The Detroit times., 1916-09-20

U<tL0 ~ ~ Nh AAt o.a1f
when Tom Paine was about TO
IDubIinh his inndel book entitled
Ths Age OF Reason" he sent the
manuscript 10 Benjamin Franklin,
|&0ho n that time was a doubter re-
Sror6ing some OF the essential quail
H. OF orthodox Christianity. and
<non1amin Franklin returned 10 Tom
tA1ue the manuscript with this ap-
<>oon6ed advice: Burn IL. ! would
Z ndvise you never TO attempt 10 IN
4 chAin that tiger upon the people.
III the world II so bad with the
eligion OF Jesus Christ. what would
q be without II, and the wise sen
tence of Benjamin Franklin affords
~ m unanswerable argument TO every
proposed form OF opposition 10
Christianity.
what harm has the gospel OF Je-
\ 6us Christ ever done this world
what injury has the Bible ever
\! done?
~show me the nation that has
over crumbled into oblivion where
( Tie people were governed by Chris
! dian principles.
History Is replete. Muititudes
oOuld arise and millions would
crawl out Of the grave II God should
4 n1ve them the privilege, and all
would testify a. TO the benefits &C
h cruing TO them through their repent
nuce and faith In Jesus Christ.
s~Tberefore, let me ask you, at the
\ boginning of my message tonight, Is
there anything grander or more no
3 ~ that can command or arrest
vour attention or draw from you
(; your generous and liberal support
+ and hearty cooperation than 20 give
year cooperation and help TO that
which In and has been the most up
\ tlfting force that has ever entered
Into human history
~F1eaven and earth shall pass
oway, but My word shall not pass
away.
she Bible opens with an account
B " . sinless pair in the Garden OF
u1on, chronicles their disobedience
m TALL, and the sixty-six books are
tnk6n up with the expressed and re
tualsd will OF God TO save a lost |
ma ruined world.
B4A yea ever stop 10 think OF the !
yoeith which persisted when Para |
dloe was lost? Did you ever stop 10 |
thlnk Of the glory OF Eden. the first |
state and abode OF man. Former
00vernor Taylor. OF Tennessee. pic
turss. In ornate language. the scene
- b. imagined II. He said
Draws Picture Of Eden
II might have been q dream OF
oIo6, glowing with inenable beauty. |
trimmed about with blue mountains |
from whose moss-covered peaks a
th0usand CLASSY streams spread out |
IN mid-air and were like thousand |
bridal wells kissing a thousand rain |
hows from the sun: an archipelago |
~ gorgeous colorings necked with |
DDrod from tree 10 tree, drunk with
3ho nectar Of their own clusters
where peach and plum and bloodred
oherries and every kind OF berry
- wilderness OF flowers. redolent
of eternal spring, and pulsing with
bird-song: where dappled fawn play
~ upon banks Of violets: where
i 1eopards. peaceful and tame. lounged
IA the copses OF the magnolia. and
where lions painted in jungies OF
Boees--a billowy landscape festoon-
- with tangled creepers and cur
tained about with sweetscented
The air was softened by a
dreamy hare OF perpetual summer. 4
through the mist there flowed a true Z
uIeut river. alternately cleaning 4
n the sunlight and dsrkening into
emerald In the shadows.
Down In some dark vale. fresh
trom the workshop OF God. slept
Adam. No monarch ever slept on
softer couch and no earthly poten-
tate was ever draped with more
costly or beautiful tapestry. and God
caused 10 pass upon him a sleep.
and forth from painless wound In /
his side there sprang being. blithe-
some ~ the air.
Her hair hung like strands OF \
Gold. her teeth were like pearls He .
eased upon Gods capsheaf OF crea-
ton. His first thought for the hap I
plness Of man--Eve.
II think Adam must have wooed /.
her In the morning. when the dew
WAS on the flower; think he wooed
her ct the noontide by the river
bank: I think he wooed her when
The silvery moon necked the feath-
cry palm; think the cattle must
have departed in pairs. and can
hear the quail whistle for his mate
and the bluejay and the robin stop
Quarreling In the top Of the cherry
tree. and they HE away TO the glen
% build their nests and rear their
young
Man 10 q Fool Always
But man was a fool and man Is a
FOOL tonight, for In the exercise OF
his Ood-given free will he ate OF the
forbidden fruit and he fell, and what
. fall II was.
1T was like the fall OF virtue into
the arms OF vice: like the fall OF
purity into corruption; like the fall
OF q star from heaven into hell. like
the fall Of wounded albatross from
the regions OF light down into the
oark. tempestuous sea, and when
man ate OF the forbidden fruit God
put the angel with the drawn sword.
10 guard the tree of Life lest man
might reach out aud eat thereof and
live forever.
Gods original plan was that man
ohould not die. His original plan
was that man should not work for a
tiving. and n man hadn't sinned he
4 never would have had TO work, but
he ate Of the forbidden fruit and
God passed a sentence; by the