MARCH 6, 1S03.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT.
15
A GOSPEL SERMON
Rockefeller Must Line up TTlth Burglar,
Fick pockets, Footpads and Sneak
Thieves
, The Independent publishes a ser
mon once in a while, in fact, every
time that it. can get hold of one pro
claiming the true gospel. But in thi3
age of the worship of Mammon, it is
seldom such a sermon can be got Ac
cording to the gospel as preached by
the great followers of Christ, until the
last few years; restitution of goods
was required of the pirate before he
was taken into full communion. Now
a new doctrine Is proclaimed. If the
pirate gives a small portion to-charity,
that settles the whole account
Rev. John P. Peters is not of that
opinion. He sticks to the old doc
trine and the following is his sermon
on that subject:
Not "every man . that saitk.unto
me, "Lord, Lord " shall enter the
kingdom of heaven. But he that
doeth the will of my Father, which
is in heaven. Matthew 11., 21.
A man cannot live a life which he
knows to be wrong and make his.peace
with God by penance or prayers or
gifts. The man who makes his money
in an improper way and then seeks
to win himself a place. in the kingdom
of God by building churches and en
dowing , universities , and - other chari
ties, may succeed in getting the very
best pew in the richest and most
pious church; he may become the
sworn friend of the godly pastors; he
may figure as a director of a dozen
charitable institutions; he may sit on
platforms and denounce vice very
loudly at public meetings, but never
in any such ways can Jie enter the
kingdom of God. -
God does not condone fraud, and
the frauds which the imperfect laws of
man cannot touch are tried m tne
court of God Almighty exactly as
though they were midnight burglary
or highway robbery. The man who
has amassed his millions by railroad
wrecking and stock watering, by con
trolling councils and legislatures, by
ingenious deals through which the
money in equity belonging to others
Has by no process punishable by hu
man law passed into his possession, is
tried and convicted in the court of
God on the vulgar charge of theft.
There is no use there in giving
enormous retainers for the very best
counsel to defend him on his trial.
.The most pious, priests and. eloquent
preachers cannot save - him from the
clutches of the law of God. No, not
even in delay. Neither can he bribe
the jurors and the sheriff that receives
him will not allow him to escape on
any pretext whatever, hor for any
sum. He must serve his turn with
safe burglars, pickpockets, footpads,
train robbers, sneak thieves, confidence
men and the like. - With them is.hi3
portion in the hereafter., God knows
no difference between them. He
classes them all together, enemies of
society, enemies of the state, enemies
of righteousness, enemies of God. He
has the same condemnation for the
man who robs you of your purse and
the man who contrives to relieve the
public of $50,000,000. They are in
His sight equally loathsome, equally
vulgar, equally criminal.
No character that priests or pastors
can give the big thief is going to make
him any less hideous in God's sight
than the common burglar; no retainer
which he may give them to plead his
plea in the shape of churches and
charities is going to help him to get
free from the awful condemnation of
God, his judge. Everyone who reads
our Lord's words must see that He
was speaking of just such pious scamp
when He said: "Not every one that
saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall en
ter into the kingdom of heaven. But
he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven."
Those churches, hospitals, asylums,
universities, libraries, missions and
the like are their cry of "Lord, Lord,"
and when they utter that cry in that
particular manlier there are plenty of
really pious men who will tumble
over one another in the attempt to
take them by the hand and smile
lovingly upon them and raise their
eyes heavenward and say: "Oh, my
dear sir, you are doing a noble work
for the Lord. The Lord has indeed
blessed 'the whole community In giv
ing yotf'this blessing of wealth; you
are preaching the Lord's name like a
prophet) you are casting out devils
and working very miracles by your
benevolence."
By and by this man comes to the
gates "of heaven; he is very sine of
admittance. He says: "Here are my
testimonials from the Lord's represen
tatives. " They show how I prophesied,
cast out devils and worked miracles."
But the Lord says to him: "I never
knew you; depart from Me, ye work
ers of Iniquity."
It Is astonishing how, men will blind
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J?
New Carpets and Rugs.
Every housekeeper in the spring likes
to change, the old worn-out carpet or
run" for a fresh on fn crpf. tiaw fpufli.
jj ers for summer. And it's easy to make
selections where there are scores of each
fp kincl from which to choose. If you se-
jS lect a carpet with border we will match
it all up for you on our salesroom floor
so that you may get effects. We carry
jjS the borders for every grade except the
ingrains.
The Ingrains.
come in clear colors, two-toned usually,
in any shades of green, red and tan with
some blues 70 different patterns to
choose from.
Very good all-wool Ingrain, 65c
Best all-wool Ingrain 76c
Fine Union Ingrain. , ,35c and 45c '
Imgrain Art Squares,
per square yard, .....75c
For carpets to take the place of mat
tings and cheaper classes of ingrains we
recommend our
Cottage Carpets in Two Grades
at 30c and 45c. Thfi . r.nlnrs nro buK.
dued and artistic and the designs in im
itation of high grade goods. They are
full of service, being reversible, with an
Oriental design on one side and a floral
Ms pattern on the other.
Brussels Carpets
which for several years gradually fell
mio uisuse, nave recently come 10 tne
j front again with more than their old-
time popularity. We can show vou CO
different patterns in all grades. They
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are especially clean looking beincr clear CV-
cut in design, and wear better than any
Best Body Brussels.,. $1.25
Oood quality Brussels. 70c and 90c
Best Grade Tapestry Brus-. , CI
sels...v.. .......... 75c and 85c - CC
Bulletin of Sales. B
- - ; ; h
Women's Flannel : Waists in reds,
tan?, blues, grays, greens and rose A
shade?f tucked and trimmed with ap-
plique or braid, any size, were worth r
from $1.00 to 5.0o now exactly half ,
price s
IS
50c to $2.50.
Women's Cloaks, every one this sea
BVJU O iUUiSUJf JUtJSC liUUlS VV11U III' J
ted back, all sizes, black and colors, c
were wurtu uvw yj.w 10 fiy.uu
half price
$2,50 to $7.50.
-now
suits rt
Women's Suits, about 30 odd
have been placed in two groups
1 (Sr r r ii .1 1 l it
anu i.yu mat nave ueen worm irom 4
$15 to $20. . ' They are in tans, blues.
erays, and browns, and in sizes 32 and S5
O 4 . wi
Misses', Cloaks, Blouses, 19-inch
Jackets, and full lengths in colors and
black. At present prices they could
well be purchased and folded away for
another winter. Were worth . from $6
to $25; now one -third off regular price,
$2.00 to $8.34. , -
Women's Handkerchiefs of fine sheer cfj
linen, 12 inches square, quarter-inch Sj
hem. and half -inch initial, regular 2-for. r H
. ' . o
a-quarter value; special price
3 for 25 Cents
themselves to the very nature of God
and to the character of His dealings
with men. And it has been the same
through all the ages of the world's
history. People will keep thinking of
God as some being outside of us who
can be propitiated and made to give
us a reward by means of something
which we do or say. That Is heathen
Ism, unbelief, devil worship, whether
it calls itself Buddhism. Mohammed
anism or Christianity, or by what
ever name it calls itself. God is love;
God is truth; the law of virtue and
Integrity and loving kindness is His
will, and unless a man set his heart
to do that will he cannot know God
and the eternal life which is in the
knowledge of God. Neither is the law
of God in. any way an arbitrary or ac
cidental thing, so that some other
condition of our eternal happiness
could or can be given to man than
the acceptance for the aim and rule
of our lives of this divine law. It is
essential, because it is the funda
mental law of the being of God and
of all that is divine, and our eternal
happiness lies in our becoming like
God. developing the divine in us, be
ing united with Him and pervaded by
His spirit. That and that only is
heaven and eternal life.
But a man may say: "Is It not a
noble and glorious use of wealth to
build hospitals, churches, colleges and
asvlmns? Snpposing a man to have
pot his wealth in a doubtful or wrong
manner, what better amends can he
mae than to use it in such manner,
and can he not even do more good by
this mpns than he has done harm in
acquiring? And do you not believe
that a man who does such a good
work as that will be accepted of Qod
and forgiven?";
Supposing that a man had picked
another man's pocket of $5. If he
came to you and gave you 5 cents of
that toward building churches and 10
cents toward sending out missionar
ies, and 5 cents toward educating men
for the ministry and 10 cents toward
erecting a hospital, would you shake
him by the hand and assure him that
he was doing more good than he had
ever done harm, and that he was a
noble Christian who would surely be
accepted of God? You certainly would
say that the very first condition of re
pentance must be restitution; that he
must be thoroughly sorry for what he
had done, and must turn about and
lead a new life and give up theft al
together. The conditions are the
same whether a man has taken much
or little, and whether he has taken
it in a way punishable by human law
or in an ungodly manner, which yet
is not punishable by human law. The
first condition of repentance Is "resti
tution, and no man can draw near to
God until he repent him of his sin.
J. S. Lee, sr., Tobacco, Mont, in
search of a new location, asks as have
his subcription suspended a while. He
says: "I have spoken to several about
the subscription cards you sent me.
Many would like to have the paper
but have no "change" to spare so
they say. But I notice some of them
have the "change" to visit the sa
loons. The belly must be attended to
the brain can take care of itself!"
Certificate of Publication
State of Nebraska
Office of
Auditor of Public Acconnti
, , r Lincoln, Febrnary lit, tm
It Ji hereby certified, That the ProTid nt Lift
and Trust Company of Philadelphia, in th
Htate of PenntyWania. hai complied with the
Insurance Law of this State, applicable to
such companies and is therefore authorized to
Continue the business of Life Insurance in this
state for the current year ending January 31st.
1904. . ., .
Summary of report filed for the year ending
December 31st, 1902.
HivOmm
Premiums....... C,ll2,m84
All other sources , 2,352,255.2$
, Total.. 8,461,489.12
DISBURSEMENTS '
Paid policy holders... 4,OU9,272.64
All other payments... 1,135,668.36 ,
Admitted asset J...:. 49,221,422,64
. . LIABILITIES
Netresery 40,935,001.00 -
Net p licy claims and
matured initallment
policies not yet due 347,0!8.61 '
All other liabilities.. 621,638.86 41.903,658.47
Capital stock paid up 1,000,000.00
Surplus beyond capi
tal fctock and other
liabilities 6,317,764.17 7,317,764.17
JTotal...'.. $49,221,422.64
WitDess my hand and the seal of the auditor
of public accounts the day aDd year first aboYe
written. , Charles Weston.
J.L.Pierce, Auditor of Public Accounts.
Deputy. ,
, CERTIFICATE OF PUBLICATION.
. 4 , State of Nebraska.
office OP
AUDITOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.
Lincoln, February 1st, 1903.
It is hereby certified, that the British Ameri
ca Assurance Co., of Toronto, in Canada, has
complied with the Insurance Law of this State,
applicable to such companies and is therefore
authorized to continue the business of Fire and
Lightning Insurance ia this State for the cur
T nt year ending January 31st, 1904.
Witts8S my hand and the seal of the Auditor
of Public Accounts the day and year firt abo?e
written. CHARLES WESTON,
J. L. PIERCE, Auditor of Public Accounts.
Deputy,
