The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-05
[ os ANGELES, Cal. April 2s.-That

Gods way of judging men and
 0 choosing them for some special task Is totally different from mans way is em- phasized In this sermon, the text of which is taken from Luke xix, B. To-day I must abide at thy house."
 It is amazing how long the world com pels some of its most honored children to struggle amid the quicksands of pow | erty, obscurity, misrepresentation and 1 islander before it allows them to climb | the mountain tops of immortality and l fame It is hard to understand why some | men have to spend so much of their lives 1 fighting for Q mere existence when they
 would have been able to do so much more l good for their fellow men if the world
 had only been willing to encourage them
 instead of turning the cold shoulder upon l them. Every one remembers the famous l couplet by the poet Haywood:
 Seven cities warred for Homer being
 dead,
 Who living had no roof to shroud his
 head.
 Well. that Is the history of man of the worlds greatest heroes and herones For years and years they battled with | poverty. For years and years they had to fight for mere physical existence Then came wealth, fame, position. honor. The world was Lowing at their feet to do their | bidding.
 1 The lot of the obscure peasant Is necessarily hard, yet when Christ was to come Into the world 1t was that lot he chose, as If he desired to know by experience the sorrow and hardship of l humanity. Christ for thirty years had lived in poverty and obscuritys When ! at last He started forth on his worlds 1 mission He was opposed at every step l He was maligned and slandered. Then 1 there came a sudden change which placed him on the top wave of popular 1 ity We find him no longer the unknown | peasant. All his countrymen are talking of him and many of them call Him great teacher. His fame, too has gone abroad, and cewtain Creeks have asked to see him | He Is now on his way to Jerusalem, where 1 he will be acclaimed as the Son of Da- | vid. He has reached Jericho. and the peo-
 pie turn out to see the young prophet who may prove to be the long expected 1 Messiah.
 Pubican's Home.
 Who will have the honor of entertaining l him? To which home does he go? He can practically go and lodge In any home that he will Does he go to the home of the good and pure man? Does he go to the home of the aristocrat? No; he | When Christ stops and looks up and sees the despsed publican zaccheus perched upon the overhanging bough of syca- moro tree he seems to say: "Come, Aac- cheus Come down. Come and let me go home with theei Come and let me teach the world that my mission is to save souls which are 1ostl Come and let me lodge with one who is universally os- tracked by his countrymen Come down, Zaccheusi Come down For today I must abide at thy house." Now. why did Christ choose to visit Zaccheus' home in pref erence to all the other homes of Jericho which would gladly have opened their doors to receive him as their honored guest?
 Christ lodged in Zaccheus' home in the first place because 1t was the most despised home in all Jericho. It repre- sented all that was bitter and cruel and tyrannlcal and unjust. It represented the fendish power which would take com munity in its viseike grip and squeeze the last drop of financial blood out of a man and then turn him out of his home and let him starve. Murderer, thief, | destroyer, assassin. hangman, were names honored and respected by the Jews In comparison with that word publican,
 It was a name the most hated of all names in the Hebrew language There was no indictment more opprobrous which 
 He was a friend of publcans and sinners, for all sinners the worst sinner In Hebrew eyes was the publican. In order to un- derstand why the house of Zaccheus was the most excorlated in all Jericho we must study for little while the attitude of the Roman government toward It's provinces.
 The Roman government was like the Turkish government. In the capital of Constantinople sits the "sick man of Flu rope" He opens the map of Ills King dom and says: Here is one of my prov inces. I will sell this to the highest bidder Then I will make the tax col lector of this province pay me certain | amount each year. All the moneys he can squeeze out of those people above l that amount he can have for himself l So the sultan sells his provinces, just as | a capitalist would rent farm Then the tax collector goes to that province, and he puts the financial thumbscrews upon those people.
 | Such was the province of Judaea In the time of Christ. The Roman govern
 ment had stationed It's tax collectors everywhere It had sold these provinces and cities to the different buyers. That 1 the Hebrew must bear, but he was hu- | initiated when one of his own people l stopped to thus serve the tyrant. Zac- | cheus was one of these publcans, with his hea4Suarters at Jericho. He was one of Romes tax collectors, and he bled | the people until they could be bled no
 more And because he had been an ex-
 torttner a egalized robber, the peo- | pie hated him with unutterable loath- 1 ing They regarded him and his family l as social outcasts.
 Now, Christ by going to this despsed
 tax collectors house practically said:
 Even to the lowest of the low l shall l carry my gospel No man or woman has | sunk so deep into the mire of sin but my blood can cleanse him from all sin. | Zaccheus, make haste and come down, I for today I must abide at thy house" | Oh my friends, is it not blessed thought to you that Christ came to save | the publicans and the sinners? Is 1t not a glorious thought that no matter how low man or a woman may be in sin, Jesus is ready and willing to rescue him or her from that sin?
 Saved by Christ.
 Some time ago it was my privilege to l attend a revival service held by a well known slum worker. After the talk was | over he asked all who would to come | forward and confess Christ. They came l by scores. There were about a hundred | of them. Some were filthy and ragged. 1 Some were without collars Some of | them had their breath smelling vile with | liquor. AS they came forward to the 1 mercy seat I kept saying to myself: 'I in I