Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-06-04
WORKS OF DARKNESS

fdInef feprOVe CneIn. --EpH. Oil.
Christian people are to walk in the
Light if they would please God. But
there Is a darkness in the world
which the Word plainly points out
to us If there were no evil in the
world which the Word plainly points
cut to us. If there were no evil lnl
the world, if there were no power to
tempt us to sin, we would not need
the instruction given in the verse
above Yet there is evil all around
US, and there is a proclivity to evil
within us, and for this reason God
says, Have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them"
These 'unfruitful works of dark
sess' are seen in the world today in
the awful immortality that men and
women by the thousand are practic-
ing in che evil doing by a great many
who even claim that they are in the
light, and vet many Of them never
had the Holy Spirit.
May | illustrate what / vast you
to get? There is no one, the writer
feels, more Jealous than he for law
enforcement as long as the laws do
not conflict with the teaching of Gods
word, and he will aid in unfolding
such But read what l have been
told has bees done by some who walk
in darkness. In a certain little town
in West Virginia there lives a wo-
man who, it is said, is of low char
acter One night not SO many
months ago, group Of men that
have in recent years been claiming to
be perfect citizens (although they
said nothing about their good citi-
zenship ten years ago) took this We
man from her home to certain
spot, removed her clothing, placed
her hands above her head, and tied
her to tree in that position and
then brutally beat her with a whip.
Whether this is true, I know not;
only hope it is not. If it is, 1 call
1t one of the most heinous crimes
that could be committed; it is moth
less than outrageously wicked. The
men who perpetrated that awful act
were a thousand times greater Grim
mails than was that poor, sinful wo-
man, who had gone wrong, no doubt
because of men who are serving the
devil. If it We're known positively
that she was guilty she should have
been treated with the Christian Spirit
and helped up. Do you remember
the story in the Bible of the woman
/ taken in adultery? Those who
brought her to Jesus told Him that
Moses commanded she be stoned, and
asked what He said about 1T. Jesus
wrote her pardon with His finger on
the ground, and then turned to those
selftrighteous, fellows and said, ''He
that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her. Let
US follow Jesus. Read the first ele-
ven verses Of the eighth chapter Of
St. John.
One Of the great troubles in the
world to-day is that the devil is 50
often successful in getting Christians
and the Churches to sanction his evil
works. But let me give you the
words Of Dr. Alexander Maclaren.
the great English preacher: Let me
remind you that the devil has no
more cunning way of securing a long
lease of life for any evil than getting
Christian people and Christian
Churches to give it their sanction.
What was it that kept slavery alive
for centuries? Largely, that Chris
tian men solemnly declared that it
was divine institution. What is
it that has kept war alive for all
these centuries? Largely that bis
hops and preachers have always been
ready to bless colours, and to read
Christening service over man-of-
war-and, | suppose, to ask God that
an eighty-ton gun might be blessed
to smash our enemies to pieces, and
not to blow our sailors to bits And
what is it that preserves the crying
evils of our community, the immoral
tiles, the drunkenness, the trade of
dishonesty, and all the other things
that | do not need to remind you Of
in the pulpit? Largely this, that
protesting Christians are mixed up
with them. If only the whole body
of those who profess and call them
selves Christians would shake hands