Milford chronicle., 1905-05-26
Calmaoe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talrnage, D. D.

sermon the preacher makes StrOni
plea for the establishment of NOR,
brotherly relations among men in pub
lie and private life and for the exercise
Of magnanimity in the forgiveness Of
our enemies. The text is Ephesian'
iv, 2G, LET not the sun go down upor
your wrath"
righteous Indignation An absurd
verbal term, that" says some one
1.-TWO such antithetical words should
never be yoled together The first is
found in Gods lexicon of hOnOred
names. The second is of Satanic ter
minolOgy. Can the lightnings and the
sunbeams play together in a garden
at the same hour? Can the blackness
Of midnight and the brightness Of mid
noon be welded at the same altar? Is
not anger a sin? Is not anger's ebon
featured twin sister, wrath, condemned
again and again in sacred Scripture?
Wrath is cruel, and anger is out
rageous, is the Solomonic arraignment
Of hates evil companions. And yet
here today by this suggestive caption
you are going to talk about twilight
forgiveness as though It was right
sometimes to be angry until sunset.
Why, such a sermOnic theme is not
Biblical. 1t is not according to Gods
will Once let the egg of anger be
incubated by the Satanic fires and the
germs be allowed to live even for a
little while, and before sundOwn those
minute particles of life will grow into
huge, kissing, venOmOus serpents that
will poison with spiritual death the
hand that nurtures them. Better make
a fire in a gunpowder magazine to cook
an evening meal than allow anger to
rest in your heart until the twilight"
Wherefore, my beloved brethren. let
every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow TO wrath for the wrath Of
man worketh not the righteousness Of |
God"
Anger always sin? Wrath always |
under divine condemnation? Oh, no, |
my brother, you are wrong. Righteous |
Indignation has a right to live by di- |
vine commandment SuppOsing / go I
down the street and see a great burly, !
drunken loafer abusing and kicking
little, helpless cripple. If I have the
heart Of a man shall not my eyes flash
and my cheeks flush and my fists clinch
in the protection Of that suffering child?
Did not Christ in anger drive the mon
ey changers out Of the temple? Sup
posing l should be called to my front
door by a ring OF the bell and there I
should meet man who, with cOwhide
or club should begin to beat me and
to knock me down. Must l quietly sub
NIT to being knocked down? Oh, no.
That is not the gospel. 1t is not Chris
tlan common sense. 1 should probably
do as that Sunday school scholar re-
solved whose teacher one day said to
him, Charley, what does the Bible
teach you to do If one Of your little
slapped you on one cheekY
Il would turn to him the other cheek"
said the boy. "Then what would you
do if he hit you on the other cheek?"
Then" said Charley, Il would hit him
back as hard as l could" Paul says:
BE We angry and sin not. Let not the
sun go down upon your wrath" That
means that there are times when we I
nave right to be indignant. There are
lines when we have right to strike
pack. There are times when you and {
must stand up for our rights. We are ]
lOt doing justice to others when we al I
ow others to be unjust to us. But" '
Iays my text. "there comes a time {
when your anger must cool and when
'our striking back must cease. With
he setting sun you must bear no man
/ hard, a bitter or an angry thought {
n else that anger will do you more S
piritual damage than it can ever do {
our adversary" I hope l have made {
myself clear. l hope l have not dis !
IGNORED God by laying down the broad {
'remise-easy to be misunderstood I
hat it is wrong to let others trample |
pon your rights, as it is wrong for
ou to trample upon the rights of 9th ]
rs. Z
A Practical Question.
This fact, then, l think we may take y
or granted. Now comes a practical p
question, How are you and l going {
o treat those people who have been J
MUST to us in the past? There are a
cores of them who have done us q
rrong. At the time we did all we Y
ould to counteract this evil. Shall we i
ontinue to bear them a grudge? Shall q
re continue to be unforgiving and to
ear malice toward them? Oh, no II
Iaving done our best to counteract the I
vii deeds they have done to us. we h
lould forgive and forget. Let each "
ay that is dead bury the lniusuces Of O
le past Twilight forgiveness" in o
le store, in the home, in the church, nj
our professional careers and on the el
ayground and in the schoolroom. nj
-ay God help me to show you that ev- Of
y resentment harbored will curse you nj
) well as curse your fellow men. Per W
lps when we attempt to pluck the p
otes out Of our brothers eyes we VI
-erlook huge beams in our own. rC
iere is so much bad in the best Of us e;
There is so much good in the worst of US. T.
hardly behooves any Of us 60
70 think 81 OF the rest OK us
Anger In itself is no sim once wrote II,
Ff fsr..