The Washington herald., 1918-01-13

In the Book of Nehemiah, the fourth
chapter and the sixth verse.
"The people had a mind to work
not to sidestep. The people had
mind to work"
Nehemiah was In Shushan-in the
palace, and news Of the unfavorable
and depIorable and broken-down and
delapidated condition OF his favorite
and beloved city, Jerusalem, was
brought to him by his friend. Hanani,
who had been to Jerusalem and seen
for himself Nehemiah was cup
bearer to the king and when he walked
into the presence Of the monarch, the
.old king noticed that his countenance
was sad. This led him to find out the
reason.
He informed him it was because of
what he had Just learned Of Jerusalem
and the broken-dOwn condition of its
walls, and he begged of the king the
privilege of returning to Jerusalem for
the purpose of rebuilding the walls,
and the king not only granted him his
request, but in addition gave him an
order upon the keeper of his forest
and upon his quarries TO give him all
the timber and stone that he might
need for that purpose.
And he returned with a company
of men and women. and in the IN
credibly short space OF fifty-two days.
We are told in the Word OF God that
the walls had been rebuilt and the
gates hung upon their hinges. and the
secret for this unprecedented success
IS found in the text-'The people had
q mind to work"
There were others In captivity that
knew as much about Jerusalem as did
Nehemiah, but do not read. that they
were concerned about ii. Enthusiasm
for God is like the measles or the
smallpox; IL is catching; and you be-
queath it to the other fellow. So II
YOU are a crouch, and a grumbler, and
a knocker, why other people become
like unto you II they are unfortunate
enough to rub elbows with you and get
within sound Of your voice or the in
f,I ence of your personality-which 1
hope they never would, for the injury
that 1t would do.
Put knowledge Into Practice.
It's one thing to know what to do
and another thing to do it. The trouble
Is not found in that men and women
do not know, for If you don't, God
would let you out for being an idiot
YOU can escape on that ground So
the trouble is not that people do not
, know; the trouble is that they know
and they do not or will not do il.
Well, knowledge, unless used, is OF
no value. You may know how to
build a house, trim a hat. cut out
.ress, but your knowledge will be OF
no benefit to those that may depend
upon YOU for bread and butter un-
less you put your knowledge into prac-
tiee in the world. What we are Is
of vastly more Importance than what
we know if we simply use the term
knowledge" in the abstract.
The existence or the non-existence of
an invention, is found in the fact that
1t meets or fails to meet the pur-
pose or the purposes for which II was
intended. The world isn't slow to dis
cover the thinss that are useless and
soon snufrs them OF.
Electricity meets the purposes for
which il was intended-the illuminate
ing Of our homes and our public edi-
fees, the driving of our machinery
the automobile, the ship, the railway
train, the locomotive and the tele-
phone. Hence, commerce and business
Is built around these institutions.
There was a time we built it around
a birch-bark canoe; there was a time
we built II around an OK cart. Now we
build around the motor boat: now we
build around the automobile. There
was a time we built 1t around a horse
car; and We changed to trolley and
now we've got the subway, and we've
built IL around until we can't get
along without it.
whether or not the church meets the
purpose for which it is founded will
depend on the fact that you do or re-
fuse to do your duty, and serve. Some
people pretend to believe, but they
never work at 1t. Some people work.
but they don't believe. Christianity
consists neither in simply believing.
but to show your belief by what you
do. James said, Faith without works
isn't worth shucks. I'm from Mis-
souri,: show me your faith"
The most successful preachers
against Christianity that I have
known anything about are the in
consistent professors Do you know
that bunch? II It isn't Bob Ingersoll
it's some Of these fellows standing
around on a street corner on a soap
box spewing and splitting out their
unbelief and their infidelity and SOW
ing the seeds of discord and rebellion
all right, If that gang don't like our
CHRISTIAN nation, they can beat it
back across the sea where they be-
long.
The great trouble IS we become a
sort Of backdooryard for the world.
nowadays. The bad sermons which
some people can preach with their
lives more than over-match any good
sermon a man can preach with his
lips. To pray and then cheat some
body in business the next day; to
kneel in communion and oppress the
poor IN their wages and compel a
man to live below the hunger line:
to profess brotherly love and then
SANDER some neighbor; to sing about
Calvary and heaven and put the
wrong figures on the ledger in the
day book-oh. unless you can see suf-
hcient inducements. you will not
work.
Work as Well n Pray.
You pay the tuition Of your boy or
girl in school: they burn the mid
night oil and they bend to the curri-
culum- What are the inducements
Graduation day; walking out with
the diploma which announces to the
world that they have completed the
. requirements Of that institution and
they are a graduate.
So the farmer plows the ground.
plants the seed; what are the induce
ments? The granary Is filed in the
fan.
Now think It Is hypocrisy to pray
for q thing you are not willing to
work for, and your prayers are not
worth any more at the gate Of heaven
than you are willing to. work to get
them there. II you want to know
how much you are going to weigh on