Omaha daily bee., 1915-09-20
Chickens Come Home to RooSt,"
Topic of Sermon Preached to Men

ernscle, his subject being. Chickens
Come Home to Roost." lie said:
The 10th Psalm, the S5th verse: let
the sinner be consumed out Of the earth
and let the wicked be no more"
This always seemed to me to be a queer
verse Of scripture. II Is verse more
often misunderstood than any other and
read by many to justify their living in
sin. Il contains thought which l don't
find so well expressed in any other verse;
not on account of its popularity, but
because II Is used by men to justify their
living In sin.
There is. much unjust criticism Of
David, who lived a virtuous and upright
life He said. Let wickedpess Of the
wicked come to an end" 1t showed
Davids sympathy toward his fellow men
when he wept when he heard of others
sinning. But they would not be saved.
Some kept on SHINING and living in sin.
He saw what was the need Of the COM
munity and the nation, and said: 90,
/ God, II men won't stop SHINING, notwith-
! standing your commands. then let them be
consumed out of the earth" When he
said this, he offered the prayer, por-
ton Of which have chosen for my text.
! l sometimes find people who talk lightly
Of sin. l say he has lost all his respect
for right. all Of his respect for virtue.
decency, all Of his respect for everything
or he wouldn't say It. II only the men
who say 1t were affected by their sins,
it would be hard enough. 1 would work
just as hard as l do. But we never live
to ourselves. There are more affected
by your sins than yourself. although
would work Just as hard IL you were the
only one.
Makes others suffer.
! When you come staggering home. cuss-
ing right and left and spewing and spit
ting, your wife suffers, your children
suffer. Don't think that you are the only
one that suffers man that goes to the
penitentiary makes his wife and children
suffer just as much as he does You're
placing a shame on your wife and chil-
dren. If you're a dirty, low-down, filthy,
drunken, whisky-soaked bum you'll af-
feet all with whom you come in contact.
If you're a God-fearing man you will
influence all with whom you come in
contact. You can't live by yourself.
! Lyman Beecher was godly man. and
he was the father of more brains than
any other man.
1 occasionally hear man say, IT'S
nobody's business how 1 live" Then 1
say he is the most dirty low-down,
whisky-soaked, beer-guzzling, bull
neclIed, foul-mouthed hypocrite that ever
had brain rotten enough to conceive
such statement and lips vile enough to
utter 1t. You say, IF / am satisfied with
my life, why do you want to interfere
with my business?'
If heard a man beating his wife and
heard her shrieks and the children s
cries and my wife would tell me to go
and see what was the matter, and I went
in and found a great, big, broad-shoul-
dered, whisky-soaked, hog-jowled. weasel
eyed, pug-gut dragging a little woman
around by the hair and two children in
the corner unconscious from his kicks
and the others yelling i'm abject terror,
and he said:
What are you c q hing in to Interfere
| with my personal liberty for? Isn't this
my wife, didn't l pay for the license to
wed herr" You ought, or you're a
bigamist Aren't these my children;
didn't l pay the doctor to bring them
into the world?" You ought to or you're
a thief. IF 1 want to beat them, what
is that your business, aren't they miner"
Would 1 apologize? Never! I'd knock
seven kinds of pork out of that old hog.
Liberty Not License.
Personal liberty is not personal license.
I dare not exercise personal liberty, If it
infringes on liberty of others. Our fore
fathers did not fight and die for personal
J license, but for personal liberty bounded
by laws. Personal liberty is the liberty
of a burglar, of a seducer, or a raper, or a
wolf that wants to remain in a sheep
fold, or the weasel in a hen roost You
have no right to vote for an institution
that is going to drag your sons and
daughters to hell.
If you were the only citizens of Omaha
you would have a perfect right TO drive
your horse down the street at break
neck speed; you would have a right to
make a race track out of the streets for
your auto; you could build a slaughter
house in the public square; you could
build a glue factory in the public square.
But when the population increases you
can't do 1t. You say: ''Why can't
run my auto? own It, Why can't
1 run my horse? I own it. Why can't
build the slaughter house? own
the lot" Yes, but other people have
rights.
So law stands between you and per
sonal liberty, you miserable dog You
.
front yard because the law says you
can't. AS long as am standing here on
this platform have personal liberty. l
can swing my arms at will. But the
minute any one else steps on the plat
form my personal liberty ceases. 1t stops
just one inch from the other fellow S
nose. Right there Indicating a point
in the air)
ii Fighting for Sinners.
I When a persons acts affect only him
self they can be left to the conscience of
the individual, but when they affect
others the law steps in. When a child
has diphtheria, you are not allowed per-
sonal liberty; you are quarantined, be-
cause your personal liberty would en-
danger others II exercised. So you
haven't any right TO live in sin. You say
} you'll do 1t anyhow. All right, you'll
go TO hell, too. Adam and Eve said they
would eat the apple anyhow. and the
world became a graveyard. and here 5
the result today.
/ look out into the world and see a
man living in sin. 1 argue with him. ]
plead with him. / cry out warning words.
brand that man with a black brand