Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-02-06
LINEUP OF LIFE
IS PERPENDICULAR
Man of Callilee Never Drew Any
Horizontal Lines While on
the Earth

The International Sunday School Les
son For February 8 Is, Darkness
and Light."-Luke 11:11-28, 1896.
(By William Il. Ellis)
After all and after all,
Since ever, the world began.
Just two have lived, and two have
In lowly mien, in lordly pride,
The rogue and the honest man.
After all and after all,
The classes are but two;
And both are rich and both are poor,
And both still know as they knew
before,
The things that they ought to do.
After all and after all,
Escape it we never can;
only the choice of one have we,
And you must be and | must be
A rogue or an honest man.
ID John Randolph Stidman.
The incisive mind of the new
Teacher from Galilee, who was great
in His simplicity, thus lined up So
ciety. The only line he ever drew
was vertical, between the good and
the bad, the sheep and the goats.
No horizontal lines for Him, separat-
ing men into upper classes. He set
humanity into two camps, the
wicked and the godly.
And the test of where one belongs
In His attitude toward Jesus Himself
"He that is not for Me Is against
Me-" Nobody can dodge that classi-
tication; it is easier to escape the
income tax collector than this in
evitable grouping. Everybody must
count either for or against Christ;
which means, also, either for or
against the things for which Christ
stands. Every life has drift a
direction, tendency; let 1t be to-
ward Christliness.
The SnarI of the Critics
The particular day about which
we are studying had been busy one
for Jesus and His helpers. They
had no tlpe so much as to eat
Friends and kindred tried to hinder
Jesus from spending Himself so Law
lshly for the many needs of this in
satiable mob. But that compassion
ate spirit had mercy upon everybody
except Himself.
The one dramatic event of the day
was the casting out of a demon from
dumb man, so that his speech was
opened. We wonder what the first
words of the emancipated spirit
were? Gratitude to the Healer? The
name of a loved one? Incoherent
enthusiasm?
The enthusiasm of the liberated
man was not shared by some mem
bers of the crowd of onlooker They
were the critics and the backbiters,
who always see the worst in the bet
ton. l,A ,,,,l yr,t--
longed to that large group who al
ways look for the lowest motives in
the deeds of public men. Any
| reason but the true and the noble
will serve them. So these wiseacres
winked knowingly and leered "Ah,
He casts out demons by Beelzebub,
the prince of demons!" This was
devil work, they claimed, and one
| more proof that Jesus had a demon.
The Bible and the Devil
Nowadays it is dreadfully un-
fashionable to believe in the devil.
Yet the Bible, which is strangely
Indifferent to passing fancies. insists
that there is a devil-an evil per-
! sonality or power outside of man
| which besets him and drags him
down.
| Some folks, who live in clois-
! tered world of books, deny this. Not
so those who are at close grips with
| life. The latter must choose between
| diabolical human nature or else an
evil spirit Of power which is mans
worst enemy To all who know life,
| God is real and the devil is real.
And the issue of all time is between
these two.
The old negro's definition of cleo
| ton is not far astray. Without the
dialect the story goes that the negro
said, you see, there is an election
being held to choose who will be
Satan are candidates. You are the
only voter. And whichever way you
vote, that is the way the election
goes" Reduced to its simplicities,
/ life is a choice between God and
Satan.
Confounding the Critics
The story was Jesus favorite way
of meeting criticism To the charge
that He was an ally OF Beelzebub,
He answered in terse, graphic words,
Every kingdom divided against it
self is brought to desolation; and a
house divided against a house fall
eth" AS I heard a preacher in a
rescue miSsion-down where they
believe abundantly in Satan-say
the other day. "The devil is united
but the church is divided"
The only man who can cast out
devils is stronger man than the
devil. Nobody can break into Satan's
house and destroy his work except
Christ. The proof that He does so
is sufficient evidence that He is the
| deadly foe of Beelzebub. Casting
out demons was not the kind of
work calculated to make the Prince
OF Darkness happy.
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal
"Did we in our own strength con-