The Penn's Grove record., 1889-01-26

best music OF the world-Haydns III
ation,o Handel's messiah" Mozart
"Requiem.o Is 1t possible that q re
ligion which builds such indestructibl'
monuments, and which lifts its ensign
on the highest promontories Of worldly
power, can have any effect upon {
mans intellect but elevation?
Now, I commend godliness as The
best mental discipline-better than bellies
lettrts to purify the taste; better thar
mathematics to harness the mind to al
intricacy and elaboration; better thar
logic to marshal the intellectual force
for onset and victory. 1t Will go VIII
Hugh Miller, and show him the foot
prints OF the Creator In the red sand
stone. 1t will go with the botanist
and show him celestial glories encamp
ed under the curtain Of q water-lily'
It Will 90 with the astronomer on TIN
great heights where God shepherds thu
great flock of worlds that wander OF
the hills of heaven, answering LII
voice as He calls them all by tlieil
names.
GOOD FOR THE DISPOSITION.
Again 1 remark, that godliness |!
profitable tor ones disposition. Lord
Ashley, before he went into o grea'
battle, was heard to offer this prayer
80 Lord, / shall be very busy to-day
1 forget Thee, forget me not
With such a Christian disposition a
that, a man is independent of all cir
c~umstances. Our piety will have {
tinge of our natural temperament. i
u man be cross and sour and fretfu
naturally, after he becomes a Christian
lie will always have to be armed against
the rebellion of those evil inclinations
but religion has tanned the widest ma
ture; it has turned ~fretfulness int
gratitude, dependency into good cheer
and those who were hard and ungoy
ernable and Incorporating have beer
made pliable and c~onciliatory. Goot
resolution, reformatory effort, will moi
effect the change. 1t takes q mlghtiel
arm and q mightier hand to bend evi
habits than the hand that bent the bow
of Ulysses, and 1t takes a stronger lasse
than ever held the buffalo on the
prairie.
A man cannot go forth with any
human weapons and contend success
fully against these Titans armed will
uptorn mountain. But you have
known men into whose spirit the infiu.
ence Of the gospel Of Christ came, unit
their disposition was entirely changed.
So 1t was with
TWO MERCHANTS IN NEW YORK.
They were very antagonlstic. They
had done all they could to injure each
other. They we're in the same line Of
business. One of the merchants was
converted to God. Having been con
verified, he asked the Lord to teach him
how to bear himself toward that busl.
ness antagonist, and he was impressed
| with the fact that it was his duty,
when q customer asked for certain
kinds OF goods which he had not, but
which lie knew his opponent had, te
recommend HIM to 20 to that store. ]
suppose that IL about the hardest thing
a man could do; but being thoroughly
converted to God, he resolved to dc
that very thing; and being asked for a
certain kind Of goods, which lie had
not, he said: "You 60 to such and
such a store, and you Will get it,
| After q while, 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 neigh
bors-ths grace of God entirely chang
ing their dispositions.
"Oh," says some one, II have a
rough, Jagged. impetuous nature, and
religion can't do anything for me-
Do you know that Martin Luther and
Robert Newton and Richard Baxter
| were impetuous, all-consuming natures,
yet the grace of God turned them into
THE MIaHTIEsT UsEFULNEssp
A manufacturer cares but very little
for a stream that slowly runs through
the meadow, but a strong torrent thai
leaps from rock to rock, and rushes
with mad energy through the valley,
and out toward the sea. Along that
river you will find a~uttering shuttles
and grinding mill and flashing water
wheel. And a nature the swiftest, the
most rugged, and the most tremendous,
that Is the nature God turns into great.
est usefulness. Oh, how many thai
have been pugnacious, and hard to
| please, and irascible, and more bother.
ed about the mote In their neighbours
eye than about the beam like ship-tim.
Der in their own eye, who have been en-.
tirely changed by the grace of God, and
have found out that Goodness is pro
6table for the life that now Is as well as
for tile life to come"
Again I remark that religion Is
GOOD FOR WORLDLY BUSINESS.
l know the general theory is. the more
business the less religion; the more re.
ligion the less business. Not SO thought
Dr.. Hans in his Biography Of Chris.
tian Merchant" when he says: HE
grew in grace the last six years Of his
life more than at any time in his life;
during those six years he had more
business crowding him than at any
other time" In other words, the more
worldly business a man has, the more
opportunity to serve God. Does re-
ligion exhllarate or retard worldly bust
nessp is the practical question for you
to discuss. Does it hang like q mort
gage over the farm? Is 1t a bad debt
on the ledger? Is 1t a lien against the
estate? Does 1t crowd the door through
which customers come for broadcloihs
and silks?
Now, religion will hinder your bust
ness If it be a bad business, or if 1t be a
good business wrongly conducted. II
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 fol
one thing that which is another thing,
then religion Will interfere with that
business; but a lawful business, law
fully conducted, will find the religion OF
the Lord jesus Christ
ITS MuGHTIEsT AUXILIARY.
Religion will give an equipoise OF
spirit. 1t will keep you from ebullitions
Of temper-and you know a great many
fine businesses have been blown to
atoms by bad temper; it will keep you
from worriment about frequent loss, it
will keep you industrious and prompt,
it will keep you back from squanderine
and from dissipation, it will give you q
kindness of spirit which will be easily
| distinguished from that mere store
courtesy which shakes hands violently
with you, asking about the health Of
your family, when there IS no anxiety
to know whether your child is well OIL
sickl but the anxiety is to know how