Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-02-19

lesson for February % is Faith Des-
troying Fear."-Luke 12:1-12.
Looking out the window Mrs. Jones
sees neighbor approaching and ex-
claims, There comes that tiresome
Mrs. Smith. I simply can't endure
her,
A moment later, at the door, she
says, with ELUSIVE smiles, my dear
Mrs. Smith, am SO glad to see you;
and it is so good of you to come"
And that is picture of what IS
fundamentally the matter with a
large part of the world today. 1t
lacks common, ordinary, straightfor-
ward sincerity. The wtsest or social
physicians once put a label on this
disease so deadly to souls. He called
1t ''the leaven of the Pharisees, which
Is hypocrisy Rottenness in the
bones of character, functional disln-
tegration of the soul, palsy OF the
motor nerves of the will - all this
and more is the essential insincerlty
which the completely of our social lie
fosters, and which Jesus eXcorlated
In the Pharisees. ~.
"White lies" reveal black spots IN
character. The reason the Judgment
of mankind condemns liar is not be-
cause of the lie itself, or it's particular
consequences, but because 1t denotes
fundamental unsoundness. To he in
sincere is to be wrong clear through
to the center Of things. hypocrite IS
worse than an open and shameless
drunkard or gambler; for his offense is
not one of appetite or peculiar weak
&c CT Qffarf1ng
stability of the whole life.
What our stenographers Thing.
The business mans stenographer is,
If one but stop to think of it. like a
niece of the day of judgment to him.
She knows all his articles and pre-
lenses and double-dealings, if he be
not wholly straightforward. Our cnll-
dren, too, see the difference between
what we really are or believe, in the
frankness of the family circle, and
what we pretend in the presence OF
company.
More important yet, as Jesus point
ed out, we are known through anu
through to God. There are no success
full hypocrites in dealing with him. we
may for time fool few persons, but
not for a minute can we deceive God.
What is more, as Jesus said, There
is nothing covered up-that shall not be
revealed" Hypocrisy is as vain as it
is vicious. The whole world enc day
comes to know the truth about us.
whether that prospect fills us with JOY
or with dread is fairly good symptom
of the sort of person we are.
When the lid is lifted from our life
as it some day will be, shall we be
glad or terrified? The stern utter
ance of the master is a powerful SER
mon upon living in the open sunlight:
walk In the light and \ you Will
never fear policeman's tread or
gossip's tongue. A clean life IS In
vulnerable armor Graft Investigations
hold no threat for the honest man.
Judgment days are the vindication OF
the righteous. Beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,
and YOU will welcome every ray or sun
light. No truth needs to be more
strongly impressed upon youth than
this: the dying words of John b
Cough were Young man, keep your
record Clean,
The "Dare-to.die" Chinese.
What person fears most tells what
he is. Now these old Pharisees We're
afraid that the public would not think
well of them Had they lived in our
day the richest of them would have
employed press agents to secure favor
able mention for them in the news
papers. They were afraid for their
reputations, fxEsssetting that, in the