Show B SCARLE LINE lesiw an IN RE WINDOW SUBJECT OF SERMON AT FIRST M E CHURCH joshua and she he pound found the scarlet cord irl in the window i the following sermon on tho the scarlet line in the window was preached by rev 11 J talbot D D superintendent in of utah mission missions in the methodist episcopal church joshua with of people was camped on the north shore of the dead sea not far from where the jordan river loses in la that singular body of water across the river extending miles north and south and 80 miles westward to the sea lay the land which hundreds of years before had been promised to israel some 10 miles fron frn the river was jericho a city well defended with strong walls and by a numerous garrison it was the key to the whole land though the land had been given to israel by promise of god tho the inhabitants were not ready toyfield to yield possession of 0 it peaceably and jinhua like a prudent general who wishes to know the conditions under tinder which he isto fight sent two spies into the city that they might bring him word of its defense these spies were received by rahab a woman whose house sided upon the city wall she secreted them deceived the kings messenger sent to arrest them and succeeded in getting them safely safely back to Jo Jos huas camp As the price ce ot of her friendly aid she asked that when the city should be taken the conquerors should spare her life and the lives of her fathers family the spies gave their promise and told her to bind a scarlet cord in the window of her house that it might bo be recognized having first farst gathered all her fathers family into the house this she did and she bound the scarlet line in la the window wo we are reminded of her independent choice her people worshipped wor shipped the many gods of canaan and she was reared in their faith but jericho was on the great caravan route fr from om the north and east to egypt and its people had heard of gods great work in deliver ing his people from slavery and the way in which he had cared tor for them rahab out of all the population of jericho believed that ho he must bo be the one supreme god cod and that his people would conquer the land that been promised them under this conviction she broke away from the faith of her people aided the spies and cast in her lot with the people of god A practical application it is never commendable to cultivate singularity as an end whoever has some come oddity of manner or singularity of habit as a chief claim to distinction di stino and cultivates it as a means to attract attention to himself that man Is doing business upon a very smart small capital on the other hand there is nothing more destructive to a strong individuality than a slavish observance of prevailing customs and manner of thinking wo to boast lof of our independence but many of us are slaves to customs both those that are reasonable and some that are frightfully silly james russell lowell says that the code of society ie 18 stronger than the code of sinai and many a roan man who would not scruple to thrust his hand into his neighbors pocket would forego the eating of green peas rather than use his knife as a shovel true and ani this thing reduced us to a dreary uniformity and has cost society the sacrifice of individuality and character in the watch factory of elgin watches are made so unvaryingly that a hundred of them may be taken apart and the works thrown into a heap and then without regard to how they were adjusted before they may be put together and you wili will have a hundred watches moving as smoothly as they were running be fore this Is well so far as aa watches go but who wants such uniformity in people now it this sacrifice of individuality re related abed only to some matters of dress or housings or our eating and drinking or such like things it would at least hardly bo be of vital concern but the difficulty difU culty is that it reaches to our j thinking and to our morals as well men have largely lost their independence in thinking As in some coun s the natives carry travelers over mountains so our teachers are ex sd ed to carry their pupils up tho the peak of knowledge know lodge our calculations calculation P are manufactured by turning a handle from the cradle to manhood we are making use of mental go carts until we are losing the use of our intellectual legs it Is our unwIlling unwillingness mess to think for ourselves that gives the demagogue tho the and the newspaper a such uch an undue influence over us A man must flat of all have parted from bis his intellectual independence before he can allow political bosses to control him in matters of public concern or permit the preacher however learned or eloquent to govern his religious s life j john D b stuart uart MUI saya says that the man who in st this age dares to think and ac act t f for 0 r himself does his race a great service and it is lowell who says 1 I honor the man with the courage to sink half halt his present repute tor for the privilege to think and when be he has thought be his cause strong or weak will sink tho the other half for the privilege to speak this womans comans wo mans independence of choice suggests also a special application independence was exercised exorcised exor cased in the matter of religion she was right tight in accepting her peoples religion in her youth and the cival community in which she lived was right in teaching the forms and doctrines of the best ber t religion known to it but no difference what the form of faith one has been taught in his youth there comes a time when responsibility for bis his thinking or religion as on every other important matter must rest upon him rolf parents and teachers may and must think and choose for achild but a man must think and choose for himself many perhaps pe chaps are restrained restrain edIn tin X Z 1 V 1 1 t MURIEL STONE W at the utahna all week v 1 V w VI a I 1 4 MV M 45 a 0 R N FRANK COOMBS at the utahna all week this matter by the power of surrounding conditions under prevailing influences honest doubts are smothered sincere convictions are strangled and independent investigation is deferred I 1 hold before you the cased i of this woman who formed her own conclusions gave supremacy to her own convictions and in face of overwhelming public sentiment abandoned the religion in which she had been reared and espoused a religion which had au su perlor claims upon her judgment such independence is worthy of all commendation men dation she bound the scarlet line in the window and this reminds us of an unbroken covenant rahab kept her covenant and saved the spies they kept their covenant and spared her and her fathers house what is a coi covenant enaut it la Is a promise usually conditional some nations of people characteristically and many people in all nations are careless about keeping their promises but prevailing customs and supposed interests that oppose do donot not effect the sacredness of a promise whoever puts 1 a low value upon his promise thereby reveals a serious deformity of character shows himself to be unreliable and encircles his own honor A dt diseased public sentiment condemns a thief ag as being boings disgraced and unworthy of confidence but at the same time holds a liar in respect but is the difference between the two so very great A thief Is dishonest in act a violator of promises is dishonest in word and I 1 leave you to judge as to the relative enormity of these two things it if you can the bible dible commends the man who Swea reth to his own hurt and chanreth cha ngeth not that is who makes a bad bargain and stands by his word at cost to himself covenanting with man god has given us tokens of his ills faithfulness to his promises the rainbow spanning the heavens Is the token that lie the race shall not again be destroyed by water the blood upon tho the door posts was the sure P pledge ledge that the first born bom within the house should be spared to us he has given the promise that all who are reconciled to him by the cross who in good faith trust him and obey him shall have his peculiar favor here and eternal life yonder he is the faithful god and no soul has trusted him and found his promise fall look unto me and bo be ye saved is his ills challenge I 1 to the ends of the earth in commercial crises it Is manhood that is at discount more than funds last fall we will say a man said to me if there cornea comes a pinch in your affairs draw on me for that was months ago but I 1 should not dare to draw on him now for a bad turn may have come in his own affairs but gods promises are from everlasting to everlasting land and he always stands by them trust him and see she bound the scarlet line in the window wo ve are reminded of gods sovereign grace how conspicuous the sovereignty of grace appears here tills this woman deals treacherously with her townspeople true the city of jericho would doubtless have been conquered even if she had delivered the spies up to death but that consideration does not mitigate her treachery it remains true that she concealed and saved the spies contributed thus to tho the capture of the city and was guilty of treason mankind have ever and justly held the traitor in detestation the bible does not anywhere commend treason but condemns it always ays and the spirit out of which it commonly grows then besides this woman difed to the kings messengers in order to carry out her purpose of saving the epics aple it seemed necessary doubtless upon somo some such seeming necessity people have founded unfed fo the doctrine that where reputation or liberty or life is at stake it is ja not only allowable but commendable to lie now it is clear that one might be brought into very cruel straits I 1 have but scant patience with the people who can dismiss such a caso flippantly when the thi dally daily broad needed to supply his family is threatened you who have never faced fated such a trial may offhand off hand and define defino what ho he should do B but with no of encouraging lying in under any uny circumstances I 1 set yet say that this is no time for flippancy and wid cant but for sympathy and tears and up reaching of heart to god but this we know the double tongue fand finds no favor la in the tho creeds of bruu good men nor in the word of god not one word Is eald said in this record in praise of this womans comans wo mans ready he lie nor of an enols for that matter then finally rahab was unchaste plainly she belonged to that class of sinners who receive less pity whose reformation Is less expected and whose efforts to reform are less encouraged cou raged than any others that claas class who so far as human society la Is con corned stand over ever juat just outside the door of hope yet this woman of all others la in jericho iff 16 rescued from destruction by infinite grace and stands in the bible record in moat most honorable company beside the heroes and heroines herol nea of faith but it if surprised at this we reflect a little further we shall find that this astonishing thing Is common in the kingdom of god save in brawn and brute bravery samson was by no means tho the best man of his age there being much in his life to condemn but samson seems to have been accepted of god and receives honorable mention in the bible dible in the jericho of abri christs 8 ts day there were no doubt man many y better men than zaccheus heus the cheat and oppressor of his people but it Is of him tho the master says this day is salvation come to this house in tho the throng surging about the cross on that awful day of Cal tragedy there surely wore were many of better moral character than the robbers on each side of christ but it was to one of these that he said today thou be with me ale in paradise in that sanctimonious company that dragged the ad adul u itress tress before jesus there were perhaps many far better than she but it was to her he said Nd neither ither do I 1 condemn thee go and sin no more in the go neology of christ given by matthew tour four women are mentioned tamar rahab ruth and ba the heba and three of these were tin immoral and yet names stand among the names of christs human ancestors what docs does it all mean not alot one word is said commendatory of the sins of any of the people whom I 1 have hav mentioned on the contrary the bible denounces their sins and the consensus of christian teaching directly y and strongly condemns them ahat ever favor is shown these people is in spite of their delinquencies what then is the reason that they are distinguished by the favor of god and have a place among those who are honored with approving mention in his word whilst others tar far worthier than they in many regards are passed iby the reason is that despite many in fir firmi ties and faults in them these people were sovereignty chosen because they were in each case possessed of a faith falth in god which powerfully affected and changed the whole life rahab in a poor bewildered inadequate way aa as compared with our opportunities port unities today came to know of god believed in him and obeyed him up to the measure of her light and her faith was counted for righteous ness and so of the others and this is the vry vory thing that is hap happening ening today goda gods sovereign and saving saving grace is given to men not because they have had many virtues in the past and not because of profligacy of life in the past certainly but because in some hour of illumination they have seen that whilst they themselves were helpless to atone for the past delinquencies which abound in every mans life bolever ho vever good who ignores bis his maker yet god has provided a reconciliation with himself so effectual that it atones for past sins and blots out all transgressions and in that hour of 0 illumination they have believed god have trusted his power and willingness to care for their tin unworthy worthy past and have entered upon the life of faith in him and oli obedience kence to him for the present for the future and for the past however black it has been obedient faith in gods love a love that sacrificed I its innocent son for men this faith is counted for righteousness and secures the interposition of his |