Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-05-30


sting or the adder's hiss or the tigers
claw or the sharks threatening fin
lifted like the black flag of the pirate
| over a threatening sea of green. The
"sin of covetousness" is a summer
| stroll through woods filed with the
| aroma of wild flowers. 1t is the fanta-
sizes of the diseased brain of the opium
eater, which the sinful Imagination can
place almost within the grasp of the
dreamer 1t is the most gorgeous of
! air castles, the most beautiful of Ito
pias. the sweetest of songs. 1t is the
soft. couch under the shadows of the
| overhanging tree branches, over which
the satanic spiders are spinning a few
| beautiful silken threads which can be
snapped in day. but which in time
may become as strong as links of steel
All, Achan on that fatal night may
not have gOAe forth with the premedi-
tated idea of stealing that goodIy Bah
| ylonish garment and the 200 shekels
of silver and the wedge of gold, but
| after his eyes had rested on the gold
and the sitter and the goodly garment
! desire was awakened, and his longing
| to possess them became Irresistible.
oh" he said to himself. Il wish | had
| that garment! How beautiful it would
| look hanging from my shoulders! |
wish | could have that lump of gold.
1t would protect me against poverty
all the days of my life. And why
should | not have them? There are so
many spoils of war here these few
treasures will not be missed
Is not Achan, going to the place of
execution, the history of almost every
sinner? Eye SIM" first step; ''covet-
Gus sin," second step. What we would
like to do nearly always precedes what
we will. ultimately do if we get the
chance. BeJazet, the sultan of the OF
tOman empire, was defeated by Tam
erlane in the famous battle of Angora.
After the battle the Tartar conqueror
called Bejazet into his tent and asked
him how he would have treated Tam
erlane if he had Won Like a dogr'
said the captured sultan. 81 would
have made you my footstool when |
mounted my saddle, and when your
services were not needed | would have
chained you in a cage like wild
beast" Then Tamerlane replied, "In-
stead of treating you like dog | shall
show you mercy and treat you like q
king" But all the kindness of Tam
erlane went for naught. AS were Be
jazets thoughts. so were his ultimate
actions He betrayed the noble kind
nesseS of Tamerlane and plotted his
CT Mi
that Tamerlane commanded that Be
jazet should be treated like a dog and
chained in cage like a wild beast
So, my brother. like Achan of nv text
you and l can trace the degeneracy of
our lives, if they are degenerate, by
our evil thoughts, which always pre-
cede evil actions. What we think, we
will ultimately speak; what we desire
we will ultimately do.
Hard to Resist.
Oh, the evil sin Of covetousness! Be
ware! Beware! Evil thoughts are
only a step from evil actions. Are we
not all in danger of the covetous sin?
Would you tell a lie for 10 cents?
NO" you emphatically answer mo,
of course nOt-of course not" Would
you tell a lie, just one little lie, for
500? NO" you answer again, but not
so emphaticaIly Would you tell a lie
for 100000 lie which in one sense
would not hurt anybody? You look at
me in a quiZZical way and say, please
don't ask me-" Well, | do ask you. |
ask you, not for the purpose of giving
you the offer, but of finding out what |
is the condition of your thoughts. |
Achan coveted 200 shekels of silver
and a wedge of gold. which must have |
been worth at least $4,000 in our
money. He coveted them without the |
idea of hurting any one else, yet for |
that sin of cOvetOusneSs. which was |
the fOrerunner of other sins, Achan |
had to die. Beware, o man, how you |
allow your evil thoughts to live
Achan's EYE sin" was followed by |
Achan's ''covetous sim" Evil thoughts |
will ultimately be the parents of evil |
actions
But now, in following the four fatal |
stages of Achan's sin. we find that his |
thlrd step-the finger step'-changes
MIN before the world from an honest
into dishonest man. No sooner does |
Achan hide that Babylonish garment |
under his soldiers cloak and hug thar
wedge of gold and bag of silver under
his arm than before man, as we'll as
God, he becomes amenable to human
law. once he was a criminal at heart
but not criminal in actin his own
consciousness and in Gods sight a
thief, but before his fellow men an
honest. upright man. No one knew
that under that fair and respectable
exterior there lurked the plunderer.
Like DR.. Jekyll in Stevenson's famous
allegory, he gave no sign of that de-
moniac personality which he harbored
within him. But once the boundary is
passed. and the evil thoughts and evil
desires have taken shape in acts. he is
under the ban of justice, and ultimate
~, like Edward Everett Hale's we'll
IL oh op.-r, he |