The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1888-12-06

bear false witnesses against thy neigh-
bor.' Aud in Lsviticus He says; Thou
shalt not 60 up and down as tale bear
err" Take not into your ear that scum OF
he'll that people call tittie-tattle. Who
soever willingly listens TO Islander is
equally guilty with the one who tells II,
aud an old writer says they ought both to
be hung, the one by the tongue and the
other by the ear. Do not smile upon such
a spaniel, lest, like pleased dog, he put
his dirty paw upon you. Throw back the
shutter Of your soul, oh Christian men
and women, and see If there be within
you culture with filthy talons and cruel
beak. Let not this unclean thing roost in
your soul, for my text says: I'VE shall
hold in abominatlon among the fowls, the
vnlture."
Again, taking the suggestion of the
text, drive out the bat from your soul
No wonder God set this bird among the
unclean. Ii Is an offense to every one.
Let Ii dy into the window OF a summer
night and all the hands, young aud old,
are against 1t. II is half bird and half
mousa It seems made partly to walk
and partly to fly, and does neither well,
and becomes an emblem OF those
Christians who try TO cling to earth and
Heaven at the same time. They want to
walk on earth in worldliuess, and yet fly
toward Heaven in spirituality, and their
souls, between feet and wings, is con-
stantly perplexed. o, my brethren, be
one thing or the otheri Choose tho world
if you prefer it, and see how many dol
lars you can win, and how much applause
you can gain, and how large a business
you can establish, and how grand
house you can build, and how fast span
OF horses you can drive. You may be
prosperous until you can fail for half
million dollars instead Of having the
disgrace of failing for only ten thousand
dollara as some unenterprising people
do. 1t is quite a reward to be able for ten
or twenty years to be called one of the
solid men OF Brooklyn or Boston; and
then, to make your fortune last as long
as possible, we will give you splendid
funeral, and you shall have twenty five
carriages following you, with somebody
in the most Of them, and your coffiu shall
have silver handles on the sides, and we
will mourn for you in splendid pocket
handkerchiefs bound with Grape, and
with bombazine twenty full yards long,
trailing half across the parlor so that all
the company may stand upon it, and we
will write our letters for six months on
paper edged with black But, my friends,
your worldly fortunes will not last. viii
buy out now all that you will be worth in
worldly estate seventy-fye years from
now / hava the money in my pocket
with which to do ii. Here it isl Two
cents! 1t is large sum to offer for all
you will possess at the end of seventy
five years. Choose the world, il you want
to, bu', IL not, then choose Heaven. That
estate lies partly on this side of the river,
but mostly on the other. 1t is ever ac-
cumulating. The prospect OF it makes
one independent of earthly misfortuEes;
so that Rogers, the martyr, slept so
soundly the night before his burning, they
violently shook him in order to get him
awake in time for the execution; and
Paul exults at the thought OF the 10y un-
speaksble and full OF glory" Oh, choose
earth or Heaveni Make up your mind
whether you will walk in earthly JOY or
fly with Heavenly expectations. Be not a
bat fit neither TO walk nor fly, having
just enough Of Heaven to spoil the world,
and so much OF the world as to spoil
Heaven. Christ says that your present
condition nauseates Him to pos tive sick
ness. Because thou art neither cold nor
hot, Till spew thee out of my mouthl'
In the ruins OF Pompeii there was found
petriied woman, who, instead Of trying
to fly from the destroyed city. had spent
her time in gathering up her jewels. She
saved neither her life nor her jewels.
There are multitudes making the same
mistake. In trying to get earth and
Heaven they lose both. Eye can not serve
God and Mammon." Be one thing or the
other Tread the earth like lion, or
81, -. he
says: "Ye shall have In abomination
among the fowls. the bat"
Again: Taking the suggestion OF the
text. drive out the chameleon from your
soul. There is some difference among
good men as to the name OF this creeping
thing which God pronounced unclean, but
shall take the opinion which seems best
suited to my purpose. The chameleon is
a reptile. chiefly known by its change
ableneas Of color, taking the color of the
thing next to it sometimes brown, some
times gray, but always the color of its
surroundings, type OF that class of
Chri itians who are now one thing in re-
ligious faith, and now another, just TO
suit circumstances, always taking their
color of religious belief from the man
they are talking to. They go to one place.
a good man, but nothing more" They
90 TO Princeton, and they are Trinita-
rians, almost willing to die for the d.
vinity of Jesus, Among the Univer-
saIists they refuse the idea of future
punishment; and going among those Of
opposite belief, announce that there IS
hell with gusto that makes you think
they are glad OF it. Drive out that I'M
clean chameleon from your soul Do not
be ever changing the color Of your faith.
Ny friends, liberal Christianity, falsely
so called, believes in nothing. God is
any thing you want to make Him. The
Bible to be believed in so far as You Ike
it. Heaven a grand mixing up OF Neros
and Pauls. The man who dies by suicide
in his right mind in 1855. beating
into glory by ten years the Chris
tian man who dies Christian
death In 1898, the suicide proving
himself wiser than the Christian.
Oh, my friends, let us try to believe in
something. An iufidel was called to the
bedside OF his daughter. The daughter
said: Father, which shall / believe, you
or mother? Mother took the religion OF
Christ and died in its embrace. You say
that religion is humbug. Now, / am
going to die, aud l am very much per-
picked; shall / believe you or take the
belief OF my motherf" The father said:
Choose for yourself" She said: "No, I
am too weak to choose for myself; want
you 10 choose for me.n ''Well." said the
father. after much hesitation and embar-
rassmert: MARY, think you had bet
ter take the religion Of your mother"
The time will como when we shall have
10 believe something. We can not afford
10 be on the fence in religion. Truth
and error are set opposite to each
other. The one is infinitely right
and the other infinitely wrong. In the
judgment day we must give an account OF
what we believed as we'll as for what we
acted. The difference between believing
TRUTH aud believing error is the differ
enoe between paradise and perdition. l
beg you in the light Of the Bible, and on
your knl before God, to form your re-
ligious opinion aud then stick to it
though business companions scof, aud
wits car cature, and the air crackles with