The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-12-31
Twenty-Four Hours.

Twenty-Four Hours.
Absorbing ENOUGH RELIGION TO
LAST AN ENTIRE WEEK.
The Shower of Chaff Tint Would Fly
Out Of the Church's Hoppcred Wloat
...What AstOuished the Country Mer-
chant Who Went to Hear n Sermon
in Town.
Mr.. Talmago took his lcxt from Pro-
verbs, ill.,, 6-"rhy ways acknowledge
Him, and lie will direct thy paths" His
subject was "Religion in Ordinary
Things" \ man cannot be so much of
a Christian OH Sunday that he can afford
to he Il wording al the rest of the week.
and go one day in that direction, and the
other six days go in other directions, how
long before the steamer will get to South
alnpton? 1t will never get there. And
though Il man sccIl to be voyaSing hcav-
onward during the holy Sabbath day, if,
during the following six days of the
week, he is going toward tho world, and
toward the flesh, and toward the devil,
he will meyer ride up into the peaceful
harbor Of Heaven. You cannot cat so
much at the Sabbath banquet that you
can afford religious abstinence the other
six days. 1I4roism and princcly bshav-
iour OH great occasions nre no apology for
lack of right demcanor in circumstances
insigniticalt and inconspicuous. TIC
genuine Christian life is not spasmodic.
does not 20 by fits and starts. 1t tolls on
through heat and cold, up steep noun
tainssand along dangerous declivities, its
eye on the everlasting hills crowned with
the castles of tho blessed. In the first
place, we want to bring the religion of
When Il dam breaks and two or three
villages in Massachusetts are overwliclm-
ed, or an earthquake in South America
swallows d whole city, then people begin
to talk about the uncertainty OF life, and
they imagine that they are engaged in
positively religious conversations Nc.
You may talk about these things, n
have no grace Of God at all III your heart.
We ought every day to be talking about
religion. If there is anything glad about
it, anything beautiful about it, anything
important about it, we ought to bc con-
tinually discussing it. l have noticed
that mon, just i'll proportion rs their
Christian experience is shallow, talk
about funerals, and about grave yards,
and to1nbStones and dcath-beds. The
real, genuine Christian nan talks chiefly
about this life. and the great eternity be-
You'd, and not so much about the lnsig-
nificant pass between these two resi-
dcnccs. And yet how few circles there
arc where the religion of Jesus Christ IS
welcome. Go into Il circle even OF Chris
tan people. where they are full OF JOY,
hilarity, and talk about Christ in Heaven
and every thing IS Immediately silent.
AS OF Il Summer day when the trees are
full of life, chatter and clirrup and car
rol-a mighty chorus Of bird harmony,
every tree branch an Crchcstra-ifa hawk
appear in the sky every voice stops and
the forests are still. Just so I have seen
a lively religious circle silenced on the
appearance of anything like a religious
conversation. No II had anything to
say, save, perhaps, some old patriarch IN
the corner of tho room, who really THINKS
something ought to be said under the cir
cumstallces, so he puts one foot over the
other, and says, 80. yes! that's so -! that
SO.'
NV friends, the religion of Jesus Christ
is something to talk about with O glad
heart. 1t is brighter than tho waters ; 1t
is more cheerful than the sunshine. DO
not go around grooming about your rellS-
ion, when YOU ought to be singing 1t or
tllkingiti III cheerful toncsof voice. How
often il is that we find me whose lives
are utterly inconsistent, who attempt to
talk of religion and always make II fail
urc of it. My friends, we must live re-
ligion or VIC cannot talk it. II q man is
cranky and cross and u~ncongcnial and
hard in dealing, and then begins to talk
about Christ and Heaven, everybody IS
repealed by his whining tones, I'VE are
miserable Sinners" 'The Lold bless
you," ''The Lord have mercy OIL you -
their conversations intcrlardcd with such
expressions. which mean nothing but
canting, and canttnE is tho worse form OF
hypocrisy.
Again, l remark, W. must bring the re-
l;giOn of Christ into I'LL ordinary m
ploymcnt. 49," you say, "that il very
we'll if n man handles largo sunset mon
ey, or if he has an extensive trllllc {; 1t Is
very we'll for the importer of silks, for
the bankers and shippers, for the KothS-
childs and tho Earrings, but in my thread
and-ncedlc store, in my trimming estab-
Iisllmcnt, in the humble work in life that
l am called to, the sphere is too small for
the action of such grand, heavenly prin-
ciples." Who told you sO2 DO you not
know that God watches tho faded leaf on
the brood's srrfacc as certainly rs he docs
The path of a blazing sun ; and the moss
that creeps up the sides of the rocks make
rs much impression upon Gods mind as
the rowing tops of Oregon pin @ and l'cb-
anon cedar ; and the alder cracking un-
der the cows hoof sounds rs loud III
Gods ear as the snap Of a worlds confia-
grafton Where have you anything to
do in life, however humble 1t may seem
to be, but God is always there to help you
do it? If v0u work IS that OF q usher.
man, then God will help you as he helped
Simon when he dragged Gennesaret. II
your work is drawing water, then lie will
help you as when he talked ut the well
curb to the Samaritan oma If you
are engaged in the Custom House, lie
will lead you as He led Mathew, sitting
ut tho seat of customs. \ religion that l'
not good in one place is not worth any
thing in another place. The man who
has only q days wages in his pocket ms
| certainly needs the guidanccs Of religion,
as he who rattles the keys of a bank, and
could abscond with hundreds of thou
sands of dollars.
There are those prominent in the
churches who seem to be, OH pubic oc-
customs, very devout, who do not put the
principles of Christian religion into
practice. They are the most ~inexorable
of creditors. They are tho most grasping
of dealers. They are known as sharpers
on the street. They fleece every sheep
they can catch, A country merchant
comes into buy Spring or Fall goods,
and he gets into the store of II OF these
professcd Christian men, who have really
no grace in their hearts, and he is COM
pletely swindled. He is so overcome
that he cannot get out Of town during the
week. He stays in town over Sunday,
goes into some church to get Christian
consolation, what is his amusement to
find that the very man who hands him
the poor-box in tho church is the one
who relieved him of his money! But
never mind; the deacon has his black
coat on now. He looks solemn, and goes
home talking about "tho blessed SER
mon." II the wheat in tho churches
were to be put into a hopper, the first
turn of the crank would make tho chaif
fly, I tell you. Some of these men arc
great sticklers for gospel preaching.
They say: "You stand there i'll bands