The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1921-06-27
USE WORLD BUT
DON'T ABUSE IT,
PASTORS ADVICE
DR.. John Barbour's Sermon Sunday
Advises Christians To Be Careful
In Their Use Of the World
Learned Sermon Attracts.

DR.. John Barbour at First Presby-
terian church Sunday morning
preached on the subject, "Using and
Not Abusing" which has attracted
much local comment. In his address,
the pastor said in part:
I Cor. 1881: "And they that use this
world as not abusing 1t; for the fash
ion Of this world passeth away"
We are very fortunate in having this
translation of the text for 1t brings
out in the very words use" and
"abuse" the thought Of the Apostle
even better than the Greek, and it puts
to us in this simple compendious
phrase large part of the doctrine
Of ethics and right living
There are the two extremes.
There are those who think the world
Is essentially wrong and that we must
get as far away from 1t as possible.
That is monkery, whether one wear a
cowl or not. There are multitudcs Of
Protestants who forget that this is our
Fathers world and we are His child
rem. Now whilst John the Baptist
withdrew from the world, Jesus Christ
went among men "eating and drink
ing" There are people who say "Yes,
but 1t Is not for Christian to have
these things" What a mean father
they conceive God to be, giving the
cream to the people Of the world but
saving the skinned milk for His own
children! The very idea! Why there
is nothing anybody has right to that
a Christian has not better right to.
Let us have no more such narrow and
insulting conceptions of God and His
world. Then there is the other ex-
treme. There are men and women who
say: "I have taste or a passion for
this or that and I must enjoy it,
whether or no." They put no limit to
their use of the world.
The Christian course is between the
two. One is to be neither a monk nor
libertine. He is to use the world as
not abusing it. He is to use it up to
the limit Of what is best for him and
for others about him.
A man lends you his horse, while
he is out of town. You ride it nearly
to death, abusing his trust. You have
injured the horse, hurt yourself, be-
trayed confidence and set bad
example. Our Father has lent us these
powers Of mind and body, saying, "Use
till come" and we go into riotous liv
ing. We insult God, injure ourselves,
and rob our family and our neighbors
of the service we owed them by de-
stroying our powers.
A vast deal Of wrong in this world
is just from abuse Of right things. The
abuse of liberty is riot; Of love is IL
centiousness, or the wreck Of families
of conscience, is bigotry or persecu-
tion.
Sir Matthew Hale used to repeat
saying in the Latin, which meant this:
1--WE perish doing lawful things"
Things right in themselves, carried to
extreme are destroying multitudes.
The devil never tempts us to do any
thing but what has the show of right.
The wisdom of life is how to school
and use these powers for our own best
happiness, and we are not to follow
our tastes and passions until they
destroy us. We have not a passion
that is not put there for purpose. We
abuse them at our peril, and we hurt
ourselves more than anyone else.
Pleasure is for recreation, 1t is not
lifes business A distinguished theo-
logian who died the other day took his
recreation in fiction. He had an in
valid wife, and they took their pleas
ure largely in the reading Of stories
together. 1t prepared him for more
important work. The world is all
right If we keep 1t in its place. We
can make 1t source Of good to us If
we don't abuse It.
"Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in that thing which he allow
9th /"