The Washington herald., 1918-01-17
God Will Tell You Why
You're a Failure and
Also How to Succeed
AFTERNOON SERMON
Why Could Not We
Cast Out Devils?

Mark. ninth chapter, twenty-eighth
verse, why could not We cast him
outg"
When Jesus came down from the
Mount of TRANSPORTATION, and with
him Peter, James and John and reach
ed the valley below. he found his dis
cipIes surrounded by a great multi
tude Of people.
They were all questioning and Jesus
came up and inquired the cause OF
this commotion. and as he did
father came forward with his little
boy and he said to him.
Jesus, ever since he was a baby
he has been tormented by evil spirits
and they have thrown him into fire
and into water, and he has foamed
at the mouth and he has commissions
and he is weak"
And this father was suffering
grievOus disappointment because the
disciples had failed 10 cast out thv
devil.
Notice. first, the disciples had a big
crowd drawn by curiosity, but TO
devils were being cast out, and the
same thing is happening all over the
land today. Some people think The
Lord isn't within ten miles Of the
church unless 1t is packed TO the roof.
How many misguided. short-sighted
preachers seem TO have their only
anxiety in drawing a crowd. Some OF
them are as crazy after sensations as
the yellowest journal you might find,
and / think that is one reason why
the ministry is degraded by lot of
as nonsensical clap-traps as exist out
Of the insane asylum. And II all the
preachers would preach the truth. the
devil would have TO work harder than
he does for what he gets.
Great multitudes" sound big, but
il was a fizzle. But come back to this
poor father. The disciples might have
thought they were having a great
time, but please remember the devil
was still in that boy. How quickly
all was changed when Jesus came on
the scene. and that is always so.
The father soon found out that
Jesus had come and so did the devils
too. So he said, Have compassion
upon US" His prayer wasn't long
but in it was everything that he felt
he needed. He wanted compassion
and he wanted help.
Jesus Never Fails.
There was no failure with Jesus.
! The demon might defy the disciples.
| but not Jesus Christ. Jesus not only
cast the devil out, but barred the door
against his ever going in again.
He will drive the drunken devil out
| Of a man and keep the drunken devil
out Of him. He will drive the hcen-
tious devil out and keep him out and
he will drive the infidel devil out ana
keep him out He will not only cast
him out but says, You can't go in
again"
The deepest sorrows ever known are
/ those that come to you through your
own flesh and blood.
While the father and mother were
| rejoicing over the deliverance Of their
child from the power of the devil and
| the neighbors were running in TO join
with them, the disciples had gone to
Jesus privately and asked him the
I words of my text, Why couldn't We
cast him out?"
Now listen! They didn't ask one an
| other. No. They asked the only one
that could tell them. Jesus.
A preachers meeting is a poor place
10 find out why you have failed. You
can't get any light on the subject in
! any church paper i have ever read.
You don't have to read books to ind
out what your weak spots are. Take
your heartaches and do as the dis
ciples did, go TO Jesus. and ask why
you failed and he will tell you and
| he will tell you how to succeed.
And Yet-They Fail.
Now, then, when We see what
causes so many people to fail, why
are SO many people such fools as
| to go and do the same thing? The
man who will go in and spend all
his money on drink knows il will
| hasten his ruin. And the girl who
goes down with that wild gang
| and dances and sits around and
hits the booze, she knows that il
caused the ruination Of three
fourths of the 5OO,O 600 prostitutes in
| the country. and that il will just
do for her what il does for the
rest of them. Why. they think that
the man that stands up and warns
| them is their enemy: he is the best
| friend they ever listened to. He's
| trying to put them next
| 1 don't want your virtue. / am
not looking for your money.
want to warn you of the other fel-
low that does want it. I don't want
your money. I am trying to warn
| you of somebody else that does