We are chastened.
punished and disciplined for our good.
We suffer that we may be saved from
evil. The goodness of God should lead
US to repentance; but the severity of
His love may be necessary to correct
US and make US pure. He would not
that any should perish, but that all
might be holy and happy in His fellow
ship.
The church is the family of the
heavenly Father. The law Of the
Church is love. Christ came to save
sinners. The Church is the home of
sinners. The Lord calls not the right
Is the friend Of penitent sinners in
particular. 1t is not the healthy, but
the i'll who need the doctor. The
Church is no place for perfect people.
ut is mercy l wish for, and not sac
rifce; for l did not come to invite the
pious, but the Goddess" So the Say
Jour taught. But the Pharisees did
not like such talk, and they don't to
this day. The Church is hospital in
which we are to be cured, and saved,
and made whole; the school of Christ
in which we are to learn the way of
eternal life. II the Church were a
showcase for perfect people l should
quit preaching at once.
But what is the standard and test of
the Church? Faith in Christ which
leads to willing obedience. eff ye love
me keep my commandments" And if
we fail to do that what then? Keep
on trying. Learn, persevere, grow,
make progress. If we fall we must get
up again, and keep on getting up, clear
through to the end of life. No one
oSSOiuCo VI W loCj VI SOOO dill d u
once. No one is all good, or all bad.
This is mixed life of good and evil.
The test Is: do we wish to do right:
Do we mean to be good? Are we
striving to walk with God? Do we re-
ally prefer good to evil? What is the
tendency Of our life and character?
The tares are to grow right along with
the wheat till the harvest The sheep
and the goats herd together more or
less until the time of separation comes,
Such is the divine plan Of our life in
this present world. Evil is in the
world and God wants US to meet it
face to face, and learn to overcome it
with good; and to help one another to
live righteous and holy life as we go
along.
Humanity speaking, all things are by
comparison, in the Church as in the
State, in religion as in everything else
good, better, best. We have all sorts
of examples, even in the Bible; and no
two persons may interpret the law ex-
actly in the same sense. The Lord
chose twelve Apostles to begin with,
and one was a traitor, one was liar,
one was skeptic, and they all forsook
Him in the supreme hour Of crisis.
Even the Pentecostal Church had
Ananias and Sapphira. This only
proves the weakness of man, and our
need of God. 1t would also seem to
teach us to have care and sympathy
one for another.
II we could only separate the sheep
from the goats, now, all at once, and
keep them apart it might make life
easier. Or if we could shut the good
sheep in pastures by themselves away
from the bad sheep it might simplify
matters. But we are all sorts and
conditions mixed up together.
A nj for all 7 see we have pOt to 90