The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-02-18
gaturday Digit
Totkc BY Rev. F. E. DAWSON
/uttAS Rutland, W.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TIE GOLDEN RULE
OF THE KINGDOM.
Intern rational Bible Lesson for Feb.
20, '1o.-(Matt. 7:1.12).

eyes. and ears and hearts are assalled
by its omnipresence. The question Is:
What shall be the attitude OF the chill.
dren OF the kingdom toward the evil
which they cannot but see in the peo
pie OF the world among whom they
live.
In the wonderful Sermon ON the
Mount which we are still considering
the Christ meets the question and an
swers It fully. frankly, satisfactorily.
He utters two warnings each against
dangers lying in opposite directions,
the one. the danger OF making too
much of the evil we see, or think "e
see, in others; the other, that OF max
ing too little OF It.
Consciousness Pebuked.
The first danger to guard against
is censoriousness. His golden rule is
Judge not, that We be not judged"
As If He had said, As you Judge. you
shall be judged, on the general princi-
pie that as you give to others they
will give to you. charity for charity,
severity for severity, generosity for
generosity uncharitableness for un-
charitableness.
Men are socially interdependent
and must have dealings with each
other; must meet know, counsel, help.
and bargain with their fellows. Il *
well then to keep in mind the laws OF
social intercourse, and always Put
yourself in his place" The law is not.
| do to others what we would have
them do to us, (this might become
mere barter but do to them what we
! think they would wish to have done to
| them. Do to them what we woulG
wish to have done to us II we were in
their situation. This is the highCft
and most revolutionary rule in the
world.
Now one of the most important rea-
sons for being careful in our judgment
of others He points out is that there
| is so much evil in ourselves. The
difficulty with most men is, they pose
as occulists and optometrists, Disco.
ering notes in the eyes OF others. o
livious grafters in their own. Chris
says, in effect, If you would be skill.
full occulist in spiritual affairs ort
yourself in the hands of a divine prac-
toner and allow him to extract he
beam from your own eye. then you
will see clearly. The trouble with
most of us is we are afflicted with
such personal strabismus that we
think the beam is in the eyes of the
other fellow The consciousness OF
our own imperfections should moder-
ate our personal judgments.
Here is the fault of many a reform.
er-so-called. He is Jealous to re-
form his neighbor. but Indifferent re-
specting himself. So that men who
are strong on one particular line of
improvement OF others may be as far
off from personal righteousness them
selves, in some other direction. The
golden rule Of the kingdom will save
us from using a spy-glass on other
people and refusing to gaze into the
looking glass ourselves. We shall
not carry the sins of our neighbors in
front OF us and those OF ourselves be-
hind us. There are very few people
who are as merciless in judgment OF
their own sins as OF those OF their
fellow men. What we call errors OF
judgment in ourselves are criminal
actions when committed by others
Hence We have soft words for our own
sins, and blistering condemnation fol-
the sins Of others. 1t is against this
spirit of harsh, and unrelentinG criti
cism OF other people that this lesson
utters it's loudest warning.
Discrimination Urged.
But there is another side 10 the sub
ject, as there is to all subjects and Il
is this In our attitude toward the
evil in the world we should not make
too little OF it. Though we may no
Judge, we should discriminate. W.
must not go so far TO the other ex
treme as to insist that there are NJ
such things as notes and beams, il
other words that sin is all in you
eye There are holy things, and ther,
, are dogs and swine, and Christ says
You are to be careful not to cast you
| pearls before swine nor give tina
which is holy into the dogs. Swim
are swine and no amount of washing
and attention will convert them int
J sheep We are under no obligation
, to insist that black is white and tina
4 there is no difference between tn
holy and the unholy.
Not Judgment but Caution.
Some things there are which ar
+ too holy and sacred TO be thrown on
carelessly among those who woul
surely reject them with contempt an
savage hatred II you do not wan
j your pearls to be trodden under foe
OF men keep them under lock an
: key. When sinners turn swine, an
we are in danger OF being rent b
them, Christ gives us a permissio
to cease our attentions. We may nc
Judge. but we must be cautious. w
may not condemn arbitrarily, but "
must distinguish between the falls
and the true, and in our desire to b
gentle and kind we must not go 10 IN
other extreme and treat all men alik