Great Falls tribune., 1922-03-13

Warren Methodist church in his SER
mon of Sunday
morning. He de-
clared that many of
the worlds hurts
grow out of sin and llll.s.=s:.]S
that the observance
of Lent gives an OPP
portunity for man to
recognize his .pir;t
ual ailments aud to
cleanse his heart. 3 ss
He exemplifi"d his ;s;s
point by telling Of '#s s
Judas. the betraver ==%s
of Christ His SER
mon follows: " - lllyISs
Again it is Lent. $@s|.sy ssSs.sss
The date is fixed for .sssas.ses
rs by. long usage, but the need for
Lent is deep in the heart. Lent con-
fesses the hearts need of forgiveness
and cleansing. Lent reminds us Of
what we had forgotten-that the worst
malady of life is. sin. and that folks
need recreation in righteousness more
than they need anything else in the
world. Most of this worlds hurts
grow directly or indirectly out of sin.
Lent offers us the opportunity to rec
ognize oar spiritual ailments and our
dire need of the Great Physician: like
Judas, we do not consider the sins and
short comlngs of our lives as q serious
thing, until some day our true self
springs with sudden bound into view
and tragedy is the result. We can
not conceal shoddy in the great web of
rotten, sleazy thread will stretch it.
self across the fabric and testify
against us forever
| Have Our Opportunity
Judas had his opportunity, we have
| ours. Judas was not born into the
world to betray his Savior as some
would have us suppose, no more than
you and | are born for the same pur-
pose today. Judas was a nominal
Christian. a member Of the apostolic
band a member of the inner circle. but
at heart a traitor. What an awful cx-
the conscience. petrifying the heart; of
religious observance devoid of real
trust and love.
Judas sold his Lord for 80 pieces
Of silver. the blood money of a slave.
We cry out in sheer evaporation. how
could he do such an awful thing!
Esau sold his birthright for a mess
Of pottage, a very foolish thing to do,
yea, tragic. Judas was never suspect
ed of treachery until the money bag
betrayed him. The gospel according to
st. John says, He was thief, and
having the bag. took away what was
put therein Judas, however, is not
the only man who ever sold his Lord
Men and women are doing it every
day. Some are selling him for the
sake of worldly amusements; others
for the sake of being popular; others
for the sake of gain in a material way.
The man who says he has no time
for religion has sold out to some other
master.
Many Playing Traitor
I'VE think of Benedict Arnold. the
traitor of his country, with a flush of
shame and dismay; but Benedict Arm
old is not the only man who has played
the traitor to his country; but equally
every man is betraying the best inter
ests of his country when he favors
turning it over to the forces of John
Barleycorn and legislators who go into
the legislative halls of our common
wealth and play their ballot into the |
hands of those who make for destruc-
tive rather than constructive forces. |
The temptation comes to every one of
us to sell out to the trivial and non
essential things of life, it seems so
much easier, but the sad disappoint- /
ment at the end Thousands of men
pass for gold until tried by the chem
istry Of disappointment. of trouble, or
of misfortune, when they are found |
to be only fools gold. Thousands of !
real paupers live in palaces, while mill |
lionaires of character often die in poor
houses. The great battles of life are |
fought in the heart. yet the world /
knows when our higher nature has lost |
or won. The world knows when shame !
and disgrace have pulled down the |
chaste banner of virtue and manhood, |
and raised their own flag there: for
defeats and victories Thought exter-
nalizes itself. What we think we be-
come. How this base thought could
have ever come into the mind of Judas. I
it is hard to tell. but it certainly was /
not sprung on him as a surprise.
General Attitude Tells
when Mary was Amounting the |
Master with the precious ointment. Il
Judas frowned and said what waste. 4
Our esteem and love for Christ will 4
manifest itself in our daily walk and
conservation. men will know that we
have been with Christ by our general Il
attitude toward life.
Judas hanged himself. The man who
turns traitor to Jesus has broken his u
only sure anchorage of life. The poet
has said. When all the Establishments
Of life are gone; the coward sneaks to
death, the brave live on Last year
more than 5000 people committed sui
eide in America: these are men and
women who have lost their bearing in /
life. have drifted away from the strong
Son of God. The scripture says, Bet /
ter would it have been for that man
if he had not been born What a chal-
lange there is for US in this simple
If we are playing traitor
to Christ and perservere in the same
it would have been better for us not
to have been born; we cannot justify
our existence ON any other grounds.
other than by a life of loyalty and
obedience to the Son of God to be
4 traitor to his cause. is to be traitor
TO life as God would have it.