Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-04-10
CalnaQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Tslmase. d. ID.


rectitude and duty is the only road to
happiness. no matter how alluring 9TH
er ways may seem to us at times. The
text Is Psalm xcvil, IL. Light is sown
for the righteous aud gladness for the
upright in heart"
This Is an unfamiliar metaphor. We
are not accustomed to thinking OF light
as of something that may be sown, as
the farmer sows grain in the spring.
Light comes from heaven to drive
away the gloom of the night, to revive
industry, to start again the wheels OF
business life, to scatter the vultures,
winged or human, that prey In the
darkness. We are thankful to God for
the light that he sends to us every
dawn. But this conception that the
psalmist utters, OF light springing as
a harvest from seed sown, is novel TO
US. 1t suggests the idea of the dark
ness OF sorrow or OF trial, in which
Gods children must live at times,
contrasting 1t with the encouraging as
surance that light is sown for them
which, though it lies for time hidden
and buried, will yet terminate and
fruit to their gladness.
This conception came to me with
special force as l considered the topic.
1t had been raining for five or six
days. 1t seemed as though the heav-
ems were a porous sponge being squeez-
ed OF oceans OF moisture. Then came
the glorious sunrise. 1t came In great
tidal waves OF light. 1t flooded the
earth, and it flooded the skies, and it
sank into every pore Of the flesh. oh,
It was gloriousl God did not say,
Here is n little sunlight for you and a
little sunlight for some one else," as
though he was afraid OF wasting II, but
he seemed to food the earth with light
In lavish abundance. He seemed to
say: Here Is light, oceans OF light;
light for the flowers OF the fields and
for the birds OF the air and for mans
mental and physical existence. Take 1t
and battle in 1t and grow In it and
breathe it. Here Is the sun as a stel-
lar furnace burning with light" God
gives many blessings, but he gives no
blessing with richer abundance than
when he rolls out for man the blessing
OF the sunlight. Then I turned and
read the words of the text, Light is
sown for the righteous and gladness
for the upright in heart"
Sunshine For All.
God ful6lls the promise of my text,
I'm the first place, by the revelations he
gives to his children to solve the intri-
cate and mysterious problems Of ma
ture- God seems to say to man, eff
you love me and will honor me, 1
Will put the resources OF the seas and
Of the valleys and OF the hills and of
the air at your disposal" God gives
literally the blessings of nature to the
race regardless of its moral conduct.
Summer and winter. seed time and
harvest, sunshine and shower, are for
all. AS Christ said, God causes his
rain to fall on the just aud on the I'M
just" and is kind to the unthankful
and the evil. But he has special bless
ings FOR those who are described in
this passage as the righteous and the
upright In heart. He honors them with
more intimate knowledge of his
ways. closer acquaintance with ma
ture and a clearer view of the re-
sources OF civilized life.
well, 1 do not understand that"
some one says to me. ''If that is true.
how can you account for the fact that
some OF our greatest inventors did not
believe In God or n hereafter or any
supernatural power? The men who
have explored for us the wonders of
nature have not always been believers
In revelation. Then, besides, some of
the most immoral and depraved men
nave been the most prosperous. How
can your promise be according to fact7"
Why, my brother, what you state and
what state are in perfect accord with
Gods revelation. Did you ever read
the history or Paul's journey to Romsf
Why were all the passengers and the
crew OF the Alexandrian corn ship saw
edf Because the ship carried Paul, the
servant or Christ. God saved tho crew
TO honor the presence OF his evangelist.
The mere presence OF the good Is a
source or blessing for the indifferent
and the bad. That Is a Bible truth
taught again and again In the past
centuries. Have you pondered we'll
over Abraham's prayer when he plead
ed for the salvation Of doomed Sodom
and Gomorrah? What did God mean
when he gave those answers to the
patriarch of old? Why, God simply
meant this: abraham, IL there are fif
" or twenty or even ten righteous per-
sons In the wicked cities of the plain
VIII save those two cities for the ten
righteous sake" You can put but one
Interpretation upon that answer any
way you look at 1t. God sometimes
biesses those with whom his children
are compelled to live, as he saved the
passengers of the Alexandrian corn
ship for Paul's sake.
All Blessed Together.
Now, ! am not asserting that all peo-
pie who live in Christian lands are
Christians. but I am asserting that
God blesses all people IN Christian
lands on account OF the Christian peo-
pie who have by their presence in
those lands led to their bearing the
Christian name. If this fact is not
tIae, how can you account for the fact
that all the great scientific discoveries
nave originated among the so called
Christian nations? There must be
some rational cause for this over
Hhelming result. / honor Morse and
Newton and Faraday and Bell and
Edison and Hewitt and all the other
lliustrious' inventors OF the centuries
because God has enabled them to bring
honor on the lands that could claim
them as citizens.
But God has fulfilled the blessing of
my text in still another way. He has
made the home scene OF light wher-
ever his name is honored among the