Milford chronicle., 1906-07-27

he was foreign born.
"What Have You DOnes"
"Ahaw the people cry. aha! II he
does not eat the kings meat we will
expose him. Then this foreign upstart
will remain a slave, as he ought to do"
And yet, my friends, as l hear the enc
mics of Daniel gloating about his over
shrow, can l not hear your enemies
FLOATING over your spiritual overthrow
IN the same way? You enter a certain
line Of business. The proprietor de-
cides to keep his place open on Sun
day. or, what is worse, L.5 brennan
comes to you and asks you to a. suH-o-
thing which is not squarcly and uo-
rightly honest But" You say to the
foreman, 4 never work on san .ay,"
or you say: "That is not honest | am
not going to do it," The foreman
shrugs his shoulders and says: "All
right. If you won't do it. will tell the
boss. Then l guess you will have to
hunt another place" Then all your
enemies will cry: aha. We will de-
stroy him. Aha, ahar What have you
done? Are you today compromising
your Lord in the presence of your enc
mics?
But there is yet one more fact about
this kings meat to which l wish to
call your attention. 1t was spread in
foreign land; it was spread scores
and hundreds of miles away from the
place where Daniel was born; it was
spread in the Babylonish capital; it
was spread so far away from home
that methinks at first l can hear
Daniel whisper to himself these words:
''Well. what is the difference if l do
eat the, kings meat and drink the
kings wmef 1t will only he for short
time that l will do it, Father and
mother will never hear about it. They
are away off now among the Judean
hills. and even if l do go back to Jeru-
salem. why, then l will start all over
again and he consistent Hebrew, as
| used TO be-" But no sooner does he
speak thus than l hear him say: NAY;
| will not do this. God sees; God
knows. | see: | know. And l will be
true to myself and true to my absent
loved ones and true to my God wheth-
er l am in the Babylonish capital or
in my own dear Jerusalem or in my
own fathers house." Oh. my friends.
has not the tempter come to you. as
have imagined he came to Daniel
whispering: why don't you eat the
unelean food? No one knows; no one
will know. Why don't you eat the
fruit of the forbidden tree just onceT'
The Tempter Perjurer.
But. though the tempter may come
10 us and whisper, Child, just once
and no one will know of thy SIM be
ieve him not; the tempter is per
lurer. For no man ever sinned but at
last that sin found him out. In that
fascinating book of travels, "On the
Frontier" Mr. Campion tells us how
In the isthmus of Panama he tried TO
gather some beautiful green plants Of
n most delicate shade and form. No
sooner would he reach out and pluck
one than this leaf would become moth
ing but withered, shriyeled, brownish
weed "At first" said Mr.. CampiOn.
q thought I was stricken with de
lirium Of the fatal Panama fever, but
after awhile found that I had been
plucking a sensitive plant, so sensitive
that as soon as l touched one immedi-
ately it lost its color and life So it
| is with sin. We may think we can
pluck the beautiful leaves Of sin and
press them to our lips to kiss them
and no one will know it. But, alas,
the world will soon see that we are
not holding in our hands the beauti-
full flower of purity, but a withered
stalk of sin. No sin can be safely hid
den. Every sin will ultimately be
found out. No Babylon is so far away
but the misdeeds of Daniel will be
carried back to the home land and, what
is far worse, carried up to be written
down in the pages of the great book
which shall be opened by the recording
angel at the judgment seat of Jesus
Christ. Hear it, man! Hear it, wom-
an! Hear it, child!
Thus it is with great joy that 1 hold
up before your eyes the character OIL
Daniel for you to copy. The last time
[ ever heard D. L. Moody preach was
about this mighty man Of God. In
that sermonic picture he showed us
how Daniel was able to stand with
unblanched cheek amid the gaping
mouths of the lions den. But if you
have followed me you know have
not once mentioned Daniel as the
mighty statesman of Nebuchadnezzar's S
court. My sermon has revolved about
the first great temptation Of Daniels
life. when he refused to eat the kings
meat. as the first great temptation Of
Joseph's life was in POtiphar's home
When these two young men were
found true to God in the first tempta-
tons of youth the way was paved for
them to become the premiers of kings.
So NAV we be true to God in the first
temptations. May we be true to God
in our youth. Then, whether we rise
TO positions of power and influence
among the great of the world or CON
tinue in humble life, doing our duty in