Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-02-16


name. Then he enters the bankruptcy
court and asks the judge to free him
from all these financial obligations.
Now, care not what the bankruptcy
court may say in such cases, no honest
man. in the sight of God or man. can
ever be morally freed from a financial
debt until that debt is paid. 1t is a
mans business to pay what he owes,
no matter how the bill was contracted.
One of the first signs of Zacch9us' real
conversion was when he turned to the
Saviour and said, Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods l give to the poor,
and if have taken anything from any
man by false accusation / restore to
him fourfofd." In other words he said,
.If have cheated any man out of his
Just dues, | am ready not only to re-
store to him the full amount of money
taken, but l will restore to him double
and treble and quadruple that which l
have taken" And no man, in the sight
of God, can be Christian until he first
signifies his intention to repay to the
utmost of his ability all the money
borrowed by him and tie cancel his full
obligations to every one of his financial
creditors. You cannot love God and
at the same time signify a willingness
to cheat your fellow men.
1t is told of Daniel Webster that
James I. Field, the famous publisher,
when a young clerk, was sent to col
lect bill from the great constitutional
lawyer Mr. Webster turned to him
and said: Young man, have no mon
ey. / never can pay my debts. What
is the good Of your coming around and
bothering me? See, here is my money
drawer; there is nothing in it." With
that Mr.. Webster opened the drawer,
and, 10, revealed within was big roll
of banknotes! Mr.. Webster's face light
ed up with look of great surprise.
''NVell. well!'' he said. There is some
money. | wonder where it came from?
Young man, help yourself" With that
. Mr. Webster turned his back upon
young Field and buried his face in a
lawbook Mr.. Field helped himself,
! signed a receipt and left the room, and
: Mr.. Webster did not look up for one
moment to see what he was doing
, Daniel Webster may have been a great
| w
man He had no more right to ignore
his creditors like that than he had to
sell his vote in the United States sen
ate. And before God and man we have
: no right to run up a lot of bills which
/ we have no intention of canceling.
5 "Owe no man anything" wrote the
| ! greatest preacher who ever lived. That
? means pay your butcher and baker
r bills and rent just as faithfully as you
: ought to pay for your church pew or
: your dues to the missionary societies.
Pertinent Question.
In closing l would like to ask my
. hearers a pertinent question--Is not
the chief reason why you are unwilling
to publicly profess Christ because you
have not been living right with your
fellow men and trying to pay your hon
/ est debts? DR.. Wilbur Chapman,
think it was, once told this incident in
u great eyangelistic meeting. For some
: weeks there was among the audience
to whom he had been preaching a man
who would not confess Christ. DR..
Chapman could not understand why.
i But one night this man came to his
hotel room and said: Doctor, is there
! help for me? | am a defaulter. |
> stole SO many thousand dollars from
my employers many years $50. They
have never found it out. " bat shall
" 1 do?" DR.. Chapman told the man to
u go back to his old employers and to
: confess, and fully confess, what he
had done, Then DR.. Chapman told
: / 10 nix oil
to liquidate part of the debt and to
: pledge himself to pay back the balance
:, as soon as he could. The man did as
he, advised. In trying to undo the past
wrong he removed the obstacle which
u had kept him from realizing that Christ
. was ready to forgive him. My friends
. is the awful realization that you have
!, been financially unjust to your, fellow
), men keeping you away from the love
II of Christ? VIII yousnot try to undo
= that wrong? win you not follow the
: command Of Paul, who tells US to ''owe
= no man anything" the same Paul who
y tells US to press toward the mark fol
u the prize OF the high calling of God in
. Christ Jesus?" yGs Hc%t av z
:. 1t may only take a small speck Of
:, dust in the eye to blind the sight anC
!. shut out the light of the noontide sun
!, 1t may only take one bill which we
% refuse to pay to our neighbor to shu
: out all the glories Of heaven. Pau
= does not ask of us an impossibility, bu
:. he does demand that we, one and all
:, should not only love God with all oul
a souls, but also love our fellow mel
= enough to gbe financially just to then
y as well as. mercifuL 80
% copyright, 1903. by Louis Klopsch.l
,e | set0s3
If General Booth a Vegetarian.