The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1913-04-12


The Ten Commandments mention GOV.
etousness of our neighbor's posses
sions and happiness, theft OF his prop
erty or good name or influence, and
murder, the taking of his life. as the
elimination Of selfish disregard for his
rights. In olden times, when chemis.
try was less appreciated. less under
stood, scarlet and crimson dyes were
estimated the most durable, the most
difficult to remove; hence In our text
these are used to symbolic sins of
greater self1shness and depravity. Al
All mankind have inherited sin.
tainted blood. from Father Adam. Self
fshness of varying hues is found in ev.
cry member of our race. One difficulty
with many is that they do not have
the proper focus upon the Divine Law.
They know that any transgression of
Gods Law is sin. Taking the letter
Of that Law they try to avoid the
cruder forms Of theft, adultery. mur.
der. This is the same mistake that the
Jews made.
1t was Jesus, the great Teacher. who
gave the clearer conception of the spir-
it Of the Law. According to His in.
depreciation, theft could be committed
in the heart, by coveting in a most
desperate way. by stealing the good
name or the business or the reputation
or the trademark Of another. SINH
larly, according to Jesus, the crime Of
Cd iOh4 In iOh Ln
mitted without the overt act Jesus
declared. "Whosoever iooketh on a
woman to lust after her hath commit
ted adultery with her already, in his
heart'-if he lacked merely the oppor-
tunity.-Matthew 5:2S.
Whoever accepts these definitions in.
telligently realizes that the worlds In
crease of knowledge has brought in.
crease of responsibilities; and that if
open crimes today were much less fire.
quent than formerly, the responsibility
Of today would still be greater than
formerly. But this is not so. Every.
thing indicates to us that human self
ishness has kept pace with the increase
of knowledge. The thievish spirit
abounds everywhere. not only amongst
the poor, but also amongst the wealthy.
Not all of the vast fortunes of our day
were honestly obtained. so far as we
may be able to judge. And although
there are noble rich men. it is, alas!
too evident that the love Of money,
root of all evil. has made thieves and
robbers of some in high stations.
The civilized world needs to awaken
its conscience to the high ideals of the
Master-the Golden Rule. which does
to a neighbor as it would that the
neighbor would do to him If the condi.
tions were reversed. 1t seems not pos
sible for human law to reach such
cases. Those who cannot be infuenc-
ed by the Scriptures must wait for
their lessons and chastisements till the
New Age Of Messiah's Kingdom.
The vice crusaders have recently
been telling us that millions of dollars
are spent in New York City alone ev-
cry year in the white slave traffic
What an awful picture Of intrenched
sin! When we read such reports and
remember our Masters definition of
adultery, we stand appalled,! That the
great Western Metropolis. nevertheless
presents a fair outward appearance
which bellies such a condition Of heart
is a matter for congratulation! All
pure-minded people should be glad that.
If sin cannot be fully stamped out, 1t
can at least be kept to some extent un.
der cover! The stencil of the public
reports is something terrible! E.
The murders Of the past year are
terribly significant But If we take
the viewpoint of the great Teacher
and consider that all who entertain
murderous thoughts are really murder
ers in Gods sight-we feel constrain-
ed to ask, "How does God regard the
conditions now prevailing In the
world? They are not only worse than
at any previous time, but still more
evil because of our increased light. our
increased realization of the principles
OF justice. 1t would not seem to be
putting the matter too strongly to say
that from the Divine standpoint the
world is practically full of thieves. H.
centious persons and murderers.
Sins Made White as Snow.
What magic power is this that conld
transform sinful heart and course of
life into pure one? Education will
do it." says the Professor. But no!
Many college-bred men are as sinful as
others. Joining the ministry or the
priesthood will do it." says another
But no! Proofs are abundant that sin
may be found in the monastery and
the pulpit. as well as in the pew and
in the ordinary walks of life.
Our text declares Gods reasonable.
ness, and indicates that He has made
it possible for the sinner to escape
from his sins. The Prophet does not
tell the process by. which Divine Jus
tice will clear the guilty. But the
New Testament gives the explanation.
Christ has died. the Just for the un-
just Human sin. the penalty OF
which is death, the great Redeemer is
prepared to cancel for all those who
forsake sin, become pupils In His
School and are taught OF God
At the present time Gods mercy in
the forgiveness of sin is exercised to-
ward those only who hear OF His re-
deeming Love. and are moved to faith,
repentance and reformation. Nor ia
this enough at the present time. Gods
call Of this Gospel Age is for those
who not only desire to resist sin and
to escape from slavery to it, but who