Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-15
At the First Methodist.

pr. Morris at the First Methodist church. had a large congregation to near him preach from the text, Be Ne Thank full" yesterday morning.
 He said: Ingratitude is an unpardon- able sin. The unappreelative man has the mark of Cain on him, yet it is the commonest sin among men. Men have little sense of gratitude to God for the blessings he has bestowed upon them The man who curses his neighbor is un- grateful to God, for all they have or are comes from God.
 Of the ten leprouS men who went to see the Lord and were healed, but one or them was grateful The other nine went on their way as usual You have no idea of the loathsomeness of the leper. Re- pulsed and isolated, his life is one of greatest misery. Of these ten lepers healed, but one showed any apprecia- tion, and that one was a Samaritan.
 As God looks around over the world and sees all the good work he has done for man. and only sees one here and there occasionally that shows any ap preciation, he asks where are the ninety and nine-the hundreds and the thou sands. Men act as though they didn't recognize God as having anything to do with them They eat their three meals a day, as does the OK or the ass, without having one word or thought for God. They recognize God in all evil that be- falls them, but not in the good. They DIdle NIOu lOF dll lillI SOeS WIOuS WILL them. They are ungrateful. because they expect too much. They think too highly of themselves. Man thinks he is the alpha and the omega, and that the world revoves around him. Disappointment makes man ungrateful. When he eX- poets a great deal and gets little he is disappointed and does not appreciate the little he does get. If a man owes $50,000, which he cannot pay, and friend comes to him and proffers assistance, and then Il 1. 1t pointed. He is mad at the friend be- cause he does not give him S50,000.
 In New York a few years ago a man named Stokes killed James Fisk. He was tried, but got a new hearing. At the new trial he was convicted of man. slaughter and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. His friends in the court room set up great applause, not because he was sentenced to prison for two years, but for the reason that at the former trial he had been convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to hang. 1t was the difference between what they expected and what they got that made them grateful.
 Man thinks God is under obligations to take care of him, and He is to those who love and obey Him. But man looks around him and seeing those better fixed than himself thinks he is not getting what is due him. It is the opposite that
 
 you see a wretch with physical deformi- ties it suggests your own condition to you. It is said AIiltades could not sleep at night after the battle of Marathon be- cause of the honors conferred upon Thermistocles. It is among sad and calamitous things we learn to be thank full
 A mythological story tells us that once upon a time the people became discon- tented and asked that a great gathering be had, at which all the burdens of the people would be placed together and each person permitted to select one for him. self from among the lot The next day the complaints were louder than ever, and again they asked that meeting be had in order that each person might get his own burden
 Plato was grateful for three things that he was born a man and not beastj that he was born a Greek and not a heather, that he was born philosopher and not a fool.
 Those upon whom the blessings of God rest. all those who obey His commands and live pure, upright lives should be thankful for the favors God has shown them.
 Brethren, be ye thankful"