The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-23

the inadeduacy of human administra- ton under divine law
 When Poriirio Diaz became president of the Mexican republic he did not In the beginning employ honest men to cap ture scoundrels. The hills and the moun- tains of Mexico were the retreats or scores and hundreds of brigands and rob bers. What Diaz did in the beginning was to send for some of the leaders of the rowing bands of thieves. He then commissioned these leaders as represen- tatives of his own government. He dress ed them up in Mexican uniforms ana sent them forth as police to hunt down and bring to justice their late compah7 ions in thievery and murder He sent these scoupdrels forth to capture scoun- dres. Aye, and they did their work we'll Javert because he had at heart all the makeup of a seoundrel made me sleuth -hound on the heels of Jean val jean And thus many scoundrels in Mex leo during the first administration of Diaz won their pardon for past crimes not by repentant hearts, but by trying to bring the outlaws of Mexico-men Ike themselves--to justice. In the scene or my text these scribes and Pharisees, sln- ful men at heart. sinful in their past lives. were striving by their accusation of this wicked woman to gain character for virtue and purity that they knew they did not deserve.
 Each Mus. Answer for His Own. But what did Christ do? Did he say: 'Pharisee, thou art a libertine. Scribe' thou art morally corrupt" Oh, no! lie turned and simply held up before their countenances the mirror of conVictlns conscience in which they could see thelr own sinful selves Christ said: He that Is without sin among you let him first
 
 they slunk away So my friends, when you and l today, going forth into sin- ful world are trying to prove this woman is bad and that man Is bad and that young girl is bad we are not deceivlng l God as to our own characters. We do l not improve our standing at his bar by l denouncing others Rather by our harsh and uncharltable judgment we are prov, 1 Ing ourselves deserving of condemnation. 1 Let us refrain from casting stones at l the sinner. We must all answer for our own deeds at his bar who said, "He that 1 is without sin, let him first cast stone 1 at her" And without one exception we must all either slink away before the flashing eye of Christ, or. like the poor publican In the temple moan, God be l merciful to me. q snnerT
 | The divine law is omniscient. Evil deeds | that the world does not know of are | known to God, and at his judgment bar l tfn evidence Of them VIII confront the wrongdoer If they have not been pardon | ed through Christ Even in this world | crimes long ago committed and success | fully hidden have been unexpectedly dis | closed and brought home to the perpe- | trator. The Rev. Dr. Dome in one Of his sermons gave very dramatic incident | Of his early life. During his first pastor | ate he was one day watching the sex ton digging grave by his village church. Suddenly ne threw out of the grave the skull of man. When pr. Dome picked it up he found headless nail suckihg in the top of the skull. He said nothing about the nail, but asked the sexton. TO whom did this skull belong?' He found that 1t was the skull of drunken iei- low who one night was found dead Tn his bed from the results, as the people sup | posed of an attack of delirium tremens. | Dr. Dome asked: Had he wifeE Was | she living yet? What character was she?' l "yery good" said the sexton, with one | exception; the neighbors do say she mar ried her second husband on the day after