The Washington herald., 1918-01-24

gilded with gold was Solomon's
temple. There Is where we got the
idea. We think we are great. Old
solomon did that way back yonder.
Seer
So David was walking on the
house tops in the cool of the even
ing and he saw a woman famed for
her symmetry of form and beauty
of face, Bathsheba. And there came
to David a shot Of sin.
No man or woman ever sinned
that didn't first think the sin. No
man ever reached out his hand to
steal. that the thief in him didn't
steal first. No man ever used his
lips to lie that he didn't lie in his
mind and his heart first. No man
ever reached forth his hand to shed
the blood Of his fellow-man that he
didn't shed the blood in his thoughts
first because he that Is angry is a
murderer. No man ever. stopped to
commit sin of any kind that didn't
first commit the, sin In his heart.
Responsible for Thoughts.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his
thoughts. and let him return unto
the Lord and he will have mercy
upon him."
You say, as a man responsible
for his thoughts?" 49,.
He certainly is. Why, you say, a
dear good man like DR., Talmadge
said. you can't. prevent the birds
from flying over your head, but you
can prevent them from lodging, in
your hair. But a greater man than
DIR. Talmadge said. ,"As man
thinketh in his heart so is he" II
man sows evil thoughts, then he
will have an evil desire. II he has
an evil desire, then he will put the
desire into evil acts for the acts
will be the fruitage Of the desires.
When he sows evil acts he sows
evil habits and keeps doing 1t.
The fellow that is a drunkard had to
take the first drink. The man that
never takes the first can't possibly
sow the seed OF the habit Of drunken
ness.
Then when you SOW an evil habit
you reap an evil character, and God
draws the line. my friends. at char
acter. A man becomes criminal by
his action. He becomes a sinner by
his thoughts. No matter how much
you may think against the laws OF
the District, that doesn't make you a
criminal, but you are on the road to
become a criminal No matter how
much you may think against the laws
of the District no officer has the right to
go up and pinch you until you put
your thoughts into action, and II your
action is contrary to the laws of this
District, then you are a criminal No
matter whether you feel like a crimi-
nal or not, il you act contrary to the
law, you are criminal. See? All
right. And If you act contrary to
Gods laws you are a sinner.
1t isn't a question whether you feel
like a sinner or not That doesn't en-
ter into it. You are. But when a
man becomes a criminal. he becomes a
criminal by his actions. but IL he
never puts his thoughts into action
and his aFtions are not contrary. well
than he Is never a criminal. But q
man becomes sinner by his
thoughts. He doesn't need to put his
thoughts into action to be a sinner.
So he plays both ends against the
middle. He whipsaws.
Now to give you an illustration.
Moses said, Thou shalt not commit
adultery" referring to the act OF sin.
Jesus said, II say unto you, whoever
looketh upon a woman to lust after
her. has comitted adultry with her al
ready in his heart, and as a man
thinks in his heart so is he.''
Chastity requires purity Of thought
as well as outward act
Gives Sinners Chance.
DR.. ]. c. Holland in his little book
entitled Gold FoiP' tells of a lovely
island wsahed by waters that were
pacific, where Flora and Fauna We'd
with each other to wear a crown.
There wer fruits in abundance and
flowers of every hue, trees and fruit
from every paradise. And a maiden
gently steers her wave-kissed keel,
and yonder she is lost in a labyrinth
of bewitchIng beauty as she leaps
from her canoe and creeps beneath
the foliage dripping with dew and
kissed with the sunlight, and every
drop sparkling like a jewel. And
farther down the beach a young man
comes in his canoe and he bends and
creeps beneath the foliage and dis
appears. Farther down a husband.
farther down still a wife. An hour
passes by and they return to their
canoes and the land from whence they
had come
what is that islandT asks DR..
Holland. and then he answers his
own inquiry by saying, at is the is
land of your thoughts and your long
ings and our imaginations, where all
unseen you ply your tiny craft"
Where have you been today in your
thoughts? The secret of whose pre-
son did you approach in your long
ings? What did you desire to do, my
friends? Therefore as you think in
your thoughts so are you.
How did God treat David who
said to Nathan, 'T have sinned
against the Lord?" Did he uncork
the walls of his wrath and pour them
out upon him? No. He sent Ma
than, the prophet. to have a talk.
God never put sinner in hell that
he didn't first send a preacher to
tell him to keep out of 1t. There is
not a man in the penitentiary that
didn't go contrary to somebody's ad-
vice or heywouldn't have been there.
There isn't a girl selling her virtue
tonight that she didn't go contrary
to the pleading of her mother, or
some good friend, Don't you go with
that gang, If you do you will lose
out"
God sent Nathan, the prophet, to
talk with David. He gives a man or
woman a chance to repent before he
goes to hell. Hallelujah.
And SO I can see Nathan, the
prophet, as he walked in and told
David that beautiful little parable of
the eve lamb. Here was a poor
man, with many children and one lit
tie lamb, and the children played
with 1t and 1t was pet. 1t was as
one Of the children. And there was
a man with many fiocks and herds
and one night there came to-, his