Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-06-11
In The Religious World
(REviEw SUNDAY SCHOOL LEssoN)

| DEFEATING THE PUFFED.UP.
The International Sunday Schoo
Lesson for June ID is "The Frlene
i Of Stnners."-Luke 1894; 49,
10.
BY William T. Ellis.
If the just Teacher who two thou
sand years ago itinerated over Gall
lee, Judea and Perea, may be said tc
have had any particular antipathy
it was surely against the ecclesiastic
al leaders of his time, the eminent
churchmen, the ostentatiously pious
Pharisees. From the beginning tc
the end of his ministry, Jesus was con
tinually puncturing the self-inhatior
of these religious aristocrats. He
challenged and received their hostil
ity, and eventually they won an ap
parent victory, for they crucified him;
but today the very name of Pharisee
which was their pride and boast, Is
become a synonym Of shame.
Strikingly, Jesus rebuked the good
and not the bad. He Debated the
puffed-up and prideful Pharisees be-
cause of their self-righteousness. They
thought themselves better than 9th
ers, which fact, said Jesus, made
them worse than others. He stamped
as contemplate all contempt of 9th,
ers. The basis of our modern democ
racy is found in the Masters stern
and radical insistence upon the sin OF
elf-righteousness. and upon the pos
sibilities inherent in the common PEG.
pie who make no pretense to special
merit.
The Democratic Door.
! There is but one door to the fellow
ship of Christ; and that is condi'
ton which all can meet. 1t debars
none who will stoop to It: for the
door to the favor OF Christ Is This
man receiveth sinners" On such q
basis he accepts all who come to him.
, It Is the common plea Of democracy;
we are all alike In our proneness to
sin and in our need Of salvation.
Every imaginative mind contem-
| plates. at some time or other. the en-
trance into the eternal life and the
credentials to be presented. the
claims that admit men to most OF the
privileges of earth are ineffective
| here.
/ One man says, "I am Of distln.
guished birth My family is Of the
noblest in the land. My forebears
id famous service for the state" TO
him the answer comes, "Earth's dis
tinctions do not avail here"
Another says arrogantly, Il have
money. I am accustomed to pay FOR
what I want have given large sums
to charity. Let me in" To him stern
ly comes the answer. There Is no
golden key to the door Of heaven"
Another advances proudly, saying,
"You know my name. My accomplish
ments have made me famous. l have
been one Of the great on earth" 'This
, door is built not for the great, but for
the childlike," IL the answer Of re-
fusal.
In robes Of ecclesiastical dignity
another advances and says. after
proper genuhections, II have been an
eminent churchman. MY fame has
been in all the churches. have shed
the luster of learning, of social posi-
ton and of wealth upon Gods cause
on earth
Spiritual pride is the worst OF the
offences that debar men from heav-
ems gates" is the stern rebuke as the
door shuts.
None of the credentials which on
earth seem so weighty avail at this
portal But timorous, abashed man,
with downcast eyes, comes forward,
saying, II am only sinner, and / am
, saved by the grace of God and the
atoning blood Of Jesus Christ" TO
him the gates of heaven swing gladly
inward. and all the celestial choir sing
a jubilate; for the one and only pass
word to the presence of God is this
which was spoken by Christ, Il come
not to call the righteous. but sinners
The golden text of this lesson is
synopsis Of all the teachings of Jesus.
Two Men Who Prayed.
Clear as a cameo, Jesus portrayed
; typical scene In his description Of
! two men at prayer in the temple. The
parable has universal application;
as a literary gem it Is worth memor'
izing:
"And he spake also this parable un'
| to certain who trusted In themselves
! that they were righteous. and set all
: others at nought: Two men went up
into the temple to pray; the one q
! Pharisee, and the other publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself. God. I thank thee, that
I, I am not as the rest OF men, extortion-
ers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. fast twice in the week;
! I give tithes of all that get
But the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his
eyes unto heaven, but smote his
breast, saying, God. be thou merciful
to me sinner.
81 say unto you, This man went
down to his house justified rather
than the other: for everyone that ex-
alteth himself shall be humbled:
but he that humbleth himself shall be
; exalted"
Two went up to pray: oh. rather say,
One went to brag, the other to pray.
/ One stands up close, and treads on
high,
Where the other dares not send his
| eye.
| One nearer to Gods altar trod,
The other to the affairs God.
Richard Crashaw.