Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-08
Sunday Afternoon and
Evening
SUBJECT:
CHOW TO BE LESS THAN A MAN,

full, serve him. II you would rather serve
him than God, choose him and go to hell.
"These are the words OF Joshua, the
successor to Moses. Moses was a great
man. Moses was a great leader. He led
the horde of Jews out of Egypt where for
years they had made bricks without
straw and had barred their backs to the
lash Of the taskmasters, and with pillar
of fire by night and the cloud by day
he led them to the promised land. Moses
was the great law-giver and the precepts
he handed down are the basis for the
Jurisprudence of every civilized nation on
the face OF the globe. He was n great
organizer and has never been excelled,
but God wouldn't let him go into the land
of Canaan because he disobeyed when he
struck the rock.
Joshua was his successor. His life was
almost over when he called the people to
him and rehearsed to them what God had
done for them and said: Choose ye this
day whom ye will serve Choose whether
you will serve God, who has done so much
by feeding you mama, going before you
in a cloud and In pillar of fire, and
who has made your sandals and garments
to not wear out, or whether you will wor-
ship the golden idols of other nations
And right here I'd like to appeal to
your manhood. Whether you will worship
God or the devil, or some little nonenity
of earth. Man has been defined as 'ra-
tional animal I don't know about this.
Man doesn't surely reason when he re-
fuses to accept Christ. A man Is a moral
idiot to refuse to see that 1t is n rea-
sonable thing to do right and that 1t Is
unreasonable TO do wrong; that 1t is un-
reasonable to get drunk and reasonable
to be sober, unreasonable to cuss and rea-
sonable to pray. Man uses his reason
when he accepts that which will get him
to heaven. and he doesn't when he goes
to hell. 1 want to appeal to your reason,
men.
MORE THAN WEIGHT NEEDED.
"You can't define man. Avordupois
doesn't make a man. He Is not man
because he weighs 175 pounds and stands
feet g. Some men remind me of the
signs you see in butcher shop, Dressed
Pork and Dressed Beef No. sirl 1t
takes something more than avoirdupois to
mako a man.
alexander II. Stevens, ex-Vice Presi-
dent of the Confederacy, was noted for
his keen wit IN debate. There wasn't
man in the Senate but hated the
thought of crossing Stevens in debate.
During his last term he had to be wheeled
to and from the Senate in a chair. One
day Tom Toombs, of Georgia, was on
the opposite side of the question and
Stevens said something which Toombs
didn't like, and Toombs came over. and,
leaning over his chair, said: 'Stevenss God
curse you; could eat you alive Quick
as a flash Stevens retorted, If you did,
you'd have more brains in your belly than
you ever had in your head Then old
Tom tried to hedge, and he said: L
haven't had the opportunities that you
have had. I'm self-made man. Stevens
came back with, Then that relieves God
of n wonderful responsibility So avoir-
duDOiS doesn't make n man.
Jesus Christ came to reveal Himself to
man and to reveal man to man. Jesus
came to show what kind of a man He
wants you to be. Only as you strive to
reach the high ideals will you be man.
To try to live in His teachings is reason
able. To shut your eyes Is foolishness
If you want an introduction of yourself as
God wants you to be, look to Jesus.
"'Choose ye this day whom ye will
serve
"Most any man can give an excuse for
not being q Christian, but I have never
met one yet who could give a reason.
reason is suitable grounds to prove your
side of 1t, and an excuse Is just saying
something. An excuse will not save your
soul from hell and no one can give a
reason.
NOT MAN ENOUGH, REASON.
"The nearest any one ever came to CIV
ing me a reason was young man In
Toledo. I asked him II he was Chris
tian, and he said he was not. asked
him If he believed in God, he said yes.
He said he believed in God. in the Word
of God, in Jesus Christ, the son of God,
in salvation for those who will repent, in
a heaven for the saved and hell for
the lost and that if<a person didn't re-
pent he would go to hell / asked him
then why he wasn't Christian He said:
Bill, I'll tell you. I'm not man enough
to be Christian
"Do you know why a lot of you haven't
been down here? You're not man enough.
You haven't the nerve to go homo and
say to your wife, I've given my heart
to Christ You're not man enough to
go home and call the children to you
and let them hear your voice In prayer.
You're not man enough to go home ana
ask the blessing. You're not man enough
to go to your clerks and tell them you
have given your heart to Jesus Christ.
you have asked to be your wife. and who,
God permitting, will be the mother of
your children, and put your arm around
her and say. I've given my heart 10
Christ and wen lock arms and go TO
glory together You're not man enough
f" to take your stand and go home
and send a telegram TO your old mother,
If. she is in distant city reading your
prayers have been answered.
you're not man enough to go tell the
members of your lodge you have taken
Christ. You're not man enough TO be a
Christian. / hurl 1t in your teeth. You're
not man enough to be Christian NO
man can be a man unless he is Chris
tian. II you want to be man be
''Therefore. II you want to be less than
a man, go TO hell. II you want to be
man, go to heaven. No man can be
saved unless he is a man. No man can
be a Christian unless he is man, and
no man is a man unless he is Chris
tian. SO If you would be a man. serve
the Lord
"If your children ever go to heaven It's
because some stranger has picked them
up and showed them the way to Jesus
Christ. The Chinese bind the feet or
their children to prevent their normal de-
You are binding the feet OF
your children when you fail to show them
the way to righteousness.
zone man said, "Bill. I'd like to be
Christian, but then they would laugh at
me- Any one that would laugh at man
for wanting to be Christian, any man
that would laugh at man after he was
a Christian, any man that would sneer
TO prevent a man from being Christian,
Is so uE manly that he is so damnable. and
low down that wouldn't compare pole
rat to him, not deserving Of the name OF
a "a will tell |