Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-09-04
OF HUMAN RACE
Continued from Page Four.)

I
| And. thus my friends. does the father
of all those who become heirs through
Jesus Christ. place the arms of His
mercy beneath them one and all, and
| in life's last hour He will draw them
| close to himself.
| But this, mark you. is the experience
of the christian. And this is the ex-
perience that sins impulsiveness is rob-
bling some of you. How inconsiderate
| is the sin of unbelief that leads one to
withhold himself from the best things
in this wOrld-the church, the bible.
the Kingdom Of God: and that at the
same time leads him to live and to die
| withoue God. the souls only hope, the
! secret of life's greatest usefulness and
the homes highest happiness.
2-Impulsive sin soon becomes eS-
pulsive sin. No longer do We find the
would be-runaway- couple amid the
trees of the garden. Eden can not
now be their home. They have sinned.
and the simple words OF the Book are:
so God drove out the man"
| Out OF light into darkness. out OF
! fellowship with God into alienation
| from God. out of ease into hardship.
out Of sunshine into storm. out of
rosaete environment into one of thorns
they were forced TO go.
Viewing the situatin In one way sin
| drove them out. For, had they re-
manned guiltless they could have spent
their days in Eden. Viewing their ex-
pulsIon In another light God drove them
ont For all penalty is God inflicted.
Not by special act of creative power
| but by an established divine order In
the ver.- constitution of things.
touch my hand to a hot stove and
my finger is burned. Now | can say
l burnt it. For had kept it away from
the stove IL would not have been burnt.
| Or I MAJ say God burned my hand.
! For according 20 the laws of heat
which He Himself established and not
| ]. whoever brings his flesh into con-
tact with hot iron must pay the PEN
atty.
| After they had sinned II was all to-
gether natural that Adam and Eve
should leave the garden. For sin Is
explosive. both in its nature and in the
divine plan. The runaway pair went
! out not because God took them by the
hair Of the head and hurled them forth.
| for He did not: they went because sin
| is expulsive and because whoever gives
himself to it will find it separating him
from best things.
You have all seen the trap toys-such
delight to children and TO grown ups
too Usually these toys are in box
| fastened to a spring within. Now the
| box looks rs lifeless and as harmless
as any other box. but when you raise
the lid and the spring gets loose the
cOntents-usually an ugly rlce. or an
imitation serpent or some other fright
full thing-will jump at you, and ten to
one you will jump too.
Sin is like this deceptive toy. 1t
takes us in our snug environment,
whether il be in a harmonious home. or
! In a prosperous business career, or in
worthy social position and ii thrusts
us unceremoniously forth. to the sur
prise of our friends and to our own
distress and dismay.
One day a working man was making
an open air speech in which he was
extolling the virtues of Temperance. A
bystander. evidently out of harmony.
boastfully said: When have my beer
I feel strong enough to knock house
down" And the speaker rctorted:
Through my leaving off M beer |
have been able to put two houses up.
Sin is destructive Holiness is con-
structive.
Strange as IT may seem at this point
in the preparation Of my sermon
splendid illustration Of sins expulsive
power knocked at my door. | invited
him in and listened to his story. A
man 80 years of age or more with a
splendid command OF language. but
with a weakened physical body and
with a spirit that had 'almost despaired
OF life.
He told me how in former years he
| had held a prominent and lucrative po-
sition with a +. r, how his companions
| in toll had complimented him upon his
strength Of body and his splendid hab-
it's. and how his daughters had made
their mark in educational circles. one
of them being a scholarship student,
and how he. himself. had moved among
1.-THE best people.
| Without his knowing that I was
thinking Of sins power to undo and to
thrust men out of the circle of worthy
things l listened with rapt attention
and deeoest sympathy to his story OF
better days. There he was before me
saying: Il am almost weak enough to
die" and his looks proved it: saying:
Il have suffered an awful demOraliza-
ton" and his looks proven it; saying:
IF I do not soon get word from my
folks | will lie down somewhere and
! die"
| gave him n piece of money and
a promise that | would serve him
further if l could. But one thing I
did not do because ! could not: | did
not restore him to his lost Eden.
Sin had gone before and with it's
lexpulsive power had clicked the doors
behind him-the door to health. the
door to society. the door to education,
the door to self respect. the door to the
home. the door to happiness. Oh. the
lexpulsive pwer of sin,
II you would find wide open doors
in the business world let sin alone. If
you would be masterful in body eschew