Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-07-07
that aiightei on the bust above his chamber

'"
Only this and nothing more.
Napoleon Bonaparte live only lust beyond
midlIfe then died at st. Helena, and one Of
his doctors said that his disease was induced
| by excessive shutting. The hero of Auster-
| litz, the man who by one step of his foot in
| the center OF Europe shook the earth, killed
by snuff box. Oh, how many people we
have known who have not lived out half
their days because Of their dssipations and
indulgencesl Now practical religion is a
protest against all dissipation of any kind
But you say, professors of religion
have fallen. professors Of religion have got
drunk. professors OF religion have misappro-
Priatei trust funds, professors Of religion
| have absconded.n Yes; bnt they threw away
their religion before they did their morality
If man on White Star line steamer bound
for Liverpool in mid Atlantic jumps over
board and is drowned, is that anything
| against the White Star lines capacity to take
| the man across the oceans And il man
| Jumps over the gtlnwale of his religion and
goes down never to rise, is that any reason
| for YOUR believing that religion has no cana
! city to take the man clear through? In the
one case il he had kept to the steamer his
| body would have been saved; in the other
case, il he had kept to his religion his morals
would have keen saved
There are aged people who would have
| been dead twenty-five years ago but for the
defenses and the equinoise of religion. You
have no more natural resistance than hum
dreds of reople who lie in the cemeteries to-
day slain by their own vices The doctors
made their case as kind and pleasant as they
could. and it was called congestion of the
brain. or something else, but the snakes and
| the bluefiies that seemed to crawl over the
| pillow in the sight of the delirious patient
showed what was the matter with him. You,
the aged Christian man, walked along by
| that unhappy. one until you came to the
| golden pillar of Christian life. That is all
the difference between you. Oh, if this re-
| ligion is a protest against all forms of dissi-
patton then it is an illustrious friend Of
longevity. with long life will / satisfy
! him"
| Again. religion is friend of longevity in
| the TACT that it takes the worry out of our
temperatures. It is not work that kills men,
| it is worry. When man becomes genuine
| Christian he makes over to God not only his
affections bu5 his family, his business his
reputation, his body, his m nd, his soul
d, everything. Industrious he will be, but
| never worrying, becauye God is managing
| his affairs. How can he worry about bust
| ness when in answer to his prayers God tells
! him when to buy and when to Sc /; and il he
p, gain that is best. and if he lose that is best!
Suppose you had supernatural neighbor
who came in and said: "Sir, want you to
| call on me in every exigency; an your fast
friend; Icould fall back on S20,0JO,00O. can
| foresee panic ten years. i hold the control
ling stock in thirty of the best monetary in
stitutlons of New York; whenever you are
| in trouble cad on me and will help you,
| you can have my money and you can have
| my influence; here il my hand in pledge Tor
| it, How much woul you worry about
| business! Why, you would say: ''l'l do the
best can, and then I'll depend on my
| friends generosity for the rest"
| Now more than that is promised to every
| Christian business man. God says to him
II own New York and London and St
Petersburg and Pekin, and Australia and
| California are mine; can foresee panic a
| IN lion years; have all the resources of the
universe. and am your fast friend; when
+, you get in business trouble or any other
trouble, call on me and will help; here is
my han1 in pledge of omnipotent deliver
| ance." How much should that man worry!
Not much. What lion will dare to put his
paw on that Daniel. Is there not rest in
this! Is there not an eternal vacation in
thiss
oh" you say, there is man who asked
God for bessing in a certain enterprise,
and he lost five thousand dollars in l.. Ex-
plain that" l will Yonder is a factory,
and one wheel is going north and the other
wheel is going south, and one wheel plays
literally and the other phys vertically. |
/ go to the manufacturer and say; 20 m anu
! faeturer, your machinery is a contradiction.
| Why do you not make all the wheels 90 one
wayln We'll, he says, Il made them to go in
opposite directions on purpose, and they pro-
duce the right result. You 90 downstairs
and examine the carpets we ate turning ont
| in this establishment AMI You will Sc - I
| go down on the other floor and | see
| the carpets, and am obliged to confess that
though the wheels in that factory go in op-
posite directions they turn out a beautiful re-
| suit; and while am standing there looking
at the exquisite fabric an old Scripture
passage comes into my mind: IAN things
work together for good to them who love
| God" Is there not rest in that! Is there
not tonic in thatl Is there NOT longevity in
| thatl
! Suppose man is all the tins worried
: lbout his reputation. One man says he lies,
lnother says he is stupid, another says he is
dishonest. and half a dozen printing estab-
. ishments attack him. and he is in great
! tate of excitement and worry and fume, and
, cannot sleep; but religion comes to him and
Jays: Man, God is on your side; he will
lake care OF your reputation; if God be for
/ you. who can be against your How much
should that man worry about his reputation
| Not much. If that broker who some years
] ago in Wall street, after he had lost money,
sat down and wrote a farewell let
4 Ter to his wife before he blew his
| brains outfit instead of taking out of his
pocket pistol he had taken out a well read
Now Testament there would have been one
ees suicide. Oh, nervous and feverish people
d the world, try this almighty seiative.
| You viii live twenty five years longer under
It's soothing power. 1t is not choral that
you want, or morphine that you want: it is
/ The Gospel OF Jesus Christ. with long life
will satisfy him.
Z, Again, practical religion is friend of
ongevity in the fact that il removes all cor
I roding care about future existence Every
! nan wants to know what is to become Of
aim Ii you get on board of rail train you
want to know at what depot it is going to
Itop; if you get on board a ship you want to
Lnow into what harbor IL isgoing to run, and
| you shall tell ms you have no interest in
what is TO he your future destiny, would in
J Is polite way as knew how tel you did
aot believe YOU Before | had this matter
1 Iettled with reference to my future existence
! ihe question almost worried me into ruined
I health The ankietes men have upon this
ubiect put together would make MARTYR
lom- This is a state Of awful unhealthiness.
1 There are people who fret themselves to death
or fear of dying.
! want to take the strain OF your nerves
/ md the depression of your soul, aud make
two or three experiments. Experiment FIRST:
When you go out Of this world it does not
make any difference whether you have been
good or bad, or whether you believed truth
or error. you will go straight to glory. ''Im-
possible" you say; my common sense as