News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR TALMAGE'S
STERLING DISCOURSES.


Subject: "Does Religion Pay ?"
TENT: "GodIincss is profitable wnio all
things, haring romise Of the life that no,o
IS and of that IVitiah is to come u. Timothy
iV., s.
A happy New Year to one and ALI
There Is n gloomy AMI passive way Of
waiting for the events of tho opening year
10 come upon us and there is heroic way
OF going out TO meet them, strong in God and
fearing nothing When the body of Catiline
was found on the battle field it was found far
IN advance of all his troops and among the
enemy; and the est way is not for us to lie
down and let the events of life trample over
us, but to go forth in a Christian spirit de-
ternlned to conquer.
The papers were made out, and some of
you have Just entered into business partner
ships, and others of yoH take higher positions
IN the commercial establishment where you
were engaged, and others have entered upon
new enterprises, and there were last week in
these cities ten thousand business changes.
\ on are expecting prosperity, Gni | am de-
termned. 50 far as | have anything to do
with 1t, that You shall not he disappointed,
and therefore, propose, as God may bep me
TINS morning, to project upon your atten-
raSsfsrfleIv element of success. y on Will have
in the business firm, frugality, patience, in
dustry, perseverance, economy-a very
strong business firm, but there needs to be
one member added, mightier than them all,
and not a silent partner ether-the one in
troduced by my text: Goodness which is
profitable unto all things having the prom
Use OF the life that now IS as well as of that
which is to come.n
suppose you are all willing to admit that
Goodness is important in its eternal rela-
tlons; but perhaps some of you say: "AH
want Is an opportunity to say a prayer be-
fore die, ana all will be welLn There are
great many people who suppose that if they
can finally get safely out of this world into a
better world. they will have exhausted the
entire advantage of 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 heavenly mansion;
as though it were an admission ticket, of no
use except to give in at the door of heaven.
And there are thousands of people who have
great admiration for religion of the shroud,
and religion of the coffin, and a religion of
the hearse, and 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,
Tor the brokers' Office. Now, while | would
not throw any slur on Il post norton
religion, l want this morning, and on the
first Sabbath of the new year, to eulogize an
ante-mortem religion. A religion that is of
no use TO you while you live, will be of no
use to you when YOU die. "GudlineSS is
profitable unto all things, having the prom
Use of the life that now is as well as of that
which is to come" And l have always
noticed that when the grace is very low in a
mans heart he talks a great deal in prayer
meetings about deaths. and about coEins, and
about churChyards l 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 salts faction, and
talBs about the duties of this life, under
standing well that if God helps him to live
right He viii help him to die right
Now, III the first place, | remark that God
illness IS good for a mans physical health 1
do not mean TO say that it will restore a
broken down constitution, or drive rheuma-
tlsm from the limbs, or neuralgia from the
temples, or pleurisy from the side; but do
mean to say that it gives one such habits and
puts one in such condition as is most favor
able for physical health. That | believe,
and that l avow. Everybody knows that
buoyancv of spirit is good physical advan-
tage Gloom, unrest, detection are at war
with every puisation of the heart, and with
every respiration of the lungs. 1t lowers |
the vitality, it ackens the circulation, while
exhllaration of spirit pOurs the very balm of |
heaven through all the currents of life The |
scene of insecurity which sometimes hovers |
over an unregenerate man, or pOunceS upon |
him with the blast of ten thousand trumpets |
of terror, is me st depicting and most ex-
hausting, while the feeling that all things are
working together for nv good now, and for
my everlasting welfare, Is conducive TO phys
cal health.
You will observe that GodIiness induces
=
health. There is no law of hygiene that wi
Keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will stab
him, erysipelas will burn him, jaundice will
i.sCoor him, govt will cripple him, and the
Intelligent physician will not prescribe anti
septic, or tebrlfuge, or anOdyne, but saws,
and hammers, and yardsticks, and crowbars,
and pickaxcs. 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 lux
uries that were poured from the wine watts of |
1spahan and ShiraZ. Our religion says: |
Away to the bank! away to the field! away
4-s.ss that svilI enlist ali the energies of gonr
ness, fervent in spirit serving the Lord"
while upon the bare back of the idIer and |
drone comes down the sharp lash of the apos- |
tie as be says: If any man will not work, |
neither shall be eat.H
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 that which |
IS to come" so If 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 becomes a son
Of the Lord Almighty will live the longer.
= with long life will 1 satisfy thee and show
thee Ny salvation
Again l remark that Goodness is good for
the IN elect. [ know some have supposed
Lhat Just as soon as n man enters into the
CHRISTIAN life his intellect goes into a be-
lWarhng process. So far from that religion
viii give new urilliancy to the intellect. new
strength to the Imagination, new force to
ne VIII, and wider swing to all the intel
ectual faculties. Christianity is the ..at
central fire at which Phi sophy has l;gnted
is brightest torch. The religion of the Lord
IeSuS Christ Is the fountain ont of which
earning has dipped its clearest draught
The HelicOn poured forth no such inspiring
waters as those which flow from under the
throne of God clear as crystal. Religion has
sLVen new energy 20 PoeSy, weeping in DR.
\ oung'S Night Thoughts" teaching in
Cowpers Task" flaming in Charles Yves
ey's hymns and rushing with
'rchangelic spiendOr through Mil
ons Paradise LOST The religion of
Iesus Christ has hung in studio and in gal
cry OF art and in Vatican, the best pictures
-lltian's Assumption" RaphaeIs Trans
iguratiOn,' Rebenss "Dl scent from the
ross. Claude's Burning Bush,n and An
5elo's Last Judment." Religion has made
he best music of the worId-haydn's "Crea-
ion" Handlers ''Mcssilh" Mozart's RE
Iuem." Is it possible that religion which
builds such indestructibIe monuments. and
which lifts It's ensign on the highest promon-
ories of worldly power, can have any effect
lpon mans intellect but elevation an en- !
argement! Now, | commend Goodness as
he test mental dis :Ipline-5etter than be les |
ettres to purify the TASTE better than mathe-
natlcs to harness the mind to all intricacy
md elaboration. better than logic to marshal
he intellectual forces for onset and victory |
{ viii go with Hugh NJ Her and show aim the |
ootprInts OF the Creator In the red sand
tone. IL VIII 60 with the botanist and show
Inn celestial glOrieS encamped under the
curtain OF a water-lily. 1t viii go with the 1
.stronomer on the great heights where God
nepherds the great flock of worlds that
Fander on the hills of heaven answering His |
Dice as He calls them all by their names
Again l remark that GOdlineSs is profit |
.ble for ones disp sitiOn. Lord Ashley, be-
ore he went into great battle, was hsari
o offer this prayer: 80 Lord, [ shall be very
,uSy to-day; If forget Thee, forget me not.n
With such a Christian disposition as that a |
nan is Independent of all circumstances
Jur p ETY. will have q t;nge o. our natural
If n man DO cross and som.
nd fretful naturally, after he becomes a
;dristlan he VIII always have to be armed
galnst the rebellion OF those evil incl Ia
ions; but religion has tanned the widest
AZURE; 1t has turned fretfulneSs into graUI-
ude, dependency Into good cheer and those
fho were hard aud uugovcrnabe and uu-
have been made pliabIe and
onc1llatory. Good resolution, reformatory
fort, will not effect the change 1t takes a
llghtier arm and a mghtier hand to bend
wi habits than the hand that bent the bow
Ulysses, and 1t takes stronger las5o than
yer held the buffalo on the prairie. A mm
lnnOt go forth with any human weapon;
nd contend successfully against these Titans :
rma1 R.,t,- l.