South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-11-07
SEVEN MINUTE SERMON
ON THE GOLDEN TEXT
BY OUR OWN PREACHER

Lesson: sowing and Reaplng.
Galatins 8:1-10.
Golden Text: Whatsoever n man
I soweth, that shall ne also reap. Gal.
CD.
WHAT WE SOW WE REAP.
! 4. Drinking is the seed of misery.
A man may as well seek TO escape his
| shadow, as to prevent the natural re-
suits which follow his actions. \
! man reaps a crop OF the same nature
! as the seed he sowS. Moral seed sow
ing is done by our thinking. and more
| particularly by our actions If a man
thinks good thoughts, and performs
good deeds. he will have a crop of
good results; while on the contrary.
If he thinks evil thoughts, and per-
forms evil deeds, he IS just as sure
to reap evil results as thistles are to
produce thistles. This is particularly
true Of the drink habit. The natural
results of drinking alcoholic liquor is
misery. and the more seed you SOW of
this nature, the more misery you reap
Drinkers say, that the feelings which
come after drinking are eXhilarating
and probably this is true, but il is the
eXhilaration which comes TO n man.
sometimes, when ne is freezing to
Death and just as certain. as the one
sensation preceded death. so death
follows the habits Of the tippler
Young men, and others, VINO are now
indulging in strong drink, ought TO
take warning from the experience OF
others, especially during the past cen
fury, quit their drinking, for unless
they do, the same sad results will fol-
low in their case as in that of tens
of thousands of other cases. The loss
of character, the loss OF business, the
loss of public confidence, and generally
the loss of honor, are the dire results
of drinking
?. Smoking also is the seed of an
unnatural craving. The marvellous in
crease in the use of tobacco in it's
various forms is quite alarming The
increase of cigaret smoking among
boys has got to be a national calam-
ity, and the use of cigars among wO-
men of two classes namely: those OF
the underworld. and those of the So
called aristOcracy, Is simply without
precedent, and shocks all those who
have the welfare of the race at heart.
Referring to this habit in children.
Judge Choquette of the Montreal juVe
nile court, is reported to have said.
that he had dealt with 5000 delin-
quent children, and that 90 per cent
of them use cigarets, while SO per
cent went to the movies" The fact
is. that an unnatural craving is gen
Grated by all who use tobacco in any
form. The strongest men who use
tobacco are virtually slaves, for when
they attempt to do without it the
craving for the weed generally mas
ters them. They are all unstrung ner
vouSly, are often weakened for bust
ness, and as a rule are not pleasant
to live with. This is true not only of
bad men, but also Il men who are
naturally kind hearted and OF good
dispositions | am utterly astonished
hat cfr Oh al
low themselves to be mastered by such
baneful habit.
3. Observation-Disclosures is the seed of
"A repulsive character. No person can
think unkindly of his neighbor. and
encourage such thoughts and retain
a normally good disposition. Those
who allow themselves to cultivate sus-
picion of their neighbors, and inter-
pref what their neighbors do with a
wrong motive, and who allow them
selves to express their suspicious
thereby harden their hearts and by
and by, become repulsive to them
selves, to their fellows, and to God.
The motives which we invest others
with, are more or less a reflection of
our own characters. When a man
suspects others of doing wrong. with
out any actual facts TO support him.
he simply shows what he would have
done if he had been in similar cir
cumstances as the subject of his evil
suspicion. Not only do we reap what
we SOW. but conversely we also SOW
what we reap. No person can be
uncharitable without damaging his
own moral nature and sowing in him
self the seeds of a repulsive character
and an unhappy disposition.
4. SelfiShneSS is the seed of pow
erty. A selfish man is a narrow man.
and a narrow man is incapable OF big
things. The generous man is large
hearted He who is glad of the pros
the capability or being prosperous
himself, and creates an atmosphere
outside himself which tends to pros
perity. Solomon says. For the
drunkard and the glutton shall come
to poverty: and drOwsiness shall
clothe a man with rags and ii is
true; but it is also true that selfish
ness, in the last analysis, tens the
same way. A selfish man is a dissats-
fed man, and no matter what his
actual possessions are he is generally
miserably poor in his feelings. 1t IS
literally true that selfishness, as
rule, tends to keep men poor even in
this worlds goods, for those who eX
pect too much, generally get too lit
tie; and those who begrudge others
their prosperity, generally make it i'm
possible to be prosperous themselves.
We should, therefore, cultivate a spirit
of generosity, for the Bible says that
the generous soul shall get fat and
he who gives to others shall himself