Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-23
MODEST PASTOR
MOVES AUDIENCE
UNHERALDED MAN DELIVERS
STRONG SERMON
DIR. ARTHUR PHELPS breaches
AT AUDITORIUM
Baptist Minister Follows Eloquent
Eastern Men and Surprises Church,
men with His Advantage In
Comparison

The Baptists of Los Angeles have q
modest preacher, hidden away in a small
pulpit; a man unheralded, not adver-
tised, quiet, unpretentious and humble
Rev. DR.. Arthur S. Phelps of Central
church. When Rev. DR.. Bob" Bur
dette went away-first for his vacation
and then because of his illness, his con-
gregation wrote east and north for IA
nous divines to fill his place.
And when the supply of famous men
ran out the congregation sent for the
modest man. To accommodate them he
left his summer tent on Catalina, don
ned a black suit and went into the
Temple auditorium yesterday morning
to deliver the biggest sermon heard
there this summer. When the news OF
this mans eloquence spread people
flocked to the Temple, and last night
the ushers turned many away.
DIR. Phelps is not a man who makes
trick phrases or breaches dogma. The
keynote of his thought is contained in
one excerpt from the morning sermon.
Said he:
Coming up on the car yesterday /
saw a placard announcing that some
Where Are the Dead?' My friends, I
do not care. am not concesned with
the eventful fate in store for this NOR
tai body. Do you suppose it interests
me to know where this corrupt flesh of
mine shall go, or in what manner 1t
should moulder away and return to the
earth from which it came? | am not
here today to ask Where are the
dead?' but Where are the living?'
What sort of a life are we living day
by day? What sort of man are you
in business, in your home, in your work
and your play? Where are the living?'
a Avoids Theological Dictum
DR.. Phelps took for his subject Put
ting Up a Brave Fight" and for his
text a proverb of Solomon's, He that
ruleth his spirit is better than he that
taketh a city" He avoided convention
al and commonplace theological
mouthings-his were not the tenets of
orthodoxy or the fanatical ipse dixits of
bigotry He talked to men of flesh and
blood, and not only his words but his
gesticuations-his movements, and his
voice carried the very spirit of the con-
fict.
According to Dr. Phelps, religion is
not an abstract quality, set in glass
case to be admired, but a matter of
daily contest for supremacy over spir-
its Of greed, selfshness and fragrant
wrong. He said: Young man, don t
think that you ought to come and give
Christianity the honor Of your enlist
ment. The question is not whether you
can bring credit to the cause by join
ing it; it is-Are you man enough to
be a Christian? Can you face the op-
position that you will find in your own
heart? Can you stem the tide of wick
edness of which you are a very part?
Can you defeat yourself? Are you a
man? If not you cannot be a Chris
tian, and the cause is better off with
out you"
With the bluntness of Sam Jones and
something of the physical vigor and
earnestness of Billy Sunday this
preacher without a press agent talked,
saying in part;
War History Interesting
"The most fascinating portion of his
tory. and that which fingers longest
in the memory are the great military
events: the story of Leonidas at the
pass of Hannibal crossing the Alps, of
Horatius at the gate, of Sheridan S
ride. Our text tells of battles greater
than those fought with shot and shell,
of heroes greater than Alexander, more
successful than Napoleon, more perse-
NbTlD& THAN IldIlIllbdl' IllolC fSil-E'eiNll
ficing than Joan of Arc.
"A mans spirit is his own and de-
mands his first attention. There can be
no altruism without egoism The big
gest drag on the community is the man
who will not look out for himself. Sol
diers fighting against a city help one
another; the man who fights moral
battle in his heart fights alone 1t Is
i'm large measure a thankless fight. Men
l.
give him no credit for dozen victories,
which they know nothing about.
He faces great variety of foes.
His enemy is treacherous and insidious.
A civil war is the most distressing in
the world. 1t takes many battles to
win. These struggles cannot be summed
up under the fifteen decisive battles Of
the world But the victory is worth
more Strength may be fTittered away
on the battlefield: it counts in the soul 3"
BY the time the doors Of the Audi
torium were opened for the evening
sermon the fame of the man had
spread. The subject announced was
Getting Married" The speaker faced
a packed house as he rose and said:
INV theme this morning was Putting
Tn a Brave Fight Do not for a mo-
ment believe that the evening sermon
has anything to do with the one this
morning.
Avoid GumaChewing Girl
"The text this evening is Proverbs
xviii:22: He that tindeth a Wife dndeth
a good thing Perceive that the text
says "indeth,' not chooseth. The young
man is not always so fortunate as to
have a wide choice There is also an
element Of chance, like finding a gold
mine-or q hornets nest.
"The finding Of a life partner is a
matter of grave Importance. Heaven
is not above and hell below; both are
at the marriage altar. An unfortunate
marriage may blast a mans life. John
Wesley's wife made faces at him from
the pews while he was preaching.
"How shall a young man find the
right wife? BY finding the right asso-
ciates. Don't marry the kind of girl
whose biography could be written in
three phrases: She was born, she
chewed gum. she died. The best gift
of God is a praying wife. Hasty en-
gagements bring leisurely repentance.
"How about yourself? Are you good
enough? Give that pure girl q pure
: husband: go to the marriage altar a
Christian. BE to her what you demand
that she shall be to you. A double
standard of morals leads to double ruin
Of lives. A marriage begun on the
knees ends in heaven"
With the Personally Conducted
"On your left ladies and gentlemen,
rises the majestic front of Westminster