Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-01-16

In butter, aud sell Tor ODe thlng Caat whlcI
IL another thing, then religion will interfere
with that business; but lawful business
lawfully conducted, will find the religion oi
the Lord Jesus Christ its mightiest auxili.
ary.
Religion will give an eqnipoise of spirit,
it will keep you from ebuilitions of temper
land you know great many fue bust.
nesses have been blown to atoms by bad
temper-it will keep you from worriment
! about frequent loss, it will keep you indus
trious and prompt, it will keep you back
from sauapdering and from dissipation, it
| will give you kindness of spirit which
will be easily distinguished from that mere
store courtesy which shakes hands violent
ly with you, asking about the hsalth OF
your family when there is no anxiety to
know whether your child is well or sick;
but the anxiety is to know bow many dozen
cam uric p0ckethandkerehiefs you will take
and pay cash down. Il will pTepara, you
for the practical duties of every day life.
! ! I do not mean to say that religion will
make us financially richi,- hcs do say t55s { {
it will give us, it will assure us of a com
Portable sustsnance at the start, a comfort
able subsistence all the way through, and
it will help us to direct the bank, 70 man.
age the tratHc, 70 conduct all our business
matters and to make the most Insignificant
affair of our life matter of vsst impor-
tance gloriflsd by Christian principle.
In New York city there was merchant
hard in his dealings with his fellows, who
had written over his banking house, or his
counting-house room: stNo compromise !"
Then when soma merchant got 10 crisis
and went down-ao fault Of bis, but CON-
junction Of evil circumstances-and all the
other merchants we're willing to compro:
| mise-they would take seventy. i've cents
on the dollar, or fifty cents, or twenty cents
coming to this man last Of all, hs said:
| no compromise; I'll take one hundred
cents on the dollar, and I can afford to
wait" Well the wheal turned, and after
| q while that man was In crisis of bust
ness, and he sent out his agents to compro-
mise. and the agents said to the merchants,
"Will you take fifty cents on the dollaIa'
NO" '.Will you take anythngs" "Ws'll
take one hundred cents on the dollar. No
compromise" And the man who wrote
that inscription over his counting house
door died, in destitution. Oh, we wsnt
moro Of tho kindoess Of tho Gospel and the
spirit OF lore 10 our business enterprises
How many young men have found In the
religion of Jesus Christ practical helpP
How many there are in this house to-day
who could testify out Of their owD expert
ence that Godliness is profitable for tho life
that now is. There were times in their
business career when they went here for
help, and there for help, and yonder for
help, and got no help until they knelt be-
fore the Lord crying for His deliveranee,
and the Lord rescued them.
In bank not far from our great netrop-
olis-a village bank-an officer could not
ha lanca hic acco1pts He had wOrka1 at
them day after day, night after night, and
he was sick nigh unto death as a result
Hs knew be had not taken one farthing
from that bank, but somehow, tor soma
reason inscrutable then, the ACCOUNTS
woudn't balance. The time rolled on, and
the morning of the day when the BOOK
should pass under the Inspection of the
other cficers arrived, and he felt himself in
awful peril, conscious of his own integrity,
but unable to prove that integrity. That
morning he went to the bank early, and be
kuelt down before God aud told the whole
story of his mental anguish, and he said:
so Lord, have done right;I have preserv-
ed my integrity, but here AN about to
be ovsrthrown unless Thou shonld come to
my rescue. Lord, deliver me-" And for
one bour he continued the prayer before
God, and then he rose aud went to an old
blotter that he had forgotten all about.
He opened it, aud there lay sheet of fig
ures which he only needed to add to au.
other line of figures-some line of figures
he had forgotten, and kEew not where he
had laid them-aud the accounts were bal
anced, and the Lord delivered him. You
are an ipfidel if you do not believe it. The
Lord delivered him. God answered his
prayer as He will answer your prayer, o
Of in xuh
come to Him. Now, if this be 80, then
am persuaded, as You are, of the fact that
the vast majority of Christians do not fully
test the value of their religion. They are
like farmer in California, with fifteen
thousand acres of good wheat land and oul
turing only quarter of an acre, Why do
you not 60 forth and make the religion of
Jesus Christ practical affair every day of
your basiness life and all this year, begin
ming now, and to morrow morning putting
into practical effect this holy religion and
demonstrating in your life that GodIiness is
profitable here as we'll ss hereafter?
Hew can you get along without this reli-
giop? Is your ply steal health so good you
do not want this divine touic? Is your mind
so clear, SO vast, SO comprehensive that
you do not want this divine Inspiration Is
your worldly business so thoroughly es-
tablished that you have no use for that re-
ligion which has been the help and dsliy-
erance of tens of thousands of men in crises
of worldly trouble? And if what / have
said this morning is true, then you see
what fatal blunder it is when a man ad-
iourus to life's expiration the uses of re.
lig,ou. A man who postpones religion to
sixty years of age gets religion ffty years
to late. BE may get into the kingdom of
God by final repentance, but what can
compensate him for whole lifetime un-
alleviated and uncontrolled? You want
religion to-day in the training of that child.
You will want religion tomorrow in deal
ing with that Western customer. You
wanted religion yesterday to curb your
temper, Is yonr arm strong enough to
beat your way through the floods? Can
you without being encased in the mail of
Gods eternal help go forth amid the assault
| of all helPs sharp p-shooters3 Can you walk
alone across these erumbling graves and
amid these gaping earthquakes? Can you,
waterlogged and mastshlvered, outlive the
gale? Oh, how many there have been who,
postponing the religion of Jesus Christ,
have plunged into mistakes they never
could correct although they lived eighty
years after. and like serpents crushed uu-
der cart-wheels, dragging their mauled
UoGloS ulGtr Inc rOckS TO ule, SO C00So men
have fallen nnder the wheel of awful calam-
ity, crushed here, destroyed forever, while
vast multitude Of Others have taken the
religion Of Jesus Christ into everyday life,
and first, in practical business affairs, and
secondly, on the throne OF heavenly triumph
have illustrated, while angels looked on
aud a universe approved, the glorious truth
that Goodness is profitable unto all
things having the promise Of the life which
now is as well as of that which is to come. ("
4 RELIC OF FAMOUS BATTLE.-Cuna
berfand, Nd, Jan Ga white-pine tree
was cut recently two miles south of Shade
Mills, 10 Garrett county, near the site of
the old Braddock road, and converted into
shingles. 1t was large tree, and by ex-
pert woodsmen estimated to be- at least 800
years old. In cutting it up the saw, going
through some tough substance, then sup
posed to be a Knot, attracted attention, and
investigation disclosed a bullet embedded
within two inches of the heart The tree