The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-04-13
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. c, L. PALMER.
Subject: "Why the Righteous Suffer and
the Ungodly Prosper"-God Permits
Afaictions 10 Come Upon Bis People

/
Affections 10 Come Upon Bis People
as a Character Test.
| KINGSTON, n. Y In the Reformed
Church Of the Comforter on Sunday morn
ing the Rev. G. l.. Palmer preached a
scholarly discourse entitled why the
Righteous Suffer and the Ungodly Pros
per" He took his text from Psalm IS; 81:
For / was envious at the arrogant, when
l saw the prosperity of the wicked"
The Seventy-third Psalm was probably
composed by Asaph, who was pious Jew,
| and one of the leaders Of the temple
chorus. The phraseology and contents in
dicate that he was intelligent and spiritual,
and that in the course Of his religious ex..
perience was exposed to the ravages OF
doubt. However, upon mature dehbera-
ton all doubt was overcome, and ne be-
came strong in the faith.
The particular problem that confused
him was why the righteous suffer and the
ungodly prosper. Why the most vicious
criminal should enjoy material prosperity
and eonsecrated disciples be subjected to
suffering. If God is perfectly righteous in
Himself, and supremely just in AL HIS
dealings with men, why does He allow the
ungodly to succeed and the believer to
| fail? Why does He not obliterate every
sinner and preserve every saint! Why
| does He permit the godly to pass through
so many deep and raging seas OF att1lctlon
Why are many of the Christless so free
from human misery? These are questions
which have been fresh in the mind OF every
generation, and the only satisfactory an
swer is the one that suffced the psalmlst.
Before undertaking to develop so lmpor-
tant subject it is necessary, that we a.
vest our minds Of one possible misconcep-
tion. The implication of the text is not
that all the wicked prosper, and that all
the righteous are afflicted. 1t is not that
all the ungodly prosper because they are
ungodly, or that all believers are afflicted
! because they are believers. 1t is not true
that all the worldly enjoy success, and all
the righteous are discontented, unhappy
and unsuccessful. The psalmist was in a
pessimistic mood at the time of writing,
| and describes a condition from which he
was eventually extricated. 1t is true that
some goddess men and women seem to be
| happy and prosperous, and that some De,
voted disciples are greatly afflicted: But
it is far from the natural deduction ,S OF
! Scripture and experience that all the godly
are unsuccessful and the wicked prosper
Gus, though we do acknowledge that the
ancient sentiment of the text is not with
out it's modern application. We still won
der why the unrighteous prosper and the
| godly are afflicted.
I. WHY THE UNGODLY ENJOY TEN
PORAL PROSPERITY.
We cannot deny that many worldly peo-
ple have an abundance of life's blessings,
and that they appear to be quite free from
adversely. 1t is well known that many OF
our most wealthy people seem to be lndlf-
ferent to religion. They spend their time
and means either in business or seeking
pleasure. Our contention IS that human
success or failure is not an lntalllble cTlter-
ion by which we are to justify OF conaemn
the government OF God.
It is not uncommon for goddess people to
inherit property. Nor is it unusual for un-
believing parents to leave an inheritance
to their children. That while there has
been utter Indifference to Christianity
there has been no want of concern IN the
accumulation of wealth. And many pos
sess disinterested temperament that. pro-
tects them from needless care and anxiety
Unbelievers are often more shrewd than
Christians. "Ihe children of this world
are wiser in their generation than the chill
dren OF light" A life of utter absorption
in the accumulation and management OF
money develops an acumen, one who read
| ily discovers whatever will contribute to
his personal and temporal advancement.
| And since we are free moral agents 1t Is
| possible for one to succeed in the direction
of his ambition.
Unbelievers are often less scrupuious.
| They will do many things for temporal
comfort that Others will not A goddess
mortal will keep saloon or gambling
| den, from which the profits are very large
| He will desecrate the Sabbath or violate
any of the divine laws without hesitation
30 long as his personal interest IS encour-
aged. His motto is "eat, drink -, and be
reborn soul and heir of the kingdom do
| the same? A true disciple of the Great
Teacher would not consciously transgress
any civil or religious requirement, even IT
! by such violation he would increase MS
means and comfort.
The attention of unbelievers is more
concentrated on the accumulation OF
wealth and on personal comfort. 1t IS
about all many think Of. They think about
money when they retire. They dream
about it at night. 1t is upon their minds
when they awake in the morning, and they
labor for it during the day. 1t is the only
desire they have, and it is not strange tnat
they should obtain it..
Christians are unwilling to deprive them
| selves of the comfort and blessing OF CIV
Ing. Our churches are supported by the
professed followers of Christ. All the phi
lanthropic and charitable organizations are
largely sustained by those who bear the
| Christian name. The church has great rea-
son to thank God for those who give so
| literally toward her support, while the
world is either boarding or wasting its
means, they are applying their gifts to the
social, intellectual, moral and eternal I'M
provement of others.
The long suffering of God is not to be
ignored. God permits ungodly people to
obtain the desire of their hearts. The
sneering jest of Dionysius, the younger,
tyrant OF Sicily, when, after having robbed
| the Temple of Syracuse, he had prosper
ous voyage with the plunder is well known.
See you not, said he, to those, who were
with him, how the gods favor the sacrileg-
ious? The Interpretation of the incident
was from the standpoint of heather.
God simply permitted him to escape.
Doubtless the ungodly are allowed to
prosper, in order to test and prove the
righteous. It is test for the faithful but
unfortunate to see some goddess mortal
carried on The sea of prosperity. But It IS
test that we are abundantly able to sus-
tain. Socrates, being asked what would be
perity of the bad. What would veX the
bad? The prosperity of the good. 1t IS
not and cannot be made to appear in
compatible with the perfection of Gods
government that the ungodly should have
measure Of material prosperity.
Ii. WHY THE RIGHTEOUS HAVE AD-
VERSITY
Having admitted that the ungodly. often
enjoy temporal prosperity, it remains to
acknowledge that the righteous are fire.
quentiy subjected to the greatest suffer
ing of body and mind, and if possible to
ascertain the cause. Not all are greatly
affected, though it is very likely that every
heart sustains some burden.
Even our limited knowledge Of the