The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-10-15
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. J. II. JOWETT, NJ. A.
Theme: The Christians Resources

Jowett, M. A, the most famous minis.
ter of Carr's Lane Congregational
Church, Birmingham, England, who
is on a visit for the first time to this
country, preached Sunday in the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian Church. The
sermon was on "The Christians Re-
sources" MI. Jowett's text was Luke
14:31, Cor what king going to make
war against another king, stitch not
down first, and consulteth whether
he is able with ten thousand to meet
him that cometh against him with
twenty thousand?" He said:
Our Lord was always seeking to
get men to sit down to think. He
seeks to win their judgment, to touch
their reason, that they may see the
reasonableness of His doings and the
reasonableness of His evangel. He
is continually calling upon men and
women to think. What think ye?"
what king" He says, "about to en-
gage in a campaign stitch not down
first to estimate the strength of the
foe and the strength of his own re7
sources, and then ascertain whether
there is legitimate hope Of his forces
being able to meet and conquer those
who oppose him?"
My simple purpose to-day is to ask
you to do this little thinking, to medi-
tate on what kind of enemy we have
to meet, and l pray you not to let
your thoughts wander away to a far
off world, but let us consider what
enemies we have to meet in this
world where we have to labor and die,
and whether we can with our own
strength overcome them. And if not,
let us turn to those resources which
are offered to us in Jesus Christ, our
Lord.
Now what are these enemies that
we have to meet? What are the enc
mics in front of us? I repeat our
Masters own estimate of the foe
which every one CT us will have to
meet to-day and tomorrow. Jesus
Christ calls one "the world" Now
what is the world? We sometimes
say a man is worldly man. What
is the significance of the term? Too
frequently when we use this term we
refer to something a man does or
leaves undone. Men may be habitues
of the theatre, or fond of cards, and
we say they are worldly; and people
who abstain from these things are
labeled unworldly. I do not think
that covers it in the slightest degree.
Worldliness is not implied in what we
do or do not do. Worldliness is not in
doing this, or not dong this. World
illness is in the spirit. 1t is the at
mosDhere of the soul. Worldliness is
the spirit of the horizontal. Worldli-
ness looks on and out, but 1t never
looks up and prays. 1t is ambition.
not aspiration. It's motto is "for-
ward" never upward" It's goal is
success, never holiness. Worldliness
is life without the vertical, without
the upward calling in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. And whenever you find
man or woman, no matter what they
do or don't do, who always looks out
to the horizontal end, men and wom-
en- who have no ideal, no aspiration,
no heavenly vision, no prayer, those
are men and women who would be
described by the Master as "of the
world, worldly" Everybody here
knows what an exceedingly strong
gravitation there is toward the hori-
zontal life. In the church and out of
it you feel this tremendous mesmer-
ism, this worldly fascination, leading
US to turn our eyes from the heights,
from what Paul calls "the heavenly
things in Christ Jesus" We have
got that force of gravity to meet
the world
Then there is the "fesh." Every
one knows the power Of the flesh;
not merely the carnal power of the
body, but of carnal power expressing
itself in vanity and pride. The flesh
that bows down the soul and rides it..
instead of the souls determining the
movements of the flesh. We have the
flesh" to meet, whether in appetite
or carnal desire. "The world, the
flesh and the devil" 1 do not know
how I can define the devil, but Paul's
phrase always seems to describe my
relationship with the devil better than
any other: "The prince of the power
of the air." He does not leap upon
you like a lion. The devil usually
appears as "the prince of the power of
the air." and he comes into every
life and lets down the temperature;
he changes the moral atmosphere.
You were just praying fervently, and
suddenly you experienced a chill. 1t
is "the prince of the power of the air. :"
You start with great zeal to lead q
clean life, and before you know it the
temperature is perceptibly chilled.
The prince of the power of the air"
quietly, silently makes that tremen-
dous change in your moral life by in
fuencing and changing the atmos-
phere. We have got the devil to
meet.
Have you anything else to meet?
Yes, the fourth enemy is the binding
power of guilt. In my country there
are prominent men who say that men
and women have no longer the sense
of guilt. l cannot regard that as
healthful. There are many who can
rot hear the voice of God who are
nevertheless pursued by their guilt.
You do not need to hear the thunder
and see the lightning to have proof
Of the storm. The souring of the
milk in the dairy proves the storms
presence, and there is often the proof
Of the Lords presence and of guilt
in the souring of the disposition, the
manufacturing of cynics. The man
who was once sweet tempered be-
comes a cynic, the optimist becomes a
pessirnist. These things have regis
tered themselves as the binding pres
eGce of guilt
It is the bondage of to-day that
comes from yesterdays sin. We have
got that tc meet There are men and
women who have that paralyzing
power Of their own yesterday from
which they cannot escape.
Still one more enemy we have to
meet: the tremendous impetus of the
the quiet habit. Everybody has GER
tain habits which are determining the
trend and tendency of their lives.
There is nothing in human life which
is trifing. The most apparent trifie
has it's quota of energy and it en-
phasizes that energy in the main river
of our life and determines its course.
The trend of my life to-day is made
up of the accumulated trif1es of yes
terday You have got that to meet.
If you are on the right course so far
it is well, but if you are on the wrong
course you have to stop; you have
that enemy to meet.
Let me leave the enemies and state
what they achieve in the way of de-
struction. First of all you get an
impaired heart. I use the word