Newspaper Page Text
14
Christ-Life Not Too Highfor Human Attainment, Billy Says
AMLURE WITH OURSELVES
AITHTHBI, O
jon. “What Is there in your life
t hinders the blessing from
ng to you? And because it
't come to you, it is Kkept
Saway from somebody else? You
Wean't go through the world an in-
N ated and isolated being, you
Wll either damn it or you will
i less it, accordingly as you are a
. bate or a Christian. A fel-
Jdow who wants to live to gratify
it desires is a black-hearted
tsl':l.der if he is living for his own
bition, he is an adder. He
3 't do that.
i Is there some inlquity or accl
& t or habit in your life, some
‘secret, some thought, some im
pure longings, some book? I will
ot read a book that will sneer
sand mock at religion and God
JAlmighty. I won't have it on my
@helves. And we ought to go
‘Sthrough our homes and have a re
ligious revival in literature.
'+ If some of you people would go
’vfllflllgh your homes and yank
~out e books on your lbrary
‘gshelves that have no business
3:‘«" , and burn them, like they
! id Ephesus in the days of Paul,
‘some of you would not have
? pough paper left in your house
to bang your old hair or wad a
~shotgun.
& Something in your famlly life,
Isn’t that it? Overindulgence?
‘& Oh, heed the appeal of the Gov-
B ment to the people that ought
_to stop gormandizing and stop
‘:fil&ll four pounds of beefsteak,
SWhen you can get along with half
& pound. Do something for other
Speople! Let's begin to comply
~with the requests. Oh, how we'd
“be surprised to know how much
iwe can get along without, how
Smuch we have today that we don't
¥ You go to bars and sit there
sand fill your old hide up with
Wooze and when you go home, you
“are soused and have got a load
#en you that would sink a battle
'&hat is the trouble? lls it
S &elfishness, intemperance, fault
finding with the preacher because
S he skins you and tells you where
you're wrong? You admire the
skill of a physiclan that comes
sand tells you what's the matter
: h you, and no matter how bit
“ter and nauseating his medicine
48, you will take it and it will
Ataste like ice cream soda, if it
il only help you, but when the
S preacher tells you you are wrong,
S why don't you thank God that he
S had the courage to do it?
" Bomething In your social life?
fi that it? You can't make a
Ssuccess by serving God and trip
é‘-: around with the gang that
gome of you go with.
g it envy, evil speaking, ly
dng? Ob, It takes a big man or
roman to see other people suc
ped &nd not raise a howl about
t. vy is one of the greatest
obbers in the world. If you can't
ifford an automobile, you can
ide on a Jitney bus for § cents,
nd if you can't afford a Pierce
rrow, get a “tin Lizzie"”
~ Now, what is the trouble? If
you don't like the smell of gaso
ne, don't knock the fellow who
AN 'gord it; take your trolley
id r a nickel, don't growl,
lon’t growl!
I some woman can afford to
gear silk and you can't, what is
) p%‘ot knocking her and say
ng e's no good?”
¢ Poppycock — such darn spirit
sou have got around this coun
y—foolish.
~lf you can't live on the avenue,
B be content where you can live. I
fean't afford to live there, but I
g having a good time. Tam not
ore at the fellow that's got money
‘enough to live there. The Lord
leas him.
= ¥d rather hunt my own game
A n bark with the devil's pack
. the foot of the tree.
S 'Envy, that's the trouble!
Search yourself by the lighted
‘gandle of God's truth. Sin cher-
Ished, cancels the blessing. So,
: e up your mind that if you
ep sin, you can't have the bless-
Bg; You've got to give sin up.
low make up your mind which
pou'll keep. That was true in Jere
ah’s day and it's true today, so
ke up your mind which you
u want. If you want God's
vor, you've got to give up the
w‘,‘ So make your choice,
thether you want to go to the
~devll or to heaven.
. Iniguity persisted in making
je promises of non-effect. Don't
1S on living in sin and then
rowl at God because he doesn't
' you. It's your fault and
jot God's. So to Israel, so to us.
of the blessings they be
umn ?. curses to the Jew, be-
LY e lived contrary to what
¢ Lord told him to live. It may
baodlo much the doing of
h od tells you not to do as it
Lt n:t doing of what God tells
o do.
. Phere are two pillars that sup
rt th: gospel, the “thouh shalt
ot nots” and the “thou shalts.”
fiou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
‘m.mlt adultery. Thou shalt
Thou shalt not take the
me of the Lord in vain.
_Thou shalt love the Lord thy
jod with all thy heart, with ail
)¥ soul, and with all thy
rength Thou shalt love thy
y i or as thyself.
. The trouble with aot of people
eday is that it is not the things
jat God Itells them not to do
: w do, but it is the things
that tells them to do that
,; don’t do. “Curse ve Meroz,
{ maid the angel of the Lord, curse
Ye i the Inhabltants there
- of; ) they came not to
- #he help of the Lord, to the help
;M £ul i nst the mighty.”
~_Qa them not for what
for what they did
"mot do that God told them to do.
Fhey did not come up and help
. G says, “You are cursed
lusé you did not do it.”
~ Tha fl;hyour trouble. You
e Tefy ;to apologize to some
dy. My friend Campbell Mor
preach in England,
; came up to him and
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN 2® @ . A Clean Newspaper for Southern Homes -y N e NOVEMBER 1917.
said: “Dr. Morgan, can't you tell
me what's the trouble with me?”
He sald: “No, ma'm, I am not a
physician.”
She sald: “It is not a physical
disability with which I am afllict
ed, it is a spiritual maiady. Four
vears ago 1 iost the Joy of salva
tion.”
He said: “Bless the lord!”
In amazement she said: “"What 7"
He said: “You sald four years
ago. 1 said Bless the Lord! be
cause you specify the time; if you
know when, you know why.”
Her eyes dropped to the floor
and she said: “Yes, I do. Four
years ago | had a quarrel with my
best friend and we have not
spoken since”
He said: “If you had died, you
would be in hell. For if ye for
give men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive
you.”
He sald: “Where does your
friend live?”
She said: “She lives 400 miles
away.”
“All right, write her a letter.”
He left her. He went back to
that same town about a Yyear
later, and the first woman he met
was this woman; her face waas
lighted up like a halo of glory.
He took her by the hand, and
sald: “Slster, you have written
that letter that we talked about
a year ago.”
She said: “Yes, doctor, 1 wrote
it that night *And she sald:
“Whenr 1 did, the peace of God
flooded my soul!”
Poor chump! It would have
flooded her soul four years ago,
if ghe had written the letter then,
Maybe it is that.
Maybe you don't pay your
debts. Maybe you don't pray.
Maybe you are a coward about
witnessing for Jesus Christ and
standing up for the Lord and for
His truth. Would you be ashamed
ta stand up for your husband, or
would you be ashamed to stand
up for your children? Arg you
ashamed to stand up for your
country? KEvery man or woman
must be either a patriot of a
traitor in these days. Why
should you be ashamed to stand
up for Jesus Christ?
Now here are seven scriptural
definitions of sin. There are lots
of descriptions of sin, but I mean
scriptural definitions of sln,
What is sin?
“Sin is the transgression of
the law.” That is the common, or
dinary definition. Ninety-nine
times out of a hundred people will
give, if you ask them what is
sin, ‘the transgression of the
law.” Sin is doing what God tells
you not to do.
n-herstku“hek hrd hr hr hrd u
Second, “Whatsoever is not of
faith s sin.” Anybody that
doesn’t believe in Jesus (’?{rlst as
the Son of God; in God as the
only God: the Bible as the Word
of God; Heaven for the repentent
sinner; heli for the unrepentent
sinner; the Holy Ghost. “What
soever is not of faith is sin.”
See?
It doesn’t make any difference
who preaches it or who practices
it, it is sin. llf they stand up
and preach that Jesus Christ is
not the Son of God, it {s sin.
When they say, “saved by char
acter,” they lie, because you are
not. You are saved by faith in
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Third, “To him that knoweth to
do good and doeth {t not, to him
it is sin.”
What is sin? Oh, you just
thought it was doing something
God told you not to do. It is
that, but it is something else,
too.
Here is another: “If you have
respect of person, ye commit sin.”
God offers salvation to every
body. llf the rich man doesn't
repent; he will g 0 to hell. If the
poor man doesn't repent, he will
£0 to hell, and if the banker
doesn’'t repent, that won't save
him. God doesn’t condemn a man
simply because he happens to be
successful and prosperous in the
world; it is a question of his at
titude toward Jesus Christ.
“The thought of foolishness is
sin.” God knows there is plenty
of that about religion and about
the divinity of Christ and the
doctrine of salvation and all that.
If what 1 preach is not taught ll}
the Bible, get up and tell me! i
it is, keep your darned mouths
shut, for I am preaching God's
truth. lam not standing up here,
airing my opinions, and if you sit
cut there and listen to me and
don't agree with me, that shows
you are a fool, for what [ am
preaching is the Bible. You are
the ass, not me.
“A high look, a proud heart is
sin.”
“All unrighteousness is sin."
There are seven scriptural defi
nitions of sin. All right! You
Just please trot me out somebody
that dpes not stand convicted be
fore one of those seven counts.
You say, “I have been sanctified.”
All right, line up with the rest
of them.
You say, “I have heen con
firmed.” All right, come on,
stand up. You say you know
there are thirty-nine articles of
confession. All right, come on.
Be in the mass, all right, get in
with the rest of them. Show me
somebody that does not stand
convicted before one of those sey
en definitions.
Here is the point of it: What
are we going to do? First, con
fess your sins. If we confess
our sins, he will forgive us our
gins. Lay a hold of the thing
that the spirit reveals to you that
is “wrong in your life. Never
mind me now!
The trouble is, you butt in with
other people. Tend to your own
affairs; lay a hold on the thln:
that the spirit reveals to you an
name that. Say, Lord, I have
been impuare.: Lord, 1 have been
untruthful, Lord, 1 have been
worldly (I am assuming that
these may be the sins of some
body), Lord, 7 have been proud,
Lord, 1 have been niggardly in
my gift. Lord, 1 have got & hot
temper. lord, 1 don't read my
Bible. Lord, I don't pray. Lord,
I don't pay my debts. Lord, I
talk about my neighbors. Lord,
I am a coward about witnessing
for Jesus Christ. Humiliating, I
will agree, but it will bring you
blessing.
I am assuming you want to be
blessed. 1 will tell you how to
get it. The flrst thking is, con
fess your sins. Second, renounce
sin, abandon it. “Whosoever is
convicted of his sin shall not
prosper, but who confesses and
forsakes his sin shall find mercy.”
Separate your life from that sin,
tear that sin out of your life,
get rid of it, get away from it.
“If thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off.” If there is anything
in the world that is useful to you
and it is keeping yon away from
God, God says get rid of it.
God doesn’'t mean to dig your eye
out, If there is anything in the
world that's as valuable to you
as your right hand and arm and
that thing is keeping you away
from God, get rid of it.
Confession without renuncla
tion doesn't amount to anything.
If a man confesses sin and keeps
on living in sin, he did not mean
anything by his confession. And
if a man stops living in sin
without confessing it, that does
n't mean anything, for that's the
reformation. But if he confesses
and forsakes, the forsaking shows
the confession was genuine. So
it is no good to confess it if you
don't forsake it, vice versa, be
cause the confessing shows that
you were sorry, that you did It
80 God will forgive it. That
doesn’t mean that you have to
stand up and tell the people
what you have done. It is none
of their business.
I think you can go back too far
on the trail of anybody. Tt is
none of your business. “What
soever ye would that men should
do to you do ye even 80 to them.”
If you know anything about
anybody keep your mouth shut.
You would be mighty glad if
anybody had anything on you and
they'd keep thefr mouth shut.
Gosh, wouldn't this be a great
world if everybody would mind
their own buslness? Wouldn't
the devil have a hard time? He'd
be in the hospital.
I'd make that definite, too. I'd
say, “Lord, 1 will not read those
books that sneer at You, that
appeal to my baser nature. [
will not go with that crowd of
gin fizzlers and cocktail guzzlers.
No, No! Lord, I won't be stingy.
Lord, T have been unclean today.
Lord, forgive me for the lle I
spoke. Lerd, lead me safely past
my old haunts.”
Oh, the man who is in earnest
will put his fingers on the sore
just as we tell the doctor where
is the pain, so he can intelligently
dlagnose and prescribe for the
malady. Do the same thing with
the Lord. That is the second.
First thing, confess your sin.
Second, renounce, abandon it, get
away from it and get it away
from you. Third, instant obedi
ence to God. You must not
only resolve that you will not do
what (God tells you not to do
when God tells you not te steal
or e or commit adultery, but
you must resolve that you will
do what God tells you to do, and
there is no difference between
doing what you are told not to
do and what you are told to do.
If you say to that child, don't
do it, and it does it, and {f you
say to this child, do it, and it
doesn’t, in Its case it is disobe
dient, and so are you. You don't
do what God tells you to do when
you are a sinner, so don't hold
your head so high. “To him that
knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin” “All
unrighteousness is sin.”
Instant obedience. When Jesus
confessed His glory at the King
dom of Galilee, his mother turn
ed around and said to the crowd:
“Whatsoever he saith unto ye, do
it In instant obedience.”
Wait a minute! I'd make that
definite. I'd say, Lord, 1 will
write that letter of apology. Lord,
I will pay my debts. Lord, I
will read my Bible. Lord, 1 will
stop talking about my neighbors.
Lord, I will confess Jesus. Lord,
I will pray in public. Tord, I
will ask for blessings. Lord, I
will go to prayer meeting and
give the preacher nervous pros
tration when he sees me come in,
for T have never been there. I
will! T will! I willl
Give yourself up to God, whol
ly, fully, unreservedly, irrevo
cably, give yoursglf. That is what
you promised to do when you
were married. You said, “Yes"
and that fellow said, “Yes.” All
right,—give yourself to the Lord.
Give yourself. Say, “Lord, here
I am.” That is Ihe whole thing:
brin* your sins and lay them at
the foot of the Cross, and say:
“Lord, nothing in my hand I
bring, simply to Thy Cross 1
cling.”
I don't bring my culture, my
money; [ don’t bring anything
and plead that 1 ought to have
salvation bVecause of that. In my
hand no prize I bring, simply to
Thy Cross I cling. Just as I
am, without one plea, 1 come, I
come. Just as 1 am, without one
plea. And do you know what he
will do?
He will take out of your life
that which made you do the
things he told you not to do, and
he will put in your life that which
will keep you from doing that
which he tells you not to do,
and will help you to do the
things he tells you to do.
Say, “Lord, 1 want to re
nounce these things, but they
seem teo cling to me. Lord, 1
don't want to lose my temper,
but sometimes I do get under a
fifty-pound pressure, when I have
a blow-out or my carburetor
stops working and I will just get
an awful fit” )
Say, “Lord, 1 don't want to be
stingy, but I so to church with
out my purse filled with gold and
I hunt around and find a nickel
alild then I sing ‘Jesus Paid it
Al
Say, “Lord, 1 don’t want to
neglect my Bibie, 1 take it and
read it quietly where mnobody
sees me.”
Tell God! And the xim of
God will go as deep as the roots
of sin, and if they have takea
hold upon you the grace of Ged
will take it out of yeu. Se if
the roots of sin have gone deep
er, remember that the grace of
God will go down and uproot the
roots of sin. He said, “I will take
away all thy alloy.”
»Remember that. Uncle Sam
puts one per cent copper in all
gold money, the copper is alloy.
Why? Gold is soft, and it must
be hardened with alloy. The
BILLY’S NIGHT SERMON IS
POWERFUL PLEA FOR GOOD
Continued from Page 13.
met an officer of the lodge and
sald, “I understand you had an
all night session, laboring for an
erring brother.”
“That young fellow didn't be
lieve in God or Christ or anybody
else. That young fellow was a
Knight Templar. He can come to
a thirty-third degree and be
lieve in God but when a man
wears that white flag and blue
uniform, he has got to belleve in
Jesus Christ and the New Testa
ment.”
In a degree of the Masonic
lodge they gay these words, “No
infidel can walk here and he can
not get in.”
If there is any bunch on God
Almighty's dirt that T have a
right to expect co-operation of,
it is the men who wear the Ma
sonic badge. Yank it off or pro
fess your faith. This young fel
low was a Kn&ght Templar and
they labored all night over his
cage, And finally they decided not
to turn him out of the lodge.
Say, there is not a lodge in this
eity or In this country that has
not hy{»ocrltes in its member
ship. s that any argument
against a lodge? When any man
uses it as an argument he is a
fool.
And there Is rnot a church,
either Catholic or Protestant, that
has not hypocrites in its member
ship. Is that any argument
against Christianity or Jesus
Chrigt? If any man uses it as an
argument, he {s a fool, and lie is
a Jack-ass of a fool if he does.
And so I tell you that I have
a controversy with the church to
day, Catholic and Protestant, and
that controversity is the laxity on
the part of the officlals to apply
the prineiples to men who live in
opposition to their promises and
will not stlck up for God's truth.
You know that many a time
our officials are in such a God
forsaken, backsliding condition
themselves they could not con
sclously apply the discipline to
anybody in the pews that did not
believe in their vows.
I was preaching in a town down
in Missouri some years ago and I
went out through the audience
and stepped up to a fine sort of a
looking woman and T sald—with
all my Chesterfield politeness and
suave mannerism, I bowed low
and I sald, “Good eyening lady,
are you a Christian ?”
She,arched her eyebrows and
drew in her diaphragm and said,
“Sir, since when did you become
my KFather confessor?”
“I said, “Forget it, if the devil
looks like you, I am quite sur
prised at his success.”
She said, “T pick my company,
sir, and I give you to understand
that I do not choose the church.”
I said, “Lady, I haven’t any use
for you and your choice. If you
stay out of the church, I am frank
to tell you that I have no respect
for you and your choice.”
She said, “Sir, I do not go into
a church where there are hypo
crites.”
I sald, “Do you know what a
hypocrite is?"”
She said, “A hypocrite is a man
or woman who professes anything
that they are not.
1 said, “A hypocrite is any man
or woman who does not live up to
their vows and their promises.
The people you are pointing out
and turning your nose up at are
some of your own gang that got
into the church without being
Lord said, “I will take away all
thy alloy.”
The Bank of England never re
ceives gold for its face value.
The Bank of England always
weighs the gold; they have scales
80 delicate that vour breath or a
hair from your head will turn
the scales, and if it is short, it
Is tipped to one side, and if it
is not, it is tipped to the other
side. So they never accept gold
for its face value.
Uncle Sam puts one per cent
copper in all the gold to give it
hardness. ] went through the
United States mint in Denver
and they had some 40,000,000 in
gold bullion, 20,000,000 of copper
stacked up. Now, that s alloy,
that is dross. The Lord said,
“1 will take away all thty alloy.”
All your dress. In other words,
God will take out of your heart
those things that make you dis
obey and he will put in the things
that will make you do it, then
you will remove the hindrance
and then the prophecy of Malachi
will be fulfilled. Malachi was the
last of the Ol Testament proph
ets, who came before John the
Baptist. and Malachi had a prom
ise through God that has not been
fulfilled yet.
Malachi said: “Bring ye all
the tithes into the storehouse.”
All right. 1f we'd do that, the
church membership of this city
would have passed this expense
fund in one collection. *“Bring ye
all the tithes into the storehouse.”
“Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be
meat in mine house, and prove
me now herewity, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of Heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to re
ceive it.”
Well, God 1s pouring down a
blessing here that staggers me. [
have seen great evidences of
God’'s power, but I fall on my
knees In humiiity, my friends,
and remove my hat, and it seems
to say, “This is holy ground
where you are treading.” God
Almighty is glving you the privi
lege of witnessing things in the
United States that have never
been witnessed since the Stars
and Stripes have waved over
America.
And yet, that is enly a part of
what God Almighty will do if
you will enly fulfill his wishes.
If there is anything in your life
as an individual, get out of f{t.
We have got to come as individu
als. X
If I could deal with you in mass
and save you by anything, I'd
do it, but I can't; you must come
as an individual. Say, “Jesus, we
want to thank you fer your un
speakable gflt and salvation, for
the Holy Spirit, for the revela
tion of Thyself, thrcugh Thy
regenerated. I'd stand by my
bunch if I were you. And, fur
thermore, you have taken them
and filled them up with your
damnable rot and you have
wrecked their manhood and wom
anhood and because they want to
be decent in the church; because
they are weakened and undermin
ed and occasionally stumble and
fall, you turn up your nose, your
proboscis.”
I said, “Furthermore, sister, if
we did apply the disci{allne to
these people and turned them out
why then you would refuse to
come into the church by saying
that that was not Christianlike
to be so cruel. You old scoundrel,
you wouldn’t come in, anyway.”
That is the trouble with a lot
of you. We are reaching down
into the slime-pits and the cess
pools of iniquity where you have
pushed them and because they are
weak, then you turn your nose up
and sneer, We are trying to help
them. We would rather see them
in heaven than in hell.
Well, a man says, “I don’t be
lieve in the Bible.”
I said, “Why not”"’
He said, “Because of the in
consistencies.”
Whenever gou hear a man be
gin to harp about the inconsisten
cies in the Bible, keep your head.
If you ever have to take his note,
have somebody go the security for
him.
Whenever T bring up the mem
ory of an evil deed before some
man he instantly begins to find
fault with the Bible, hegins to
harp about the hypocrites, begins
to growl about my vocabulary and
mannerisms, says that I am crude
and that I astonish and alarm and
shock. Oh, God—it would take
more than that to shock a lot of
these guys!
You go to a man and talk busi
ness, he will talk sense. Talk pol
itics with him and he will talk
sense. (Go to a woman and talk
business, she will talk sense, Talk
society with her and she will talk
gense. But talk religion and they
will talk nonsense.
Like an old woman out in Ar
kansas. She used to chew and
cuss and booze fight. One time
she ripped out an oath and her
grandson said, “Granny, Granny,
please don't swear.'"”
She said, “Mind your own busi
ness, you little simpleton.”
He said, “Granny, you have got
to die some day.”
She said, “Well, you little fool,
I ain’t dead yet.”
‘When he cornered her on her
whisky drinking and profanity,
she made that nosensical reply.
If you had walked up and asked
her how to boil a head of cab
bage or roast a possum, she would
have made a sensible reply.
“If any man will do his will
he shall know.” And, therefore,
our character is in our will. What
we will we are. You will to be a
drunkard or you will to be a
Christian. You will to be a pros
titute. Every man that walks the
streets of heaven, he willed he
would and that is why he is there,
Ewvery man that i 3 in hell, he
willed, and that is why he is
there. i
A fellow came up to me one
time and asked me—and I seldom
preach a meeting that some mutt
does not ask me this same ques
tion—*"l want to ask you a ques
tion.”
1 sald, “Sail in.”
He said, “Where did Cain get
his wife?”
word, for giving us minds to un
derstand it.”
Woulan't a man be a wonder
fully honored man if the Spirit
were only willing to reveal all
the hidden things to him, but He
never will. There are some
things ther¢ inat are in the
Couneil of God, and the Lord re
serves them for Himself, not for
you to know, as Jesus said to
the disciples that times and the
seasons that the Lord hath put
in His Own Hand. _
You have been “kind enough,
Lord, but you have not told
the world when Jesus would re
turn to it, nobody knows, not
even the Sun or the angels in
' Heaven, but the Father. We don’t
know when the history of this
world will wind up, and there
are some things that God has
never revealed to man and he
never will until the day of reve
lation.
But the sin that is revealed to
us is this, that we are sinners,
and that God Almighty tells
us: “Him that cometh unto me
I shall no wise cast out.” Oh,
Jesus, you told us all that, and
“Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.” So our part is to
- serve God and then go out and
become a blessing, s 0 we can
make the world better hecause
we have lived in it. And if we
have done our part, Lord, we will
~ be forever with Thee.
Too Many Exempted,
Says Draft Chairman
MACON, Nov. 27.—Judge W. H.
Felton, chairman of the No. 2 District
;Exemption Board of South Georgia,
thinke that the military draft age
should be from 20 to 30 inclusive,
and has made this suggestion in an
swer to a questionnaire from the pro
vost marshal general.
“1 believe there are entirely too
many exemptions,” Judge Felton said.
“Neither marriage nor children should
constitute a ground for discharge. All
males sound physically within the
draft age should be required to serve
with a proper provision for support
ing the famlly where truly c?epend
ent.”
Fulton Ginning I
Under 1916 Figures
Government flgurel‘ Tuesday showed
that Fulton County ginned 633 bales of
the 1917 cotten crep prior to November
14. This eompares with 917 bales-gin
ned prior to the same date of lug year.
I said, “He got her from his
father-in-law.”
“Well,” he sald, “the Bible says
he got her in the land of Nod,”
and when an infidel starts in to
quote Scripture he is all in.
The Bible says nothing of the
kind. The Bible says that Cain
knew his wife in the land of Nod
and she conceived and bore a
chl!d. It always looks sort of sus
picious to me to see a man so
much interested in some other fel
low's wife. I dom’t think it is
Cain’s wife that bothers some of
you old lobsters half as much as
it is the wife of your neighbor.
Adam and Eve had other chil
dren beside Cain and Abel, no
matter whether the first pair
came hy generation, creation or
evolution or by aeccident. They
were produced by a protoplasm,
You are trying to pin your hope
of heaven on where Cain got his
wife. That cuts no ice with me
at all. Why do you ask that silly,
ridiculous question? qgs it because
you are trying to take a side
against the Bible—discredit the
Bible? Is it because you are try
ing to find some excuse that will
Justify you in being a devil and
relecting Jesus Christ and living
in sin?
When the papers and the peo
ple on the other side of the politi
cal faith could find no fault in
Benjamin Harrison, one of the
highest “ypes of American man
hood that has ever sat in the
White House—none of them had
anything on Benjamin Harrison—
-80 then they begun to sneer about
his grandfather's hat, and Benja
min Harrison had more gray mat
ter in his brain than the whole
dirty bunch put together; they
tried to make people believe that
Benjamin Harrison was not fit to
sit in the White House.
So, therefore, listen! Darwin,
the infidel, quotes Matthew, who
in turn quotes Euhler, the infi
del, in which he says that pepu
lation will double in 25 years. If
you studied your Scriptural
chronology carefully, yeu will find
that when Cain went out to court
his wife he was a lusty youth 128
years old.
Josephus says that “Not” means
“vagabond” and *“vagabondage”
means the ground that God had
cursed, and the curse of God on
the ground today is because a
man sinned, and that is why we
have briers and thorns and this
tles and deserts. The curse of God
is the effect of man’s sin on the
ground. :
When Adam and Eve ate the for
bidden fruit God drove them from
the Garden of Eden and said, “The
giround is curged because of your
sin.”
We say that Cain was 128 years
of age when he met her and
courted her. Now, then, old Euh
ler, the statistician, says that
population will double in twenty
five years. Allowing that there
were seven pairs on earth at the
end of the first twelve years, and
that the population will double
in twenty-five years under favor
able cireumstances, and Cain was
128 years old when he knew his
wife in the land of Nod, that
would have made the population
of the world then 11970. Allow
ing that half were female, which
proportion holds good in every
land on the globe, that would
have made 5,985 buxom damsels
from whom old Cain could have
selected a wife, good enough to
gatisfy the most fastidious de
votee with matrimonial inclina
tions buzzing in his 'belfry. Yet
a lot of fellows are going to hell
tonight because they wonder
where Cain got his wife!
The inconsistency is not in the
Bible, but in your rotten life.
I preached in a town one time
in Towa and Isald toa barkeeper,
“What are you In this dirty busi
nessg for?”
He was a pretty good fellow
and he said, “Well, Bill, T couldn’t
be in the business if it wasn't for
church members voting for me.”
If there is anything that makes
me feel like a woman that swal
lows a fly—she feels like expec
torating—it is to have some pea
nut-brained wise guy, some old
whisky-soaked rummyv telling me
“that if it wasn't for the votes
of people who stand on the
church records—" T tell you I
would rather be a devil in hell
than indorse anything like that.
The Bible says, “Woe unto him
that putteth a bottle to his
neighbors’ lips.”
Somebody says, ‘The Bible gaid
that? Huh! Perhaps you ean
teil me why God made a woman
out of the rib of Adam. Why
didn't he make her out of the
dust of the earth like he did
man?”
Now whnat are you going to say
to a fool like that? lln the first
piace, T wasn’t there. In the sec
ond place. I have never asked
God, and in the third vnlace it is
none of my business. You might
as well ask me whv, when a wo
man has a loaf of bread and she
wants to make a sandwich, why
she doesn't make another loaf, =
Why, it is easier to cut it off
from the loaf already made.
S 0 there are people who lose
sight of all these beautiful truths
which, if put into practice, would
change this old sinful world into
a paradise of blessing.
Like an old woman I once heard
of, she was going to wvisit her
granddaughter and she had neyer
een on the railroad train be
fore, so she bought her ticket and
got on, and when the train start
ed she grabbed the seat in front
of her and they had gone about
five miles when there was a
wreck and the conductor picked
the splinters out of her system,
and he said, ‘“‘Auntie, are you
hurt?” /
She said, “Lord, God Almighty,
1 thought you went that way all
the time.”
She came to the housemd they
asked her if she enjoyed t. a trip.
She said, “I never saw &r)thing
but three hay stacks ) [ they
were going the other wawy
Like a woman who was moving
into a new house, and as the
mirror was going in she heard
the glass rattle and she said,
“Hold on, boys: be careful. Don’'t
break that glass. If you do vou
will spoll my luck for seven
years.”
The drayman looked at her
pityingly and said, “Boys, smash
HIGHLIGHTS IN
SERMON ON SIN
IF you want to know why there
is no joy in your life—it's your
fault.
BELIEVERS should desire with
the greatest yearning the
fulfilh:mnt of the promises of God.
That is the way to get them.
lB the Christian life as pictured
in the Bible too high for hu
man attainment? Oh, no!
lT takes a big man to see other
people succeed and not raise a
how! of envy about it.
lF you don't like the smell of
gasoline, don’t knock the fel
low who can afford it. Take your
nickel and go for a trolley ride—
and don't growl.
it ?‘uick. Anything to change her
luck.”
That is the way I feel abou;
this city, if good preaching woul
have saved your town you would
have been in heaven long ago.
You need something else. Here
are people who Jjourney all
through {)he Word of God from
Genesis to Revelations and they
can see nothing but a great big
hay stack going the other way.
Where dfd Cain get his wife?
They lose sight of these beautiful
truths which would make capital
and labor shake hands, and it
would transform this whisky
soaked, Sabbath-hating world in
to a paradise of blessing and
peace, and the lamb and the lion
would lie down together and the
lamb would not be inside the lion
either; if we would only live for
Jesus Christ.
I stepped up to a fellow one
night in Chicago, and I sald to
him—if I named him a lot of you
lawyers would know him—he has
been dead for many years. He
was a good friend of mine. One of
the most corking lawyers. He
came into a meeting one night in
Farwell Hall and my friend, Dr.
Berry, was speaking, and“after
he got through I said, ’\‘)Vell,
wasn't that a good address?
He said, “It was very pretty;
it wag fine wlorg painting, but I
't belleve it."
do{x said, “Why?” and he said,
“You show me one instance
where the laws of Nature have
ever been abrogated above the
laws of Creation.”
1 sald. “Give me something
easy. Sit down. Strauss, the
German infidel, said, ‘An excep
tional experience,” meaning Jesus,
‘proves that only by the concur
rence of sexes are beings form
ed, and yet, my friends, beings
have been and are being virgin
ally produced from both the lower
and higher orders of Nature.
Don't you know that every drone
in a hive of bees is virginally
produced by a virgin queen?
Angd if you will study ycur En
cyclopedia Britannica you will
find that Huxley, in his last ar
ticle on “Biology” says, Through
out almost all series of living be
ings, nonsexual generation pre
vailed.”
This does not prove that Jesus
‘'was conceived by any means, or
born of the Virgin Mary. But
if I find these exceptions existing
in the lower orders of Nature, is
it unreasonable to suppose that if
God can and does abrogate the
laws down there, He could not
abrogate the law of Nature in
this one and highest of all be
ings, Man, and give us a Savior
conceived by the Holy Ghost?
That is a doctrine, sir, sweet,
beautiful, scientific and scriptur
ally true, and if you reject Jesus
Christ because you don’t believe
he was conceived by- the Holy
Ghost and born of the Virgin
Mary, you are a fool—a fool.”
“If a man will do His will he
will know of the teaching.” The
trouble is you won't do it.
Suppose vou start your boy to
scheol and instead of beginning
with the A B C of knowledge he
gets away over here in the fern
production from which we get all
our fossils and he looks at it and
he says; “I don’'t know anything
about it.” Certainly he will never
know until he has learned about
the A B C knowledge, and when
you get up to that yvou will be
sufficiently developed to compre
hend it.
There ils an A B C in knowledge
and also in religion. You have to
start at the beginning if you are
going to do God's will. You have
to start and learn to walk. If
you say, “I will wait until I walk,”
then you will never walk. Begin
with the feet you have and learn
to use them.
A man heard of the beauties
of a certaln river and he said, “I
am going to see for myself.” He
secured a naphtha launch and he
sailed all the day and all the
night and in the morning he met a
voyager and he hailed him and
said, “I have heard of the sights
dotting here and there, but I have
sailed all day and all night and I
have seen nothing.”
The voyager saii, “Sail on.”
He sailed all the day and night.
He met another vovager and said,
“T have heard of the beauties of
this river and I have heard of
where the water leaps out of the
crevices and the river is kissed by
the .sun, but I have sailed two
days and nights and there is the
muddy, sluggish water.
The voyager said, “Sail on.”
He sailed all the day and then
he met the water rushing over
the Government dams, clear and
blue; he sailed on and reached the
foot of St. Anthony, where the
water roars and tumbles and his
clothing was wet from the mois
ture,
He gazed upon it and said, “Half
has never heen told. T have seen
for myself.”
That is the position the multi
tudes of fellows are in tonight.
Here you are down in the muddy
waters of profanity, you lie and
steal or vou are a prostitute, you
are a failure and you play trick
ery in business, then wonder why
you see no beauty in religion,
nothing in Jesus Christ, nothing
in the church of God Almighty.
Say, “As a man you dan't hit me
there, Bill.”
t/h, the trouble is, you are not
high enough up. That is the
trouble with you.
Did you ever go home and did
vou ever call your wife and chil
l’l.; rather hunt my own game by $
myself than bark with the dev- ¢
il’s pack at the foat of the tree, °
W/ HATSOEVER is not of faith
is sin”"—and it doesn’t make
any difference who preaches it or Z
who practices it. ;
9
lF you know anything bad about )
anybody, keep your mouth ¢
shut. {
BT {
GOSH—wouldn’t this be a great $
old world if everybody would
mind his own business? 3
AND if we have done our hest— )
if we have done our part,§
Lord, we will be forever with Thee, i
HK
19 BLS
' . '
Target Practice on Anniston Rifle
Range Begins—Striking Char
acters in Camp,
ANNISTON, ALA., Nov, 27.—With
the inauguration of target practice on
the rifle range, and with the beginning
of instruction in the use of other small
arms, the division ordnance depot at
the foot of the hill near tne base hos
pital at Camp McClellan is one of
the busiest places in the entire camp.
The divisional ordnance officer, Ma
jor §. Jarman, assisted by Captain
Lane Schofield and Lieutenants Hap
per, Alexander and Hagan, has or
ganized into an eflicient working or
ganization the entire personnel of 105
men of extra ability who handle the
affairs of the depot.
S. Tarbox, the “top,” has had sev«
enteen years of experience in the reg
ular army, and he is especially quali
fled for the important duties which
devolve upon the command of the
outfit,
The noncommissioned personnel of
the ordnance depot company is as
follows: Ordnance sergeants, T. R.
Ward, P. H. McCarthy, Claud Gor
don, Leslie R. Twist, James Gay, Jr.,
H. Smith, John J. Gregg, Jesse Ju
liante, J. H. Houseman and James
K. Wilson; sergeants of ordnance, J.
J. Donohue and Paul Gordon, and
corporals, H. Harmon and John Rich«
a ds.
Ordnance Sergeant T. R, Ward has
Jeen confined to the base hospital for
the past few days with an attack of
.‘.onsillitis, but is improving.
Among the noncommissioned offi«
cers in this outfit there ig a great
variety of mechanical ability, and
much talent is also included in the
organization. Ordnance Sergeant P,
H. McCarthy is a member of Colum
bia Typographical Union, Neo. 101,
District of Columbia, and held a po
sition as monotype machinist in the
Government Printing Office in
Washington before entering the
service. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason and a member of Kallispolis
Grotto, Mystie Order of the Muystio
Veil. Another fighter in the ranks of
the depot ordnance company is Ser
geant J. J. Donohue, who has a long
record of military service to his cred .-
it. Sergeant Donohue was “a soldier
of the sea,” and was “in” on the tak
ing of Vera Cruz, accepting a dis
charge from the navy a month after
the Mexican incident. He is a big,
husky fellow, and for two vears held
the middleweight championship of the
North Atlantic fleet. He is a black
smith by trade.
dren in, and did you ever sit down
and read the Word of God, and
did you ever say, “Now, get down
on your knees an say, ‘I am seek
ing the way of life, light and sal
vation, God.” "
Did you ever do that and then
get up and live the way you had
prayed?
I challenge you old infiedels, no
man ever did it and doubted Jesus
Christ or found the Bible false.
No man ever did it and said,
“There is nothing in religion.”
Somebody says that God’s na~
ture and the Rible is God's wilL
That is very true, but nature is
God’s will in force. That is equal
ly true.
Years ago I was up in the min
ing region in Minnesota, way up
in the Carnegie interests, and I
met a man up there named Cap
tain Penduley; he was Carnegie's
representative up there, and he
took me down into the iron mineg
1,200 feet. We went and roamed
through those labyrinths for an
hour and then when we came
back upon the elevator I said to
him, “Captain Penduley, you have
been mighty good and kind, but I
want to know if you are a Chris
tian?”
He looked at me and said, “Wil
liam, I worship nature, that is my
God, that is all I need. It tells me
of love.”
1 said. “Hold on. You sit on
your veranda at home and you see
the sun as it comes tripping over
the banks of the horizon, and the
mistletoe hangs in clusters from
ihe branches of the trees and the
babbling brook sings on its way
to the sea, and you sit there and
watch all that. And you llltpn te
the chiming of the distant village
bells that toii the weary world to
sleep. You sit upon your verands
and see the swallow ecircling
around the eaves and gathering
around the barn. You hear the
whippoorwill as he sing=s his song
way down in Sleepy Hollow. Y
listen to the village bella
Continued on Page 17, Celuma A,