The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1918-07-26

y
A above all things,
- $50 hopelessly wicked.
Now the Bible does not set out to
prove that God is. 1t assumes that
every intelligent man will believe this,
and so its pages open with the sublime
and stupendous statement: "In the be-
ginning God" The Bible, however,
does tell us that "the heavens declare |
the glory of God" and that "the inyisi-
BILE things of him from the creation of |
the world are clearly seem" So while |
the Bible does not try to prove that |
God is, 1t does tell us that God, whose |
existence it assumes, may be known.
It tells us that nature is one Of |
the books which God has given us,
in which he tells us about himself. 1t |
tells us that another book in which |
God is revealed is the Bible itself, the |
written word of God, and that third
one is the living or incarnate Word,
the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 1t is
said: mo man hath seen God at any |
time; the only begotten Son, which Is
in the bosom of the Father, he hath |
declared him." that is, ''led him |
FORTH" as Doctor Scofield says, "into
full revelation"
No man, then, need be in ignorance
of GOd with three books making him
known, and with such threefold rev.
citation Of God, how can anyone deny
that God is, or be ignorant of himf
II. The One Who Plays the Fool.
He Is the person who fails to take
GGd into account; that is, he acts as If
there were no God. Saul did this when
he sought Davids life. He left God
out of his reckoning in his determine
ton to- STAY David, and one night when
he was encamped, surrounded by his
soldiers and bodygMfd, David stealth
lily made his way through the guard
with one of his trusty followers. and
removed the bolster from under Saul's
| head, and the Ouse of water and the
spear that were by his side, without
awakening him or any Of the soldiers.
Withdrawing in safety TO the hillside,
David shouted back to the captain of
Saul's army, "Abneri Abner" and
when this sleepy captain, with Saul
and the encamped soldiers awakened,
they saw David on the hillside,
stretching forth his trophies that they
might see that he could have taken
Saul's life If he had chosen. Then it
was that Saul, realizing that he had
left God out of his reckoning In his at
tempt to STAY David, exclaimed: Il
have played the fool"
And so does every one who does not
take God into account. The man or
the woman who schemes or plans and
lives as If there were no God in the
world is as big a fool as the person
who says In his heart: "There is no
God" Both are fools because they
deny the existence of God; one by his
words processes his atheism, while
the other lives his.
III. The Rich Fool.
He Is the man whose ambition in
life is to accumulate wealth.
Christ portrays him IN the parable
of the man who, having a great har-
vest pulled down his barns and built
greater and when they were filled said
to himself, "Soul, thou hast much goods
laid up for many years; take thine
ease; eat, drink and be merry" But
God said unto him. "Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required Of
thee; then whose ehall these things be
which thou hast providedw
How many folks there are In the
world with whom the supreme thing
in life is the getting of material things,
their one ambition to accumulate
wealth? They strain and scheme and
work and worry to get gain, forgetting
that day is coming when their souls
shall be required OF them, and then,
II they have succeeded, like the rich
man In the parable, 1t win be peril
nent to ask them, 'Whose shall these
things beT' And If they die. having
laid up treasures for themselves, and
are not rich toward God, they have
gone into the other world as paupers.
One night in New York city 8
wealthy man lay dying. He had every
material thing the heart could desire,
but one thing be felt his need Of. and
that was prayer. Sending for his
gardener, cody soul. he asked him
to pray fer him. and when the garden
er had finished his simple. fervent
prayer. the dying millionaire said:
"John. now sing for me-" 'What shall
slngT asked the gardener. And the
man who was rich in houses and lands
and bonds ard mortgages replied:
"Slng. Jehn. the song. Come ye sin
ners. poor and needy, weak and way
ward. sick and sore.'" and the gardener
sang this blessed song Of invitation 70
the millionaire wins knew that with
God his money did not count and that
II he was 10 be saved IL must be as :