The Penn's Grove record., 1889-01-26
DIR. TALMAGE's SERMON
Docs Religion Paya

"Godrnessl is profitable unto all things, hav
ing promise of the life that now IL, and OF tina
which is to GOMEZ Tim, 4:a
A HAPPY NEW YEAR to one ant
ALL
There is a gloomy and passive way
of waiting for the events Of the open
ing year to come upon us, and there l
a heroic way of going out to NEE
them, strong in God, and fearing moth
ing. When the body Of Catiline wa
found on the battlefield 1t was found
far in advance OF al his troops,
and among the enemy; and the besl
way is not for us to lie down ant
let the events of life trample ovel
us, but to 60 forth In a Christian
spirit determined to conquer.
The papers were made out, and somt
of you have just entered into business
partnerships, and others of you take
higher positions in the commercial es
tablishment where you were engaged,
and others have entered upon new en-
terprises, and there were last week in
these cities ten thousand bushes:
changes. You are expecting prosper
ity. and / am determined, SO far as ]
have an, thing to do with it, that you
shall not be disappointed, and, there
fore, l propose, as God may help mt
this morning, to project upon your at
tention a new element of success. YOt
will have IN the business firm, frugal
ity, patience, industry, perseverance
economy
A VERY STRONG BUSINESS FIRM,
but there needs TO be one member adj
ded. mightier than they all, and not q
silent partner either-the n intro.
duced by my text: "Godliness, which
is profitable unto all things, having the
promise of the life that now IS, as vel
as of that which is to come"
l suppose you are all willing to adj
init that Goodness is important in Its
eternal relations; but perhaps some oil
you say: "All l want is an opportun.
ity to say a prayer before i die, and all
will be WE'LL" There are a great many
people who suppose that IL they can
finally get safely out oil this world into
IA better world, they will have exhaust
ed the entire advantage of holy re.
ligion. 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 1t were an admission ticket, OF
no use except to give in at the door OF
Heaven. And there are thousands OF
people who haze great admiration for a
religion of the shroud, and a religion Of
the coffin, and a religion of the hearse,
and a religion of the cemetery, who
have no appreciation Of a religion for
the bank. for the farm, for the factory,
for the warehouse. for the jewelers.
shop, for the brokers' office. Now,
while / would not throw any slur on q
post-mortem religion, l want this
morning to eulogize an
ANTE-MoRTEM RELIGION.
A religion that Is of no use to you while
you live, will be of no s to you when
you die. Goodness is profitable unto
all things, having the promise of the
life that now is, as well as Of that which
is to core" And / have always no
ticed that when the grace is very low in
q mans heart he talks a great deal in
prayer-meetings about collins, and
about graves, and about churchyards.
L have noticed that the healthy Chris
tian, the man who is living neal to
God. and is on the straight road to
Heaven, is full of jubilant satisfaction,
and talks about the duties Of this life,
understanding well that il God helps
him to live right He will help him to
die right.
Now, in the first place, Iremark that
goodness is GOOD tor. a man s physical
health. / do not mean to say that 1t
will restore a broken-dowD constitution
or drive rheumatism from the limbs, OF
neuralgia from the temples, or pleurisy
from the side; but 1 do mean to say
that 1t gives mi such habits and puts
one in such condition as is most favor
able for physical health. That l be-
lieve, and that l avow. Everybody
knows that buoyancy of spirit is good
physical advantage. Gloom, unrest.
detection are at war with every pulsa.
tlon Of the heart, and with every re-
spiration of the lungs. 1t lowers the
vitality, it slackens the circulation,
while exhilaration spirit p0urs the very
balm of heaven through all the cur
rents Of life. The sense Of insecurity
which sometimes hovers over an unre-
generate man, or pounces upon him
with the blast Of ten thousand trum-
pets of terror, is most depicting and
most exhausting, while the feeling that
all things ere working together for my
good now. and for my everlasting well
fare, is
CONDUCIVE TO PHYSICAL HEALTH.
You will observe that godliness in
duceS industry, which IS the founda-
tion Of good health. There is no law
of hygiene that will keep a lazy man
well. Pleurisy will stab him, erysi-
pelas will burn him, jaundice will dis
color him, govt will cripple him, and
the intelligent physician will not pre-
scribe antiseptic, or ~febrifuge, or ano-
dyne, but saws and hammers and yard
sticks and crowbars and pickaxes.
There is no such thing as good physical
condition without positive work Of
some kind, although you should sleep
on down of swan, Or ride in carriage of
softest upholstery, or have on your
table all the luxuries that were poured
from the wine-vats of Ispahan and
Shiraz. Our religion says: Away to
tuG bdtAlhf away w WIG hNAat hW0y W
the shopl away to the factoiyl do some
thing that will enlist all the energies of
your body, mind, and SOUL" "DIli-
gent in business, fervent In spirit, serv-
ing 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.D
Oh, how important in this day, when
so much is said about anatomy and
physiology and therapeutics, and some
new style of medicine is ever and anon
springing upon the world. that you
should understand that the highest
school OF medicine is the school of
Christ. which declares that Goodness
is profitable unto all things, having the
promise of the life that now is as well
as of that which is to come" So II
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-
comes a son of the Lord Almighty will
live the longer. "With long life will i
satisfy thee, and show thee my saliva
tion."
Again 1 remark that godliness is
nnnn ron MUIR TNrErr rCr