Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-10-28


is a curse, or that poverty is anything but
q condition which no man should accept
unless forced on him as an memorable
necessity. The world has had more than
enough of that hypOcritical sentimental
ism which would hold up to scorn tue
wealth of the world, and csnonize the poor
because they are such. Such pietistic
slang has no support from Gods word
But are there not many who value money
at more than moneys WORTH Are there
not those who regard it not only as the
highest good, but as the only good, and
work for it. struggle for it, worship it,
sing praises to il, live for it. die for it
hold everything else-bodily health. IN.
tellectual culture, moral purity. spiritual
well-bting and development, everything,
as of minor importance compared with
this. Their creed is. mans chief end is
to g.orify gold and enjoy it forever"
Such men are living far below the true
standard of life. Their ideal is q low
and false one. 1t may truly be said of
them, they are feeding on ashes" |
would not have you despise wealth, but l
would have you give the immortal soul
the first and chief place in your estima>
ton and solicitude. Seek the develop
ment OF your entire manhood. Your
body. take care of it, if the dollars and
cents must go; your mind, cultivate it,
you all have spare hours; your soul. your
real self. give it 10 God that he may pur>
ify it and make 1t fit for q higher and
nobler sphere OF life than this world
affords
.. Look at the devotee of sensual
pleasure. What is be doing? He, too,
is feeding on ashes. |, for one, do not
believe in pious melancholy. The relig>
ion of Jess Christ is on the side of ioy>
business, and liberty, and msnliness.
There are many who regard christianity
as a stern and solemn life of self sacrifice
which subtracts rather than multiplies
their joys. Many modern christians have
taken their pitch from the awful semi.
tones of the dark ages, rather than from
the joyous notes that came from the lips
of David and Paul. Some of US were
raised in churches framed in grsveysrds.
the only sign on the front being that Of
the undertaken, as if to initiate that bis
was the principal business conducted
within. Many christians are solemn only
because 1t is the fashion; they seem 10
imagine that religion is never to be men,
toned cheerfuily except in the newsps,
pers and at conventions. A young man,
in purchasing his first silk hat, asked the
halter 10 put q band OF Grape around it,
not because he was mourning for any
body, but because, as he said. he had seer
others wear such q band and thought il
looked well and becoming. / sppes
from this sour>fsced Diety. to the joyou.
worship OF the bible. Only the back
slider-the sinner and the hypocrite are
told to weep and mourn. But the differ
ence between the happiness OF the chris
tan and that sensuslist consists is this
the christians source of happiness i:
within-the sensuslist's without. The
man who gives himself up to q steady
round of pleasures is dependent upor
that for happiness. He is therefore I
slave; the christian is g free man. Tn,
man who "goes in" for q good time, Wit
says to himself, Take your fling, bsnisi
care, cast seriousness to the winds, eat
drink and be merry" is fool. To Civ,
oneself up to pleasure of any kind is Il
miss 1t in any true sense. Mere smuse
| ment soon clogs. II satisfaction could b
found in the sensual delights of thi
world, surely Solomon would have founC
it; he sought for it in all directions: b
tried it on all levels-hiRh and low-snt
he failed. We see him, in spite OF hi
wisdom, his knowledge, and his riches.
| disappointed msn-wsnderinQ amid tn,
grandeur he had created, through garden,
whose bloom turned TO ashes, amid mar
BILE halls that seemed to echo only tn
emptiness of bis own feverish life, an
hear the threnody of his burdened heart
Behold. all is vanity and vexstion o
spirit" Yes, after al his experiments i
| the direction of sensual pleasure, he wa
| forced to confess that he had been feed
| ing on ashes"
There is another class who are feedin
on sshes-nsmely, those who are stuffin
themselves with the rubbish OF infldelity
They seem to imagine that it ssvors O
advanced intelligence to call in question
the genuineuess and authenticity OF th
scriptures. and hold up to ridicule tn
| doctrines, in the belief of which the bes
men in the world has ever known live
and died. / do not deny that there hsy
been In the history Of the world, men {
genius and eloquence who denied the e,
istence Of God, the immortality Of th
soul, and almost every other doctrine I
which the christian believer fondl
clings. But such men have been fe'
and far between, and not few of the:
before they passed out of life were col
strained to confess that they had q
whole progress Of civilization. infldeli
has nothing to show-absolutely nothir
that in any way contributed to Il
happiness, the comfort. the liberty
mankind. Where are the ssylums an
institutions of mercy founded by infide
ity and supported by infdelity, pronoul
ced against God and the bible. and y
doing work for the amelioration of hi
man suffering and sorrowf Where q
the educational institutions built ar
endowed by infidelityf What are Yal
Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge. Oxfor
and the whole host of other institution
Of higher educstionf They are the CHI
dren of the church of Jesus Christ. IT
mesnest and most utterly useless thing
Gods earth today is infidelity. Stan
ing amid the suffering. groanine. dyil
nations Of the world doing absolute
nothing. save trying to impede those wi
are toiling until they fall exhausted In
their graves. in their endesvors to BILE
the race. There lie no man so far behi
the age, as he who saith in his hes
, there is no God" The greatest fool I
earth is the man who. with the sccum
lated benefits Of the gospel before him,
still fool enough to cast the gospel ash
saying: There is nothing in it."
How, in the name OF God, then, does
+ much come out OF it, II there IL o
here tonight who is stuflng his brsi
I with the vague wsnderings Of skepti'
philosophy. let me certify you that {
day will come when il will prove uttel
: worthless to comfort and cheer your 30,
7 when Of the grandiloquent claptrap o
pompous rationalism you win say ash