The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-02-04
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BIBI3E2M
HYPOCRISY A FOE no GOODNESS
Matthew G:l-fh-Ichriinry O.

II righteousness before men to he seen
of them."--V l.
Perhaps no other sin was as
roundly and thoroughly denounced by
the Great Teacher as was the sin. of
hypocrisy. Its meanness is recognized
and acknowledged even by those who
practice It. 1t is falsehood and de-
oeit, the very opposItes Of righteous
ness and Truth. No matter what
forms, ceremonies and garbs the hyp-
ocrite may wrap himself up in he
cannot deceive God. Ere longs he Is
sure to disclose his deformity to his
fellow-men also So surely as one
is dishonest, hypocrnical he is un-
worthy of the Truth--not one of the
kind whom the Lord is now draw
| ing and calling to membership in
the Body of Christ the elect Church
The hypocritlcal. therefore. cannot
see the Truth, cannot comprehend 1t.
They live on the plane of dishonesty
and, In that sense of the word, arc
unrighteous or impure and unworthy
Of the Truth.
This does not signify, however, that
all hypocrites are worthy of Second
Death extinction. II means that they
are not worthy of a place with those
now called to be joint-heirs with
Christ In his Mllcnnial Kingdom
Thank God. all that came down To us
from the dark ages respecting eternal
! torment as the Divine provision for
all who would not he OF tho little
| flock was ood--basphemous
MISREPRESENTATION of the God of Love
and Justice. The Millcnnial Kingdom
is for the very purpose of dealing
with those who are hypocritical and
otherwise degenerate. Under its re-
straints, corrections. rewards and
punishments many of them "will
learn Righteousness" as the Scriptures
assure us. Ilsa. 26:9) only the iin-
| ally incorrigibile will be destroyed
In the Second Death.
To-day's study illustrates various
forms of hypocrisy and condemns
them ALL
co The doing OF righteous. acts
before men to be seen of them, while
pretending to do these for righteous
ness sake. to be In harmony with the
Divine 'will. Such will have no. re-
ward from God, though they may or
may not get the reward they seek,
namely human praise from those
whom they deceive. The aims and
other righteous acts which God would
approve are the northumberland
odno for human praise, but from prin-
ciple. from love for God and his
Righteousness. and love or sympathy
for fellow-men. So quietly should this
be done that even those close 10 MS in
| life might only by accident discover
Iour unselhsh generosity
(2) Hypocrisy may take the form
of religion--pretended piety, worship,
praise, church attendance, chief
Seats" the amen corner etc. It de-
lights in religious garbs which say os-
Itcntatiously My coat or bonnet or coi-
lar or tie will tell You shat am spe-
cially holy. Praying m the streets has
become unfashionablr. except for our
Salvation Army friends. We should
not be understood to mean that ali
who dress peculiarly, who go To
church. VIII pray In public, etc, are
hypocritiCall God forbid! Nor do we
understand this to have been the
teaching of the Son of God. He
taught rather that these supposed
manifestations of holiness might be
used hypocritically. His warnings
were not that we should undertake
TO correct those who are addicted To
these condemned practices, but that
we should see to II In our own hearts
and lives, and all of our own religious
| sentiments, that they are sincere-to
| God and not to men. He who does
| such things for outward effect upon
his fellow-men should know that his
hypocrisy is distinctly known of the
Lord, even when not recognized by
his fellow-men. He should know that
Sc far from receiving u blessing he
goes the more deeply into Divine dis
favor.
True prayer should be TO the Lord
never to the public. lndiVdual
prayer Is specially commended by our
Lord. Family prayer Is also Scrip
turally proper. Prayer in the Church
Is proper. because supposedly amongst
those who constitute the family of the
Lord--this Is not public prayer In the
proper sense of that term.
The prayers of Gods people should
| be simple, earnest, heartfelt They
need not be long. Repetitions are
useless The Heavenly Father know
eth better Than we what things we
have need OF. He waits TO be gracious
waits TO be asked FOR blassings. IN
so doing he cultivates in his people a
proper spirit of appreciation of their
needs and longing desires for the good
| things he Is willing to give---to the
intent that they may he blessings IN
the highest sense aud degree.
What Is generally styled "thc model
prayer" was given merely as an eX-
ample. We are TO pray after that
manner, but not necessarily in those
words The order of the prayer IL
beautiful. How properly II opens by
addressing "Our Father In heaven
and by expressing desire that the
great name of God be hallowed, rev.
cred, honored by all, and therefore by
the petitioner also. II proceeds to eN-
press desire that the Divine VIII
may be accomplished on earth as In
heaven and the confidence that this
Lean come about only through the
establishment of Gods klngdom-by
Mcssiah's Mllennlal reign of righteous
ness. which viii be enforced for the
blessing aud uplifting of mankind and
the bringing of all the willing from