The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-19
DIR. FOSTER SPEAKS
!. OF PURITY OF HEART
No Success Without Devel-
Opment of the Heart
ENVIRONMENT OF MAN
No Discount Made For That, Minister
Declares-"Man Places Too Much
Emphasis Upon the External:
too Little Upon Internal

| fourth chapter of Proverbs as his text.
Or. John S. Foster pastor of the First
| Presbyterian church, last night delivered
a strong sermon to large congregation.
The words of his text were Keep
thy heart with all diligence for out of it
are the issues of life" DR.. Foster went
into every phase of his subject and closed
the address with strong appeal to keep
the heart pure, and to keep within 1t al
ways the image 'of an all-wise Creator,
whose children we are" The sermon in
part follows:
'The cardinal biblical themes are two
God and man. God: Mans Lord and
friend and Father. Man. Gods creature
and servant and child. The Bible is the
unfolding of the heart of God to His
creature and servant that he might be-
come His child.
In our text this evening we have the
admonition of father TO a child, in
dicating the point of emphasis. the pivot
around which success or failure revolve.
We are great believers In environment
Some books of the world would have 1t
that environment is responsible for every
condition of a mans life. There is no
doubt in the fact that environment re-
acts on the individual and that frequently
man falls because of his environment.
No Discount for Environment
But when we take the divine view
point and turn to divine wisdom there
is no discount for environments There are
no discounts placed on knowledge and
friends and wisdom and wealth. God
tells us that the true success or the true
failure depends not upon that which is
outward, but upon the mans own heart;
that II We hold the citadel true we shall
be able to win over all our enemies.
How does God keep the tree warm in
winter or make the beautiful flower grow?
Is 1t by building fire around It? No,
God put life into the tree and at the
same time placed therein the vital sap so
that it would be able to resist the en-
croachment of outward influences and
thus be able to retain that life. Man
places too much emphasis upon the ex-
ternal he places too little emphasis upon
the internal.
There Is a true saying that man is
wonderful piece Of machinery. When
there is dislocation in any part of the
machinery of man It runs wrongly. lie
is like any other complicated piece OF
machinery, In which his mind heart. con-
science and the affections must work
together to secure perfect harmony. If
there is not harmony and the perfect ad-
justment' of one part to another there Is
disaster.
"Sn has disorganzed disrupted, as 1t
were, this beautiful piece of machinery
called the soul. Gods prescribed method
OF determining that which is worth while
and worth the attention of a real man is
this: 1t must be indorsed by the mind. by
ried into execution by the will, after the
other three have passed on Its merits and
decided that 1t was really worth while
"A man is a creature of his own heart.
As things should be. man would have his
judgment rule his heart. but more often
it is mans heart that sways his judg-
ment. 1t is the nature of mans heart
to turn from God. He Is creature of his
own personal likes, and his tastes usually
run in the paths that lead to sin.
Man is a variable creature Few men
love alike or think the same things. why
is it that one man will read scientific
book with very evident enjoyment, while
another will cast 1t aside and read instead
a book of poetry? 1t is the heart IL is
love, which is deep down In the soul
that which is scientific is loved by che
one and that which Is poetic is loved by
another. Man is a variable creature and
If left alone does not accomplish any
thing. God says, place your finger on
your heart and look after the things you
love. Unless the heart is developed we
have not true success. Give heed to thine
heart. See that your affections are set
is love and out OF love Gomez eternal SYM
rathy.
Need for Regulation
"Our hearts by nature are sinful anI
wrap themselves around that which Is
alienated from God. The first requisite
of bringing a mans heart TO God Is to
convince him that his heart needs to be
regenerated. Our hearts are not naturally
inclined to true development The second
requisite for taking proper care of our
hearts Is that we shall take them TO the
Savior to get Him to take them In His
keeping. Only the power of the spirit
can create within us love for God and
until there Is love for God, then there
can be no true development.
"When we are conscious that our hearts
are nlienated from God. then we sre ready
to develop 1t that 1t may be restored and
purified and developed. The third requisite
to keep the heart restrained Is to have
the company of Jesus Christ the mind
of Christ. the people OF Christ. and the
church of Christ. all of those things
which keeps the Christ spirit within our
hearts.
"lt is fatal to neglect the heart. Care
for the inner man and the outward man