Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-16
Sundays Sermon Today
arHE FIR TREEo

Il, % see all the way through the
s,h,e especially the Old Testament. that
aos Is talklns to us in pictures. That's
s,eouse the laws Of the mind require
.t.t mode Of teaching. You try and com
.,,n,cate any kind of an idea to child
"a Won will see at once that without
- helm of pictures 1t is almost Inn
a..lble, That Is the way Jesus taught
r.o has never been a successful
,.acher in any age Of the worlds his
-, who did not follow similar practice
.,,s.r God wanted man to see anything
~. trst told him what 1t was like. That
&c making word pictures. read with
narable spake He not unto any
ou. That.s because He wasn't teach
MAJ , - n,,t in time and 80 He used plenty
lns sc,pTes to enable us to see important
o. .l,rs witch He came to enllghten us
aggSs a,.,..-o has never been language that
,,ant have It's beglnpng In pictures. You
ssys ali seen men who appeared 10 pc
my, .hinsa If their hands were tied. TAKE
,rsonchn,an. for instance. He talks
tsS w oysr when he talks. He talks with
~ ..od his shoulders. his arms his eyes
ms hsS SaS,, why? He wants others to
hNe ,i,iugs the same way he sees them.
~. js also true of the German ana the
To- Especially Is this true oil the
i,nsrlcan Indian. He talks SO largely IN
I,nns An, that dead mutes can understand
him ,,,,5orgartena and urinary
..ts,o,,a the teachers make much use
ospa,ct,,res. They must use pictures or
~, cannot teach anything. PICTURES are
.'.,a,,s attractive, one can read them SO
ssodilv. There is never any brain rag
- learning things we can see ana grasp
- glance. That's why the MOVIES
hsve taken such strong hold upon the
nnssuio--jt's SO much easier to read the
peop, ,,,c,urcs than in a printed book.
al, minds in the formative period OF
80. thinls In pictures, even before they
~ ~ abIe to do any thinking In words.
Ssybsn God told Adam to name the ami
Ia 4, was the same as IL God mad said
to him study moving pictures
ptRLE GREAT PICTURE BOOK.
Tbs Bible is a great picture book. 1t
d, The most wonderful picture book made
-never wears out. Children soon tire
- ,he nursery pictures. You can go
.L.o,vh the Bible and see all the pictures
i, a. In n short time, and yet 1t thrills
with new interest all the way along and
,.ysr wears out. The Bible keeps up
with us all through life. When we grow
q grows. AS soon as we see one th'ng
:, shows us another Before God under
.ao,, 70 saw much about salvation, He
alled the Bible full of pictures to show
UP what 1t was like.
.parhops Adam was in the Garden of
raen hundreds of years before he could
And n name big enough for the non.
Probably spent months watching crickets
and toads before his eyes were Dig
enough to see the lion all at once. That's
the way to learn things-a little at
time.
SIN the text God has given us two con-
trasting pictures. A thing is made clearer
by contrast. On the one hand we see
the plcture of desolation, and over against
that we find a scene of thrift-and happi-
ness. There were no thorns or briars In
this world until sin gained foothold.
When the devil came he brought bram-
bles and thorns, and has been making
trouble ever since. When thorns ana
briars cover the field nothing else can
grow-everything else is choked out by
the weeds and thistles.
"The same is true with sin. Give sin
the right to reign and II Will cover the
earth with desolatlon. Nothing good
could flourish where thorns cover the
land: 1t makes 1t the hiding place OF
snakes lizards and all manner OF un-
clean and loathsome reptiles. It's the
same with wickedness. Don't you know
that every bad man in community
Strengthens the devils mortgage. Just
see how every hellish thing is hatched
and hidden in the saloon-thievery, gam
bling graft, corruption. wickedness OF
all kinds The life of a bad man is
more Of a curse to the place In which
he lives than mass of matted thorns
would be In field. His vote. his in
difference helps to shield and shelter that
which would tear down home. His life
Is curse. Nowhere can we find a bad
man compared with anything good-al-
ways something worthless and devilish.
You will notice this in reading the first
Psalm On the other hand is a simlle for
the good man-always something good
salt-llght-and the palm tree.
The chapter from which my text is
taken Is full of pictures, which are meant
TO show the blessedness of righteousness,
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 1t carefully and
see for yourself. see that God wants us
70 realize that being religious in the way
the Bible teaches makes us the brightest
aAu ndppleSI. lnSIeau OF .bIdll
come up the FIR tree There Is not to be
any amalgamatlon-it reads thorn and
mr. You see the thorn gives way to the
CONTEST HOTTER THAN EVER
BEFORE.
Il am satisfied that there has never
been time in the history OF the world
when It is harder to live consistent
Christian life than now. believe that
me conflict between God and the devil.
Between right and wrong. between good
and evil. is hotter than ever In all the
ssnturles that have gone before. 1 don't
believe the allurements OF sin were ever
more fascinating or more insidlous; !
DON'T believe there was ever time since
Adam was turned out OF the Garden OF
Eden when pitfalls were more dangerous
OF more deadly than today. Never time
when religion has been reduced to so
much form and ritualism. In the mind OF
sssus religion was not TO build up the
en4reh. The church was to build up
sshslon. Religion Is not the end, but the
lasans to the end. Religion does not con-
sAt ~ doing lot OF special things. but
eolng all things In a special way. as
-. 80 directs. The Pharisees were the re-
tslous highbrows OF their day. Jesus
- - no more use for moral snobs than
society snobs.
The Pharisees were the church-going
tFoplo OF their day ThaV yVera sloVaI TO