3.14 - VOWING (No. l)

VOWING (No. l)

I read to you this noon Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 : "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not shine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou has vowed. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel that it was all error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of shine hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities, but fear thou God."

Then I read again from Deuteronomy 23:21 : "When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it; for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee." And then, finally, from Numbers 30:2 : "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear all oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."

Those words suggest to you the subject of today, "Vowing." That word simply means a pledge, a promise, or all obligation assumed. These passages teach that when we thus make our vows, make our pledges, or give our word, we must make good, and do according to that which proceedeth out of our mouths. When I tell you that, as a people of the world today, confidence among us is largely lost, I tell you that which everybody knows. There is a restless state all over the earth.

Every kind of a suggestion is being made, the object of which is to try to still the troubled waters, restore tranquillity, and bring again that peace for which good men and women earnestly sigh.

What is the matter with things? I believe it may be summed up by saying that we are untrue to the statements I have just read in your hearing. It has come to pass that men occupying places of prestige and prominence have proved unworthy of the confidence of their constituency.

We have been taught in this country that the highest gift of the American people is to be chief executive of our land; that the heads of the cabinet departments are outstanding men of uprightness, integrity, honor and candor, whom we can trust to steer correctly the great ship of state.

What has come to pass within the last few years? It has been demonstrated that some of the heads of the different departments of government gathered around the table with our chief executive have been found rotten, corrupt, liars, and thieves of the deepest dye. Unfortunately, our President waited until public sentiment and public pressure demanded their removal and denunciation. This country today has a right to put a question mark after many who occupy places of prominence and trust. The love of money, the root of all evil, has been evidenced until even the dignified body of the United States Senate has been compelled to exclude those who secured their places by means of corruption. There seems to be a price put upon thievery and rascality, and the greater the scoundrel in many respects, the more prominent some seem to be. So you know, friends, that with men of that kind at the helm, this country is headed toward the rocks, and the ship of state is bound to go over the mighty cataract and precipice into wreck and ruin at last.

I am not a politician, I am not making any kind of speeches. And as the good old darkey once said, "I have no reference to allusions whatever," but as a citizen I am interested in governmental affairs. The call today comes from all over the land for all outstanding leader of the American people; one who has been tested and tried, and who has come through the turmoil of political conflicts and temptations with his skirts still clean, his honor still preserved, and in whom this country might have every reason and right to put confidence and trust. We need men who cannot be swerved by petty affairs, who have genuine convictions, and, regardless of other matters, who have the courage to stand for them.

Some years ago a friend of mine escorted me through the Fourth and First National Bank of your city, showing me all of the various departments of that splendid structure. I gazed upon those gigantic walls; I looked upon the fine iron bars and the steel vaults, and beheld all of the electrical equipment. I was told it was fireproof, burglar proof, etc., and that valuables deposited would be safely guarded and protected both from fire and robbery.

I really thought that he was telling me the truth about that. I still think it, but after passing out, I said to him: "That is fine and impregnable against attacks from without, but the safety of this bank, and the greatest guaranty of security, is not the gigantic walls, nor the steel doors, nor the iron bars, nor the electrical equipment, but, after all, the guaranty and the security rest in the honesty and integrity of those on the inside."

I went to a similar bank in the city of Jackson and, while down in the vault, and being showed some safety boxes, I rented one. I never have known just what I wanted with it, but it sounded just a little bit large, and so I picked out one, and paid the rent for a quarter in advance. The cashier, or one of the officials, handed me a little key, and I deposited some papers. Mrs. Hardeman and I then returned to our home at Henderson, and along the way I said to her, "How do we know but that the fellow who handed me this key has already made him one exactly like it, and tonight, while we sleep in absolute confidence, he may take out all we put into our safety box?" Would the great walls of the building be any hindrance to him? Not a particle. Would the steel doors be any barrier? Surely not. He understood how to unlock them. What was there about the electrical fixtures that was any hindrance to him? Not a thing on earth. Let me tell you, there has been as much money stolen from banks by those on the inside as has ever been by those on the outside. Steel doors and iron bars are no protection to us as a people whatsoever. Our protection lies in the honor, the integrity, the manhood, and the truthfulness of those to whom we commit ourselves and our possessions.

We spend our money for stocks, bonds and securities. We invest it in life insurance policies, and think we are "sitting pretty." Had you ever thought about it? What is that piece of paper that you call a bond worth of itself? Possibly not one penny. I have a life insurance policy. It is a great big piece of paper. How much is it worth? Of itself it is practically without value, and yet I prize it highly. I pay for it, and keep on paying, and must until the day of my death. Now, wherein is my guaranty? It is first dependent upon the integrity of the lawyer, the stenographer, and those who drafted that instrument. Second, it depends upon the integrity of the executors and their genuine signature. Third, it depends upon the integrity of our courts, enabling me to enforce my claims. Finally, my guaranty depends upon the masses of the people with the sentiment demanding that honesty and fairness be meted out unto our fellow citizens. As long as 51 per cent of the American people are characterized by integrity and honesty, this country is safe. But when 51 per cent are headed in the opposite direction, there is no guaranty of either life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. Do you have a Liberty bond which you are holding, and in which you have invested? How do you know that the bill authorizing its issuance was correctly drawn? How do you know that the proper authority signed it? Maybe it is a forged affair. Friends, when we buy a piece of property and pay our hard-earned dollars for a little piece of paper designated as a deed, how do we know that it will hold? I know there is much red tape and many technicalities in our legal procedure. What is it all about? It depends absolutely upon the honesty of our officials. The thing that is most needed in this country today is a restoration of old-time, downright, rugged truthfulness and honesty.

I have to borrow money sometimes. Being both a school teacher and a preacher, you may think that ridiculously strange, but strange things happen. In our little town there are three banks. I know every official in them. I walk down to the bank and say to the cashier, "I want to borrow $500 for a month." He says, "Well, Brother Hardeman, we have the money, and you know banks make their way by lending." "All right, sir, you have a customer." And then there is a little quiet spell. Finally the cashier says, "Well, Brother Hardeman, how do you want to fix it?" I answer: "I am a preacher." He says, "I understand that, but our finance committee has decided that the very fact a fellow is a preacher is not satisfactory security, and, besides, we have a whole lot of preachers’ Notes in here that we would like to let you have at about fifty cents on the dollar."

Now, ladies and gentlemen, it ought to be that the very fact that I propose to be a preacher would give me some business asset, but it does not, and I cannot borrow money on the fact that I preach. It just won’t work.

I come back again and say, "I am a Christian." "Yes, we respect Christianity all right, but we have a whole lot of Christians’ Notes in here that are past due, and we cannot collect on them."

I just want to ask you, since there is nobody here but us today, what advantage in the business world does a man who claims to be a Christian have? Don’t you think the fact that my professed Christianity does not guarantee me any security in the business world is a great reflection upon our so-called Christianity? Of course, it is.

Now, who is responsible for that? Must I get mad and "cuss" out the cashier? No, no. He is not to blame. Some of my fellow preachers and pretended Christians have not made good their word. They have not kept their vows. They have not done that which proceeded out of their mouths. Therefore, the world has its question mark after them, and they are ridiculed as unworthy of business trust.

We have to say a whole lot of things sometimes when we don’t want to say them, and I am doing that right now. I know men that "cuss," drink liquor and He in the back alleys, do things that are publicly condemned, yet, if I were the grocery man, I would rather have some of their names on my ledger than to have those of some pious, godly, sanctified preachers from whom you could not collect a dime to save your soul.

Now these are unfortunate things, and I want to say to you, brethren, I can preach faith and repentance and baptism all I please of course, I believe that Jesus Christ taught these things, and that salvation is promised unto the man who so does—but unless I make good my word, fulfill my vow, pay my debts to the very best of my ability, I am as certain to go to hell as there is one. I have no patience with, I have rather contempt for the fellow who will sit up on the front seat and warm the. church bench every Sunday morning, and then cannot be trusted three inches in any kind of a business deal.

I had a letter from all infidel just a day or two ago, in which he said: "Mr. Hardeman, don’t sneer so much at the infidel. I would rather be all infidel than to be a hypocritical church member." I am not going to have any debate with that fellow on that question. I, too, would take his side of it.

"When thou vowest a vow unto the Lord, or speaketh a word to bind thy soul, thou shalt do according to all that proceedeth out of thy mouth, thou shalt not break thy word." That is what this country needs. When a man says a thing we ought to be able to take it at 100 per cent. I think it a shame that in our governmental affairs there has to come any kind of a question or suspicion regarding public men. So far as I know Governor Horton is all honest man. I believe that Mr. Pope, another candidate for governor, is a man of the very highest type, and I feel certain also that Mr. McAlister represents the best type of citizenship. I would that all such men to whom we look as leaders would remove any kind of doubt, that all of us would quit trying to plan any kind of a deceptive scheme. Why not come out in the open, say what we believe, speak forth our honest sentiments, stand by them until convinced to the contrary, and then be men enough to reverse our coats and continue on the broad-gauge idea of genuine uprightness and integrity? Our boys and girls need to learn that the very finest dividends possible to them must come from the application of those old-time virtues that are being lost and relegated too much to the background. There is too much formality, churchanity, and playing to the galleries. The world looks on and points out the scoundrels, the hypocrites, and the whitewashed souls who are proposing to bear aloft the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. The danger to the church and to Christianity is from within—from those who claim to be religious, while, in reality, they are not. There are not enough of the devil’s representatives on earth, nor of his legions in hell, to stop the forward march, and the onward progress of the Church of God, and if it fails in this country, it will be by the suicide act, and not by defeat from without.

Lincoln once said, "This country need have no fear of some transAtlantic power coming and subjecting it to a state of slavery, but we will either survive or perish by the deeds wrought within and among ourselves." That is equally true, friends, regarding the church bought with the blood of Christ.

If you and I could just be content with what the Bible has to say, and transcribe into our lives the eternal principles upon which our hopes of heaven must forever rest, and demonstrate that honesty, that fidelity, and that trustworthiness in our relationships as citizens and members of the body of Christ, there would be no need of long-protracted efforts from the pulpit. Our very lives would be all open epistle known and read of all men, and would draw the multitudes unto Jesus Christ our Lord. The criticism in this country is not against Christianity, so far as its fundamental and foundation principles are concerned, but it is against men and women who claim to indorse it in theory, and yet slap it in the face in practice.

I appreciate the work being done in this city. I rejoice over the fine practical work being wrought by the Central Church of Christ right in the heart of this city. It is a place where the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the wise and the otherwise, may go and be made to feel at home. There are none so humble but that they are received with open arms, and their physical necessities administered unto. This is the practical application of that religion that is pure and undefiled. It is but the paying of our vows and the performance of our obligations as children of God. In so doing we are building upon the rock of Christ Jesus our Lord.

If I build a magnificent structure upon the shifting sand, it is certain to go to wreck and ruin of its own accord, but if I rear even a humble structure upon the solidity of the Rock, let come what may, it is as certain to weather the storms and bid defiance to the cyclones as God’s Word is true. But all of that is dependent upon my keeping my vows and paying my obligations both to God and man.

Christianity, friends, is a vow unto God. When you march down the aisle, and extend your hand, it is a pledge, a vow, a promise unto the God of the universe. Unfortunately so many have thus done, and later fallen by the wayside. The path of humanity is literally strewn with the bleached bones of those who were unable to press on to the completion of their journey.

I wonder if there are not those in this audience who would like to have part and fellowship in the work of the Lord. Won’t you assume life’s obligations and pledges, and, to the best of your ability, be faithful even unto the end? If so, come while you can.