Omaha daily bee., 1915-10-24
Billy" Sunday Likens Sin
to the BrambleS and ThOrnS

noon on the following text from Isaiah
S5IS: Instead Of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, and instead Of the briar
shall come up the myrtle tree"
In the text God has given us two con-
trasting pictures. A thing Is made clearer
by contrast. on the one hand we see
the pictures OF desolation and over
against that we find scene of thrift
and happiness.
There were no thorns or priars in this
world until sin gained foothold.
When the devil came he brought
hrambles and thorns. and has been MAX
ing trouble ever since. When thorns and
briars cover the field nothing can grow
everything else is choked out by the
weeds and thistles
You're a fool TO pluck brambles and
thons when you know they mean dis
solution, and the pretty flowers Of hap
piness and contentment and virtue arc
to be so easily gathered.
Suppose the only ones in Omaha were
sinners, and then you would see what
would happen TO virtue. II you would
rather have misery and misrule and briars
and thorns, you can take the devil and
go to the devil with him. Every bad
man makes Il easier for the devil to
thrive in Omaha and to send more souls
to hell, and every good man makes 1t
harder for him to do business in your
city
I believe that the people Of this state.
If the question were put up to them
squarely, would wipe out the saloons In
a fifty
/ haven't anything against the bar
tender or the little saloonkeeper. person
ally. I'd help either of them II they
were down and out. just as would help
any other man who is down and out. But
! you can take it from me that am after
! booze and those who make 1t to the limit.
| "saIoons win Close"
| 1 believe every saloon in this common
/ wealth viii soon have to close up shop,
Just as l am sure that in every other
part of the country we are going to see
! thist weapon of. the devil smashed.
! Just think how every hellsh thing is
Matched and hidden in the saloon--thiev-
| cry. gambling, prostitution graft. cor
ruption, wickedness of all kinds. The
| life of bad man is more of a curse to
the place in which he lives than a mass
of matted thorns would be in field.
His vote. his Indifference helps to shield
and shelter that which would tear down
|
can we find a bad man compared with
anything good-always something worth
less and devilish. You will notice this in
reading the First Psalm. On the other
hand is a smile for the good man-al-
ways something good-salt-light-and the
palm tree.
! The chapter from which my text is
taken is full of pictures. which are meant
| 20 a - rfn
There are enough pictures in one chapter
from the Songs of Solomon to keep an
artist busy the rest of his life. Take the
Bible and go through it carefully and
see for yourself, see that God wants us
to realize that being religious in the way
the Bible teaches makes us the bright
est and happiest. Instead Of thorn shall
come up the fir tree" The is not to
be any amalgamation-it reads thorn and
fir" You see the thorn gives way to
the fir
Easy to SIN.
I am satisfied that there has never
been a time In the history of the world
when 1t is harder to live a consistent
Christian life than now.
There is too much, good Lord, good
devil about some peoples religion. They
are walking a tight-rope with the devil.
Some OF you are afraid 10 come out for
Jesus Christ because you fear you will
lose a chance to put your feet under
some society bellwether's mahogany and
drink her booze. You might offend some
Unitarian.
| believe that the conflict between God
and the devil. between right and wrong
| between good and evil, is hotter than
ever in all the centuries that have gone
, before. / don't believe the allurements
of sin were ever more fascinating or
more insidious; I don't believe there was
| ever a time since Adam was turned out
of the Garden of Eden when pitfalls were
! more dangerous or more deadly than to-
day.
/ Never time when religion has been
redr to so much form and ritualism
! In tno mind of Jesus religion was not
to build up the church. The church was
to build up religion. Religion Is not the
end, but the means to the end. Religion
does not consist in doing a lot of special
things, but in doing all things In a spe-
cial way, as God directs.
The Pharisees were the religious high
brows of their day. Jesus had no more
use for moral snobs than society snobs
Christ has held by the moral caste OF
his day to be dangerous to His religion
He was dangerous to their kind of re-
ligion. II I were not dangerous to a lot
of stuff today l wouldn't hold my Job
with God very long.
We have the same highbrows today as
were the Pharisees. We are led by the
same morality NUTS, antagonistic TO the
real religion. Why some OF our fool mod
| ern critics even take the part OF the Phar-
| isees against Christ.
| Well, that the same gang that killed
Jesus Christ-the church of His day.
! Do you think you've got right to sit
at prayer meetings while the beer wagon
backs up to the rear of your house. TO
have cards at your table7 That's why you
are a Pharisee. That's why I've got a
fight with you.
Church "CrOsa-Eyed."
A church of make-believes soon begets
a generation Of non-believers The church
seems to be tending toward Righteousness
I .k.WNN go Il