The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1889-01-17
TALMAGFs SERMON.
Religion of Benefit 70 Man in q
Variety of Forms.
Physical and Mental Health are Con-
served and Temporal as Wen ~
Spiritual Happiness There
by Secured.

In recent sermon at the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage took
for his subject: "Does Religion Payp'
His text was:
Goodness Is profitable unto all things, hav-
ing promise OF the life that now is and OF that
which is 70 come-L Timothy iv., s.
i A happy New Year to one and all.
There is q gloomy and passive way OF
waiting for the events of the openingyear
TO come upon us, and there is a heroic
way of going out to meet them, strong in
God and fearing nothing. When the body
of Catiline was found on the battle-f field,
1t was found far in advance Of all his
troops, and among Che enemy; and the
best way is not for uS to lie down and let
the events of life trample over us, but to
go forth in o Christisn spirit determined
70 conquer.
The papers were made out, and some Of
you have Just entered into business part
nerships, and others of you take higher
positions in the commercial establish
ment where you were engaged, and 9TH
ers have entered upon new enterprises,
and there were last week in these cities ten
thousand business changes. You are ex-
pecting prosperity, and am determined,
so far as have any thing to do with it,
that you shall not be disappointed, and
therefore propose, as God may help me
this morning, to project upon your at
tention q new element of success. You
will have in the business firm frugality,
patience, industry, perseverance, econ
omy-a very strong business frm-but
there needs to be one member added
;rAA; H., al ell
partner either-the one introduced by my
text: Goodness which is profitable to all
things, having the promise of the life
that now is as well as of that which is
to come"
l suppose you are all willing to admit
that goodness Is important in it's eternal
relations; but perhaps some Of you say !:
"All want is an opportunity to say a
prayer before die, and all will be well"
There are great many people who sup
pose if they can finally get safely out Of
this world into better world, they will
have exhausted the entire advantage o.
our holy religion. They talk as though
religion were a mere nod of recognition
which we are to give to the Lord Jesus on
our way up to a heavenly mansion; as
though it were an admission ticket, of no
Heaven. And there are thousands of peo-
pie who have great admiration for re-
Ggion of the shroud, and religion of the
coffin, and religion of the hearse, and a
religion of the cemetery, who have
no appreciation of religion for
the bank, for the farm, for the
factory, for the warehouse, for the
jewelers. shop, for the brokers' Office.
Now Uhi1e 7 wou1d NOT fbroyu apu cl
on a pOst-mortem religion, l want this
morning, and on the first Sabbath of the
new year, to eulogize anti-mortem re-
ligion. A religion that is of no use to
you while you live, will be Of no use to
you when you die. Goodness is profita-
BILE unto all things, having the promise Of
the life that now is as well as that which
is to come" And have always noticed
that when the grace is very low in mans
heart he talked great deal in prayer
meetings about deaths, and about collins,
and about graves, and about church yards.
have noticed that the healthy Christian,
the man who is living near to God, and
is on the straight road to Heaven, is full
of jubilant satisfaction, and talks about
the duties of this life, understanding we'll
that if God helps him to live right He will
help him to die right.
Now, in the first place, 1 remark that
godliness is good for a mans physical
health. l do not mean to say that it will
restore a brOken-down constitution, or
drive rheumatism from the limbs, or
neuralgia from the temples, or pleurisy
from the side, but do mean to say that ii
gives one such habits and puts one in
such condition as is favorable for physical
health. That believe, and that l avow.
Every body knows that buoyancy of spir-
Its is good physical advantage. Gloom,
unrest, detection, are at war with every
pulsation of the heart and with every res
piration of the lungs. 1t lowers the vi>
tality, it slackens the circulation, while
exhllaratlon of spirit pours the very balm
OF Heaven through all the currents of life.
The sense of insecurity which sometimes
hovers over an unregenerate man, or
pounces upon him with the blast of ten
thousand trumpets of terror, is most de.
pleting and most exhausting, while the
feeling that all things are working to-
gether for my good now, and for my ever
lasting welfare, is conducive to physical
health.
You will observe that godliness induces
Industry, which is the foundation of good
health. There is no law Of hygiene that
Will keep lazy man well. Pleurisy will
STAB him, erys1pelas will burn him, jadn
dice Will discolor him, govt will cripple
him, and the intelligent physician will not
prescribe antiseptic, or febrifuge, or ano-
dyne, but saws and hammers and yard
sticks and orowbars and pickaxes. There
is no such thing as good physical condi-
ton without positive work of some kind,
although you should sleep on down of
swan, or ridein carriage of softest up
holstery, or have on your table all the
Injuries that were poured from the wine
watts of Ispahan and Siliraz. Our religion
says: "Away to the bank! away to the
field! away to the shop! away to the fac
tory! do some thing that will enlist all the
energies of your body, mind and soul.
Diligent in business, fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord" while upon the bare
back Of the. idler and the drone comes
down the sharp lash of the apostle as he
says: "If any man will not work, neither
shall he eat"
Oh, how important in this day, when SO
much is said about anatomy and physi.
ology and therapeutics, and some new
style OF medicine Is ever and anon spring
ing upon the world, that you should un.
derstand that the highest school of medi-
cine is the school of Christ, which de.
clares that Goodness is profitable unto
all things, having the promise of the life
that now is, as well as that which is t.
come" So, il you start out two men in
the world with equal physical health, and
then one of them shall get the religion Of
the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, and the
other shall not get it, the one who be.
Of hxa