Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-11-27
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

Text: "Not slothful in business, fervent In
spirit. serving the Lord Romans xii s.
Industry, devoutness and Christian service
all rec commended in that short text What,
do you really think they Tau be conjoiuedi
| Oh, yes There Is no war betwesn religion
and business, between bibles and lel2ers, be-
tween churches aud counting houses. On
the contrary, religion accelerates bus
mess, sharpens mems wits sweetens
acerl ity of disposition, illips the slow blood
| Of phleginau s and throws more velocity
into all the wheels Of hard work. 1t gives
better balancing to the judgment. it gives
strength to the wealth, it gives muscle to in
| dustry, it gives consecrated fire to enthu-
siasm, an in all the world and in all tn. ages
| you cannot show me a man whose honest
business has Teen desyoiled or hurt by his re-
ligion.. Anything that religion will
not help yTPh o do inds ousns . never to
divided into three groups-producers, manu-
facturers traders. Producers. such as far
mers and miners Manufacturers, such as
those VIII take the corn and turn it into
food or the silk or the fax and turn il into
clothing. Traders, those who profit by the
transfer or exchange OF that which is pro
f, duced or manufactured. Now, business
man may e.ong to any one of these cases,
| or to all of them. Whatever be your
avocation-if you have to plan and
calculate and barsain-if into your life there
come annoyances, vexations, exasperations,
| disappointlnents, as well a gains, percent
ages and divi lends-if you are harassed with
multiplicity Of occur alton in other words,
| If from Monday morning until Saturday
night, aud from January to January you
are driven by relentless duty and obliga-
ton, then you are business man or q
business woman, and my subject this
morning Is especially appropriated to your
case. There is an d-a abroad that business
| life Is sort Of prison in viii a man is in
generated, or it is astrife into viii b be goes
sometimes half armed But shall show YOU
this morning, ii God will help me. that bus,-
ness life is glorious educatiOu, and if shall
be divinely aided | will rub some OF the
wrinkles from your brow and unstrap some
of the burdens from your back.
Do you know that the time is coming
when the religion of Jesus Christ is going to
take entire pos eSsion of the business worldf
Two rivals in bushes did each other as much
| Larm as they could for many years. They
we're in the same liue of bushes and on the
same street. Aft r a while one of them was
converted to God. and he Immediately ss5ed
himself: Now, how shall treat my rivali
Wen," he said to himself, 81 will
treat him in this way: When a man comes to
| my store and wants style Of goods that
have not, II send him over to my rival" A
very hard thing to do. But the gra @ OF
God will help man do ANYTHING that is
right So the plan was carr ed out, and this
ri\a al in business found customers coming
from the Of her store and asked about it, and
| found that they were reco umeuded by his
old rival So he called on him, and
said: "How's thisl We warred against
each other for many years, and now ] hear
you are sending me customers. Those who
cannot get certain styles Of goods in your
store you are sending to mine" Then the
rival told him how he had teen converted by
| fhA Ora~o NJ Cod and ha had Lao nod the
law Of kindness and love and generosity, and
then they shook hands, and it was not many
weeks before the other man came into the
Kingdom Of God, and for many years
they did business in quietul e and
prosperity and Christian kindness on
the same street. And that principle is going
to submerge the whole earth, perhaps not in
your day nor mine. but it will come as certain
ly as there is God in H aven, and the Cos
pei Of Jes IS Christ is to triumph over all
nations. II we do not see it perhaps our
children will it. But, taking things as they
are, / want to show you, in the first
place, that business life is a school
for Christ an energy. God starts us in the
world with a certain amount of raw mate
rial out Of which we are to hew our charac-
ter Every faculty needs to be reses,
rounded, sharpened up After our young
leges and universities thev hgve to have a
higher education, which they can only get
by the col isions and the raspings Of every day
life Energy of character is wrought out oaly
In the fire. After bus nsss men have been in
thee Universities ten, twenty Or thirty years,
they have an energy which cannot be meas
ured by wei hts or ladders or pummets. 1t
can scale any height. 1t can plummet any
depth. It can thrash any Obstacle. Now, on
business man. you have in this school of
active life gained a great deal of energy
Why has God put you in that s,hool, and
why has this development gone ONT
Merely that you may gain more dol,
lars and build large fortunes and spend
your days higgling and cha -fingi
All, no. God intended you to bring att that
energy into his service. What would occur
in these cities if all the business talent were
brought into the Kingdom OF Coil Do you
not know that in many Of our churches the
vast ma GRITTY Of work is being done by those
who have not had any especially oppor tunity.
wilhelm all our CHI riches there is q ast amount
Of energy settling into comparative dleness.
The deepest streams do not seem to be turning
the mill wheel or hanling on factory bands
Do YOU not know that Col demands the best
lamb ost of every flock the richest saeas
out of every harvest Sthe best me OF every
generation, aud surely, in ca lse in which
Locke ard Mansfield anl Newt N were prou
~ be engaged you and fneed not he a,hern q
TO invest our interest. Oh tor fewer idlers
and for more workers Oh, that the i'm.
mense, the almost infinite bust 9ess energy Of
these cities might be eonsecratsi to God.
J ! remark further that business lie is a
echool for Christian pat ence. During ons
days engagement how many things per.
turb and annoy and perpls :. Bargains will
rub. Men will break their engage nentS
! Collecting agents will CINE back empty
handed. Tricksters in business will take all
vantage OF the hard tiInss W zen they 10 not
I pay in good times Goods put on the
wrong shelf. Cash book anil money
| drawer in a quarrel Poo ls intending no
harm going shopping, having M id a OF
making purct ases, or after q while irving TO
break The dozen. Goods orde ed for an es e
cial ne gen y and not coming. or coming
damaged 10 the transportation. More
counterfeit bills in the aver Anoth r
ridiculous panic. Other mems tes
to pay. Annoyance after annoyance.
and unier the pre- sure hundre Is
and thou ands Of men go down. They 10
come cross and cranky and pugnarious, ard
after while people lea Q their ore and
I their name becomes q positive dete tai ion.
On the other hand I could mention the
name OF a score OF merchants, business men
in all departing t., who have been frightened
] up by the lrocesS. They can loos back
! TO the time when they gaze retort for
retort, sartasm for sarcaIn, wrong for
wrong, but not now. They re nemter when
they had to bite their lip. Thsy remem or
when they thought Of the singing answer
they would like to have sent. They remen-
| bar ss,cH hoxu Nk.xr