Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-05-26

look hanging from my shoulders!
wish l could have that lump of gold
1t would protect me against poverty
all the days of my life. And why
should l not have them? There are SO
many spoils Of war here these few
trea sures 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 SIM second step. What we would
like to do nearly always precedes what
we will ultimately do IL 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 dog
said the captured sultan. Il would
have made you my footstool when l
mounted my saddle, and when your
services were not needed would have
chained you in a cage like a wild
beast" Then Tamerlane replied, On
|
show you mercy and treat you like a
king" But all the kindness of Tam
erlane went for naught. AS were Be-
jazet's thoughts, so were his ultimate
actions. He betrayed the noble kind
nesses Of Tamcrlane and plotted his
assassinatio Then tradition has it
that Tamerlane commanded that Be
jazet should be treated like q dog and
chained in a cage like wild beast
So, my brother, like Achan of my text
you and I can trace the dnCeneracy Of
our lives, If they are degenerate, by
our evil thoughts. which always pre-
code evil actions. What we think, we
will ultimately speak, what we desire,
we will ultimately Go.
Hard to Resist.
Oh. the evil sin of coX"tousncss. Pc
ware! Beware. EVIL thoughts are
only step from evil actions Are we
not all in danger Of the covctous sin?
Would you tell H. for 10 cents?
NO" you cmphatically answer. NO,
OF course not-of course not" Would
you tell lie. just one little lie. for
500? NO" you answer again, but not
so emphaticallv Would you tell lie
for S1O,O0O-a lie which in one sense
would not hurt anybody! You look at
me in 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 n wedge Of gold. which must havc
been worth at least $4,000 in our
money He coveted them without the
idea of hurting any one else, vet 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.
Achans "cye sin" was followed BY
Achan's 'covetous sin" Evil thoughts
will ultimately he the parents of evil
actions.
But now, in following the four fatal
stages OF Achan's sin. we find that his
third stcp-the finger stcp"-changcs
him before the world from an honest
into dishonest man No sooner does
Achan hide that Babylonish garment
! |
wedge Of gold and bag of silver under
his arm than before man. as we'll as
God, he becomes amenablo to human
law Once he was a criminal at heart
but not a criminal in actin his own
consciousness and in Gods sight a
thief, but before his fellow men IN
honest, upright man. No one knew
that under that fair and respectable
exterior there lurked the punderer
Like DIR. Jckyl in Stevensons famous
alleSory, he gave no sign of that de-
moniac personality which lac 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
ly like Edward Everett Hale's well
known character. he becomes a man
from whon all but men like himself
shrink-"a man without a country"
1t is an awful catastrophe when 4
man by direct sin of commission
, ruins the long record of what the
-. world has regarded as an exemplary
life In the Old Strassburg cathedral
there is famous clock. There not
, only the time Of day is told. but the
eclpses of the sun and moon are cal
culated for all time. There YOU cal
see the twelve apostles bowling before
the Saviour and hear Peters coci
Growing after the fisherman apostle
had denied Christ thrice There are
: the symbols Of childhood and you'll
and manhood and old age. 1t Is
wonderful ciock-wondcrful in all r.
l various n,echanisms. But history tell
II us that this clock WAS in ruins 70
l. many, many years. 1t was in ruins NJ
TO 1S42. Why? After the FIRST he
J. chanic bad constructed il, in Il +: o
. rage he completely destroyed it be
y cause the magistrates Of Strassblr
9 were going to put out his two eyes s.
i that he could not build another clocl
. like it for any other city. Thus, Xix
l. che cd clock builder Of Strasshurp
u many and many a man, by one sinfu
act, can destroy all the usefulness an
@ the work OF a lifetime. Achan's frs
II sin was his eye step" Achan's sec
e ond sin was his heart step" O
q Thought step" Achans third sin wa
e that which drove him at once out o
d brotherly fellowship with man. 1t wa
l. his finger step or his sin Of commi,
~ sion Cannot You rCal the stages q