The Washington herald., 1918-01-18
Gods Warfare Is Here;
Its Virtue Against Vice,
Christ Against the Devil
THE EVENING SERMON:
"The Mercies of God"

and the first verse: 81 beseech ye,
therefore. brethren. by the mercies
u God. that ye present your bodies
. living sacrifice holy, acceptable
unto God"
We have here a call for volun-
eeers and not an order for q draft
rhe army Of God is never made UP
. u drafted men and women God
has never owned q slave. All the
= Iervice that weighs an ounce In the
light OF God is that which Is
y prompted by love. 1t isn't q call to
, 4 hard duty, but to q glorious priv
Hege- 1t is not something you must
Io-but something that you may do.
It is not a command or bid to
laborer to take a hoe and a spade
md go out In the field and dig. but
4 loving invitation to q son to do
he thing that can express your
gratitude.
See the motive that prompts our
Iction: II beseech you by the mercy
II God'-not the judgments of God,
aot the seventies of God. not the
anger of God. 1t Is Calvary to
which the text points and not Sinai.
Il is the Gospel and not the law
through which God makes the ap-
peal. and the compelling force Is
gratitude. not fear.
No child will ever do its best II IL
$ kept half scared to death for fear
will be licked II It doesn't and If
{ is doing its best and you appreci>
ute that, il will encourage II to do
better.
God Is Giving You . Chance.
We are not commanded to do IL,
BUT we are entreated and that's the
Imazing thing. God has the right
and the power to make you or me
10 anything He wants done, but He
sn't dealing with you in that way.
lot at all He is giving you
nance to show Him that you love
Him.
by the mercies of God" What do
hey mean to US? Has God been
good to us. and if so. how good has
de been and how much? Have we
Inything to be grateful for. and II
70. what?
The man who loves his wife. he
will take time, no matter how many
business cares and duties crowd in
apon him. to sit down and think
Sack and recall how good she has
,een, the sacrifices she has made,
md il he does that. his heart Will
p ,ever grow cold and you will never
ind him whining around the court
r. aouse for a divorce.
And the professed child Of God
that doesn't do a similar thing for
he Lord, he isn't worth a nickel
I-bunch. and God knows that and
sod wants to keep our hearts warm
~ having US frequently consider
What God has done for us and Is
inspire gratitude is His goodness.
Let's 90 back and see II we have
ANYTHING to be thankful for, IL God
.as done anything for you worth
considering 1 don't care, you can
sit there, a vile sinner. and yet God
Almighty has done something Tor
you that is worth considering, al
:hough- you have never taken His
oame on your lips except In bias
ohemy and derision.
All, by the mercies Of Cod"
Let's do a little counting. Mark Guy
Pierce was out one evening with
ais little girl. It was a beautiful
,iEht, without a cloud in the sky.
md the stars were twinkling and
,he threw her head back and said,
oh, papa, look at the stars. My,
trent there a lot of them! j, :, D.
l. 5. s, II. Is. rs. 12S." She said,
I'm tired. 1 didn't know there
we're so many"
Counting Gods Mereies-
They have counted S. million and
haven't started yet. The merc1es Oh
yod-you might as well try to count
he drops of water in the ocean.
Fou might as we'll attempt to count
he grains Of sand by the seashore.
Fou might as well try to count
sfice-seekers after a Presidential
Election.
But it won't hurt you to try, and
think it will help you a little bit.
The man who has a little God is the
,ne who never takes time to con-
rider what great things God Is do
uE for him; and If you will go
oack for lust one year to find a
place to begin. you will cry with
David. According to the multitude
II thy tender mercies."
An old lady one time heard a
Iermon that filled her heart with
gratitude for the goodness OF the
Lord. She said. Il have never tried
o count His mercies in my life and
am going to Just spend tomorrow
Ioing nothing else"
In one hour she was confused
md at noon she was tagged out,
and she went to bed at two o'clock.
ired, and said. They come three
lines faster than ! can count them.
So we sit down and sing. Count
your many blessings, name them
Bne by one; it will surprise you
what the Lord has done"
A visitor was walking through
he beautiful and well-kept grounds
II an insane asylum out West, and
ne heard q voice shrieking to him
rom the fourth story. Looking up.
ne saw q man standing at the graf
ID bars. shaking them. and he
aid, stranger, did you ever thank
God for your reason?'
He said It startled him and made
him think Up to that time he
couldn't recall that he ever had, but
70 never allowed q day to go by after
hat that he didn't do It.
your reason7 Did you ever do It, or
Tou, or your Oh. II not. 1 beg Of
rou, begin now. There are people
. lust as good as you yonder In the In
Eane asylum that don't even know
he mother who gave them birth and
It whose breast they nursed. Oh,
now grand II u to be clothed and in
your right mind and not locked up
n q mad-house.
I think IL would be a thousand
HINES easier to follow my child to the
graveyard and listen 70 the clods fall
With unutterable agony. and MI the
rraye myself, than to see one Of them
r1aa his mind and mound hfa brains