Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-27
MEMS SOULS ARE SAVED THROUGH
PERSONAL WORK OF GODS SERVANTS

A powerful sermon, full Of many
pertinent and vivid illustrations
was preached by Rev. Mr.. Sunday
last evening on the theme, mo Man
Cared for Ny Soul" taken from the
1920 psalm, fourth verse, in which
Mr.. Sunday pointed out the neces-
sity for personal work in the every
day walks of life to bring souls into
f, the kingdom of God. He said in
| part:
Life and nature seem to be made
up largely of contrasts and
cold, light and darkness, mountains
and hills, valleys and plains. rain
and drought, famine and plenty,
sickness and health, vice and vir-
tue, success and failure, Joy and
/ sorrow, trouble, tears and happi-
ness.
All lives are made up more or
less of contrasts, but no life in his
tory, sacred or profane, presents a
larger number, in my opinion, than
| that of David, the author of my
| psalm and text. l am first intro
| duced to him as a little shepherd
boy, and he was herding his faith
er's fiOcks when Samuel was sent
of God to annoint David, king of
| Israel, for Saul had defied God and
made a blunder and a failure
And the next vision / catch of
| David is that he has become king.
! He has thrown the shepherd crook
on the ground, put the crown on his
head, and he is sitting yonder on
hn Of nd
him to keep the flag flying when
the clouds were lowering and
/ threatening in the Jewish nation.
And then David was a poet of no
mean ability; and when l read the
70 psalms of which he was the
author, 1 made up my mind that
there is man who passed through
all the varied experiences to which
flesh is heir, and he seems nearer
He was a musician, too, and he
played for old King Saul in his
melancholy moods and charmed the
crouch away from the old king
when he was sullen.
And he was a warrior, too, and
the Jews never knew defeat when
David led them on the battlefield
never.
And here he stoops to sin to drag
the name of God down. 1t seems
strange to me that anybody could
use the words of my text-you
know his sons had rebelled against
him and sought his life and David
has been compelled to fee, and old
King Saul, jealous of David's popu-
larity, chased him like partridge
over the mountain and David took
refuge in the cave of the Engaddi.
Then" he said, cit was that 1
looked upon my right hand and
upon my left hand and refuge fail
ed me. No man would know me.
No man cared for my soul"
1t seems strange to me that any
man at any period of the worlds
history could use words like these
and they would be an absolutely
honest expression of the utter and
absolute indifference on the part OF
people to his or her welfare who
ought to be considered interested in
them and Jealous to see them doing
right instead of wrong, living for
God instead of for the devil, pray
ing instead of cursing, being pure
instead of impure, sober instead oS
drunk, filling the churches instead
of the haunts of sin.
1t seems strange to me that any
man in any period of the world
could use words like that, and they
be an honest expression of the utter
and absolute Indifference of the
world as to whether he went to
heaven or went to hell. But more
than passing strange to me is 1t
that in your day and mine, with all
we understand, and with all the
opportunity to do good and serve
God, and with every incentive to do
it, that any man or woman with a
scintilla of decency or reason
would stoop to do anything that
the devil wants you to do, and then
want people to respect you.
Perhaps this text needs a little
before I go any
further. You may think you are
and it may be true, and
that is the first thought toward get
ting worthy with God Almighty, to |
realize that you are unworthy. You |
know people estimate religion by |
what they see in the lives of those |
who profess to be Christians. Your !
life may be far from what it should |
be, but life, my friend, is what you
want it to be, for 1 believe if you |
want it to be different, God Al |
mighty gives you every incentive |
in order to change it, to have 1t the
way God wants it to be.
Influence of Association.
Let's not betray Jesus Christ /
with a guilty silence another min
ute.
How do you influence the men
and women today that you rub ell
bows with in the home, the Office,
the store, society, or the lodge or
wherever you go for pleasure or in
the pursuit of your calling to earn
your bread by the sweat of your
brow? Would it be possible for
hem to stand before God in the
lay of judgment and say, "Oh, 1
worked for you in your store. /
clerked with you in your factory.
went with you in your delegation tn
The tabernacle. You paid me my
wages, I worked for you in your
home, l drove your car, 1 waited
1n you when you were i'll, cooked
your food, 1 washed your clothes,
your floor. We talked
about the war. we talked about
business, we talked about society,
We talked about the evangelist, we
.alked about the tabernacle; but
you never asked me to be a Christ /
an. You laughed at some &C.
,entricity, you sneered at some
but you didn't ask me