Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-08-11

CANT apparel and put on the miners
garb. All the land was full of the talk
about gold. Gold in the eyes, gold in
the ears, gold in the wake Of ships,
gold in the ~streets-gold, gold, gold.
Word comes TO us that the mountain
Of Gods love is full of bright treas.
ure; that men have been dig.
ging there. and have brought up
gold, and amethyst, and carbuncle.
and jaspcS and sardonyx. and chryso-
prasus, aih all the precious stones out
Of which the walls of heaven were
builded. Word comes Of a man who,
digging in that mine for one hour, has
brought up treasures worth more than
all the stars that keep vigil over our
sick and dying world. Is il a bogus
company that is formedl Is il unde.
veloped territory2 Oh no, the story is
true. There are thousands of people
in this audience who would be willing
TO rise and testify hal they have dis.
covered that gold, and have il in their
possession. Notwithstanding all this,
what is the circumstance One would
suppose that the announcement would
send people in great excitement up
and down our streets, that ut midnight
men would knock at yourdoor, asking
how they may get those treasups. In.
stead of that, many of us put our hands
behind our back and walk up and
down in front of the mine of eternal
riches. and say: "Well. il | am TO be
saved. | will be saved: and if am TO
be damned Twill be damned, and there
is nothing TO do about it," Why, my
brother, do you not do that way in
business mattersl Why do you not
tomorrow 60 10 your store and sit
down and fold your arms and say:
IF these goods are TO be sold,
they will be sold; and if they
are not to be sold. they will
not be sold: there is nothing
for me to do about it," No,
you dispatch your agents. you print
your advertisements, you adorn your
show windows, you push those goods,
you use the instrumentalIty. Oh that
men we're as wise in the matter Of the
soul as they are wise in the matter of
dollars and centsl This doctrine of
Gods sovereignty, how il is misquoted
and spoken of as though il we're an
iron chain which bound us hand and
foot for time and for eternity, when,
so far from that, in every fiber of your
body, in every faculty Of your mind,
in every passion of your soul, you are a
free man and il is no more a matter of
free choice whether you will to-mor-
row go abroad or stay at home. than
IL is this moment a matter of free
choice whether you will accept Christ
or reject him. In all the army Of
banners there is not one %conscript.
Men are not to be dragooned into
heaven. Among all the tens of thou.
sands Of the Lords soldiery there is not
one man but will tell you: II chose
Christ; | wanted him; | desired to be
in his service; am not a conscript-I
am a volunteer" Oh, that men had the
same common sense in the matters Of
religion that they have in the matters
of the world-the same concentration,
the same push, the same enthusiasm
In the one case a secular enthusiasm;
in the other, a consecrated enthusiasm.
THEY MAKE HASTE SLOWLY.
Again | remark: We want more
common sense in the building up and
enlarging of our Christian character.
There are men here who have for forty
years been running the Christian
race, and they have not run a quarter
of a milel
No business mar would be willing
to have his investments unaccumula.
i've. Ii you invest a dollar you
expect that dollar TO come home bring
ing another dollar on its back. What
would you think of a nan who should
invest ten thousand dollars in a mon.
etary institution, then go off for Ave
wears, make no inquiry in regard 10
che investment, then come back. step
up 10 the cashier Of the institution
and say: Have you kept those ten
thousand dollars safely that | lodged
with your but asking no question
about interest or about dividend.
Why, you say, That is not common
sense" Neither is it, but that is the
way we net in matters Of the soul.
We make a far more important invest.
ment than ten thousand dollars. We
invest our soul. Is il accumulativel
Are We growing in gracei Are we
getting betteri Are we getting worsei
God declares many dividends, but we
do not collect them, we do not ask
nlaVsN VtaVH. ,s.n 10 not .rpVg tla.n
Oh hat in this matter Of accumula,
ton we were as wise in the matters OF
the soul as we are in the matters Of
the world
COMMON SENSE IN SCRIPTURE READING.
How little common sense in the
reading of the Scripturesl VIZ get
any other book and we open il and we
say: Now, what does this book mean
10 teach mel II isa book on astronomy;
it will teach me astronomy. II is a
book on political economy; il will
teach me political economy" Taking
up the Bible, do we ask ourselves what
itmeans 10 teachi II means to do just
one thing; get the world converted
and get US all 10 heaven. That is what
it proposes 10 do. But instead OF that,
we 90 into the Bible as botanists TO
pick flowers, or we go as pugilists 10
get something to fight other Christians
with, or we 60 as iogicians trying TO
sharpen u mental faculties for a bet
ter argument, and we do not like this
about the Bible, and we do not like
that, and we do not like the other
thing. What would you think Of a
man lost on the mountainsl Night
has come down; he cannot find his