Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-22

4
| Whoever holds such views shuts
| heavens vision out from the peo-
| pie. The men who have moved the
world and set her going GodwaEd,
the men Of blessed memory, have
been men who believed that God
was God, and Jesus Christ the Son
of God, and that salvation was to
be had by repentance and faith in
| the shed blood Of Jesus Christ.
They held up the bleeding form of
Christ as Gods ultimatum for sin
and mans only hope to keep out of
hell. You can go and read and see
! if they are not men.
| SO l think there is more religion
| in the pews in the average church
than there is in the pulpit. And
| therefore, one reason why we have
, been denied of the vision Of God
and His truth. is the irreverent
criticism of the bible that is offered
by many, sneaking and blatent as
though the bible was the worst en-
envy of the human rather than the
best friend.
breaches Gods Word.
I am not the author of the plan
OF salvation, / am responsible for
my preaching of it, and If what l
preach is the truth, it is up to you,
and if what / preach is not the
truth, it is up to me. and defy and
challenge anybody to prove by the
Word of God that what 1 preach is
not revealed in the bible. 1 defy
you! l challenge you!
When you reject it, it isn't your
quarrel with me personally, not at
all. am simply Gods ambassa-
dor. l am simply Gods mouth
piece. am simply Gods servant,
telling you Gods truth, and if you
don't believe it. you settle with God,
not with me at all.
So you needn't be afraid of all
the blatent blasphemy and all the
sneering criticism, all the vile cpl
thets that may be hurled against
Gods word. 1t stands immovable
as Gibralter. You needn't worry
Gods truth towers over all!
o, I am not afraid, my friends!
l am afraid OF being dignified. A
lady said to me, He isn't Gigni-
fed"
That's what l am afraid Of, am
has been hurt and killed by dignity
and Formally, and ritualism, and
all that. If you want TO see me
when l am dignified, just please
come around and look into my COT
I'm. You attend my funeral. l Will
be dignified then to suit the most
fastidious.
You know that food is good You
have eaten it. You know that wa
ter will help your thirst. You
have drunk it. You know that sleep |
will rest your body. You have
gone to bed. That's experience. l
don't need to stand here and waste !
nv strength telling you that. we
ali know that That's what we call
experience, but 1 have to waste my |
strength telling you about God be
cause multitudes of people don't |
live so that God can manifest HIS |
power through their life so that
thew know of the personal contact |
with God. l believe in experiment |
tai religion, and it is the only kind |
that l do believe in. So therefore, !
we have lost all that. We have lost |
our possessiVe case and we nave /
lost the imperative mood.
It is true today. that when the |
church lifts her hands and takes
her stand against any evil, that
evil will be driven from the land.
1t will be stopped, and if the |
churches would all unite against
the wrong, there isn't one VINO
couldn't be driven back.
If the church of God would with
draw her patronage from the the
aires unless they cleaned up their
stages and took lot OF these OF
fensive things off, the stage would
be changed and it would be purl-
fed. if the church would refuse its
patronage until they did. Then
you'd change something.
That's true of the whole business
today.
A man said to me. els modern
evangelism q successT
know nothing about modern
evangelism. Nine is not modern.
Mine is as old as the cross Of Jesus
Christ. Mine is as old as the nails
driven through His hands and feet.
Nv evangelism is as old as the
crown of thorns that they put upon
His brow, and any evangelism that
doesn't hang on the cross of Jesus
Christ is no evangelism for me.
1 know nothing about your Goth
century stuff. know nothing
about it. And so, l am not posted
on that proposition at all! Net at
ALL
where there is no vision, the
people perish"
Sometimes the ministers are
wrong. l don't want TO criticise my
brethren. l don't criticise the min
Istry as an organization or an in
stitution, but do criticise when
they don't preach the truth with
all the power they hace. And as l
told them, it is my humble expert
4nce that there is more religion in :
the pews today than in the average
pulpit. That's one reason why the
people are denied their vision.
Now another thing. and many a
minister today has lost his vision.
He is standing up in the pulpi;
preaching tommyrot 60 the people,
stalking a claim out on Jupiter.
talking about the concerns of ,
Adams, and that we came from ,
orotoplasm, instead Of being born
If God Almighty, and instead OF !
oeing created of the Lord.
I don't believe the old bastard I
:heory OF evolution. / want you
n understand it. I don't believe