Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-26
ONLY THE UNREPENTANT SHALL BE
KEPT FROM HEAVEN BECAUSE OF SIN

18th verse, David said unto Ma
than, l have sinned gainst the
Lord
That is a part Of one OF the sad
dest statements found upon the
pages OF the Old Testament al
ways read it with two conflicting
emotions. One is a feeling Of as
Surance and satisfaction, in the fact
that the bible was inspired of God,
for il a man or a com pany of men
uniuspired Of God had written or
complIed the bible, you never would
have been told the story of man }
sin, and shame and short-eoTaing s,
particularly if that man had been
prominent and d king d.
Ii a mar had been writing the
bible, he never would have told us
that Noah got drunk when he came
out of the ark He never would
have told US that David committed
adultery with Bathsheba, and that
Solomon had 400 more wives than
old Brig" Young. and made him
look like a piker; of Peter denying
the oaths and curses; of AHanias
and SapphIra holding back part OF
the price, and OF Judas betraying.
But when God inspires he puts It
all in.
It is d sad thing 60 tie your
hopes to some man or woman aud
be disappointed.
Now 1t was a great sin for David.
/ / thing it was a worse sin for
David than it might have been for
any other man in the world. God
looks at mans surroundings. He
takes into account your op9ortuni-
ties and if you have opportunities,
and you have one tonight, that
would condemn you. 1t is your
business to know what God wants
you to do. God takes into account
the chances men have. There is a
church near You. some of you hear
the church bell ringing, there is a
church near you. some of you
haven't darkened the door.
A heather is any man that
doesn't believe in God. His skin
doesn't need to be black. He
doesn't need to have a queue hang
ing down his back like a ChinK.
Anybody is a heather that doesn't
believe in God, whether from
| China, or Africa, whether his skin
! is white or black. The same old
heather, although you are a presi-
dent of bank. You are a heather
if you don't believe in God. It
makes no difference whether you
| live under the stars and stripes or
in the jungles of Africa, if you
don't believe in God you are
! heather.
So guilt is graded by light, the
more light you have. the greater
/ the guilt.
Now it might be just as bad for
me to lose my temper as it would
! be for you to get drunk. l was not
! born with an appetite for drink,
/ but 1 was born with a disposition to
! lose a little piece of my temper
once in a while, and, gosh, haven't
gotten over it yet l can clear for
action like a battIeship when it
! comes to a showdown
| So you who put your thumbs in
the I'm holes of your vest, and
swell up like a poisoned pup, and
! thank God you are not like other
people. You may be worse in the
/ sight Of God than the very one you
/ condemn, for you may have had a
greater chance than he had, more
light. 1 say guilt is graded by
light.
| The fellow that stands around
! with his hands in his breeches'
( pockets up to his elbows, it won't
/ be long until he tries to get into
! the other fellows pockets Idleness
/ is the foe Of youth. 1t is the curse
of mankind. Oh. no trade is the
passport and the pass word by
which 80 per cent of our criminals
! enter the reformatories and the
| penitentiaries of the land.
Street loafers grow up to be
gunner, with no object and aim in
! life. Oh, an idle brain is the DEVILS
workshop. Keep busy for God, my
friends, and then you will never
| land in perditiOn.
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
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?'
He certainly is. Why, you say, 4
dear good man like DR.. Talmadge
said, you can't prevent the birds
from flying over your head, but
you can prevent them from lodg-
ing in your hair. But a greater man
than DR.. Talmadge said, LAS man
thinketh in his heart so is he" If
q man sows evil thoughts. then he
will have an evil desire. If 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 it.
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 drunkenness.
Then when you SOW an evil
habit Won reaD an evil character !