Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-02-25
SERMON TO PYTH|ANS
. ON 5OTH ANNIVERSARY
Delivered by Rev. w. A. Mum
day, at Emmanuel Church.
Members of the Order March to the
Church in a Body Sixty Strong
to Hear the Discourse.

The fool hath said in his heart there is no
God"
1.-The fool hath said in his heart.
there is no God
/ Those sound like pretty harsh
words to our ears. but we must realize
just exactly what they mean; and
when we do. am quite sure that wa
will agree thoroughly with the Psalm
list. and find in his utterance some
thing which will give every one of
us something to think about. He
says the fool hath said.' What
does he mean here by fools There
are several different degrees of mean
ing to the word. First it means, one
who is mentally deficient, insane.
One whose mental, faculties are so
completely deranged as to leave him
completely lacking in the power of
logical thought. Of course that can
not bs the meaning here, for such a
one is not responsible for his utter
ances. Another meaning is, one who
lacks common sense in ordinary
matters. The Psalmlst cannot mean
this either for such people quite often
are the most religious, being unable
to conduct business, but yet being
very devoted to the service of God.
And third meaning. according to
Biblical usage, is, one who is insensi-
%ho n1os aE Gn1
man: living by himself and for him.
self alone. One who, while he may
know or believe in God In his mind,
fails to put that belief to actual use.
That is the meaning which the
Psalmist had in mind when he used
those words. For what is it the fool
says? He says, There is no God. -
Now we know. every one of Us, that
there must be a supreme being of
some sort. We have only to LOOK at
the world around Us, or further, at
the great universe Of which this
world is but very minute part, to be
convinced that there must be a
higher power over it. 10 see it's
wonderful workings, all these great
bodies continually in motion, not
blind motion, but an orderly and
ordered course to see the great wis
dom of design. season following sea-
son, night following day, producing
the very best possible results; TO sea
the marvel of generation and gTowth
to see the physical organism. the
most wonderful piece of machinery
imaginable, with myriads of organs
each designed to do its own particular
work, and yet all working together
| in perfect harmony; to recognize the
wonder of the human brain, which
even the greatest scientists do not
pretend to understand; to see all this
and to deny that it is the work of an
all-wise, all powerful all-seeing be-
ing were the greatest folly copoeiv-
able. Whether or not he regards
Him as having any personal claim on
his life, man must believe that there
is God.
But the Psalmist goes further.
''The fool hath said in his heart.
there is 10 God" He is foolish who,
while protesting an intellectual be-
lief, fails to connect it with his life.
He who is willing to believe in a
supreme being. but who denies, either
explicitly or implicitly by his ac-
tions and negligences that GCd
has any interest in his daily life. or
that any duty is owing to Him. In
other words, he who believes in God
merely as a fact of existence. But
what earthly good is belief of that
sort to anybody? What results does
it bring in its train What effects
does it have upon mems lives? To
put the question broadly. what good
does belief. in anything, merely as a
fact, do2 l believe in the existence
of the Rocky mountains and of the
Panama Canal. have never seen
them, but others tell me that they
exist, and | believe in them. But
their existence makes no difference TO
my daily life. If tomorrow some
thing were to happen to wipe them
completely out of existence, it would
make no material difference to me so
far as my daily life were concerned.
Merely intellectual belief in God is
of the same order, and has just about
as much value.
And what is more, it is totally
inadequate. If the supreme ruler of
the universe is merely a fact, it were