Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-04
MORNING SERMON

Dig rs hickory nut IN your Hnirt trOr
| doesn't make you any better
when God built the universe He spolS
and the Holy Spirit had the work done
When God Wills the Holy Spirit does
When God Wills the Holy Spirit will Civ
Philadelphia a new life Of sobrlety an
decency
II EGOTIsM A DANGER.
"one OF the greatest dangers, as SCI
II, to the church Is tho egotlstical self
ish contentment Of men. That is tn,
curse Of the world today Because 70,
think your hope OF heaven is sure, yot
don't care a rap whether the other fel.
low is saved; II you are happy. you don't
care whether the other man suffers OF
not.
| "a man won't walk to a precipice and
fling himself over IL with his eyes open
| a man, unless he Is a fool or crazy, will
| never stand on a railroad track and con-
test his strength with steel and steam.
The hidden traps of Justice are more
fatal than the seen traps. Satan can
plume himself in the guse of dove Of
light, and in that disguise he does his
most effective work If you knew the
devil he would not be getting so many
people to walk the paths of vice. and the
way to heaven would not be so deserted.
THE danger to the tired traveller is
not that he will walk too far out on the
beach and the incoming tide engulf him.
| If mEn says to me, L have never been
| n drunkard,' I say, God be praised that
| your wife has never known what 1t was
| to see you stagger in, and vomit and
| puke. and maunder and mutter, and bias
| pheme In her presence; God be praised
that your children have never known
what 1t is to walk the streets and have
the finger of scorn pointed at them God
be praised that they have never sat
around stove and shivered because you
have nothing to buy coal because you
must drink; that they have never gone
to bed hungry for something to eat that
you might drink; that you have never
known what 1t is to have the wolf of
drink gnaw at your heart and pull at
your Vitals like hungry wolf"
"One man said to me: Bill, I have
never been tempted to sidestep; 1 have
never been tempted to forge; have al
ways been true to my marriage vows
know that but are you willing that the
world shall see you as God sees you?
God sees everything. Are you willing
that the world shall see you as God does? |
God is going to reach this old world by |
and through the people who believe and |
live and preach the truth.
THREE CLASSES IN CHURCH.
There are three classes In the |
church, as 1 have looked at from my |
standpoint. The first are those In the
church personally who want to be
saved, but they are not concerned about
other people. They do not give any help
to other people; they don't lie awake at
night praying for other people that they
might be brought to the Lord.
THE second class are going to de-
pend upon human wisdom-there is no
such thing as latent power, express or
implied-power is just as distinctive
In an individual as the electricity in
these lights. If these globes are with
out current they would be nothing but
glass bulbs fitted for nothing but the
scrap heap. Without the Holy Spirit you
are as sounding brass and tinlSling Gym
balls, and third rate amusement parlor
with religion left out. The church of to-
day needs a flood of the Holy Ghost The
third class are church members not from
might and honor and power, but from the
spirit
II am not a pessimist: no, I am an
optimist of optimists and 1 believe that
a brighter day never dawned upon the
church of Jesus, and that there was never
a time when men and women were so
hungry for the true religion as they are
today. / believe that the church of God
never had brighter prospects; and [ he
lieve that down by the door of the
church today there are rolling such
as 1t never had before There
the gospel than ever before. / believe
that no church door should ever swing
open; no sermon should ever be precahed; II
10 song should ever be sung; no eet,,g !
should ever be held that is not for the
only object of the bringing of men and |
women to a saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God.
We've got churches; lots OF them.
We've got preachers, semlnaries, and they |
are turning out preachers and putting
ham Inf thnn nAI.,
keeping them there until they get cold
enough to practice preaching.
why, at Pentecost one sermon saved
1000 people, now 1t takes 5000 to get one
I'D buttermilk-eyed, red-nosed, whisky
Ioaked blasphemer. |
mo people on Gods earth are better
,lothed and better fed than in America,
10 this is not what is wrong.
TOO MUCH ORGANIZATION.
"A fellow came to me and said, Billy,
he trouble is that we need organization
anIzed too much today. There is so
nuch organization in the church that
ou can hear the machinery squeak, but .
70 haven't got oil enough of the Holy !
ihost to grease one axle OF Gods char /
ot. Listen to me. We've got the Y. M.
!. A., the Y. w. C. A., the Y. p. s. C. E.,
he C. t. u. the I. p. X. the j. E. L. :
nd the j. e. |. l. y. I
Drop into a young peoples meeting. 4
he leader viii say, In a weak. effeminate,
pologetic. negative sort of voice, that 4
here was q splendid topic this evening, (
ut he had not had much time for prepa-
alton. 1t is superhuous for him to say v
nat; you could have told that. He goes 9
long and tells how happy he Is to have r
ou there TO take part this evening. maxi {
lg this meeting interesting. Some one I
cts up and reads a poem from the C
hrlstian EndeaVor Herald, and then s
ley sing No. 3s. They get up and sing, Il
Oh, To Be Nothing. Nothing; Only to SIT
t His Feet" We used to sing that song, v
ut found out that they took 1t so liter d
Ily that cut It out. the same as have
It slang out OF my preaching. Uaugh- a
,r.) n
''Then q long pause. and some one 3
ays. Let ua sing No. g. So they get d
D and then some one starts Throw
ut the Life Line They haven't got v
rength enough to put up elothesline. d
mother long pause. and then you hear. a
lave all taken part that feel free to do I,