Rock Island Argus., 1919-11-03
Bottle fed Church Prolific
Source of Most Backslidinq

The bottle fed church is the,
most prolific source Of backsliding.
said Mr.. Sunday yesterday morn
ing in speaking on the subject
Rewards" in which he pointed
out the necessity of follow up work
at the close of a campaign such as
that. Just closed. He said:
A great many people suppose
after they have accepted Jesus
Christ as their Savior, made a pub
lie acknowledgment Of Him. as
such, and joined the church that is
all there is to a Christian life.
Then a scholar might as we'll say
when he matriculates that that is
all there is to an education.
There is something more which
comes to you by way of Christian
experience and then there is still
something more which will come
to you when you stand in the pres
ence of Him, Whom, having not
seen, you love.
My text this morning is in the
second Epistl0 of John and a part
Of the eighth verse. Look to your
selves, that we lose not those
things which We have wrought, but
that We receive a full reward"
And the emphasis is to be placed
upon the word full"
John seemed desirous Of impress
ing the followers of Jesus Christ
with the fact that there are re-
wards. and he. seems to be worried
and burdened, and to inspire them
with continued activity and zeal
that they might receive the bless
ings of God, he said, Look to
yourselves and that you receive a
full reward"
1t isn't a good thing to simply
think of the reward. The man who
sits down and thinks of the SAL
ary he is to receive will be perfect
ly useless, but you labor and toll
because you believe the firm or the
individual for whom you work will
be true to his or her promise and
that being true you give Of your
labor and your toll and skill.
He said, "Inasmuch as you did
that to one of the least of my
brethren, you did it unto me-"
| Kindness Has Rewards.
You never gave a handshake or
a smile or a cup of cold water in
the name of God, but He said. II
will see that you don't lose your
reward.
First Corinthians, "And every
man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate in all things. Now
they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown but we an incorruptible."
1 think Paul got the inspiration
for that verse by watching the
lOlympic games at Athens because
he says in Hebrews, 'Let us lay
aside every weight and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race
, that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher OF
our faith"
He saw that the athletes, when
they got out to run, laid aside ev-
erything that would impede their
progress. He said. "If men are
willing to do that to win a race
'why aren't We willing to do that to
, make a success of the Christian
, race?"
J, l used to run. / could run q
hundred yards in 10 seconds at the
, crack of a pistol. l could circle
, the diamond in IA seconds from
, the standing start. I had a paiI
Of running shoes, the two Of then
! didn't weigh a pound. l used to lay
! aside all superfluous clothing. SO
: wouldn't have anything to impede
the working of my muscles.
= never tried to win a race with g
2 milestone strapped on my back.
don't propose to try and run Gods
race with besetting sins impeding
my progress.
was straining every muscle 'ant
didn't want any man to breas'
!. that tape ahead of me and they
4 couldn't do it. either. So Pau
said, Let us lay aside every
weight. and let US run with pa
tience the race that is set before
u.s. and l think that would b.
characteristic, my friends, of us il
we only realized that withou
, Jesus Christ, men and women are
lost.
/ think the church is all wrong
, il she simply does this. builds
v building, hires preacher tt
/ preach. and a choir to sing ant
: say, "If the people want to come
S let them come, if they don't le
e them go to the devil"
: If they don't come. then q
: where they are. and the power o
| God and the blessing of God will
q be upon you.
Ruts and Anti.Ruts.
Oh, We've got the crowds il
the church. the ruts and the anti
ruts. We have a crowd that wan
: things done decently and in ordel
e and they actually convince me the!
f would rather see people go to hel
: than to be saved out Of the ordi
t nary. set rules and regulations.
Il Old ways are all right if the.
s Twill deliver the goods, but they ar
fit only for the junk heap if the.
e fail to do that. So therefore, dom
J. be afraid of innovations. Any
i thing that will bring men and won
u en- to Jesus Christ has Gods bless
$ ing upon it although it may hav'
q the sneers and the railery and tn
ridicule of some others in tn
:. world.
5 There isn't a preacher on cart
that doesn't praise God for tn