Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-10-22

craft as Joseph did in Egypt. or as
bismarck did in Germany. or as Glad
stone did in the British parliament.
Do YOU believe God discriminates be-
tween the sins of the social classes?
If you do. let me by the scene of my
text diSabuSe your mind of that sur
mise Come. let us push our way
through the multitudes crOwding in
the temple and find out who compose
that group. Who are those strong, fine
look ing men standing in front of
Christ: They are not insignificant
clerks They are not laborers or farm
ers who have come into town with
dust begrimed clothes. They are not
hirelings or beggars or men and wOm
al who from perpetual movings have
become tramps and vagabonds. Most
of that group just in front Of Christ
have keen intellectual faces. They
have i'm their physical movements the
actions of successful men. They have
in the glance of their eyes the search
ing power which bespeaks command.
| Those men, wrote DIR. Strong, were
the scrbes. They were the doctors of
the law and the interpreters of the
Scripture" These other men are the
Pharisces. They were so particular to
keep themselves outwardly unspotted
from heather customs that they car
ried extracts from the Hebrew law
about with them in little boxes or
phylacteries. They had these boxes
strapped to their foreheads that all
men might see them. But when these
men. these leaders of Jerusalem. were
standing there condcmning a poor out
cast woman for her sins Christ in ST.
lence was making figures upon the
ground with his fingers in which they
might read their own condemnation.
What Jesus Christ was writing upon
the ground Is not recorded; but, though
we may never know on earth those eX-
act words. | have a good deal of SYM
patty with that evangelist who said
that Christ was writing the evil his
tory of each scribe ana Pharisee while
they were speaking against the sobbing
culprit. No sooner did the first scribe
begin to talk than Christ began to
write. as though he had set down these
words: Lawyer. you are not living
with your wife. She has left you on
account of your dissoluteness. She is
now gone back to her fathers home.
For what are you condemning this wo-
man: For your own SIM" No sooner
did the lawyer look down on the ground
.l,nf ri fl,ov
he turned and departed. When the
next speaker, n Phari;ee, began to talk
Christ began to write again. Rich
man. you have never committed the
crime of which this woman was guilty,
but you own the house in which she
lives and carries OH her vile traffic.
The rent you get from that house is
blood money. Why are you speaking
against your tenant? You are part
ner with her in crime" When the
PhariSee capitalist saw what Christ
was writing and that all the people
were laughing ut him he also disap-
peared. So Christ went through the
list of different accusers. But whether
Christ was writing the history of those
accusers~ on the ground or no we care
not. for one fact we do know-by his
silence as well as later by his spoken
words Christ WAS teaching the sweep
ing lesson that rich mans sins. a
prominent lawyers or physicians or
Statesnlan's sins or minister's sins
are just as severely condemned in the
sight of God as the poor mans sins.
The divine law discriminates not be-
tween the sins of the upper and low
err social classes. bu: between sin and
Righteousness. The sin OF the broad
cloth is the same black sin which some
times nests under the rough woolens Of
the laborer and the mechanic. Sin is
sin wherever found.
No Immunity Given.
But | find in the next place another
trenchant lesson. The divine law does
not accept zeal in bringing others to
justice as a ground for absolving the
prosecutor of his own wrongdoing. The
scribcs and Pharisees cannot atone for
their sins by denouncing and condemn
ing others. Though man might prove
every other man living example of
total depravity and devote his life to
the exposure and arraignment Of GRIM
inals. lie must take his own place Mt
the bar and answer the indictment Of
his own iniluities. Instances have
been known of a criminal under hui
man government securing for himself
immunity from punishment for his own
crimes by betraying his leader to the
officers of the law or even by himself
executing sentence OH that leader. but
such men are despised for their per-
fidy. even by the community that profits
by the treachery. \ similar principle
is applied in our courts of justice when
n man is allowed TO turn states evil
dence. 1t sometimes happens that
there is no way of convicting a nOtori-
Gus criminal but by the testimony Of
II confederate. Tha- confederate's evil
dence has to be purchased. and the
price paid is pardon for him of his
own share in the crime 1t is a heavy
price to pay. miscarriage of justice.
but il is Il result of the inadequacy OF
human administration, and ii has no
Mace uuIpr divine law