Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-11
Yesterday Mornings
Sermon
Sermon


F1HERE follows the text OF the formal,
i prepared sermon delivered yesterday
morning by Mr.. Sunday. The evangelist
dld not adhere 90 his sermon. Deviations
land they are many, picturesque and
charsctefistlcally forceful--are to be found
m the general account OF what took place
yesterday at the tabernacle.
Test Proverbs 2o-s--''whers there is no
vision the people perish"
Where there is no vision the people
perish. Where there is no appreciation
OF the plan OF redemption the people run
wild and riot. They become vicious. The
same Is true with communities and with
nations where there is no ideal and no
striving toward an ideal.
Genesis. first chapter first verse. says:
In the beginning, Cod Seek ye first
the kingdom of Cod whoever fails to
regard the plan of life is as foolish as
the sea captain who tried to guide his
ship by the clock instead OF the compass.
In so far as you run crossways to God
you will have no vision.
Every nation must have a vision or per-
ish. The eolonists had vision of liberty
when they threw off tho yoke of Great
Britain. Where are Babylon Assyria,
Nlneyeh. now7 They had no vision Every
man that has amounted to anything in
the world had n vision. Alexander the
Great, Caesar, Columbus, Raphael. An
Eelo, Robert Fulton, ELI Whitney, Edison,
Bell
'rhe reason why you are Christian Is
because you had vision OF being some
thing better than a sinner.
THE reason am preaching is because 1
had vision. i want to get prayer and
personal work IN order that we may have
more of a vision.
BETTER CITY IN VIEW
"Just as Philadelphia has a vision will
Il be a better city. Just as you as citi-
zen have vision will Philadelphia have
vision. Whenever community says
morally It's because the citizens sag
morally. Whenever a church says spirit
uaiiy It's because the membership says.
ut makes me laugh to hear an old
deacon get down on his knees and pray
for a greater vision when his old worldly
wife is gadding to card parties and his
frizzled little sissy of a daughter is going
TO dances.
Here are the reasons why the church
doesn't have visions. The first is dlsre-
spect OF Christ as the Son of God Who
ls n liar? He that denies Christ is the
Son of God and doesn't believe in saliva
zion by repentance and Heaven and hell.
We have too many damnable heresies and
anti-Christs harpIng and yowling around.
Another reason is the criticism of the
Bible. We have too many rank skeptics
and infidels in the pulpits. Some of them
say there are four Isaiahs The big nuts.
What difference does that make? There
Is a kind Of reverent criticism that seeks
to clarity Gates, etc, but ! despise the
men who try to wreck my faith by
criticism
''rhere are three kinds Of critics First,
y those who would like to- see the Bible 20
because it rebukes their SINS Poor fools.
THE second class of critics like to ape
scholarship. They stand up and say the
consersus OF the latest scholarship says,
Your consensus of the latest scholarship
can go to perdition.'
THE third class are the devout, rever-
snt critics.
Don't fear all the pin head critics that
mock and deride a great effort like this.
"Let them blow and spout and spew
all they please, but 1t will never shake.
"The church is at fault. There is a little
book called the grammar of the church
which says the church has lost its in
terrogation point. At the time of Pente-
cost men asked What can these things
be?' and marveled. They don't now. Men
aren't staggering back and marveling
now and the church has lost its power
with God
'.I'm not afraid OF being undignihed, I'm |
scared 70 death of being dignihed. I can |
preach nice sermon. but you don't need |
that.
''The church has lost Its possessive |
case You say the Saviour and not my |
Saviour
"The church has lost it's imperative
mood. The church doesn't say to the evils. |
'Stop' II the church members stopped |
playing cards the miserable card playing |
business would die out, and we'd stop |
breeding gamblers II no church MEM |
bers voted for the saloon the saloons |
would all wriGgle into hell where they |
belong. A lot of you miserable whelps |
voted for the saloon. I'll shoot your hide |
full of holes. have as much respect for.
you as have for the saloonkeeper.
''If the church members stopped patron
izing the theatre they would go out or |
business A lot OF you women go off TO |
the show and see a lot of girls dancing /
around without enough clothes on TO nag
a handcar or make tail OF kite. and
you come back and say you are so re-
freshed.' You come and hear me and you
nay I'm so vulgah"
''I throw a little slop to the hogs. but
never crawl over into the pen and eat
with them.
"cHuRCH NEEDS TREATMENT"
"In the East the sheep have rubbing
posts and those that have lice or bugs
90 up and rub against the posts and the
shepherd sees them and picks them out
OF the flock for treatment The church
people are rubbing against card parties
and theatre and you need little treat
ment. and I'm trying TO give 1t to you.
You are like the hobo who saw the
quotation. Flee as q bird to the noun
tain and remarked that he never saw
them as big as birds.
"The church has lost its present tense.
Now is the time for salvation. Sometimes