Milford chronicle., 1905-03-31

Is yer and gold have none, but such as
r have give unto thee" This, however
q, is not the gift Of grace, but of a falls
n letter of recommendation. We fre
d quently give such letters of recon
5, mendatiOn when we know that the
# men to whom we give them are in
d competent or at least unknown to US
9 and the result is that there are thou
0 sands Of frauds being perpetrated al
I over the country not because bad men
0 are instigating them-there are bad
/ men everywkere-but because good
t men have allowed their names to be
? linked to those frauds carelessly. And
there are thousands Of good men out of
, the positions in life which they are
qualified to ill merely because medic
ere and incompetent men for friend
ships sake have been pushed into those
positions by what is commonly termed
a pull" My brother. never be secu-
rity for a friend unless you are first
sure that what you recommend by let
ter is the truth. the whole truth and
nothing but the truth"
POstmOrtem LaudatiOn.
But my text has even a wider sweep.
If men despise those for whom we un-
wisely have become sureties they are
apt to despise US also. and if they learn
to despise us they are very apt to learn
to despise the religion we represent,
for, say what you will, every unfaith-
full Christian is a representative, how
ever sadly delinquent, OF the God in
H., -.
or should be. the lights of the world
the cities set upon a hill, which
cannot be hid. If we are unfaithful in |
our dealings with others our faith |
lessness reflects on religion and is an |
Offense against God himself. This fact |
is never better demonstrated than
when a minister is untrue to his Divine
Master and his sacred calling. At the
public funeral of a worldly man or u
worldly woman sometimes in order to
give comfort to the living a minister
will try to smooth things over, though
the dead man may have been an ex-
tOrtiOner, a drunkard, a libertine, a
gambler or a despiser Of the church Of
the Lord Jesus Christ. OF. course we
should speak no evil Of the dead, and
it is not necessary that any one should
cause pain by reflections at a funeral.
but surely there is a limit to pOstmor-
TEN laudation Yet he will talk about
a twelve gated gospel. He will say
there was pardon for Paul, who was
the chief of sinners, and therefore there
Is pardon for us. He will not quote
he passage, Except ye repent ye shall
al likewise perish" but he will talk
from the text. God is love-" and he {
will try to make people believe that the q
soul has entered through {
he paradisaical gates. But I tell you, Il
ny brother. even with the men of the &
world it won't go down If we dishon- v
II ourselves by trying to become
urety for our friends we dishonor God 7
lso s.
I once heard a minister dishonOr God
D this way: Many years ago out III oi
be country person Of evil life was A
uried. That life had been wholly a IL
'orldly life, but in order to please the
elatives, who were members of his W
hurch, the minister whitewashed the bl
ecord, and, though the dead had died, m
5 far as we knew, unrepentant, the
ldulgent speaker opened the gates of W
eaven and had the departed living in VIC
le whiteSt mansion nearest to the in
reat white throne. After the service sb
as ended a man Of the world said to tn
e: What does that minister mean by
liking like that? II heaven is for di
lch a one, then am sure Of reaching ba
ere, blasphemer as I am" No, my
lends, you cannot be untrue in your hi,
or recommendations cr
ithOut at the same time dishonOring -
m Of whom you as Christians stand
fore the world as the representa-
res.
would beseech Of you, therefore, in
e smallest details Of your life al
lys remember you are the representa-
res Of Jesus Christ. Spurgeon once
Id, MANY horses fall at the bottom
a hill because the driver thinks the
niger past and the need to hold the
MS with firm grip less pressing"
my men lose their Christian disciple
p at the foot Of the hill after they
We climbed Calvary and descended
the other side. They lose it be
Use they do not serve God in the lit
things They lose 1t because they
edlessly throw themselves into temp
ions by becoming false sureties for
ir friends. They lose it because, un-
nkingly. they throw moral dangers ~
the way Of others They lose it be-
lse when they dishonor themselves
y dishonor Christ May God help
one and all, to be true to Christ:
n we shall be true to our fellow men
svery way.
Copyright. 1905 by Louis KIopseh.I
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