The Washington times., 1918-01-06
Billy Sunday Starts Big Drive Rou the Devil From the Ma
Here's Sundays First Washington Morning

becomes as blood, and it is in this
guise that the devil does his most ef-
fective work. II We could see the
devil as he is, he would be in the hos
pital before February 1st That's
the trouble today, he's got you. He
leads you astray and puts a ring in
your nose, and he's got you now.
The danger is that the tired travel
| er will walk too far out on the beach
| and the incoming tide will engulf
| him. The trouble is that past sins
, will not be dragged out and confessed
| and forsaken.
! man said to me, "BTn, I have
never been a drunkard." Good
! Thank God you have never known
| what II was to have the fanEs of In
temperance grip and tear at your
heart: thank God your wife and chill
dren have never known what IL was
to have a husband and a father-stag-
ger, and reel, and jabber, and mutter,
and sputter. and spew, and vomit into
/ their presence to curse, and damn,
and beat them; thank God that that
damnable, rotten. hellish, vile, corrupt
business has never clutched you by
| the throat to choke out every spark
| of life and leave you an abandoned
derelict out upon the high seas of
passion: thank God that you have
| never known what IL is! Thank God
you have never been tempted to forge
note: thank God you have always
been able to earn a liVable salary and
put hard coal under the sidewalk and
hand the landlord HIS rent when he
punched the doorbell on the first of
the month.
Thank God you have never known
all that!
How He'll Do II.
But are you willing that man
should see yeu as God sees you?
Man looketh on the outward show
but God looketh on the heart" Now
then, how is the Lord going to con-
Wet the world? He is going to do It
through those who live, believe and
preach the truth.
There are three classes in the
church, as I have sized it up impart-
tally after twenty-one years. Lis
ten! First there are people in the
church who personally want to be
saved. They don't give a rap whether
anybody else Is saved or not. they
are absolutely Indifferent to It. That's
one class. Then there Is q second
class-they have a little concern;
they think the work is to be done by
human wisdom and discretion. They
have a great deal to say about the
latent power in the church. There
Is no such thing as power, express
or implied mean latent power.
Power is as distinct from the indi-
vidual as that current is from that
light. What are these lights with
out the current? Nothing but glass
bulbs waiting for the scrap heap. |
What is man. the Individual, without
the spirit OF God? NNthing but |
sounding brass and tinklink cymbals. |
That's all IL Is in the universe. With |
out the Spirit of God, she degenerates |
into a third rate amusement bureau |
with religion left out.
Have Learned Lesson.
Then the third class-they have |
learned this lesson. at is not by |
might nor by power but by My spir-
it," saith the Lord God OF hosts. |
From the third class came the proph-
cts: from the third class came Gid |
con, who put to flight the Midianites;
from the third class came Moses. who
beat back the waters Of the Red Sea;
from the third class came Daniel. who
shut the lions mouth by the power OF
God; from the third class came every
man and every woman who has ever
been used OF God to light up the
dark. rotten. fostering spots OF this
Sabbath whiskey-soaked,
gambIing-cursed old world that's go
ing to hell so fast she's breaking the
speed limit.
Now, am no pessimist; I am an OPP
timist of the optimists. l believe.
sir. that a brighter day has never
dawned in history. my friends. than
now. l believe. sir. that no church
door should ever swing open. l be-
lieve no sermon should ever be
preached. no songs sung nor prayer
prayed that hasn't for its only pur-
pose the clarifying OF God and the
bringing of some poor wanderer
down at the foot of the cross OF Jesus
Christ. the Son Of God.
We've got our churches. we've got
our preachers. Why, at Pentecost
one sermon brought three thousand
to their knees: now 1t takes about
three thousand OF the average ser
mons to bring one old weazel-eyed.
d,nosed. whiskey-soaked blRsphem-
er to his knees. Some sermons
wouldn't have found Jesus Christ
with a search warrant.
We've Got I'm All.
Now. we've got our churches: we've
got our josh-hOuses: we've got our tab
Oh. we've got the wisdom OF
he Orientals; we've got the vim. vigor.
Obasco sauce and peppeTino, and the
push. and the go, and the wealth Of the
wentieth century. i tell you, l believe
10 people on earth are better paid. are
better fed, are better clothed, are bet
ter housed, are more happy and pros
lerous than those that live beneath the
stars and Stripes In America
lady came In from Iowa. She
cached her eyebrows and drew in her =.
(she was a kind Of a cold
itorage propositIon).
She said, What the church needs Is
| said, Forget 1t. We
ire organized to death. We've got so ..
much machinery in the average church
'ou can hear IL squeak when you start :
n. We haven't grt oil enough for the :
Holy Ghost to grease one axle OF Gods
what's the matter with
Is today. we've got the Y. VI. c. A.
md we've got the Y. W. e. A. we've
,ot the Y. T. 5. c. L, we've got the b.
7. L. L.. we've got the c. L. we've got !
he W. F. n. H., we've got the J. Z. L.. I
md the ] e. |. ]. y. $. 1t gets a man {
IuGhOuse." I
Drop into an average young peoples d
Meeting and the leader says in a weak. c
egative. falsetto. Apologize. sissified {
Ort Of mannerism. This is a splendid G
opIc this evening. have been so busy
haven't had time for preparation" It's S
up rrIIuolIs 20 say that it wouldn't uLke [
he bunch long to find he's all in, Il I