The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-01-24

q.
and you win get it." After awhile, merchant
number two found these customers coming
so sent, and he found also that merchant
number one had been brought to God, and
he sought the same religion, Now they are
good friends and good neighbors, the grace
OF God entirely changing their disposition
"Oh," says some ono, II have rough,
jagged, impetuous nature, and religion cant
do anything for men Do you know thai
Martin Luther and Robert Newton aud Rich,
ard Baxter were impetpous, allconsumins
natures, yet the grace of God turned them
into the mightiest usefulnessl A manufac.
turer cares but very tile for a stream that
slowly runs through the meadow, but strong
torrent that leaps from rock to rock,
and PUSHES with mad energy through the
valley and out toward the sea Along that
river you will find tluttering shuttles and
grinding mill and flashing water wheel. And
q nature, the swiftest, the most rugged and
the most tremendous, that is the nature God
turns into greatest usefulness Oh, how many
who have been pugnacious, and hard to
please, and irascible, and more bothered
about the mote in their neighbours eye than
about tho beam like ship timber in their own
eye, who have been entirely changed by the
grace of God and have found out that "God-
illness is profitable for the life that now is as
we'll as for the life which Is to come"
Again remark that religion is good for q
mans worldly business. know the general
theory is, the more business the less religion,
the more religion the less business. Not so,
thought DR.. Hans, in his Biography Of a
Christian Merchant" when he says: He
grew IN grace the last six years OF his life
more than at any time In his life; during
these six years he had more business crowd
ing him than at any other time" In other
words, the more worldly business man has,
MOI nArf,tr stxy IN
religion exhiarate or retard worldly bust
ness' is the the practical question for you to
discuss. Does it hang like mortgage over
the farml Is it bad debt on the ledger. Is
it lien against the estate? Does it crowd
the door through which customers come for
broadcloths and silks. Now, religion will
hinder your business il it be a bad business,
or if it be a good business wrongfully con-
Quoted. If you tell lies behind the counter,
If you use false weights and measures, if you
put sand in sugar, and beet juice in vinegar,
and lard in butter, and sell for one thing that
which is another thing, then religion will in
terfere with that business but lawful
business, lawfully conducted, will find the
religion of the Lord Jesus Christ its mi htiest
auxiliary.
Religion will give an equipoise OF spirit, it
will keep you from ebullitions of temper--and
you know great many fine businesses have
been blown to atoms by bad temper-it will
keep you from worriment about frequent loss,
it viii! keep you industrious and prompt, it
will keep you back from squandering and
dissipation, it will give you kindness
Of spirit which will be easily distinguished
from that mere store courtesy which
shakes hands violently with you, ask
ing about the health of your family when
there is no anxiety to know whether your
child is well or sick! But the anxiety is to
know how many dozen cambria pocket
handkerchiefs you will take and pay cash
down. 1t will prepare YOU for the practical
duties OF everyday life. l do not mean to
say that religion will make us financially
rich, but do say that it will giveus, it
will assure us, Of comfortable sustenance
at the start, comfortable subsistence all the
way through, and it will help us to direct the
the bank, to manage the traffic, to conduct
all our business matters, and to make the
most insignificant affair of our life matter
of vast Importance glori6ed by Christian
principle.
In New York city there was a merchant
hard in his dealings with his fellows who had
written over his banking house or his count
ing-house room: mo compromise" Then
when some merchant got in a crisis and went
DOWN. fault of his, but a conjunction of
evil circumstapces-and all the other mer-
chants were willing to compromise they
would take seventy-tive cents on the dollar,
or fifty cents, or twenty cents-coming to
this man last of all, he said: mo compro-
mise; I'll take one hundred cents on the dol
lar, and l can afford to wait" Well. the
wheel turned, and after while that man
was in n crisis or business, and he sent out
said to the merchants: "Will you take fifty
cents on the dollara' 'No." "Will YOU
take anythingl" "Well take one hundred
cents on the dollar. No compromise" And
the man who wrote the inscription over his
counting house died in restitution. Oh,
we want more Of the kindness of
the Gospel and the spirit of love in
men have found in the religion of Jesus
Christ practical helpl How many there
are in this house to-day who could testify out
of their own experience that Goodness is
profitable for the life that now is. There
were times in their business career when
they went here for help, and there for help
ana yonoer Tor help, and got no neIp unJll
they knelt before the Lord crying for His
deliverance, and the Lord rescued them.
In bank not far from our great metropo
lisa village bank-an officer could not bal
snce his accounts. He had worked at them
day after day. night after night, and he was
sick nigh unto death as result. He knew
he had not taken one farthing from that
bank, but somehow, for some reason inscru
thDlS UueL, tte uccOuuUS WOuluu UdlttIce
The time rolled on, and the morning oil
the day when the books should pas:
under the inspection of the other officers
arrived, and he felt himself in awful peril
conscious of his own integrity but unable tt
prove that integrity. That morning ne went
to the bank early and he knelt down before
God and tod the wLo.e story of his menta
anguish, and he said 20 Lord, have done
right; | have preserved my integrity, bu
| n h..
Thou should come to my rescue. Lord, de
liver me-" And for one hour he continued
the prayer before God, and then he rose anC
went to an old ulotter that ho had forgotten
all about. He opened it and there lay shee
OF figures which he only needed to add te
another line Of figures some line of figures
he had forgotten, and knew not where he
balanced, and the Lord delivered MIN You arr
an infidel if you do not believe it. The Lore
delivered him. God answered his prayer al
He will answer your prayer, 0 man of bust
ness, in every crisis when you come to Him
Now. if this be SO then | AIN persuaded, a
you are, of the fact that the vast Majority o.
Christians do not fully test the value of the i
religion. They are like a farmer in Cali
fornla, with fifteen thousand acres of good
wheat land and cuturing only a quarter Of
an acre. Why do you not go forth anC
maze the re iIion of Jesus Christ pra tica
affair every day of your business life ant
all this year, leginning now, and tomorrow
morning putting into practical effect this
holy religion and demonstrating In your life
that Goodness is profitable here as well al
hareaftar7
How can you get along without this re-
ligiona is your physical health SO good you
do not want this divine tonic! Is your MIND
30 clear, SO vast, go comprehensive that yor
do not want this divine inspirations is your
worldly business SO thoroughly established
that you have no use for that religion which
has been the help and deliverance of tens Of
thousands of men in crises of worldly
trouble? And if what have said this morn
ing is true, then you see what a fatal blundel
it is when man adjourns to life's expira
ton the uses of religion. man who post
pones religion to sixty years of age gets re
licion fifty years too late. He may get int
the kingdom OF God by final repentance, Du
what can compensate him for
whole lifetime unalleviated and un-
comforteds You want religion to-day
in the training of that child. You
will want religion tomorrow in dealing will
that Western customer. You wanted re
ligion yesterday to curb your temper.
your arm strong enough to beat your way
through the ioodsl Can you without bein!
encased in the mail Of Gods eternal help e
forth amid the assault of all hell's sharp
shooterss Can you walk aone across thes
crumbling graves and amid these gaping
earthquakes Can you. waterlogged and mast
shivere6 ,outlive the gale? Oh, how many inert
1,nx 10, .-,l,x~ H. HtFrtx.