THE WISE TOWER BUILDER. 405
They say one to another, pointing out the individual,
"this man began to build, and was not able to fin¬
ish." Backsliders don't like to be pointed out as
such by the Christian; they w-ant to occupy high
seats in the synagogue and stand out among men
unnoticed as false believers, and when they are
pointed out as Judas's kinsfolk they often become
angry and make very unbecoming assertions. Now¬
adays if a member is expelled from the church the
preacher must not announce it publicly: if he does
somebody is grossly insulted. When a backslider
dies, on delivering the funeral address over his life¬
less remains the preacher must say nothing about
his shortcomings; if he does he is greatly stigmatized
and rebuked by the relation.
Now, dear hearers, before I conclude this thought
I desire to speak a few words on excellency of char¬
acter. Character is not a garment to be put on all
at once, but is of continual growth day by day, step
by step, like the island of the sea, which begins with
a few pebbles, and by constant growth it becomes a
body of itself, covered over with God's green car¬
pet. Just so with man in his moral and intellectual
growth; he comes into the world an unimproved
creature, endowed with five senses and a mind capa¬
ble of indefinite expansion, and by a continual growth
step by step, day by day, may acquire great knowl¬
edge. As the island stands forth in beauty, so may
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/p6xwg
