The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-27

necessity OF repentance IN sin.
/ Genius Not Greatest Thing.
! So. the greatest thing in the world
is not genius. Genius in itself can.
not give you rest and peace. Some
of the Hottest inteliects OF the world
have died weary. heavy-laden. brok-
en-hearted. moral wrecks, spiritua
bankrupts. because they needed Jesus
Christ
4. Iaeis, al snner. tss-tana the, .ss,cv~
+ aerrffs Doyspoa,+ rflffrt 1nsen apour d
/ hundred years ago. He committed
suicide when he was only eighteen
He died of broken heart He knew
no infinite love. Hope died within
him and Wordsworth says: THAT
poor. aleepiess soul persisted In his
pride" Oh. Chatterton needed O
Savior. He had genius but he didn't
have Jesus.
Aud, Edgar Allan Poe, one of the
most gifted of the worlds poets died
a moral wreck. of deliriun tremens
in the streets OF Baltimore in ls4s.
He needed a Savior. Edgar Allan
Poe had genius but he needed Jesus.
So genius Isn't the greatest thing in
the world.
Robert Burns, who touched the
heart Of Scotland rs IL has never
been touched before. was laid to
sleep with the dew of youth upon his
brow. Oh. he persisted when ne was
thfrty-seven years OF age! Oh, he
needed Savior. Genius without Jesus
won't do 1t. but Jesus without genius
will do 1t. So he needed something.
Look at Lord Byron. He might
have slept with Great Britain's ia
nous men In Westminster Abbey.
When he was but thirty six years old,
when he should have been mount
ing to greater heighths, he cried:
Fill again the golden goblet.
For have drunk 1t dry.
My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flower and fruit OF life is gone
The worm, the canker and the grief
Are mine alore"
John 3. Cough was s. genius and
saloon clown and a saloon drunk
ard He told stories just for drinks
OF ~hiskey and of rum. He was trans
torned by greater power than
genius. The dead man in him was
awaE tened and there was resurrec-
tion, and the resurrectec man came
forth and when the star Of his genius
was set in moral armament, inspir-
ed by divine love. John b. Cough
transformed hundreds of thousands
of people by the power of Cod AL.
mighty that was mixed with him.
SO God can take your genius
whether you are an artist whether
you are a musician. vocalist or in
strumeutai. whether you are a cap
tain OF industry, whoever you may be.
leader liz society, God can take
your genius and il you will mix Jesus
Christ with it, he will give you some
thing that will stagger hell. But don't
think you can go out and win with
out that and presume upon your
OF character. oh. no, You
can co it I'm the world---you will lose
out
Genius is mind of great richness.
there is no doubt about that. But
A MUS needs. my friends. the in
carnation Of Jesus Christ to become
great, Then if will be great
Keep back thy servant from pre-
sum ption.' In other words don't get
the big head. In others words don't
be chesty---in other words don't think
you are the only pebble on the beach.
You think you are It Don't think
that for when you die, greatness will
die with you.
Now when cry out against intern
perance, when cry out against
when cry out against dane
ing. oh, they viii say: HE is unduiy
excited. He is unduiy agitated."
Oh no! My friends. am not. So
ciety waits until that tipping fellow
becomes n drunkard and then kicks
him out. Society waits until that
girl, from her called innocent fir.
taions. is on the way to become
mother OF an iilegitimate child and
they are Mortified and she is ostra-
ciZed and stigmatized. God warns the
beginning of the things that lead to
IL. See?
Society takes no note of sin. So.
ciety waits until that sin has become
vice and then they are Mortified. God
notes the beginning OF It and he says:
Look out for the thing that win pro-
duce this" See!
The Bible Is the only book in the
world that tells you about sin and
about its results. That's ':ha reason
/ preach so much on vices To kind
OF alarm and stir the people up To
show them what their sins will amount
to II they keep on.
In Western city where some
friends of mine were trying to get
the saloons to close at O'Clock,
there was n prominent man in town
who said: mo, we will let them go
tin IL O'Clock. because IL we shut