The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-05-20


cation and cuIture-"ye might be par
takers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that Is In the
world through lust"
In his sermon Saturday afternoon,
Rev. W. A. Sunday said:
The largest diamond ever known in
the world was found a few years ago
in South Africa, where are located
the richest diamond fields in the
world, the Kimberley. This stone was
as big as your fist and weighed a
pound and a half 1t was perfect in
color and in every way. 1t was pre-
scented to King Edward VII, and they
had a special safe erected for it and
a special vault They had men that
guarded it day and night. 1t was
worth millions. 1t was worth so much
beyond any other ever known that
there was no standard by which to
compare it with others,
The expression great and precious"
will have little meaning unless we
take the most precious diamond in
the world as a comparison.
Words in the Bible are never used
for mere effect When God talks to
us He does it in our terms of speech
and in our terms of comprehension.
And yet they are incapable of more
than merely limiting at what God
would say:
Robert Moffat, the great mission
airy in Africa, had teakettle and an
OK cart that excited the interest of
the natives. He explained it to them.
OF course, they didn't believe a word
he said, for their minds weren't ca
pable of compromising, for they had
never seen it.
When he saw a railway train start
off and heard the engine puff and
snort, he said: big teakettle, heap
many OK carts" He believed it when
he saw it, but he couldn't understand
it by merely hearing about it.
Have No
Conception
So we can have no conception of
what God wants. He can't more than
hint at the greatness of it all. And
the strongest expression falls short
of overstating the matter. When God
says exceeding great and precious
He wants us to know He is able to
make US rich if we will only do what
He tells US and submit to Him.
Light to a man lost In Mammoth
Cave would be exceeding great.
Bread to man starving to death
would be exceeding great. Water to
man dying from thirst would be ex-
ceeding great. Salvation to a man
doomed for eternal punishment would
be exceeding great.
A man was calling on an old saint
one time and he picked up her Bible
casually turned the leaves and on the
! fly leaves he found the letters, T. p
at intervals. He said, what does
that meant"
Tried and Proven"
The promises are great because
they mean what they say and they
are without a flaw and they have
stood the test of time. The promises
are great because they are precious
they are the promises of a father tc
his children, and the promise of q
father is the most sacred promise
known in the world. Others may fail
but such promises never fail, and Goo
must fulfill what He has promised OF
He would not be God. But when Coo
Almighty has promised salvation tC
you, God isn't duty-bound to fulfil
that promise unless you repent anC
do your part. When God has prom
ised blessing to you He has no
promised to give you that blessing
unless you have fulfilled the condi
tions. The trouble is you take it fol
granted that God has promised it
then you don't do your part and yol
condemn God instead of condemninI
yourself. Therefore, a sinner has NJ
right to condemn God So do you
part. and blessing will be yours.
And you can't find where God ha!
failed. If we have fulfilled the con
ditions that God has laid down, ever!
promise is made good by the shet
blood of Jesus Christ, and they ar
based on four great pillars, not on
of which can fail.
God Never
Deceves
First, Gods justice which makes
impossible for Him to deceive you
God never deceives you. The prom
ises rest on four great pillars.
" First, the justice of God.
u Second, His grace, which will no
suffer Him to forget. You forget
forget.
And then, third, His truth, whIc
will not suffer Him to change. WeatF
sick today, we'll tomorrow; govern
ments change, monetary system
change. God never changes; tn
same yesterday, today and forever
God is as Interchangeable as the sur
shine.
The fourth, His power, which Ell
abes Him to perform. I'd like to d
some things, | haven't the power. Go
has the power.
So the promises of God rest o
those four great pillars. Gods jul
tice, Gods truth, Gods grace an
Gods power. And the promises hav
back of them the power of the thron
of God, and they cannot fail. And tn
Bible has galaxy of promises SWEEP
ing through it. And God wants US I
appropriate this because they will d
us so much good.
The promises of God are like
banknote, you have got to use it.
There might be such a thing as
fellow starving to death with h
pockets full of money. There hav
been cases of people dying from wal
with plenty of money.
Out in San Francisco, they fOun
an old hermit that had died. and whe
they went to dig around his shac
every rat hole vomited money, raj
road stock and government bonds
AAand the poor wretch starved.
VI Why over in New Jersey-here
the clipping couple of years ag
a man found $4,000 in bills of warrior