My subject this morning, is, Your Roommate. Nearly all of you have roommates; and I think it well that you do. Some have taken roommates for life. I have nothing for them this morning, though I may have hereafter. I hope they all considered that matter carefully before making the choice, and I hope they may never be disappointed.

      Solomon says, "As iron sharpeneth iron (when they are rubbed together, you know) so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend". That, however, depends upon the supposition that both the man and his friend are either iron, or, still better, steel. If you are steel and your friend is lead there will be no sharpening. The apostle Paul says, "Evil company corrupts good manners"--"evil communications" in the old version, but "evil company" in the revised. (English Revised Version of 1884--Editor's note) But if this was true, why were not Paul's own manners corrupted? He was in evil company a large part of his time. So evil, that sometimes they tied him to the whipping post and gave him thirty-nine; sometimes they cast him into prison; sometimes they stoned him; and finally they put him to death. Why didn't that evil company corrupt his good manners? Evidently, because he was stronger in good than they were in evil. He could not be subdued.

      Now if your roommate is a new one, a stranger to you, I have no doubt you have been watching him with both eyes. You are wondering what kind of a roommate it is that you have fallen in with. You are watching to see whether he is kind-hearted or fractious; whether he is cleanly or filthy. For if you are like me you would almost as soon sleep with a blacksnake as with a man who does not keep his person clean. You are watching to see whether he will take up his share of the little work that is necessary to keep the room clean, the books in order, and the room cheerful in general. You are watching him with a hawk's eye, and perhaps you have not yet fully made up your mind about him. Don't forget though that he has a room-mate too, and that he is watching you as sharply as you are watching him. It is a mutual thing. And by [9] remembering this, when you find a fault in him you will ask yourself, Is he finding the same kind of a fault in me? And you will resolve that he shall not find it. And thus the two pieces of iron or steel will be sharpening one another, and it will be a very rich and happy experience to both.

      So in regard to Paul . . . . Whether you find him good or evil as a man we will call upon you to do as Paul did. If you find him good, you will sharpen him as he is sharpening you. If you find him evil as Paul found so many with whom he came in contact, whether he corrupts your good manners or not will depend upon your strength; whether you are strong enough, not only to resist the evil influence, but also to overcome it, as Paul did with so many whom he turned to the Lord.

      My own experience may be a little help to you just here. In my college career I had three roommates. Two of them proved to be gentlemen of the first water--Christian gentlemen. And it is scarcely possible for a man to be a gentleman without being a Christian. I found in them everything that I could hope to find in the way of gentlemanly deportment, companionship and mutual help. And as a result of it I carry a delightful remembrance of them which I think will never end while eternity passes. They both have long since gone to the "kingdom of love where the soul wears its mantle of glory"; but the remembrance of them is a treasure in my mind that helps me now, as it helped me then. They were true steel; and, whether I was iron or steel, they sharpened my countenance, and I trust that I sharpened theirs. That is a blessed experience. There is scarcely anything in the life of a young man more delightful than such companionship.

      My other roommate was habitually the best dressed young man in the college. He was a man of elegant manners. He had been reared in an eminent family. He was athletic and greatly admired by the ladies. I had no fault to find with him in our general intercourse in the room. But he turned out to be a thief. He knew that I had received some money in bank bills, as money was sent in those days before the invention of money orders. He knew that I had it put away, and he knew my hiding place. One day I missed it. I hunted everywhere for it but could not find it. I told [10] my friends of my loss. It came to be the common talk about McGarvey losing his money. A shrewd young man in the next room to ours said to me one day, "Mac, I can tell you where your money is". I said, "Where?" "Pete has it". I said, "What makes you think Pete has it?" He said, "Because I can see it in his face every time anything is said about it. " He was so positive about it that I took his suggestion and we went into his trunk, and sure enough we found the very bills that had been sent to me. That was evidence too plain to be doubted. Now the question was, What was to be done. Should I go on being the roommate of a thief? And if it ever came out, as such things will, shall I be known to have roomed a certain length of time knowingly with a thief? And shall the college, if the matter comes to the faculty as it certainly will sooner or later, can the college afford to harbor a thief? If he is expelled it will come to his father and mother.

      After advising with one of the professors, my friend and I decided that the best way was to take the money and then confront him with the theft; and that I should do it. He was able to have whipped me: but, relying on the old adage that a thief is a coward, I decided to undertake it. He was out when I went to our room. I sat down and waited for him. When he came in I locked the door, and made the charge. I was relieved to see that he did not get mad and show fight. At first he denied it, but when he saw what the evidence was, he confessed. And O, the mortification and shame that filled that man's countenance when he learned that he was known to have stolen his roommate's money! I told him that for the sake of his family I would not expose him; that I would keep it a secret as long as I could. I thought here was a case like some that the apostle Paul dealt with; there must be a separation. He must go home that very day--not allow the sun to go down on him in Bethany, for fear that the knowledge of the theft might come to some officer of the law who would have him arrested and tried for the penitentiary. In the second place, on account of his family. If this should come to the knowledge of the faculty and he should be expelled from college for stealing his roommate's money, what a shock it would be to his father and mother. He saw the wisdom of my [11] advice and he left college that afternoon. I do not recollect that I have ever heard from him since. I do not know whether he is alive or dead. This is an example in which separation without any compromise was imperative. With the other two a mutual friendship was established, the memory of which will live as long as life shall last and on into eternity. I counsel you, then, every one of you who has a roommate, to cultivate that kind of association one with the other. If you forget all the advice that I shall give you while you are here, and all that Brother Crossfield will give you, remember this, and you will thank God and thank us for trying to put this into your minds, and will congratulate yourselves for putting it into your daily lives. [12]

[CT 9-12]