The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-08-15

be damned Twill be damned, and there
Is nothing TO do about it." Why, my
brother, do you not do that way in
business matters2 Why do you not
tomorrow go TO your store and sit
down and fold your arms and say:
'1f these goods are TO be sold.
they viii be sold; and if they
are not to be sold, they viii
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 pEsh those goods,
you use the instrumentality. Oh that
men were 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 it is misquoted
and spoken of as though it were 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, youare
free man and it is no more a matter Of
free choice whether you will to-fuor-
row go abroad or stay at home, than
it is this moment q 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: Il chose
Christ; / wanted him; l 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 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 quarter
of milel
No business man would be willing
to have his investments unaccumula-
tive. If you invest a dollar you
expect that dollar to come home bring
ing another dollar ON its back. What
would you think of man who should
invest ten thousand dollars in a mon
ctary institution, then go off for five
years, make no inquiry in regard to
the investment, then come back, step
up to the cashier of the institution
and say: Have you kept those ten
thousand dollars safely that lodged
with you?" 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 act in matters of the soul.
We make far more important invest
ment than ten thousand dollars. We
invest our soul. Is it accumulativel
Arc we growing in grace? Are we
getting better2 Are we getting worse2 ?
God declares many dividends, but we
do not collect them, we do not ask
| about them, we do not want them.
Oh that in this matter of accumula-
ton we were as wise in the matters of
the soul as we are in the matters of
the worldl
| COMMON SENSE INSCRIPTURE READING.
How little common sense in the
reading of the Scriptures We get
any other book and we open it and we
say: Nov, what does this book mean
| to teach me2 II is book on astronomy (;
| it will teach me astronomy. 1t is a
book OH political economy; it will
teach me political economy" Taking
up the Bible, do we ask ourselves what
| it means to teach2 1t means to do just
one thing get the world converted
and get us all to heaven. That is what
it proposes to do. But instead of that,
we go into the Bible as botanists TO
get something to fight other Christians
with, or we go as logicians trying to
sharpen our mental faculties for 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 mountains2 Night
has come down; he cannot find his
way home and he sees a light in q
mountain cabin; he goes to it, he
knocks at the door; the mountaineel
comes out and finds the traveller and
says: "Well, here I have a lantern
you can take it and it will guide you
on the way home;" and suppose that
man should say: II don't like that
lantern, | don't like the handle of it,
there are ten or fifteen things about il
| don't like; if you can't give me q
better lantern than that won't have
any"
Now, God says this Bible is to be q
lamp TO our feet and lantern to our
path, to guide us through the midnight
Of this world to the gates of the celes
tial city. We take hold of it in sharp
criticism, and deprecate this, and dep
recato that. Oh, how much wiser w
would be if by its holy light we found
our way 10 our everlasting homel
Then we do not read the Bible as W.
read other books. We read it perhaps
four or FIVE minutes just before we re
tire at night. We are weary ant
sleepy, so somnolent we hardly know
which end of the book is up. We drol
our eye perhaps on the story of Samson
and the foxes, or upon some genealo
gical table, important in its place, bu
stirring no more religious emotiol
than the announcement that somebod.
begat somebody else and he bega
somebody else, instead of opening tn
book and saying; Nov / must rea
for my immortal life. My eterna
destiny is involved in this book"
WE SHOULD PRAY sENsIBLY.
How little we use common sense j
prayerl We say: "Oh, Lord, give m
this" and "Oh, Lord, give me that,
and "Oh, Lord, give me somethin
else" and we do not expect to get i
or getting it, We do not know we hav
IL. We have no anxiety about 1t. w
do not watch and wait for its coming
As a merchant, you telegraph {
you write TO some other city for bl
of goods. You say: Send me b
/, such express, or by such a steamer, {
! by such a rail train" The day a
! rives. You send your wagon TO ii
) depot or to the wharf The goods q
c not come. You Immediately tel
: graph: "What is the matter wit
; those goodsa We haven't receive
them. Send them right away. "
u want them now. or we don't wal
!, them at all. And you keep writin
L and you keep telegraphing. and yo
u keep sending your wagon TO the d
) pot, or TO the express Office, or TO Il
5 wharf, until you get the goods.
p In matters OF religion we are not
,, wise as that. We ask certain thing
, to be sent from heaven. We do II,
IL know whether they como or not "
% have not any special anxiety as
,, whether they como or not. We ma
IS get them and may not get them. ]
N stead of at z o'clock in the morniI
lr saying: Have l got that blessing
IS at l2 o'clock MONDAY, asking: "Ha'
e got that blessingf" at o'clock
IS the evening saying: Have ] receiv,
10 that blessingi" and not getting
e pleading, pleading-begging, beggiI