8. Possibilities of Evil from Things Apparently Good.
8. Possibilities of Evil from Things Apparently Good.
Then the man of God began to weep. "Why is my lord weeping?" asked Hazael. "Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites," he answered. "You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!" 2 Kings 8:11-12
Warwick is known in the annals of English history as the king-maker, a title well adapted to describe his political influence and his power among the leaders of that troublous time. The title takes us back to another time, when God conferred such a name upon a man more worthy to bear it, who made and unmade rulers for the nations, under the direction of the King of kings Himself.
Elijah, by the hand of Elisha, anoints Hazael to be Syria’s king. Elisha, by the hand of a nameless messenger, crowns Jehu king in the place of Joram, son of the wicked Ahab, over the kingdom of Israel. "And it came to pass that they who escaped the sword of Hazael, Jehu slew; and they that fled from Jehu, Elisha slew;" and thus, through vigorous means, changes were brought about according to the word of the Lord. The devices of men are thus brought to naught through appointed agents; these agents have their authority from One in whose hands are the reins of all governments. From an historical standpoint, Warwick was surpassed by Elijah as "king-maker." From the standpoint of a believer in an overruling Providence, God, who puts down one and sets up another, is truly the "King-maker" of all nations, and throughout all time! In the study of the events of Elisha’s day, we are confronted with the fact that godly men are often unwilling witnesses of great evils. Before the prophet stands a young man of noble appearance, fair countenance, just arrived from his master, the king of Syria, on an errand concerning the king’s health. When the question was asked and answered--answered in that doubtful way which indicated death, but not the result of his present sickness--then it was that the prophet settled his countenance steadfastly upon the young man, looking with that feeling of pity and deep sorrow of heart, which caused the young man to be embarrassed and to ask: "Why is my lord weeping?" And Elisha answered: "Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites." Then, with increased emotion, this man of God revealed to him the depth of iniquity that lay concealed in his own nature, gave a vivid description of the desolation he would bring about, what cruelties he was capable of committing, and how he would destroy by fire and sword the finest cities and the choicest of God’s people.
Then Hazael, astonished at the revelation of the prophet, and, like all men when their worst nature is revealed or the possibility of great crime is suggested, exclaims: "But what isyour servant--a dog, that he should do this gross thing?"
Then it seemed more probable, when the prophet added: "The Lord has showed me that you shall be king over Syria." With that vision before his mind, Hazael went out from before the prophet a changed man. The evil nature within grew rapidly, and before another sunset he was a murderer, and sat in royal state on the throne of his former master. For forty-five years he ruled, and though leagued against him were both Judah and Israel, his triumphs were complete. He would have marched against Jerusalem itself, and destroyed it, but was bribed to retire without accomplishing his plan. All the towns and cities east of Jordan were wrested from Israel, their inhabitants treated in a most ferocious manner--all in accord with the vision seen by the prophet, at a time when all in his life seemed so fair and promised so well for goodness.
What an example have we here of the possibility of evil from that which was, from all appearance, good! All that was needed to make the man amonsterwas the prospect of success of some ambitious scheme, and lo! the work is done. That which at first thought shocked the man into a vigorous resentment, soon became a secret passion, until crystallized into hardened crime. The hand that caresses may carry in its veins the blood of a murderer. In every man’s nature there is this awful possibility of evil, which makes Divine grace and power an absolute necessity among men. The playful spirit manifested in the tiger’s lair, when the family of young and old are undisturbed, gives no intimation of thedormant fiercenessthat may be aroused in a moment of time. Let the tiger of human hate and vengeance be unloosed--and who shall chain him again? The Orientals have a proverb, "Keep the red dog tied;" for when once released, who can tell what words of malice, what slander, what unkind speeches, the tongue may speak? Therefore, "keep the red dog tied."
"I wish somebody would burn his barn," said a man of high character, in one of those petulant seasons that may come to any man when a wrong has been done by a neighbor. Nobody thought anything about it, not even the man himself, until after it was uttered; then the idea shocked, but haunted him. That building, filled with the product of the farm--with choice farming implements, excellent livestock--stood close to the road, and was a constant reminder of his wish as he passed and repassed.
One night, after a fresh provocation, a sudden blaze lighted up the sky and brought out an alarmed community. In an unsuspected ravine near the burning barn this man was found, where, with a broken leg and a battered lantern, he had fallen hoping to escape unnoticed.
"Is it possible?" was the question from everyone. Yes, in every man ungoverned, uncontrolled, unmastered, there is this awful possibility. Beware, then, of evil thoughts, evil words, evil influences; for unless saved and kept by power Divine, there may be awakened in the best apparently of men, the very worst of their nature. A company of young people are spending the evening in a social manner. There is music, and conversation, and social enjoyment, because there is sense and satisfaction. Someone brings forth some curious-looking playing cards, and a number gather about a table while the cards are being distributed. Can evil come from a thing like that, so apparently good? Look beyond. The gambling spirit, more or less strong in every man, is quickly aroused, and these same tools, fingered by fair and faultless hands that night, are clutched in the not far future by those whose touch has been polluted by the wine-cup and the dagger.
More than one Elisha has wept at the sight of a group of innocent beginners at the card-table, who from that first game go out to kill time, and be killed in character by those who lie in wait for their coming, far removed from those where first they learned the easy lessons that led to perdition.
There’s the look of apparent good in the early stages; but further along there is evil, and only evil. You should not need burglars’ tools in your keeping, nor counterfeiters’ dies or stencils, nor gamblers’ outfit, with which to familiarize the young and innocent with deeds too dark to mention. A thousand other games, innocent yet instructive, may be devised, that do not carry with them such evil associations, or lead into such evil influences or to such results as these! The home parlor must be kept pure--or the home and the heart will gather to itself the impurities of the street, the saloon, and the place of social resort, through the parlor. It may be refined and elevated, or it may be degraded. Therefore, keep the parlor pure. But some will argue: Shall we not keep our sons and daughters from the public dance by an encouragement of the home and parlor amusements with a select company of friends from their own circle, and restrict their dancing to that number? Never was there a greater mistake made than that which undertakes to ward off a great evil--by instruction and encouragement in the fascination of the fundamental elements of that same evil. The door of the parlor cannot be so guarded as not to admit in some form or other--by the admission of these practices of the promiscuous gatherings--the suggestions of such places, as well as the atmosphere that breeds moral disease and leaves its poison in passions inflamed; and, unless speedily counteracted, drives its victims to moral death.
Anxious mothers, discreet fathers, watchful pastors, and all good people generally--weep when they know of the beginning or growth of this form of so-called amusement. They know what it will do, as Elisha knew the result of Hazael’s life; and they lift the warning word:Beware!How people can hope to be wise and good, how they can expect to increase habits of virtue and industry, or how they can call this foolish, harmful, wicked practice of dancing an apparent good--is difficult to tell. The hours of idleness it has encouraged; the habits of sobriety in thought and life it has broken up; the doors to a religious life it has closed and bolted; the influences of good from the home, the school, the Church, it has quenched; aside from the avenues of dark days and shameful lives it has opened--makes it the genteel yet unscrupulous robber of society’s best ornaments--innocence, purity, piety, of youth and social life. When people begin to dance, they forget to pray. When prayer is neglected, God is out of mind. If it is disastrous for a nation to forget God, the beginning of that disaster is when its individual citizens fail to retain a knowledge of the Creator. Woe to us when God goes out of life, because the dance has come in!
The THEATER has its defenders, and for its apparent good there are those who would argue long and learnedly, that no harm or evil can come therefrom. Let us not hide the awful sense of alarm and sorrow that we feel as we look into this institution of vice, and read the story of its immorality, and forecast its future. The great tragedian actor McCreary would never allow his daughter to enter the theater. A recent memoir of an actor of brilliant genius, written by his daughter, states that his children, during their childhood, were kept from everything connected with his profession. A son of this actor, on being recently consulted by a young lady in reference to going on the stage, earnestly entreated her to abandon the idea, on account of the immorality of such a life.
Another eminent actor, George Vandenhoff, on quitting the profession for the bar, gave the following gratuitous advice to any ingenious youth thinking of becoming an actor: "Go to sea; go into the law; go to the Church; go to Italy and strike a blow for liberty; go to anything or anywhere that will give you an honest and decent livelihood--rather than go upon the stage. To any young lady with a similar proclivity, I would say: Buy a sewing-machine and take in plain sewing; so shall you save much sorrow, bitter disappointment, and secret tears."
Hannah More speaks thus: "I do not hesitate for a moment to pronounce the theater to be one of the broadest avenues that lead to destruction! Fascinating no doubt it is, but on that account the more delusive and the more dangerous. Let a young man once acquire a taste for this species of entertainment, and yield himself up to its gratification--and he is in great danger of becoming a lost character, rushing upon his ruin. All the evils that can . . .
corrupt his morals,
blast his reputation,
embitter his life,
and destroy his soul--
lurk in the purlieus of the theater! Vice in every form lives and moves and has its being there. Myriads have cursed the hour when they first exposed themselves to the contamination of the theater.
Light and darkness are not more opposed to each other, than the Bible and the theater. If the one is good--then the other must be evil. If the Scriptures are to be obeyed--then the theater must be avoided. The only way to justify the theater, as it is, as it has ever been and is ever likely to be, is to condemn the Bible--the same individual can not defend both!"
"The peril of the theater," said Dr. Cuyler, "is to purity of character. Your eyes and ears are windows and doors to the heart. What enters once, never goes out. Photographs taken on the memory are not easily effaced or burned up; they stick there, and often become tempters and tormentors for a lifetime. The whole trend of the average American theater is hostile to heart-purity. A converted actor once said to his pastor while passing a play-house, ’Behind those curtains lies Sodom!’ As an institution, the American theater tolerates sensual impurity in its performers, and presents scenes of impurity to its patrons. If you become one of its patrons, you go into moral partnership with the theater."
Vincent said: "The tendency of the theater is, on the whole, exceedingly bad. This statement cannot be contradicted. Therefore, let who will patronize it--the motto of the consistent, earnest, unselfish Christian youth must be, ’Better not!’ The whole question of patronage of the theater depends upon the legitimate uses of the dramatic taste and the dramatic power. What may be wholesome in rhetorical and oratorical expression may, with spectacular accompaniments, produce overwrought imaginations and do damage to both the intellectual and moral elements in man. The spiritual nature that needs culture by the contemplation of the unseen, may be so dazzled as to be benumbed and deadened by the vividness, boldness, and splendor of the spectacular display." Did you ever notice the effort that is made by some people to hide the possibilities of evil by modifying it with the word "quiet"--a "quiet" game of cards, a "quiet" dance, or a "quiet" attendance upon the theater? There may be forms of evil that are less destructive, simply because they are "quiet." That they do not disturb others, is no sign that they may not develop in one’s own self a disregard for the feelings and rights of others, and by and by be outbreaking, arrogant, and destructive. The
progress in sin and a sinful life is simple: first we abhor; then we endure; then we "quietly" practice; then we embrace. "Quiet sin" is sin, nevertheless!
It is no less a sin in the eyes of Him who, looking upon its apparent innocence, sees the beginning of the criminal life and of the abandoned soul. Beware of the "quiet" beginnings of great sins!
These practices, as well as all evil habits, have a beginning. Their first steps are not so difficult; their first offenses not so repulsive; their quiet committal did not seem so objectionable. But, with the vision of an Elisha, one might see in the countenance of these Hazaels, the possibility of a continued life of increasing wickedness, and the end one of awful despair. Keep far away from these enticing Delilahs, if you would retain your moral strength. For who can tell how strong he is when practices apparently good and innocent invite his companionship? One may stand where a thousand have fallen; and, again, one may fall where hundreds have passed in safety. "Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." "See that you walk circumspectly." Walk with care; remember the influence of little things, and beware!
"Sow a thought, reap a deed;
sow a deed, reap a habit;
sow a habit, reap a character;
sow a character, reap a destiny."