The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1916-11-02
"wednesday Afternoons Sermon.

~ tfAf W
I'VE hear great deal ~ talk now
adays about "a chance after death
The false hope is held ol' OF @ sr'
end chance Jesus sG.i. '1a-b never
forgiyeness. Mother u -aIs world.
nor tho world 20 come The smoke
Of their torment ascsudeth forever
and ever.
1T Is time 20 put a stop 10 th.s
!. lying 10 The people 20 Thu, holding
cut Of a false hope ; want 10 pres.
snt some arguments TO-DAY against
=. the possibility OF e. chance after
:. death.
"a We don't deserve 81,
III yon had invited q man 20
dinner at your home and he bad r.
fused TO come. If you hdd repea.r'
that invitation and be bad refused
ss again; II you hal made 10 a standing
Antitauon aud ne had refused fer
twenty. thirty forty or even orr!
u years, you would hardly feel he ae-
served any further opportunity 90 boz
! .syour guest.
49,, GOD said. 7 have stretched out
Ny hand all day long anG no man
!, regarded
sT '1t seems % me that !t takes a
good deal of nerve 20 demand sec.
gond chance after death 4 be has
continued 10 refuse the thousand
end one invitations which lave been
!, extended 10 him.
go I'll. Longevity does not insure re-
spentance.
There Is not one thing In The oV-
perience of the world 10 indicate
that the average man would repen,
n If given 10000 vesrs The an,edill.
-yians lived 70 an ege seven 90 zen
times the length OF The ordinary life
=. today, int long life. instead OF rails.
~ ing their morals, lowered them. and
with each succeeding year they got
so vile that finally the world had 20
be drowned in q fCod. God soaked
II, scrubbed IL and anchored IL out
OF eight for 40 days to make it 81
rlace 10 live in.
Time is often pictured with a
scythe, but never With a medicine
chest. Seven-eighths Of the Chris
tians in the world today became
Christians under the age Of IS.
THAT means If you are not a
Z. w1hristian and over Is years. there IS
II ssbut one chance in eight
1.-THE older we grow the less that
~ ..chance becomes. II, during this life
with every advancing year the posi-
Visibility OF your ever becoming n Chris
s.grion grows less, by What logic do you
Is ss..fgure out that II your chance Wa
~ .sextended turnout eternity this iaV
~ ould be reversed
IF Finds Punishment Deerades Men.
# FIJI. Punishment does not cure.
49, "There are those who deluGe them
%s.relves and others By thinking that 3
I. short term OF punishment IN tht
&. p~orld 10 come Will refine them a.
= algold is refined by the fire, and thai
i wcut OF the soil Of punishment vii
4 spring fair flower Of penitence and
e Faith.
II wish 7 could believe that.
Y. iiwish II were true. But aur COMPEL
u ed TO face the fact that the over
@ whelming majority OF prisoners ia
penitentiaries. jails and workhOuses
have been imprisoned from one "a
sir times before. am compelle
y Ito face the fact that ar attack ~
delirium tremens does not have a
curative effect on a man who ig On
the grip OF drink. arr compelled
to face the fact that punishment
" instead OF uplifting life, sweeteuing
2 III and putting hope into f., does ,he
) reverse degra5es. crusaes and
& embitters IT,
1.-THE whole movement for the 49,
IS form OF our penal Institutions is
= based on the fact that, By cur meth
9 ods OF Furnishing criminals, we have
Y been turning them cut upon society
= nj the end OF their terms worse
= THAN when they went In
"Now, our universe is all ons
piece. the law which operates in ono
= reolm operates in another. II IS IN
ns IMPOSSIBLE for any nan who can both
,skee straight and think straight q
= Ebelieve that punishment, the mex
world would nave a redemptige eY
tsfect Hell is not college wher,
I. tyou enter in the freshmen Claes o
y ain and degradation and gradual,
e,.with wings in the senior year.
M- "tv. Your whole LITE tends &,
N..harden az the years go by aud q
= Ssuake more improbable any new Dc
" rcifion or fresh ventures
Biology. with itF laws ~ thu
atrophy 81 unused organs. exper'
cnce With It's laws 81 accumulauy,
e force OF habit, plants no flag % hop
aover the grave Of the sinner.
Every known law OK cur bcinq
srhysical, mental and moral IL
Silent preacher uf the fact THAI th
colder We grow, the longer we live
the more dificult r. viii be- 10 max
y ..rsdically new decisions OF DARN
+ moral ventures.
"V. The assurance OF q chanc
after death would remove one az th
\ greatest moral restraints of the ht
4 slnan race.
As ut may be that fear IL not lh
3 highest motive for morality. au
i free 10 admit Il Is a finer thing 10 b.
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