Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1912-07-11
SATURDAY 10
SERMONS
By: .s<Nlz1'!l ].
REvSAMUELW ". PUPvIS.D.h
SEEING COP.

,pollute Water is pure # 1t contains
only its proper proportions Of hydro
gen and oxygen Snow is purer than
rain because In its descent through tho
air in solid form it cannot absorb pol
sonous atmospheric gases. Gold is
pure when fire has cleansed it of dross
The diamond is pure when there is
nothing to prevent perfect refraction
and reflection of light "That which
| impairs use," says the dictionary, as
the fieck on the telescope lens or the
| blemish in the mirror for instance. So
! too, anything that blurs the transpar
, ency Of the spiritual sight. "The fool
hath said in his heart, There Is no Cod
and there isn't-to the fool. This
text is one of the many instances
where the Bible tells a mighty truth
without having to tug and strain at
words. When a thing is wrong or
hazy we have to use great many
words to explain. What we see clearly
we state clearly. Crisp thinking makes
crisp speaking.
Earthly Language For Heavenly Things
The turn of a diamond suddenly
brings out a new face blazing color
you hadn't seen before. Let us turn
this gem so that the light will strike
| this word "see" We fall into frozen
habits of emphasis to thaw them out is
like the glories of an April morning,
| If we could hear the Bible read as it
ought to be we might well throw away
our commentaries. Fancy Paul giving
| personal reading from his letter to
the Romansl l won't quarrel with any
| one who expects some day to look ON
| God just as we look on each others
| faces. Possibly we will. If tired
housewife asks me will there be no
| housekeeping in heaven and the care
worn breadwinner no responsibility,
would say, "None If child asked
| for tops and marbles and dolls, would
answer, "Surer' If the city boy asked
| for green fields and the country boy
streets Of a heavenly city | would say,
yes What | would mean would be
1 that there will be in heaven those
things that will fit heavenly desires as
freedom from excessive household
cares. fierce competition. tops, dolls,
green fields or city streets. fit into
earthly desires. There is a truthful way
Of telling an untruth and an untruth-
full way of telling the truth, Heavenly
things must be stated In earthly Ian
| guage or we cannot understand them,
and so to accommodate earthly minds
God has to picture heaven with streets
OF gold, walls of jasper and gates of
pearl Some of US think real earthly
glory and beauty is expressed by gold
and jewels; some others have caught
| glimpse Of something different
AZ Seei"
We count sight as the most accurate
Of our five senses. Seeing is believ-
ing we say with an air of finality.
SO sight has come to stand for accurate
/ perception. 81 see your reason" II
can see the mans intentions" Of
course you do not mean you see" with
your eyes of sense Seeing really
means "comprehending." What you
| truly see is not my outer body, FIVE
feet so many inches In height 100 and
so many pounds in weight, short or
tall, dark or fair, handsome or homely
in features. Indeed, after you know
person, understand him. comprehend
his motives and purposes, learn to
love him, you actually forget how
he looks Blessed are the pure in
heart for they shall "see" God, under
stand him, love him, better compre-
bend him. Some of US are half fright
ened when a scientist writes a maya
zine article and says he has looked
through his telescope and microscope,
used his biologists hammer, chemists
test tube and hasn't seen God. I have
a townsman who is half infdel because
he cannot see God as clearly as the
gorgeous electric beer sign on the
corner.
"Unto the Pure All Things Are Pure"
Don't stand off and speculate about
misery until you've blinded your eyes;
relieve it and learn of God George
Eliot was one of England's strongest
intellects She saw the misery, the
poverty and the helplessness of Eng
lands poor. How can there be good
God and SO much mlsery?' she asked,
but she never moved to help it, She
sat apart and specialized. George Mac
donald saw more human misery than
George Eliot, but he treated it IS he
might treat q sore on his body He
used all his powers toward relieving It,
And he saw God. OF no other fact
does he seem so sure. Men like Soho
penhauer stand aloof and cannot ac-
cept God; men like General Booth
standing close see Him. God can only
reveal himself to US through that part
Of us most nearly like him. Conversely
we "see' that which Is most like our
selves. Thus some men see deceit,
trickery, hypocrisy; the poor are I'M
grateful, the rich selfish. Each one OF
as can tell the fault most easily 10 an
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