The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-11-17
Gipsy Smiths Sermon
Lasf Evening s..

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=. Mr. Smith took his text last even
Ing from the second book of Kings,
second chapter, and the 9Th verse;
but he was a leper." 81
p Mr.. Smith said that all through the
Lible leprosy Is used as. . type Of SIM
I don't know how much there is jim
,ne analogy, but it Isl remarkable!
when you study the pathology of the
disease, to find. how similar leprosy
and sin are. First of all, it is small
in its beginning. Leprosy starts with
4 spot no bigger than pins head, on,
the body, and spreads until the body
becomes mass Of sores, and then,
in the last stages of the disease, the
limbs begin TO slough off. Sin is just
the samss 1t is small in the begin
ning. If the devil could show US the
end of sin, he could never get us to
lake the first step, and society, today,
takes no note of the beginning of sin.
1t will welcome the young fellow into
their parlors and let him drink at
their tables, and then, when society
hears that the young fellow is about
to become nuttering, staggering
drunkard, society, Mortified, rises up
and shuts the door in his face. So
ciety takes no note Of the girl who
fiirts promiscuously with any Tom,
Dick and Harry, until her name be-,
comes an easy mark among the young:
fellows Of town. Society waits until
It hears that she is about to become
the mother of an illegitimate child,
Md then society, Mortified, rises up
ard shuts the door in her faca Sin
is small in its beginning, as is leprosy.
Secondly, leprosy separates. When a
rcrson contracts that dreadful dis
case, we have to separate him from
his loved ones and Danish him for the
sake Of the community. And sin al
ways separates. There is nothing in
The world that can separate husband
and wife like sin. There is nothing
~ the world that can separate
young man or young woman from
her home like sin. Thirdly. it is abso-
lutely incurable by man, so is sin. The
great medical societies of the world
wait to wine and dine the man who
can prescribe a permanent cure for
leprosy, but "a far as I know, no man
has been able to prescribe that cure.
Sin is also incurable by man. You
nay try this and that and the other
thing, and you can rush to the quacks
# the world, but your case is abso-
lutely incurable by man. have Of
ten thought -thatI could see Naaman
on his horse before the great Syrian
troops, and anybody passing might
have been tempted to say, "How un-
equally Providence seems to divide
her favors.' Here Is this great cap
tam with prestige, famo, position,
money and everything that seems pos
sibie to make man happy. And here
- another man who has nothing, but
the meanest beggar in the city of
Damascus would not change places!
with Naaman, because he was leper.
l have sometimes thought I could hear
him give that famous command to-
some of his troops, telling them to 60
cat and raid the Israelites, and then
| have imagined could see that lit
tie Jewish home on the side of the
hill, with the father and mother and
daughter retiring for the night. And
after they have got to sleep, being
awakened by the rough shouts and
curses Of the soldiers who break into
the house, and tear everything open
m the main floor, and not finding
what their heart is after, they go
Epstairs and turn the occupants out
VI bed and drive them down the stairs
shead Of them. And after they turn
everything over upstairs, they come
down disgusted because they have not
found the loot that their heart was af-
Ter, and afraid to go back to camp
without anything, they take the
daughter and Put her on horseback
and in the early morning they return
o camp. / have sometimes thought
I could see these soldiers coming out
TO meet them and say, Well, what
luck?' and finding that all they have,|
taken for the nights work is a little
girl, they begin to jeer and say, is
that all you could do? All your equi- |
page for little girl. All your train |
ing and expense of keeping up this
army, and is that all you have got?
But the Syrian army little knew that
that little maid was going to bring a
blessing to the whole of that country.
I have imagined could see her taken
into the humblest position in the pal |
ace and have watched her in imagina-
tion climb until she becomes the maid
TO Mrs. Naaman. And one day, Mrs.
f;aaman comes into the room and sit |
ting down, she buries her face in her
hands and sobs as though her heart
would break, and the little girl comes
up to her and says, What's the mat
ter?' And Mrs. Naaman answers
why, don't you know that it is just
being whispered that my husband has