The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-07
FOLLOWERS IF GOD ALWAYS PATRIOTIC Sermon by tho Rev. l. D.
 Steele WORK OF TRUE CHRISTIAN He Wants the Best Government Pos sible and Always Striving to Produce the Very Best
 Class of Citizens.
WORK OF TRUE CHRISTIAN

The Rev. I. D. Steele, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. preached yesterday morning on "The Conserving Power of a Nation" The church was decorated in the national eolors and the music was patriotic. His text was taken from Mat. 3:12 And all nations shall call You blessed" Dr. Steele in part spoke as follows:
 The devout, upright followers of God have ever been deeply interested in their own country. Isaiah was a prophet and fearless preacher of the Commandments of God. At the same time he was a clti- zen of Jerusalem and a patriot of the highest type. Jeremiah earnestly strove for twenty-three years to avert a na- tional calamity which he felt sure his misguided countrymen would bring on their heads. true Christian seeks to help elevate his own country in all re- spects ard to better the condition of the whole world. A Christian wants the best government and strives to produce the very best class of citizens. God was in the formation of our own nation, and the hand iivlne has guided 1t through all it's critical moments.
 Our country exerts Q. wonderful inhu- ence today, and 1t is worldwide whether it be for war, peace, business or as civ,lizing force. It Is of the greatest im- portance that cur ration keep its heart right before God and before the world. It has great and difficult problems to solve and a great work to do. We must Americanize and Christianize these of smong us from other lanes.
 Nations Digestive Capacity.
 The dige st!ve capacity of cur nation is very great. or it could never have so well assi-nilated and fashioned the mil- lions of foreigners who have flooded our land. The Gospel of Christ has been ono of the most powerful elements in accomplishing this task
 Our cities present one of the great problems before us as a people. Their growth is one of the marvels of the world. They are storm centers of finance. They are storm centers of wickedness and righteousness. Influences from these centers are heart throbs. felt all through the nation. Here the fabulously rich, the luxurious, the wretchedly poor, in a hell of misery meet, face to face This chasm cannot ever widen and deepen in hate and contention, and still preserve the blessings of peace and industry to great and free people.
 Many of our cities are shamefully gov- erned. In many places the ignoble, wick ed element are permitted to hold the places of power and enrich themselves by robbing the public. It is a sin against ones country, and against God for the upright citizen ever to suffer such things to exist. It Is because the best citizen ship will not leave his prosperous per- sonal affairs long enough to look after the welfare of his city. It Is a duty he owes to himself and to every child in the city, to give 1t the best possible gov ernment.
 Great Wealth will subject a people to the perils of luxury. Luxury brings self indulgence and ease These are destroyers of robust body. and death to yigor- ous intellect and fatal to pure morals. This road leads unerringy to personal and national disaster.
 Riches alone will not conserve the power or happiness of a nation. There is not a name of a dead nation on the pages of history. but what at one time was rich. The decaying pampered civil izations of the past were saved for a time by being reinvigorated with bar barrie blood of a hardy race. This can not be any more, for the opportunity is gone.
 Abiding Prosperity.
 Abiding prosperity and happiness de- pend on the recognition of our obligation to God and our fellow-man as declared in the Bible Neither money nor learning will conserve a people. It was Daniel Webster who said: ITO preserve the gov ernment we must preserve moraIs morals rest on religion; destroy this foundation and the foundation of the republic falls"
 Ife also said: "When public morals be- come vitiated and corrupt, law is a null lity and the constitution waste paper"
 It was Gods prophet who said Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,"
 Ignorance Is menace to any free peo- pie. A successful nation must have an educated citizenship. For this reason the commonwealth has three hundred and seventy thousand teachers engaged in teaching twenty millions of children and youths. You owe 1t to yourselves, to your country and to your sons and daugh- ters to have them educated at least as well as the public schools can do 1t. This is a day when every boy must be skilled and learned in the business he is to fol- low. No sacrifice Is. too great to have him prepared to fill the best possible place as a citizen. This must be accom- panied by the preaching of the Word of God in plain, unvarnished language as Christ gave it to the people. The obliga- tions of man to man and of man to God must be spoken so they cannot be mis- understood. If a high sense of morals and honor, coupled with intelligence and righteousness. do not conserve the peace and happiness of free people, then they cannot be conserved.