The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-29

m nrrf1 snned was 4ot because he ioolted ,,,,as, 'Bathshebas the wife of Uriah. the Hit- tite. The#geason David sinned was he. cause, likes Aehan among the Jerricho spells, he was idling at home instead of being with3lis army. In the first versa of the cletfnth chapter of II Samuel ,,., read the sferet of the whole sinfnl stor,,. And it dhme to pass after the wear wac expired at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab" That sentence nheans simply this: When the time of Emilitary campaign came-tbe time wheif David ought to have taken the field and{led on his own troops to hat tle-he sent substitute and staved at home. The beginning of his danger was not in looking at Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah, the Hittite. but in be ing, like Achan among the Jerricho spells, in the place where he had no right to be.
 My brother when God calls you to do work. he will always give you strength 10 resist the sinful temptations incident to that work. But when you go to n place where you have no right to go. you are liable to experience that lust of the eye which may be the beginning of a long succession of other sins
 Young man, beware of the temptation
 to absent yourself from the post of duty. Beware when Sabbath day comes around IT your minister does not see you in the house of God. You may say you are tired. You may say you will stay at home and read the Bible and have vorr devotions in your room but beware In coming to q large city. do not let your hew made friends entiee you into sa- loon, just to look at the beautiful pie lures upon the walls. and the expensive mosaics upon the floors. and the gor- geous rugs and the fine set banuuets in the gambling halls. It Is doubtful wheth- CT the step some cities have taken of ordering the removal of screens from the doors and lifting the curtains from the windows of saloons on Sundays has not It's disadvantages. It enables the police man to see whether business is being done In the prohibited hours. and is so far an advantage, but it makes conspcous the decorations and attractions of those places, and so tends to allure passersbv to visit them when they are open Sin so often begins in looking on temptation that the safest course for every one is to avoid the spectacle of 1t as far as possible.
 Achan's First Step.
 Achan's 'eye step" in the next place. was followed by his .covetous stepr' We say that the soin of covetousness is only one step beyond the first sin. But the second step of Aehans sin is even more dangerous than the first stage The one may be the bare. repulsive branch Wlth It's sap frozen and congealed by the irosts of winter. The other may be inc spring blossoms growing upon that branch when the spring has placed the slNer trumpet of resurrection to natures hp' The lust of the eve is nearly always accompanied by hesitation and timidltv. I Ou can that ft, oheek of the young man who stands upon the street corner debating within himself whether or no he will enter the place or evil resort to which his dissipated friends are persuading him. When the mind has taken the second step and desire is aroused. the hideous deform- lty of sin disappears, and longing secs m II only what is attractive and en- Joyable The second sin, the sin of cov etousness' is blind to the scorpions sting or the adder's hiss or the tigers claw or the sharks threatening fin lifted like the black flag of the pirate over threaten ing sea of green. The "sin of covetous ness Is summer stroll through woods nlled with the aroma of wild flowers. It IS the fantasies of the diseased brain of tne opium eater. which the sinful imagi- nation can place almost within the grasp ol me dreamer. Ii is the most gorgeous v N'f NeAoAAtSf lilt IlDSI DedntlfUI or ltopias' the sweetest of songs. It is the soft couch under the shadows of the over-hanging tree branches, over which the satanic spiders are spining A few beautiful sillSen threads which can he snapped in day, but which in time may become as strong as links of steel
 Achan Is Tempted.
 An. Acham on that fatal night may not have wit ed idea of stealing that goodly Babylon- lsh garment and the 200 shekels of silver and the wedge of gold. but after his eyes had rested on the gold and silver and the goodly garment desire was awakened, and his longing to possess them became irresistible "Oh. he said to himself T wish l had that garment! How beauti- ful 1t would look hanging from my shoulders! I wish I could have that lump of gold It would protect me against poverty all the days of my life. And why should I not have them? There are so many spells of war here these few treas- ures will not be missed"
 Is not Achan, going to the place of ex- ecution, the history of almost every sin ner? Eye sin first step; "covetous sim second step. What we would like to do nearly always preeedes what we will ultimately do If We get the chance Be- lazet, the sultan of the Ottoman empire. was defeated by Tamerlane in the famous battle of Angora. After the battle the Tartar conqueror called Belazet into his tent and asked him how he would have treated Tamerlane if he had won. Like a dogi" said the captured sultan. "I would have made you my footstoo when I mounted my saddle, and when your services were not needed I would have chained you in cage like a wild beast,' Then Tamerlane replied. 'Instead of treating you like dog I shall show you mercy and treat you like a king" But all the kindness of Tamerlane went for naught. As were Bejazet's thought. SO were his ultimate actions. He betrayed the noble lSindnesses of Tamerlane and plotted his assassination. Then tradi- tion has it that Tamerane commanded that Bejazet should be treated like a dog and chained in a cage like a wild beast So my brother, like Aehan of my text you and l can trace the degeneracy of our lives, if they are degenerate, by our evil thoughts which always precede evil actions. What we think we will ulti- mately speak; what we desire, we will do
 Hard to Resist.
 Oh, the evil son of oovetousness Be- warel Beware, Evil thoughts are only step from evil actions. Are we not all in danger of the covetous sin? Would you tell a lie for 10 cents? "No," you em- phatlcally answer. No. of course not-s of course not" Would you tell lie, just one little lie. for s100? No" you answer again, but not so ernphatically. Would you tell a lie for $1o,000-a lie which in one sense would not hurt anybody? You look at me in a quizzical way and say, Please don't ask me" We'll, l do ask you. l ask you. not for the purpose of giving you the offer, but finding out what Is the condition of your thoughts. Achan coveted POO shekels of silver and wedge