The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-22
HOO People Gather at the Lyric Theatre to Hear
 Beloved Pastor
STORY OF TROPICAL
 SON IS ACCOUNTED
Personal Experiences in Youth Used With Effect in Illustrating Pas sage of Scripture - Sin
 Makes Us Uncongerial

Dr. Henry NJ. Edmonds at the Lyric theatre last night told more than HOO people that sin was a separating in- fIuence. and by striking Illustrations and vivid word pictures proved it to them in the third of his series of ser. mons in the downtown district pr. Ednonds' text was taken from
 the story of the prodigal son, who
 after spending his possessions in for eign country. went to his father and asked forgiveness in spirit of hum bleness. The wording of the text was, "When he had come to himself," the prodigal son returned to the house of his father
 Sin has a tendency to separate us from our friends" said Dr. Edmonds 'It enters like q wedge, the sharp point first to pry friends apart. You say that if you don't continue to do those things which we preachers ob- 1ect to. you will have to cease travelling with the gang Well, per- haps you will. But sin will destroy
 that in you which makes friendship
 possible, and you will, little by little
 lose even those friends with whom you
 
 sin.
 YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCE "Sin separates families. When I was
 boy there was nothing I liked bet
 ter than being with my father. He taught me to hunt and he was con-
 sidered the best shot in York, where
 was born. I was transported into
 heaven when he commended my shoot ing. l particularly enjoyed the Sum day afternoon walks with him and the other children. But then I began to do things which I ought not to have done And l no more liked the Sunday after noon walks; I hated them. l hated tho clear, calm eyes of my mother, into which l could no longer look steadily. My sin had separated me from that which was pleasure before, and l could no longer enjoy it.
 Where men and women have serious trouble in the home sin will be found to be at the bottom of 1t. I have had numbers of men come to me and ask me to go and see their wives that they were doing things which they should not do, and were causing ! breach in the domestic happiness. Tn most cases l found that the husband was responsible for it; that he had | first sinned. and the trouble originated with him. You know a woman, with | all her boasted ability to take care of | herself. is a very helpless creature. 1 Woman is strange creature to me, but she has been made naturally a | lever of one man, and if we give her | half a chance she will stand behind | us and will gladly bear every ignominy | to be with us. If sin has separated you and your wife, look. man, to your self. Did you start it by seeking vag-
 rant pleasures and leaving her at home alone?
 "The separating quality of sin that I wish particularly to mention is this: That sin divides up man himself For this is true, that if we ourselves are unit, if we have our own self respect. if we can decide upon our own course and follow it. we really be- come independent of friends. man who is right and who is conscious of
 being right can<be left alone and car still stand with deep feeling of Joy THE WAYS OF SIN "Sin makes us get into uncongenial company. I knew a man in 0 Sumter county town who was a Virginia gem tleman. His dress, his language, his manners betokened the gentleman. and he was gentleman. But he fre- quently drank large quantities of whisky. In fact, he drank so much and lay around in the streets so often that the primitive, rude justice of that It. tie town asserted itself. One evening, when he was lying in the street drunk n group of men dragged him to a lit- tie store about the center of the town, rnder which hogs had made q wallow and lay at night. These men dragged him under this little store and tied him there in the midst of the hogs and he slept there that night, and walked up the next morning among the hogs.
 "IIe was a Virginia gentleman. And he was gentleman. Sin had thrust him into the company of swine. Oh, how sin separates us from ourselves and makes us do unnatural things things from which our souls revolt ''How sad 1t is to see a man divided against himself. man so divided that he dreams of heaven and lives in hell; that he dreams of being pure and fid- dles in the mire. That's the tragedy of Iife--a separated self"
 The crowds at last night service. as on the previous Sunday night services, came early. The theatre was rapidly filled after o'clock, although many persons were waiting for the doors to open at z. The gallery held many negroes. and Dr. Edmonds wishes 1t announced that negroes will be welcomed to all the Sunday night services in the downtown section. The gallery will be open to them and he will be glad to have them present.
 A feature of the services last night was the singing of the West End quar- tet. For the offertory Miss Almeida Sadler sang solo and as Ilnaie Y. owen Gillespie sang.