The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-04-27
A NOTABLE SERMON.
Mans Greed, Carelessness, Selfish
ness, Recklessness, Passion
the Cause of Human Attic
tions

!
notable sermon, taking his text from
Job 15:11-13, (Revised Version)
"Are the consultations Of God too
small for thee? And is the word Of
small account that dealeth gently with
thee? Whittier doth thy heart carry
thee away? And what do thy eyes
wink at? That thou turnest thy spirit
against God, and lettest such words
60 out Of thy mouth?''
The sermon was entirely extempo-
raneous. and the report following gives
only in barest outline the thought Of
the speaker.
After speaking Of the two declara-
tions heard during the previous week,
one in which God had been character
lied as cruel, and the other in which
it had been said that the dreadful ca
lamity had been sent Of God upon the
people of the Pacific slope in wisdom
and justice, as a punishment for their:
sins, the preacher declared his hor-
ror of such misconceptions Of God.
There is little wonder when aft1lc-
tions come, and men are told that it
is the will of God, that it is for them
to bow in patient submission, that the
heart protests. And we'll it may. The
greatest need Of mankind is an over
whelming, all pervading, realistic be-
lief in the personal Jehovah, Jehovah
Christ, and right conception OF His
relation and attitude toward the indl-
vidual man and to the race: In mans
thought of God he must reject every
surmise or opinion that is not in har-
mony with the truth so thrillingly ex-
pressed in Browning s immortal line i'll
"Paracelsus' "God, Thou art Love
I build my faith on that" In order
to vindicate Gods sovereignty and
recognize His hand in the events Of
life, it is not necessary to regard 1.-THE
pestilence that walketh in darkness
and the destruction that wasted at
non day" as. mysterious dispensations
or visitations of His providence.
Man was not created for sorrow but
for Joy. Gods thoughts Of man are
"precious Thoughts good and not
of evil" When man was in harmony
with God, he was in harmony with
himself, and with nature. He was
placed amid conditions fitted to be-
stow upon him perfect and everlasting
happiness. There was no illness, no
calamity, no death. By man came sin.
Where once was harmony, now there
is diseord. Where once was order
now there is disorder. "By man came
death - and all sorrow, all the per-
version of instincts and passions, all
infrmities Of the body and weakening
of intellect, all that eliminates In
death, all "came by man. :" This is
not Gods order, Gods purpose, God Is
thought for man. Man is out OF har-
mony with nature because he violates
nature s laws. Back Of every affl1c-
tion is human sin. It is to blaspheme
against the God Of love, when a rail-
road train is wrecked and its passen-
tgers hurled into eternity, to say that
it was wrecked by His hand, or that
the, awful destruction Of life and
property in San Francisco was caus-.
ed by Him. Nine tenths Of all the
losses, Affections and sorrows OF this
life are the direct result of human ex-
travagance, human 'grasping after
larger profits, human. greed, human
carelessness, human selfshness, hu-
Imam recklessness, and of the other
tenth they are indirect cause. Take
! the case Of San Francisco by way OF
illustration. Tie earthquake cane.
/ it is true d But it came not without
warning. Men have known for ages
that this is volcanic section, or
section liable to experience the earth
quake shock, ard yet they have chos-
en- to take the chances. True the
earthquake came, but how conlpara-,
lively small the damage frrr1 Inc
earthquake, if men choosing to live.
where they we're exposed to these
mighty forces Of nature had struc-
turally prepared themselves to resist
it's power. The Board Of Fire Insur-
ance underwriters declared long ago
that it was a miracle that San Fran
cisco was not swept from the face OF
the earth, "that it was built TO-
burn" It was currently reported
H. :, 4bo oone+,1,ction Of a building