The Topeka state journal., 1914-02-21

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The International Sunday School Les
con for February % Is Faith De-
stroyfnR Fear."-Luke 12:1-12.
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLI9.)
Looking out the window Mrs. Jones
sees q enighbor approaching ana ex-
claims, There comes that tiresome
sss:; Sa:: Smith I simply can't 'A'a's
A moment later, at the door. she
says, with effusive smiles, my dear
Mrs. Smith. am 10 glad to see you;
and 1t - 50 good Of you to come.
And that Is a picture OF wnat Is
fundamentally the matter with a
large part of the world today. 1t lacks
common, ordinary, stratghtforward
aincerity The wisest of social physt-
clans once put a label on this disease
leaven Of the Pharisees. which Is
hypocrisy Rottenness in the bones
Of character, functional disfntegratton
of the soul, palsy Of the motor nerves
Of the will-all this and more u the
essential insincerity which the COM
plexity of our social life fosters, ana
which Jesus excoriated In the Phari-
sees.
srWhite lies'' reveal black spots In
character. The reason the Judgment
of mankind condemns liar ID not
because of the lie itself. or its parti-
cular consequences. but because 1t
denotes fundamental unsoundness. To
be insincere is to be wrong clear
through to the center OF tnihes. a
hypocrite is worse than an open ana
shameless drunkard or gambler; Tor
his offense is not one OF appetite or
peculiar weakness; 1t Is structural
affecting the stability Of the whole
life. .-
The business mems stenographer
1s. IL one but stop to think Of 1t. like
q piece Of the day OF judgment 70
him. She knows all his art1ficee ano
pretenses and double-dealings, II he
be not wholly straightforwaro. our Sa
tween 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. az Jesus po'n.ed
out. we are known through ano
through to God. There are no sue
cessful hypocrites in dealing with him.
We NAV for a time fool q few persons.
hut not for q minute can we deceive
God. What is more. as Jesus saa1;
not be revealed. Hypocrisy Is a
vain az it is vicious. The whole
world one day comes to know tne
truth about us. Whether that pros
pect fills us with JOY or with dread is
a fairly good symptom of the sort Of
When the lid is lifted from our life,
as II some day will be, shall we De
glad or terrified? The stern utter
ance of the Master is a powerful ser
mon upon living in the open sunlight.
sWalk in the light" and you Will new
er fear q policeman's tread or a gos-
sins tongue. clean life Is 1nvulner-
able armor. Graft Investigations nolo
no threat for the honest man. Judg-
ment days are the vindication OF the
riehteous. beware of the leaven OF
the Pharisees. which Is hypocrisy,
and you will welcome every ray OF
sunlight. No truth needs to be more
strongly impressed upon youth tnan
cough were "Young man, keep your
record Clean"
The "Dare-To-Die" Chinese.
What a person fears most tells what
he Is. Now these old Pharisees were
afraid that the public would not think
we'll Of them. Had they lived IN our
day the richest Of them would have
employed press agents to secure IA
yorable mention for them in the news
papers They were afraid for their
regulations, forgetting that. In the
long run reputation Is but an emana-
ton of character.
Some persons are scared OF dying.
Our artificial day has multiplied this
terror. Do you recall how summer
cottagers fled from the Atlantlc coast
fleet was rumored? Without being
cynical it may be said that we are at
taching an entirely undue importance
to the mere matter Of living: We
ty and comfort. An inspiration dur
ing the Chinese revolution were the
"Dare-to die" bands OF young men,
mostly students who volunteered for
extra hazardous service. They rightly
perceived that their own lives were OF
relative unimportance as compared
with the freedom of their nation. This
same reckless bravery, which put the
assurance of Paradise above all con-
Germs Of life or safety, was what led
the followers of Mohammed to sweep
onward in an irresistible conquest of a
large part Of the known world.
If we feared God more, we would
fear dying less. There Is no warrant
in the words Of Jesus Christ for pur-
chasing life at the price of loyalty and
truth.
why the Korean Pastor Resigned.
A man from Korea told me this
ing Of the socalled conspiracy trial, u
Of Korean Christians by the Japanese
As is we'll known, the japanese tor
tured the prisoners most fiendishly. in
order to get them to confess that the
charges Of Christian conspiracy
against the Japanese government were
true Wild with the agonies of tor
ture. some of the men said yes to
anything they were asked. The sentt-
ment Of civilization forced Japan tc
liberate one hundred and nineteen OF
the Christian men against whom these
preposterous charges had been con-
cocted.
Among those freed, after more thar
a year in prison. was the pastor of ths
Sven Chun church. He arrived home
on Saturday. On Sunday he resigned
his pulpit: His explanation was sim,
pie: IT lied. 1 said that which wa.
not so, and I am therefore not fit t.
be a minister of the Gospel" Friend.
demonstrated that the untruth hat
been spoken in the agony of unendur
able torture. He sturdily maintained
his position. II could have died
ho hay