The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-16

Tonight in the First BOOK Oh cAm
uel the 10th chapter and the Szno
verse. Behold. he hath hid him-
set among The stuff.
It's with great deal OF reluc-
lance that / speak tonight about
how a man fails. would rather
talk TO you on some signal ltfe sue
cess. But som times the study Oh
failure Is more fruitful than inc
study Of a conquest
SO, I am speaking to you tonlsht
with the hope that where, saul ven
wrong. you may so Alright "nei
he struck out you may put the pau
over the fence.
so when Won arc called upon to
be king and queen over the inner
Kingdom Of your manhood ana WON
anhood that ron may come a. cne
Of Gods noblemen or Gods noble
women to your coronation. and not
like Saul. allow the stuffs OF this
world to cover up your kingtnsss ana
your Queenliness.
1t arouses ones Just scorn and con
tempt to see a big man, born to and
capable Of big. noble, inspiring things.
stopped to do mean. contemplate.
scurriloua little things. Oh. there
are things that we can excuse In a
little man that are an unpardonAoie
SIN for a big man. We can forgive
Zaccheus for climbing the tree. but
We can't forgive Saul for crawling
into the hole and pulling the camp
luggage in after him.
Before / dig him out. now that
you know where he is hid. for my
text said: Behold, he hath hid him.
self among the stuff"--now. that we
know where he is. let me refresh your
memory little
/ don't like his ancestry. The
father was a man OF wealth and pow
er don't dislike him for that Bc.
here, he had no thought about Goo
and about the things which counted
for most In Israel. They were too
busy breeding asses down there on
that farm TO think very much about
the hope Of Israel and the God that
had made them the great nation that
they were And in all the years that
Samuel had stood AS Coos mouth
piece and Gods ambassador and ren-
rcsentative to the people, through
whom God spoke his Judgment why.
saul had never heard NJ him and
didn't know him when he saw him.
kish, Sauis Yather.--his mules had
gone astrsy and saul accom- panied by
come of the servants had gone TO
look for them They'd searched Tor
threc days without success and Saul
turned 10 the servant and said;
Il guess we'd better stop looking
for The rnules ard 60 back home lest
father becone alarmed over our alb
sencs."
stopped looking
and Re s'opred looking for the
mules and startad 10 return He
s,ro.iea up 70 the town and me,
lot Of girls 0u at we'll getting
waller. Saul said 30 them: Can you
tell ne where samuel. The seer, is -
why" sad. lie girls this is our
animal feast ard he always comes
To our town 20 help us celebrate He
So w yonder IN the town
SO saul and the servants strolled
On ne the hiu a~d hey met an old
man with gray hair and gray beard
coming along and Saul walked up
70 him and said: Can you tell me
vr IRE Samuel. the seer. is"
Tho OLD man bowed and said; Il
a.. l,!o seer, sir
SO Saul didn't ever know the
r~eacSer He hadr't been 10 church
crouch 20 get acquainted with the
preacher kish, Saurs father. had
never said. Come. son. the Lord .
prophet is going to pass this way and
ite'x 70 and listen u his words. Hear
hts judgments an6 conclusions.
Oh. no Old ktsn was TOO busy
down on the stock farm He never
went 10 church on Sunday. He took
.hs; time 10 look over his stock. He
cared more for his stock farm than
he did for Gods tabernacle.
The Sabbath day was a good time
10 sit down and fix up and plan wha.
~ put in this lot. or what To put IN
that field and he had never solved
the problem What will IL profit a
man II he gain the hole world and
lose his own SOUL
AMI don't you know Tho dcscen :
dents OF old kish. people that have
The same spirit today They are liv-
ing on every street and in every block
OF every city in America. Oh. they
are too busy six DAYS In he week to
think about their soul. and on the
seventh day they are too tired to 60
TO church. SO they get their paper,
light their pipe. put on their slippers
and they grow sodden and surfeited
with God AlmiEhty's mercies and h!es-
sings and they never hand back God
one prayer or one thought In benedic-
ton and gratitude for the unspeak-
able gift Of salvation.
Sons ana daughters are allowed to
grow up with a disregard for God
and they spurn purity and they spurr
Jesus Christ Kish. breeder Of asses.
successful business man, too busy to
go TO church. come here to me, and
let me give YOU farewell glimpse
of this boy of YOURS. Saul, and here's
his epitaph. passed over Rilbora
and l marked the place where Saul
fell, "A suicide and the Philistinee cut
off his head and they nailed his body
to the wall in Bethsham. That's the
end Of the body OF man that was too
busy 70 go to church.
behold. he hath hid himself
among the stuff"
Scion Of Responsibility.
And here's a young scion OF respec-
liability. staggering along the street
with his boisterous mates. blowing
whiffs OF foul cigarette smoke into
the faces OF ~t.ecency. Somewhere
there Ia a mothers heart breaking.
somewhere there's = fathers hair
whitening with grief over a wayward
son, but he has had taste OF helrs
poison and his blood Il tingling with
the virus OF damnation with which
ne has become inoculated, down In
the cesspools OF vice. And to him. n
mothers love, to him fathers
sympathy. to him a sisters tears are
nothing. He has passed the Ruhicon
Of virtue. sir. and the bridges have
been burned behind him and he II
rushing to the precfpico.