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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
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The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:2-17
1. "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." 2.
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the Earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the Earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments." 3. "Thou
shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh His Name in vain." 4.
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of
the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day,
and hallowed it." 5. "Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." 6.
"Thou shalt not kill." 7.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery." 8.
"Thou shalt not steal." 9.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor." 10. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's."
.
Weighed in the Balances
IN THE FIFTH CHAPTER of Daniel we read the history of King Belshazzar. One chapter tells us all we know about him. One short sight of his career is all we have. He bursts in upon the scene and then disappears.
.
THE EASTERN FEAST
We are told that he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before them. In those days a feast in Eastern countries would sometimes last for six months. How long this feast had been going on we are not told, but in the midst of it, he
While this impious act was being committed,
We are not told at what hour of the day or the night it
happened. Perhaps it was midnight. Perhaps nearly all the guests were more or less
under the influence of drink; but they were not so drunk but that they suddenly became
sober as they saw something that was supernatural- a handwriting on the wall, right
over the golden candlestick.
Every face turned deathly pale.
In haste he sent for his wisest men to come and read that
handwriting on the wall. They came in one after another and tried to make it out;
but they could not interpret it. The king promised that whoever could read it should
be made the third ruler in the kingdom; that he should have gifts, and that a gold
chain should be put around his neck. But the wise men tried in vain. The king was
greatly troubled.
At last, in the midst of the consternation, the queen came in, and she told the monarch,
if he would only send for one who used to interpret the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar,
he could read the writing and tell him the interpretation thereof. So Daniel was
sent for. He was very familiar with it. He knew his Father's handwriting.
If someone had told the king an hour before that the time
had come when he must step into the balances and be weighed, he would have laughed
at the thought. But the vital hour had come.
The weighing was soon over. The verdict was announced, and the sentence carried out.
Darius and his army came marching down those streets. There
was a clash of arms. Shouts of war and victory rent the air. That night the king's
blood mingled with the wine of the banquet hall. Judgment came upon him unexpectedly,
suddenly: and probably ninety-nine out of every hundred judgments come in this way.
Death comes upon us unexpectedly; it comes upon us suddenly.
Perhaps you say: "I hope Mr. Moody is not going to compare me with that heathen
king."
I tell you that a man who does evil in these gospel days is far worse than that king.
We live in a land of Bibles. You can get the New Testament for a nickel, and if you
haven't got a nickel, you can get it for nothing. Many societies will be glad to
give it to you free. We live in the full blaze of Calvary. We live on this side of
the cross, but Belshazzar lived more than five hundred years on the other side. He
never heard of Jesus Christ. He never heard about the Son of God. He never heard
about God except, perhaps, in connection with his father's remarkable vision. He
probably had no portion of the Bible, and if he had, probably he didn't believe it.
He had no godly minister to point Him to the Lamb of God.
Don't tell me that you are better than that king. I believe that he will rise in
judgment and condemn many of us.
All this happened long centuries ago. Let us get down to this century, to this year,
to ourselves. We will come to the present time. Let us imagine that now, while I
am preaching, down come some balances from the throne of God. They are fastened to
the very throne itself. It is a throne of equity, of justice. You and I must be weighed.
I venture to say this would be a very solemn audience. There would be no tiring.
There would be no indifference. No one would be thoughtless.
Some people have their own balances. A great many are making balances to be weighed
in. But after all we must be weighed in God's balances, the balances of the sanctuary.
It is a favorite thing with infidels to set their own standard, to measure themselves
by other people. But that will not do in the Day of Judgment. Now we will use God's
law as a balance weight. When men find fault with the lives of professing Christians,
it is a tribute to the law of God.
"Tekel." It is a very short text. It is so short I am sure you will remember
it: and that is my object, just to get people to remember God's own Word.
.
GOD'S HANDWRITING
Let me call your attention to the fact that God wrote on
the tables of stone at Sinai as well as on the wall of Belshazzar's palace.
These are the only messages to men that God has written with His own hand. He wrote
the commandments out twice, and spoke them aloud in the hearing of Israel.
If it were known that God Himself were going to speak once again to man, what eagerness
and excitement there would be! For nearly nineteen hundred years He has been silent.
No inspired message has been added to the Bible for nearly nineteen hundred years.
How eagerly all men would listen if God should speak once more. Yet men forget that
the Bible is God's own Word, and that it is as truly His message today as when it
was delivered of old. The law that was given at Sinai has lost none of its solemnity.
Time cannot wear out its authority or the fact of its authorship.
I can imagine someone saying, "I won't be weighed by that law. I don't believe
in it."
Now men may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have
never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may
mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law,
but they can't help admitting that the commandments are right. Renan said that they
are for all nations, and will remain the commandments of God during all the centuries.
If God created this world, He must make some laws to govern it. In order to make
life safe we must have good laws; there is not a country the sun shines upon that
does not possess laws. Now this is God's law. It has come from on high, and infidels
and skeptics have to admit that it is pure. Legislatures nearly all over the world
adopt it as the foundation of their legal systems.
Now the question for you and me is- are we keeping these commandments? Have we fulfilled all the requirements of the law? If God made us, as we know He did, He had a right to make that law; and if we don't use it aright it would have been better for us if we had never had it, for it will condemn us. We shall be found wanting. The law is all right, but are we right?
.
AN INFIDEL'S TESTIMONY
It is related of a clever infidel that he sought an acquaintance with the truths of the Bible, and began to read at the books of Moses. He had been in the habit of sneering at the Bible, and in order to be able to refute arguments brought by Christian men, he made up his mind, as he knew nothing about it, to read the Bible and get some idea of its contents. After he had reached the Ten Commandments, he said to a friend:
The former infidel remained to his death a firm believer
in the truth of Christianity.
We call it the "Mosaic" law, but it has been well said that the commandments
did not originate with Moses, nor were they done away with when the Mosaic law was
fulfilled in Christ, and many of its ceremonies and regulations abolished. We can
find no trace of the existence of any lawmaking body in those early times, no parliament,
or congress that built up a system of laws. It has come down to us complete and finished,
and the only satisfactory account is that which tells us that God Himself wrote the
commandments on tables of stone.
.
BINDING TODAY
Some people seem to think we have got beyond the commandments. What did Christ say?
The commandments of God given to Moses in the Mount at Horeb
are as binding today as ever they have been since the time they were proclaimed in
the hearing of the people. The Jews said the law was not given in Palestine (which
belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the law was for all nations.
Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did
not obey them. Because He gave new commandments, it does not follow that He abolished
the old. Christ's explanation of them made them all the more searching. In His Sermon
on the Mount, He carried the principles of the commandments beyond the mere letter.
He unfolded them and showed that they embraced more, that they are positive as well
as prohibitive. The Old Testament closes with these words:
Does that look as if the law of Moses was becoming obsolete?
The conviction deepens in me with the years that the old truths of the Bible must
be stated and restated in the plainest possible language. I do not remember ever
to have heard a sermon preached on the commandments. I have an index of two thousand
five hundred sermons preached by Spurgeon, and not one of them selects its text from
the first seventeen verses of Exodus 20. The people must be made to understand that
the Ten Commandments are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their
violation. We do not want a gospel of mere sentiment. The Sermon on the Mount did
not blot out the Ten Commandments.
When Christ came He condensed the statement of the law into this form:
Paul said:
But does this mean that the detailed precepts of the Decalogue are superseded and have become back numbers? Does a father cease to give children rules to obey because they love him? Does a nation burn its statute books because the people have become patriotic? Not at all. And yet people speak as if the commandments do not hold for Christians because they have come to love God. Paul said:
It still holds good. The Commandments are necessary. So long as we obey, they do not rest heavy upon us; but as soon as we try to break away, we find they are like fences to keep us within bounds. Horses need bridles even after they have been properly broken in.
Now, my friend, are you ready to be weighed by this law
of God? A great many people say that if they keep the commandments they do not need
to be forgiven and saved through Christ. But have you kept them? I will admit that
if you perfectly keep the commandments, you do not need to be saved by Christ; but
is there a man in the wide world who can truly say that he has done this? Young lady,
can you say: "I am ready to be weighed by the law."? Can you, young man?
Will you step into the scales and be weighed one by one by the Ten Commandments?
Now face these Ten Commandments honestly and prayerfully. See if your life is right,
and if you are treating God fairly. God's statutes are just, are they not? If they
are right, let us see if we are right. Let us get alone with God and read His law-
read it carefully and prayerfully, and ask Him to forgive us our sin and what He
would have us to do.
.
The First Commandment
I am the LORD thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have
no other gods before Me.
MY FRIEND, are you ready to be weighed against this commandment?
Have you fulfilled, or are you willing to fulfill, all the requirements of this law?
Put it into one of the scales, and step into the other. Is your heart set upon God
alone? Have you no other God? Do you love Him above father or mother, the wife of
your bosom, your children, home or land, wealth or pleasure?
If men were true to this commandment, obedience to the remaining nine would follow
naturally. It is because they are unsound in this that they break the others.
.
FEELING AFTER GOD
Philosophers are agreed that even the most primitive races
of mankind reach out beyond the world of matter to a superior Being. It is as natural
for man to feel after God as it is for the ivy to feel after a support. Hunger and
thirst drive man to seek for food, and there is a hunger of the soul that needs satisfying,
too. Man does not need to be commanded to worship, as there is not a race so high
or so low in the scale of civilization but has some kind of god. What he needs is
to be directed aright.
This is what the first commandment is for. Before we can worship intelligently, we
must know what or whom to worship. God does not leave us in ignorance. When Paul
went to Athens, he found an altar dedicated to "The Unknown God," and he
proceeded to tell of Him whom we worship. When God gave the commandments to Moses,
He commenced with a declaration of His own character, and demanded exclusive recognition.
Dr. Dale says these words have great significance. The Jews
Someone asked an Arab: "How do you know that there is a God?" "How do I know whether a man or a camel passed my tent last night?" he replied. God's footprints in nature and in our own experience are the best evidence of His existence and character.
.
ISRAELITES EXPOSED
TO DANGER
Remember to whom this commandment was given, and we shall
see further how necessary it was. The forefathers of the Israelites had worshiped
idols, not many generations back. They had recently been delivered out of Egypt,
a land of many gods. The Egyptians worshiped the sun, the moon, insects, animals,
etc. The ten plagues were undoubtedly meant by God to bring confusion upon many of
their sacred objects. The children of Israel were going up to take possession of
a land that was inhabited by heathen, who also worshiped idols. There was therefore
great need of such a commandment as this. There could be no right relationship between
God and man in those days any more than today, until man understood that he must
recognize God alone, and not offer Him a divided heart.
If He created us, He certainly ought to have our homage. Is it not right that He
should have the first and only place in our affections?
.
NO COMPROMISE
This is one matter in which no toleration can be shown.
Religious liberty is a good thing, within certain limits. But it is one thing to
show toleration to those who agree on essentials, and another, to those who differ
on fundamental beliefs. They were willing to admit any god to the Roman Pantheon.
One reason the early Christians were persecuted was that they would not accept a
place for Jesus Christ there. Napoleon is said to have entertained the idea of having
separate temples in Paris for every known religion, so that every stranger should
have a place of worship when attracted toward that city. Such plans are directly
opposed to the Divine One. God sounded no uncertain note in this commandment. It
is plain, unmistakable, uncompromising.
We may learn a lesson from the way a farmer deals with the little shoots that spring
up around the trunk of an apple tree. They look promising, and one who has not learned
better might welcome their growth. But the farmer knows that they will draw the life-sap
from the main tree, injuring its prospects so that it will produce inferior fruit.
He therefore takes his axe and his hoe, and cuts away these suckers. The tree then
gives a more plentiful and finer crop.
.
GOD'S PRUNING-KNIFE
"Thou shalt not"
is the pruning-knife that God uses. From beginning to end, the Bible calls for wholehearted
allegiance to Him. There is to be no compromise with other gods.
It took long years for God to impress this lesson upon the Israelites. He called
them to be a chosen nation. He made them a peculiar people. But you will notice in
Bible history that they turned away from Him continually, and were punished with
plague, pestilence, war, and famine. Their sin was not that they renounced God altogether,
but that they wanted to worship other gods beside Him. Take the case of Solomon as
an example of the whole nation. He married heathen wives who turned away his heart
after other gods, and built high places for their idols, and lent countenance to
their worship. That was the history of frequent turnings of the whole nation away
from God, until finally He sent them into captivity in Babylon and kept them there
for seventy years. Since then the Jews have never turned to other gods.
Hasn't the church to contend with the same difficulty today? There are very few who
in their hearts do not believe in God, but what they will not do is give Him exclusive
right of way. Missionaries tell us that they could easily get converts if they did
not require them to be baptized, thus publicly renouncing their idols. Many a person
in our land would become a Christian if the gate was not so strait. Christianity
is too strict for them. They are not ready to promise full allegiance to God alone.
Many a professing Christian is a stumbling block because his worship is divided.
On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts.
.
FALSE GODS IN AMERICA
TODAY
YOU don't have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods. America is full of them. Whatever you make most of is your god. Whatever you love more than God is your idol. Many a man's heart is like some Kafirs' huts, so full of idols that there is hardly room to turn around. Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men and women are guilty of this sin.
A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother,
of some precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the Giver and
let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift.
Many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on. If some old Greek
or Roman came to life again and saw man in a drunken debauch, would he believe that
the worship of Bacchus had died out? If he saw the streets of our large cities filled
with harlots, would he believe that the worship of Venus had ceased?
Others take fashion as their god. They give their time and thought to dress. They
fear what others will think of them. Do not let us flatter ourselves that all idolaters
are in heathen countries.
With many it is the god of money. We haven't got through worshiping the golden calf
yet. If a man will sell his principles for gold, isn't he making it a god? If he
trusts in his wealth to keep him from want and to supply his needs, are not riches
his god? Many a man says, "Give me money, and I will give you heaven. What care
I for all the glories and treasures of heaven? Give me treasures here! I don't care
for heaven! I want to be a successful businessman." How true are the words of
Job:
But all false gods are not as gross as these. There is the atheist. He says that he does not believe in God; he denies His existence, but he can't help setting up some other god in His place. Voltaire said, "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one." So the atheist speaks of the Great Unknown, the First Cause, the Infinite Mind, etc. Then there is the deist. He is a man who believes in one God who caused all things; but he doesn't believe in revelation. He only accepts such truths as can be discovered by reason. He doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, or in the inspiration of the Bible. Then there is the pantheist, who says: "I believe that the whole universe is God. He is in the air, the water, the sun, the stars," the liar and the thief included.
.
MOSES FAREWELL
MESSAGE
Let me call your attention to a verse in the thirty- second chapter of Deuteronomy, thirty-first verse:
These words were uttered by Moses, in his farewell address
to Israel. He had been with them forty years. He was their leader and instructor.
All the blessings of heaven came to them through him. And now the old man is about
to leave them. If you have never read his speech, do so. It is one of the best sermons
in print. I know few sermons in the Old or New Testament that compare with it.
I can see Moses as he delivers this address. His natural activity has not abated.
He still has the vigor of youth. His long white hair flows over his shoulders, and
his venerable beard covers his breast. He throws down the challenge: "Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves
being judges."
Has the human heart ever been satisfied with these false gods? Can pleasure or riches
fill the soul that is empty of God? How about the atheist, the deist, the pantheist?
What do they look forward to? Nothing! Man's life is full of trouble; but when the
billows of affliction and disappointment are rising and rolling over them, they have
no God to call upon. They shall
Therefore I contend "their
rock is not as our Rock."
My friends, when the hour of affliction comes, they call in a minister to give consolation.
When I was settled in Chicago, I used to be called out to attend many funerals. I
would inquire what the man was in his belief. If I found out he was an atheist, or
a deist, or a pantheist, when I went to the funeral and in the presence of his friends,
said one word about that man's doctrine, they would feel insulted. Why is it that
in a trying hour, when they have been talking all the time against God- why is it
that in the darkness of affliction they call in believers in that God to administer
consolation? Why doesn't the atheist preach no hereafter, no heaven, no God in the
hour of affliction? This very fact is an admission that "their
rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."
The deist says there is no use in praying, because nothing can change the decrees
of deity; God never answers prayer. Is his rock as our Rock?
The Bible is true. There is only one God. How many men have said to me: "Mr.
Moody, I would give the world if I had your faith, your consolation, the hope you
have with your religion."
Isn't that a proof that their rock is not as our Rock?
Some years ago I went into a man's house, and when I commenced to talk about religion
he turned to his daughter and said: "You had better leave the room. I want to
say a few words to Mr. Moody." When she had gone, he opened a perfect torrent
of infidelity upon me. "Why did you send your daughter out of the room before
you said this?" I asked. "Well," he replied, "I did not think
it would do her any good to hear what I said."
Is his rock as our Rock? Would he have sent his daughter out if he really believed
what he said?
.
NO CONSOLATION
EXCEPT IN GOD
No. There is no satisfaction for the soul except in the God of the Bible. We come back to Paul's words and get consolation for time and eternity:
My friend, can you say that sincerely? Is all your hope centered on God in Christ? Are you trusting Him alone? Are you ready to step into the scales and be weighed against this first commandment?
.
WHOLEHEARTED ALLEGIANCE
God will not accept a divided heart. He must be absolute monarch. There is not room in your heart for two thrones. Christ said:
Mark you, He did not say, "No man shall serve ... Ye
shall not serve" but "No man can serve.. .Ye
cannot serve." That means more than a command;
it means that you cannot mix the worship of the true God with the worship of another
god any more than you can mix oil and water. It cannot be done. There is not room
for any other throne in the heart if Christ is there. If worldliness should come
in, godliness would go out.
The road to heaven and the road to hell lead in different directions. Which master
will you choose to follow? Be an out-and-out Christian. Him only shall you serve.
Only thus can you be well pleasing to God. The Jews were punished with seventy years
of captivity because they worshiped false gods. They have suffered nineteen hundred
years because they rejected the Messiah. Will you incur God's displeasure by rejecting
Christ too? He died to save you. Trust Him with your whole heart, for with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness.
I believe that when Christ has the first place in our hearts- when the kingdom of
God is first in everything- we shall have power, and we shall not have power until
we give Him His rightful place. If we let some false god come in and steal our love
away from the God of heaven, we shall have no peace or power.
.
The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the Earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the Earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT, which we have just considered, points
out the one true object of worship; this commandment, is to tell us the right way
in which to worship. The former commands us to worship God alone; this calls for
purity and spirituality as we approach Him. The former condemns the worship of false
gods; this prohibits false forms. It relates more especially to outward acts of worship;
but these are only the expression of what is in the heart.
Perhaps you will say that there is no trouble about this weight. We might go off
to other ages or other lands and find people who make images and bow down to them;
but we have none here. Let us see if this is true. Let us step into the scales and
see if we can turn them when weighed against this commandment.
I believe this is where the battle is fought. Satan tries to keep us from worshiping
God aright, and from making Him first in everything. If I let some image made by
man get into my heart and take the place of God the Creator, it is a Sin. I believe
that Satan is willing to have us worship anything, however sacred- the Bible, the
crucifix, the church- if only we do not worship God Himself.
You cannot find a place in the Bible where a man has been allowed to bow down and
worship anyone but the God of heaven and Jesus Christ His Son. In the book of Revelation
when an angel came down to John, he was about to fall down and worship him, but the
angel would not let him. If an angel from heaven is not to be worshiped, when you
find people bowing down to pictures, to images, even when they bow down to worship
the cross, it is a sin. There are a great many who seem to be carried away with these
things.
God wants us to worship Him only, and if we do not believe
that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh we should not worship Him. I have
no more doubt about the divinity of Christ than I have that I exist.
Worship involves two things: the internal belief, and the external act. We transgress
in our hearts by having a wrong conception of God and of Jesus Christ before ever
we give public expression in action. As someone has said, it is wrong to have loose
opinions as well as to be guilty of loose practices. That is what Paul meant when
he said:
The opinions that some people hold about Christ are not in accordance with the Bible and are real violations of this second commandment.
.
A QUESTION
The question at once arises- is this commandment intended to forbid the use of drawings and pictures of created things altogether? Some contend that it does. They point to the Jews and the Muslims as a proof. The Jews have never been much given to art. The Muslims to this day do not use designs of animals, etc., in patterns. But I do not agree with them. I think God only meant to forbid images and other representations when these were intended to be used as objects of religious veneration. [Emphasis by WStS] "Thou shalt not make unto thee ... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." In Exodus we are told that God ordered the bowls of the golden candlestick for the tabernacle to be made
and the robe of the ephod had a hem on which they were to
put a bell and a pomegranate alternately. How could God order something that broke
this second commandment?
I believe that this commandment is a call for spiritual worship. It is in line with
Christ's declaration to that Samaritan woman,
This is precisely what is difficult for men to do. The apostles
were hardly in their graves before people began to put up images of them, and to
worship relics. People have a desire for something tangible, something that they
can see. That is why there is a demand for ritualism. Some people are born Puritans;
they want a simple form of worship. Others think they cannot get along without forms
and ceremonies that appeal to the senses. And many a one whose heart is not sincere
before God takes refuge in these forms, and eases his conscience by making an outward
show of religion.
The second commandment is to restrain this desire and tendency.
God is grieved when we are untrue to Him. God is love, and He is wounded when our
affections are transferred to anything else. The penalty attached to this commandment
teaches us that man has to reap what he sows, whether good or bad; and not only that,
but his children have to reap with him. Notice that punishment is visited upon the
children unto the third or the fourth generation, while mercy is shown unto thousands,
or (as it is more correctly) unto the thousandth generation.
.
THE FOLLY OF IMAGES
Think for a moment, and you will see how idle it is to try
to make any representation of God. Christians have tried to paint the Trinity, but
how can you depict the invisible? Can you draw a picture of your own soul or spirit
or will? Moses impressed it upon Israel that when God spake to them out of the midst
of the fire they saw no manner of similitude, but only heard His voice.
A [manmade] picture or [manmade] image of God must degrade our conception of Him.
It fastens us down to one idea, whereas we ought to grow in grace and in knowledge.
It makes God finite. It brings Him down to our level. It has given rise to the horrible
idols of India and China, because they fashion these images according to their own
notions. How would the president feel if Americans made such hideous objects to resemble
him as they make of their gods in heathen countries? Isaiah bore down with tremendous
irony upon the folly of idol-makers: upon the smith who fashioned gods with tongs
and hammers; and upon the carpenter who took a tree, and used part of it for a fire
to warm himself and roast his meat, and made part of it in the figure of a man with
his rule and plane and compass, and called it his god and worshiped it.
A man must be greater than anything he is able to make or manufacture. What folly then to think of worshiping such things! The tendency of the human heart to represent God by something that appeals to the senses is the origin of all idolatry. It leads directly to image-worship. At first there may be no desire to worship the thing itself, but it inevitably ends in that. As Dr. Mac Laren says:
Did you ever stop to think that the world has not a single [manmade] picture of Christ that has been handed down to us from His disciples? Who knows what He was like? The Bible does not tell us how He looked, except in one or two isolated general expressions as when it says,
We don't know anything definite about His features, the
color of His hair and eyes, and the other details that would help to give a true
representation. What artist can tell us? He left no keepsakes to His disciples. His
clothes were seized by the Roman soldiers who crucified Him. Not a solitary thing
was left to be handed down among His followers. Doesn't it look as if Christ left
no relics lest they should be held sacred and worshiped?
History tells us further that the early Christians shrank from making pictures and
statues of any kind of Christ. They knew Him as they had seen Him after His resurrection,
and had promises of His continued presence that pictures could not make any more
real.
I have seen very few pictures of Christ that do not repel me more or less. I sometimes
think that it is wrong to have pictures of Him at all.
Speaking of the crucifix Dr. Dale says:
.
THE INDWELLING
CHRIST
No one can say that we have nowadays any need of such things.
If Christ is in our hearts, why need we set Him before our eyes?
If we take hold of that promise by faith, what need is there of outward symbols and reminders? If the King Himself is present, why need we bow down before statues supposed to represent Him? [Emphasis by WStS] To fill His place with an image, someone has said, is like blotting the sun out of the heavens and substituting some other light in its place:
I believe many an earnest Christian would be found wanting if put in the balances against this commandment. "Tekel" is the sentence that would be written against them, because their worship of God and of Christ is not pure. May God open our eyes to the danger that is creeping more and more into public worship throughout Christendom! Let us ever bear in mind Christ's words in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel, which show that true spiritual worship is not a matter of special times and special places because it is of all times and all places:
.
The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the Name of the
LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name
in vain.
I WAS GREATLY AMAZED not long ago in talking to a man who
thought he was a Christian, to find that once in a while, when he got angry, he would
swear. I said: "My friend, I don't see how you can tear down with one hand what
you are trying to build up with the other. I don't see how you can profess to be
a child of God and let those words come out of your lips."
He replied: "Mr. Moody, if you knew me you would understand. I have a very quick
temper. I inherited it from my father and mother, and it is uncontrollable; but my
swearing comes only from the Iips."
When God said, "I will not hold him guiltless that takes my name in vain,"
He meant what He said, and I don't believe anyone can be a true child of God who
takes the name of God in vain. What is the grace of God for, if it is not to give
me control of my temper so that I shall not lose control and bring down the curse
of God upon myself? When a man is born of God, God takes the "swear" out
of him. Make the fountain good, and the stream will be good. Let the heart be right;
then the language will be right; the whole life will be right. But no man can serve
God and keep His law until he is born of God. There we see the necessity of the new
birth.
To take God's name "in vain"
means either
.
USING GOD'S NAME
IRREVERENTLY
I think it is shocking to use God's name with so little
reverence as is common nowadays, even among professing Christians. We are told that
the Jews held it so sacred that the covenant name of God was never mentioned amongst
them except once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, when he went
into the holy of holies. What a contrast that is to the familiar use Christians make
of it in public and private worship! We are apt to rush into God's presence and rush
out again without any real sense of the reverence and awe that is due Him. We forget
that we are on holy ground.
Do you know how often the word "reverend" occurs in the Bible? Only once.
And what is it used in connection with? God's name. Psalm 111:9:
So important did the Jewish rabbi consider this commandment that they said the whole world trembled when it was first proclaimed on Sinai.
.
USING GOD'S NAME
PROFANELY
But though there is far too much of this frivolous, familiar
use of God's name, the commandment is broken a great deal more by profanity. Taking
the name of God in vain is blasphemy. Is there a swearing man who reads this? What
would you do if you were put into the balances of the sanctuary, if you had to step
in opposite to this third commandment? Think a moment. Have you been taking God's
name in vain today?
I do not believe men would ever have been guilty of swearing unless God had forbidden
it. They do not swear by their friends, their fathers or mothers, their wives or
children. They want to show how they despise God's law.
A great many men think there is nothing in swearing. Bear in mind that God sees something
wrong in it, and He says He will not hold men guiltless, even though society does.
I met a man sometime ago who told me he had never sinned in his life. I thought I
would question him, and began to measure him by the law. I asked him:
.
"Do you ever get angry?"
"Well," he said, "sometimes I do; but I have a right to do so. It
is righteous indignation."
"Do you swear when you get angry?"
He admitted he did sometimes.
"Then," I asked, "are you ready to meet God?"
"Yes," he replied, "because I never mean anything when I swear."
Suppose I steal a man's watch and he comes after me.
"Yes," I say, "I stole your watch and pawned it, but I did not mean
anything by it. I pawned it and spent the money, but I did nor mean anything by it."
You would deride such a statement.
Ah, friends! You cannot trifle with God in that way. Even if you swear without meaning it, it is forbidden by God. Christ said:
You will be held accountable whether your words are idle or blasphemous.
.
A SENSELESS HABIT
The habit of swearing is condemned by all sensible persons.
It has been called "the most gratuitous of all sin," because no one gains
by it; it is "not only sinful, but useless." An old writer said that when
the accusing angel, who records men's words, flies up to heaven with an oath, he
blushes as he hands it in.
When a man blasphemes, he shows an utter contempt for God. I was in the army during
the war, and heard men cursing and swearing. Some godly woman would pass along the
ranks looking for her wounded son, and not an oath would be heard. They would not
swear before their mothers, or their wives, or their sisters; they had more respect
for them than they had for God!
Isn't it a terrible condemnation that swearing held its own until it came to be recognized
as a vulgar thing, a sin against society? Men dropped it then, who never thought
of its being a sin against God.
There will be no swearing men in the kingdom of God. They will have to drop that
sin, and repent of it, before they see the kingdom of God.
.
HOW TO KEEP FROM
SWEARING
Men often ask: "How can I keep from swearing?"
I will tell you. If God puts His love into your heart, you will have no desire to
curse Him. If you have much regard for God, you will no more think of cursing Him
than you would think of speaking lightly or disparagingly of a mother whom you love.
But the natural man is at enmity with God and has utter contempt for His law. When
that law is written on his heart, there will be no trouble in obeying it.
When I was out west about thirty years ago, I was preaching one day in the open air,
when a man drove up in a fine turn-out, and after listening a little while to what
I was saying, he put the whip to his fine-looking steed, and away he went. I never
expected to see him again, but the next night he came back, and he kept on coming
regularly night after night.
I noticed that his forehead itched- you have noticed people who keep putting their
hands to their foreheads?- he didn't want any one to see him shedding tears- of course
not! It is not a manly thing to shed tears in a religious meeting, of course!
After the meeting I said to a gentleman:
.
"Who is that man who drives up here every night?
Is he interested?"
"Interested! I should think not! You should have heard the way he talked about
you today."
"Well," I said, "that is a sign he is interested."
If no man ever has anything to say against you, your Christianity isn't worth much.
Men said of the Master, "He has a devil," and Jesus said that if they had called the master of the house Beelzebub,
how much more them of his household.
I asked where this man lived, but my friend told me not to go to see him, for he
would only curse me. I said:
"It takes God to curse a man; man can only bring curses on his own head."
I found out where he lived and went to see him. He was the wealthiest man within
a hundred miles of that place, and had a wife and seven beautiful children. Just
as I got to his gate I saw him coming out of the front door. I stepped up to him
and said:
"This is Mr. ~, I believe?"
He said, "Yes, sir; that is my name." Then he straightened up and asked-
"What do you want?"
"Well," I said, "I would like to ask you a question, if you won't
be angry."
"Well, what is it?"
"I am told that God has blessed you above all men in this part of the country;
that He has given you wealth, a beautiful Christian wife, and seven lovely children.
I do not know if it is true, but I hear that all He gets in return is cursing and
blasphemy"
He said, "Come in; come in." I went in.
"Now," he said, "what you said out there is true. If any man has a
fine wife I am the man, and I have a lovely family of children, and God has been
good to me. But do you know, we had company here the other night, and I cursed my
wife at the table and did not know it till after the company had gone. I never felt
so mean and contemptible in my life as when my wife told me of it. She said she wanted
the floor to open and let her down out of her seat. If I have tried once, I have
tried a hundred times to stop swearing. You preachers don't know anything about it."
"Yes," I said,"I know all about it; I have been a drummer."
"But," he said, "you don't know anything about a businessman's troubles.
When he is harassed and tormented the whole time, he can't help swearing."
"Oh, yes," I said, "he can. I know something about it. I used to swear
myself."
"What! You used to swear?" he asked. "How did you stop?"
"I never stopped."
"Why, you don't swear now, do you?"
"No; I have not sworn for years."
"How did you stop?"
"I never stopped. It stopped itself."
He said, "I don't understand this."
"No," I said, "I know you don't. But I came up to talk to you, so
that you will never want to swear as long as you live."
I began to tell him about Christ in the heart; how that would take the temptation
to swear out of a man.
"Well," he said, "how am I to get Christ?"
"Get right down here and tell Him what you want."
"But," he said, "I was never on my knees in my life. I have been cursing
all the day, and I don't know how to pray or what to pray for."
"Well," I said, "it is mortifying to have to call on God for mercy
when you have never used His name except in oaths; but He will not turn you away.
Ask God to forgive you if you want to be forgiven."
Then the man got down and prayed- only a few sentences, but thank God, it is the
short prayers, after all, which bring the quickest answers. After he prayed he got
up and said: "What shall I do now?"
I said, "Go down to the church and tell the people there that you want to be
an out-and-out Christian."
"I cannot do that," he said; "I never go to church except to some
funeral."
"Then it is high time for you to go for something else,"I said.
After a while he promised to go, but did not know what the people would say. At the
next church prayer meeting, the man was there, and I sat right in front of him. He
stood up and put his hands on the settee, and he trembled so much that I could feel
the settee shake.
He said:
"My friends, you know all about me. If God can save a wretch like me, I want
to have you pray for my salvation."
That was thirty odd years ago. Sometime ago I was back in that town, and did not
see him; but when I was in California, a man asked me to take dinner with him. I
told him that I could not do so, for I had another engagement. Then he asked if I
remembered him, and told me his name. "Oh," I said, "tell me, have
you ever sworn since that night you knelt in your drawing-room, and asked God to
forgive you?"
"No," he replied, "I have never had a desire to swear since then.
It was all taken away."
He was not only converted, but became an earnest, active
Christian, and all these years has been serving God. That is what will take place
when a man is born of the divine nature.
Is there a swearing man ready to put this commandment into the scales, and step in
to be weighed? Suppose you swear only once in six months or a year- suppose you swear
only once in ten years- do you think God will hold you guiltless for the act? It
shows that your heart is not clean in God's sight. What are you going to do, blasphemer?
Would you not be found wanting? You would be like a feather in the balance.
.
The Fourth Commandment
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and Earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the
Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
THERE HAS BEEN an awful letting-down in this country regarding
the Sabbath during the last twenty-five years, and many a man has been shorn of spiritual
power, like Samson, because he is not straight on this question. Can you say that
you observe the Sabbath properly? You may be a professed Christian: are you obeying
this commandment? Or do you neglect the house of God on the Sabbath day, and spend
your time drinking and carousing in places of vice and crime, showing contempt for
God and His law? Are you ready to step into the scales? Where were you last Sabbath?
How did you spend it?
I honestly believe that this commandment is just as binding today as it ever was.
I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never
been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it. When Christ was
on earth, He did nothing to set it aside; He freed it from the traces under which
the scribes and Pharisees had put it, and gave it its true place.
It is just as practicable and as necessary for men today
as it ever was- in fact, more than ever, because we live in such an intense age.
The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. The fourth
commandment begins with the word remember, showing that the Sabbath already
existed when God wrote this law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim
that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other
nine are still binding?
I believe that the Sabbath question today is a vital one for the whole country. It
is the burning question of the present time. If you give up the Sabbath the church
goes; if you give up the church the home goes; and if the home goes the nation goes.
That is the direction in which we are traveling.
The church of God is losing its power on account of so many people giving up the
Sabbath, and using it to promote selfishness.
.
HOW TO OBSERVE
THE SABBATH
"Sabbath" means "rest," and the meaning
of the word gives a hint as to the true way to observe the day. God rested after
creation, and ordained the Sabbath as a rest for man. He blessed it and hallowed
it. Remember the rest-day to keep it holy. It is the day when the body may be refreshed
and strengthened after six days of labor, and the soul drawn into closer fellowship
with its Maker.
True observance of the Sabbath may be considered under two general heads:
1. CESSATION FROM SECULAR WORK
A man ought to turn aside from his ordinary employment one
day in seven. There are many whose occupation will not permit them to observe Sunday,
but they should observe some other day as a Sabbath. Saturday is my day of rest,
because I generally preach on Sunday, and I look forward to it as a boy does to a
holiday. God knows what we need.
Ministers and missionaries often tell me that they take no rest-day; they do not
need it because they are in the Lord's work. That is a mistake. When God was giving
Moses instructions about the building of the tabernacle, He referred especially to
the Sabbath, and gave injunctions for its strict observance; and later, when Moses
was conveying the words of the Lord to the children of Israel, he interpreted them
by saying that not even were sticks to be gathered on the sabbath to kindle fires
for smelting or other purposes. Inspite of their zeal and haste to erect the tabernacle,
the workmen were to have their day of rest. The command applies to ministers and
others managed in Christian work today as much as to those Israelite workmen of old.
2. RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
But "rest" does not mean idleness. No man enjoys
idleness for any length of time. When one goes on a vacation, one does not lie around
doing nothing all that time. Hard work at tennis, hunting, and other pursuits fills
the hours. A healthy mind must find something to do.
Hence the Sabbath rest does not mean inactivity. "Satan finds some mischief
still for idle hands to do." The best way to keep off bad thoughts and to avoid
temptation is to engage in active religious exercises.
As regards these, we should avoid extremes. On the one hand we find a rigor in Sabbath
observance that is nowhere commanded in Scripture, and that reminds one of the formalism
of the Pharisees more than of the spirit of the Gospel. Such strictness does more
harm than good. It repels people and makes the Sabbath a burden. On the other hand,
we should jealously guard against a loose way of keeping the Sabbath. Already in
many cities it is profaned openly.
When I was a boy, the Sabbath lasted from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday,
and I remember how we boys used to shout when it was over. It was the worst day in
the week to us. I believe it can be made the brightest day in the week. Every child
ought to be reared so that he shall be able to say that he would rather have the
other six days weeded out of his memory than the Sabbath of his childhood.
.
SABBATH DESECRATION
Men seem to think they have a right to change the holy day
into a holiday. The young have more temptations to break the Sabbath than we had
forty years ago. There are three great temptations: first the trolley car, that will
take you off into the country for a nickel to have a day of recreation; second, the
bicycle, which is leading a good many Christian men to give up their Sabbath and
spend the day on excursions; and the third, the Sunday newspaper.
Twenty years ago Christian people in Chicago would have been horrified if anyone
had prophesied that all the theaters would be open every Sabbath; but that is what
has come to pass. If it had been prophesied twenty years ago that Christian men would
take a wheel and go off on Sunday morning and be gone all day on an excursion, Christians
would have been horrified and would have said it was impossible; but that is what
is going on today all over the country.
.
PUNISHMENT OR BLESSING?
No nation has ever prospered that has trampled the Sabbath
in the dust. Show me a nation that has done this and I will show you a nation that
has got in it the seeds of ruin and decay. I believe that Sabbath desecration will
carry a nation down quicker than anything else. Adam brought marriage and the Sabbath
with him out of Eden, and neither can be disregarded without suffering. When the
children of Israel went into the Promised Land, God told them to let their land rest
every seven years, and He would give them as much in six years as in seven. For four
hundred and ninety years they disregarded that law. But mark you, Nebuchadnezzar
came and took them off into Babylon, and kept them seventy years in captivity, and
the land had its seventy sabbaths of rest. Seven times seventy is four hundred and
ninety. So they did not gain much by breaking this law. You can give God His day,
or He will take it.
On the other hand, honoring the fourth commandment brings blessing:
I do not know what will become of this republic if we give up our Christian Sabbath. If Satan can break the conscience down on one point, he can break it down on all. When I was in France in 1867, I could not tell one day from the other. On Sunday, stores were open and buildings were erected, the same as on other days. See how quickly that country went down. One hundred years ago France and England stood abreast in the march of nations. Where do they stand today? France undertook to wipe out the Sabbath, and has pretty nearly wiped itself out, while England belts the globe.
.
The Fifth Commandment
Honour thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
WE ARE LIVING in dark days on this question too. It really seems as if the days the apostle Paul wrote about are upon us:
If Paul were alive today, could he have described the present state of affairs more truly? There are perhaps more men in this country that are breaking the hearts of their fathers and mothers and trampling on the law of God than in any other civilized country in the world. How many sons treat their parents with contempt and make light of their entreaties? A young man will have the kindest care from parents; they will watch over him and care for all his wants, and some bad companion will come in and sweep him away from them in a few weeks. How many young ladies have married against their parents wishes and have gone off and made their own life bitter! I never knew one case that did not turn out badly. They invariably bring ruin upon themselves unless they repent.
.
BEGIN IN THE HOME
The first four commandments deal with our relations to God.
They tell us how to worship and when to worship; they forbid irreverence and impiety
in word and act. Now God turns to our relations with each other, and isn't it significant
that He deals first with family life? "God is going to show us our duty to our
neighbor. How does He begin? Not by telling us how kings ought to reign, or how soldiers
ought to fight, or how merchants ought to conduct their business, but how boys and
girls ought to behave at home."
We can see that if their home life is all right, they are almost sure to fulfill
the law in regard to both God and man. Parents stand in the place of God to their
children in a great many ways until the children arrive at years of discretion. If
the children are true to their parents, it will be easier for them to be true to
God. He used the human relationship as a symbol of our relationship to Him both by
creation and by grace. God is our Father in heaven. We are His offspring.
On the other hand, if they have not learned to be obedient and respectful at home,
they are likely to have little respect for the law of the land. It is all in the
heart; and the heart is prepared at home for good or bad conduct outside. The tree
grows the way the twig is bent.
"Honour thy father and thy mother." That word honor, means more than mere obedience- a child
may obey through fear. It means love and affection, gratitude, respect. We are told
that in the East the words "father" and "mother" include those
who are "superiors in age, wisdom and in civil or religious station," so
that when the Jews were taught to honor their father and mother it included all who
were placed over them in these relations, as well as their parents. Isn't there a
crying need for that same feeling today? The lawlessness of the present time is a
natural consequence of the growing absence of a feeling of respect for those in authority.
.
HONOR THY MOTHER
It has been pointed out as worthy of notice that this commandment
enjoins honor for the mother, and yet in eastern countries the present-day
woman is held of little account. When I was in Palestine a few years ago, the prettiest
girl in Jericho was sold by her father in exchange for a donkey. In many ancient
nations, just as in certain parts of heathendom today, the parents are killed off
as soon as they become old and feeble. Can't we see the hand of God here, raising
the woman to her rightful position of honor out of the degradation into which she
had been dragged by heathenism?
"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
I believe that we must get back to the old truths. You may make light of it and laugh
at it, young man, but remember that God has given this commandment, and you cannot
set it aside. If we get back to this law, we shall have power and blessing.
.
TEMPORAL BLESSING
OR CURSE
I believe it to be literally true that our temporal condition depends on the way we act upon this commandment.
It would be easy to multiply texts from the Bible to prove
this truth. Experience teaches the same thing. A good, loving son generally turns
out better than a refractory son. Obedience and respect at home prepare the way for
obedience to the employer, and are joined with other virtues that help toward a prosperous
career, crowned with a ripe, honored old age. Disobedience and disrespect for parents
are often the first steps in the downward track. Many a criminal has testified that
this is the point where he first went astray. I have lived over sixty years, and
I have learned one thing if I have learned nothing else- that no man or woman who
dishonors father or mother ever prospers.
Young man, young woman, how do you treat your parents? Tell me that, and I will tell
you how you an going to get on in life. When I hear a young man speaking contemptuously
of his grey-haired father or mother, I say he has sunk very low indeed. When I see
a young man as polite as any gentleman can be when he is out in society, but who
snaps at his mother and speaks unkindly to his father, I would not give the snap
of my finger for his religion. If there is any man or woman on earth that ought to
be treated kindly and tenderly, it is that loving mother or that loving father. If
they cannot have your regard through life, what reward are they to have for all their
care and anxiety? Think how they loved you and provided for you in your early days.
.
A MOTHER'S LOVE
Let your mind go back to the time when you were ill. Did your mother neglect you? When a neighbor came in and said, "Now, mother, you go and lie down; you have been up for a week; I will take your place for a night"-did she do it? No; and if the poor worn body forced her to it at last, she lay watching, and if she heard your voice, she was at your side directly, anticipating all your wants, wiping the perspiration away from your brow. If you wanted water, how soon you got it! She would gladly have taken the disease into her own body to save you. Her love for you would drive her to any lengths. No matter to what depths of vice and misery you have sunk, no matter how profligate you have grown, she has not turned you out of her heart. Perhaps she loves you all the more because you are wayward. She would draw you back by the bands of a love that never dies.
.
FILIAL INGRATITUDE
When I was in England, I read of a man who professed to
be a Christian, who was brought before the magistrate for not supporting his aged
father. He had let him go to the workhouse. My friends, I'd rather be content with
a crust of bread and a drink of water than let my father or mother go to the workhouse.
The idea of a professing Christian doing such a thing! God have mercy on such a godless
Christianity as that! It is a withered-up thing, and the breath of heaven will drive
it away. Don't profess to love God and do a thing like that.
A friend of mine told me of a poor man who had sent his son to school in the city.
One day the father was hauling some wood into the city, perhaps to pay his boy's
bills. The young man was walking down the street with two of his school friends,
all dressed in the very height of fashion. His father saw him, and was so glad that
he left his wood, and went to the sidewalk to speak to him. But the boy was ashamed
of his father, who had on his old working clothes, and spurned him, and said:
"I don't know you."
Will such a young man ever amount to anything?
Never!
I remember a very promising young man whom I had in the Sunday school in Chicago.
His father was a confirmed drunkard, and his mother took in washing to educate her
four children. This was her eldest son, and I thought that he was going to redeem
the whole family. But one day a thing happened that made him go down in my estimation.
The boy was in the high school, and was a very bright scholar. One day he stood with
his mother at the cottage door- it was a poor house, but she could not pay for their
schooling, and feed and clothe her children, and hire a very good house too, out
of her earnings. When they were talking a young man from the high school came up
the street, and this boy walked away from his mother. Next day the young man said:
"Who was that I saw you talking to yesterday?"
"Oh, that was my washerwoman."
I said: "Poor fellow! He will never amount to anything."
That was a good many years ago. I have kept my eye on him. He has gone down, down,
down, and now he is just a miserable wreck. Of course he would go down. Ashamed of
his mother who loved him and toiled for him, and bore so much hardship for him! I
cannot tell you the contempt I had for that one act. Let us look at...
.
A BRIGHTER PICTURE
Some years ago I heard of a poor woman who sent her boy
to school and college. When he was to graduate, he wrote his mother to come, but
she sent back word that she could not because her only skirt had already been turned
once. She was so shabby that she was afraid he would be ashamed of her. He wrote
back that he didn't care how she was dressed and urged so strongly that she went.
He met her at the station, and took her to a nice place to stay. The day came for
his graduation, and he walked down the broad aisle with that poor mother dressed
very shabbily, and put her into one of the best seats in the house. To her great
surprise he was the valedictorian of the class, and he carried everything before
him.
He won a prize, and when it was given to him, he stepped down before the whole audience,
and kissed his mother, and said:
"Here, mother, here is the prize. It is yours. I would not have had it if it
had not been for you."
Thank God for such a man!
The one glimpse the B
