-
Articles/Ads
Article BENEVOLENCE: ITS EEWAED AND SGUECE. ← Page 5 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Benevolence: Its Eewaed And Sguece.
it should so be done that the infliction of the slightest pang may be studiously avoided . It is both ungenerous and inhuman to insult , in the rer inotest way , a fellow-creature because he is subject to oiir autliority or dependent upon our bounty . We must have no sympathy with that benevolence which , although it may administer assistance with the hand , yet castigates with the tongue ; nor with that human being who does not study
the feelings of those whom lie lays under obligation . This happy feature in benevolence was particularly pruminent in the life of that benevolent person- ^ nieauthe Founder of Christianity ; for in reading his history you will observe that , in the performance of all the benevolent deeds of his life , he rarely , if ever , a-dministered the slightest rebuke , or ga to an ungenerous or ungracious reflection . It says something for our Order , my brethren , that in the career of benevolence which we are bound to observe , we are , I thinkj clearly taught this interesting feature in our
duty . At the very beginning of Masonry , and as we advamee step by step to tlie higher pinnacle of truth , we ever and anon are reminded that we are brethren , that we must do to others as we wish to be done by , and that our heart , tongue , and hand should unite in the promotion of each others good and the benefit of thfe Craft in general . It was this humane , I may say Godlike , spMt which actuated Ebedmelech to make use of old cast-off clothes and rags , so that the prophet rnight be spared the slightest inconvenience arising from the manner of his rescue .
II . —THE REWARD OF BEMEVOLENOE . - Brethren , is it to be wondered at that the great God of universal love should not allow the humane Ebedmelech to live unrewarded ? That the blessing of heaven should be given in return for the blessing bestowed upon one ready to perish ? That the man who rescued another in his calamity should be delivered himself in the hour of his distress ? Certainly
not ; and accordingly we read , that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah , saying , "Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian , saying , Thus saith the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , behold I will bring my words upon this city for evil , and not for good ; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee . But I will deliver thee in that day , saith the Lord ; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid . For I will surely deliver thee , and thou shalt not fall by the sword , but
thy life shall be for a prey unto thee . " So it came to pass . In the ninth year of King Zedekiah ' s reign , Nebuchadnezzar , king of Babylon , besieged Jerusalem , and took it , and the Chaldeans burnt the king ' s house and the houses of the people to the earth , and brake down the walls of the city . Zedekiah the king had his eyes first put out , and then , with the remnant of the people , was carried away captive into Babylon . Amidst the sacking , devastation , and cruelty which then prevailed , two persons were wonderfully preserved by a just and merciful Providence . Who were they ? Jeremiah the prophet , and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian .
Brethren , when sitting down quietly , and thinking how wonderfully the prophet was saved through the kindness of Ebedmelech , and how . God , in return , rewarded the benevolence of the eunuch by saving his life in the day of a public calamity , these were my thoughts— " Well , benevolence is
twice blessed , it blesses him who gives and him who takes ; therefore , men cannot too often be reminded that they promote their own temporal good and add to the clays of their life by a self-sacrificing interest in the good of others around them . " It becomes my sacred duty to impress upon you , that health , comfort , and long life are among the choicest gifts of a benevolent Creator . That in reality , he has no pleasure in seeing his creatures
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Benevolence: Its Eewaed And Sguece.
it should so be done that the infliction of the slightest pang may be studiously avoided . It is both ungenerous and inhuman to insult , in the rer inotest way , a fellow-creature because he is subject to oiir autliority or dependent upon our bounty . We must have no sympathy with that benevolence which , although it may administer assistance with the hand , yet castigates with the tongue ; nor with that human being who does not study
the feelings of those whom lie lays under obligation . This happy feature in benevolence was particularly pruminent in the life of that benevolent person- ^ nieauthe Founder of Christianity ; for in reading his history you will observe that , in the performance of all the benevolent deeds of his life , he rarely , if ever , a-dministered the slightest rebuke , or ga to an ungenerous or ungracious reflection . It says something for our Order , my brethren , that in the career of benevolence which we are bound to observe , we are , I thinkj clearly taught this interesting feature in our
duty . At the very beginning of Masonry , and as we advamee step by step to tlie higher pinnacle of truth , we ever and anon are reminded that we are brethren , that we must do to others as we wish to be done by , and that our heart , tongue , and hand should unite in the promotion of each others good and the benefit of thfe Craft in general . It was this humane , I may say Godlike , spMt which actuated Ebedmelech to make use of old cast-off clothes and rags , so that the prophet rnight be spared the slightest inconvenience arising from the manner of his rescue .
II . —THE REWARD OF BEMEVOLENOE . - Brethren , is it to be wondered at that the great God of universal love should not allow the humane Ebedmelech to live unrewarded ? That the blessing of heaven should be given in return for the blessing bestowed upon one ready to perish ? That the man who rescued another in his calamity should be delivered himself in the hour of his distress ? Certainly
not ; and accordingly we read , that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah , saying , "Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian , saying , Thus saith the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , behold I will bring my words upon this city for evil , and not for good ; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee . But I will deliver thee in that day , saith the Lord ; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid . For I will surely deliver thee , and thou shalt not fall by the sword , but
thy life shall be for a prey unto thee . " So it came to pass . In the ninth year of King Zedekiah ' s reign , Nebuchadnezzar , king of Babylon , besieged Jerusalem , and took it , and the Chaldeans burnt the king ' s house and the houses of the people to the earth , and brake down the walls of the city . Zedekiah the king had his eyes first put out , and then , with the remnant of the people , was carried away captive into Babylon . Amidst the sacking , devastation , and cruelty which then prevailed , two persons were wonderfully preserved by a just and merciful Providence . Who were they ? Jeremiah the prophet , and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian .
Brethren , when sitting down quietly , and thinking how wonderfully the prophet was saved through the kindness of Ebedmelech , and how . God , in return , rewarded the benevolence of the eunuch by saving his life in the day of a public calamity , these were my thoughts— " Well , benevolence is
twice blessed , it blesses him who gives and him who takes ; therefore , men cannot too often be reminded that they promote their own temporal good and add to the clays of their life by a self-sacrificing interest in the good of others around them . " It becomes my sacred duty to impress upon you , that health , comfort , and long life are among the choicest gifts of a benevolent Creator . That in reality , he has no pleasure in seeing his creatures