The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-05-23
Ca(111aQe
Der mon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Tal1naee. DID,.

Los Angeles, Cal, May 21-In this
T sermon the preacher makes a strong
| plea for the establishment of more
| brOthcrly relations among men in pub
| lie and private life and for the exercise
Of magnanimity in the forgiveness of
our enemies. The text is Ephesians
iv, 26, Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath
"RighteOus indignation! An absurd
verbal term, that" says some one.
1.-Two such antithctical words should
never be yokcI together The first is
found i'll Gods lexicon Of honorcd
names The second is OF Satanic ter
minology. Can the lightninys and the
sunbeams play together in garden
at the same hour? Can the blaclxness
of midnight and the brightness Of mid
noon be welded at the same altar? IS
not anger a sin? Is not Anglers ebon
featured twin sister, wrath, condemned
again and again in sacred Scripture?
Wrath Is cruel, and anger IS out
rageous,' is the So!omonic arraignment
Of hates evtl' 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
incubateu by the Satanic fires and the
ro,
little while, and before shutdown those
Minute particles Of life will grow into
huge, kissing, vcnoMoEs serpents that
will poison with spiritual death the
hand that nurturcs them Better make
a fire in q gunpowGer magazine to cook
al 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 workcth not the righteousness Of
God"
Anger always a sin? Wrath always
under divine condemnation? Oh, no,
my brother, YOU are wrong. Righteous
Indignation has Il right to live by di-
vine commandment. Surprising l so
down the street and see great, burly,
drunken loafer abusing and kicking a
little, helpless cripple. If l have the
heart Of 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 I should be called to my front
door by a ring of the bell and there I
should meet a man who, with cowhide
or club. should begin to beat me and
to knock me down. Must quietly sub
NIT to being knocked down? Oh, no.
That is not the gospel. It is not Chris
tian common sense. I 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
playmates slapped you on one cheek"
II would turn to him the other check"
said the boy. Then what would you
do If he hit a@u On the other cheek?"
"Then," said Charley, Il would hit him
L ,. !
"Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the
sun gosdoWn upon your wrath" That |
means that there are times when we |
have a right to be indignant. There are |
times when we have a right to strike !
back. There are times when you and |
must stand up for our rights. We are
not doing justice to others when we al |
low others to be unjust to US. But" |
says my text, there comes a time |
when your anger must cool and when |
your striking back must cease. With |
the setting sun you must bear no man !
a hard, bitter or an angry thought !
or else that anger will do you more |
spiritual damage than it can ever do
your adversary" l hope I have made
myself clear. I hope I have not dis
honored God by laying down the broad
to be misunderstood
hat 1t Is wrong to let others trample !
upon your rights, as it Is wrong for
rou to trample upon the rights Of 9TH
ars.
A Practical Question.
This fact, then, think we may take
FOR granted. Now comes a practical
question, How are you and / going
10 treat those people who have been
unjust to us in the past? There are
scores Of them who have done us
wrong. At the time we did all we
could to counteract this evil Shall we
continue to bear them grudge? Shall
We continue to be unforgiving and to
Dear malice toward them? Oh, no.
Having done our best to counterfeit the
evil deeds they have done to us, we
should forgive and forget Let each
lay that is dead bury the intustices of
he past. Twilight forgiveness" in
he store, in the home, in the church,
n our professional careers aud on the
and in the schoolroom.
Nay God help me to show you that ev-
Try resentment harbored will curse you
IS well as curse your fellow men. Per
laps when we attempt to pluck the
notes out Of our brothers eyes we
overlook huge beams in our own.
There is so much bad in the best of us,
There is SO much good in the worst of us,
t hardly behooves any Of US
n, hi,,lp 80 ~ ,,k -