Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-11
That Is Billy Sundays Mes
sage to Audience Friday Aft
ernoon in Sermon on 'Bear
Ye Witnesses"


ernoon in Sermon on "Bear
Ye Witnesses"
The life which a true Christian should
lead, was described by Billy Sunday Fri
day afternoon in his sermon, Bear Ye
Witnesses" 1t follows in full, copy
weighted 1917, by William Ashley Sun
day.
Text: But ye shall receive power
after the Holy Ghost is come upon you
and we shall be witnesses unto Me, both
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sa-
maria and unto the uttermost parts of
the earth Acts i, 8.
That means in the slums, in society,
in the store, on the railroad, wherever
you are. Jesus Christ Staked His cause
uponT the character and the lives and
the utterances Of His followers. He
staked salvation upon you and what you
will do. When lie left He wanted you
to learn His words and principles and
tell them to others. lie taught His
disciples that they might teach others
and others teach you and you teach
others. All right, that's just what we
are doing today. But if you believe It
and don't live III them you are not do
ing His teachings. In Isaiah the 4Sd
chapter, God issues a challenge to the
world. Let them bring forth my wit.
nesses and they may be justified, or
let them hear and say il is the truth.
Ye are My witnesses, said the Lord,
and Ny servants whom L have chosen
HE says bring forth your Witnesses
and then you can choose. He says 70
the thieves, thugs, fallen women, sa-
loon-keepers, Come tell what you'll do
for the people Then He calls the
Christians and says: Tell what l have
done for you and then let them choose
And in court, with all of it's shanani-
gans. sometimes including bribery of
judges and buying of the jury and the
witnesses, the thing that is indispensa-
BILE is the witness, whether it may be
man or woman, what he knows and ne
is supposed to have an important fact
that others do not possess A witness
is always an aid to some individual or
cause and aids in setting free or con-
victing.
Your mother or your grandmother
might have been a Christian. but what
you need is personal experience. Have
you a recommendation to the world Of
Christ? Let's hear it.
Live Up to
Your Testimony
It's a sad thing to. have a man or
woman testify to one thing and have
the next witness prove it was all a
lie. 1t doesn't only hurt the witness,
but il hurts his case. It's a sad thing
for a man to say he is Christian and
then prove by his life that he is liar
The witness who is found to have per-
jured himself is an injury to the case
he represents in court and you injure
the entire body of believers when you
IL
reproach on the cause of God. The
whole is injured by a part. If you
injure your finger the whole body suf-
fers. So if one Christian goes wrong
all Christians have to bear the brunt of
the blame. The most important thing
is the witness, and God says He wants
you to be His witness.
When Paul was on his way to Rome,
and he was shipwrecked on an island,
he had the natives gather up sticks and
build a fire. BY mistake for a stick
Paul picked up a serpent. You know
one of the means of protection to ami
mails is TO adapt themselves to the color
of their surroundings. And when the
fire became warm and the serpent was
aroused ii struck him. The natives
new it was venomous snake. 1t might
have been a RATHER, an asp or a cobra,
but the natives knew it was venomous,
and they expected to see Paul swell up
and die. When he didn't they wor-
shipped him as a god, and he had to re-
Duke them and say he was not god,
but a Christian and God had kept him
from being hurt by the snake. So the
natives. said Paul's God must be the
only God. So you see God can use even
snake to preach His gospel. He
doesn't have to have preachers in swal-
low-tail coats and white neckties and
gold-rimmed spectacles. He can use
even the snake and the sticks and the
leaves to preach His gospel. And be-
cause Paul didn't die the people believed
and scores were swept into salvation.
1.-The Lord is not compelled to use
theologians. The Lord is not compelled
TO use evangelists. He does not have to
use Sunday school teachers. He can
take snakes, sticks and anything and
use them for the advancement or HIS
cause. Those heather nations today are
gazing on the nominal Christian ma
tions The eyes of the ungodly are
turned toward the godly, in the street,
in the factories, everywhere you go, not
simply in the pew.
Dances, Bridge and
LEG Shows" Scored
when Peter walked by the beggar
and he asked him for help. Peter said:
silver and gold have l none, but such
as l have 4 will give unto thee. Arise
and go thy way And the people saw
and believed Do you think he would
have had the power if he had just come
from some dance. or some bridge whist
PARTY, or some cheap skate leg show?
That's the reason a lot of you haven
power today. That's the reason a lot
of you church members are not worth
three whoops this side of perdition. It's