Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-01-19
DOES RELIGION PAY
Dr. Talmage's Discourse for
the New Year.
Delivered Yesterday in the
Brooklyn Tabernacle.
The Two Ways Of Waiting for
the Events Of the Open
ing Year.
Goodness Profitable Unto all Things
Having the Promise
of Life.

~
ID. d., preached a discourse on the sub.
icct, Does Religion Pay?' The open
ing hymn was:
My days are gliding swiftly by,
And | a pilgrim stranger,
Would not detain them as they fly.
These hours OF toll and danger.
The text was: Goodness is profitable
unto all things, having promise Of the
life that now is and Of that which is to
COME. Timothy iv, 8. DR.. Talmage
said:
A happy New Year to one and all!
There is a gloomy and passive way of
waiting Tor the events Of the opening
year TO cclae upon us, and there is a
heroic way OF going out to meet them,
strong in God and fearing nothing.
When the body Of Catiline was found on
the battle field il was found far in adj
vance of all his troops. snd among the
enemy; and the best way is not for us to
lie down and let the events Of life trample
over us, but TO go forth in n Christian
spirit determined TO conquer.
The papers were made out, and some
Of you have just entered into business
partnerships, and others Of you take
higher positions in the commercial estab-
lishment where you were engaged, and
others have entered upon new enterprises,
and there were last week in these cities
ten thousand business changes. You
are expecting prosperity, and | am
determined. SO far as | have anything to
DO with it, that you shall not be dlsap-
pointed, and therefore | propose. as God
may help me this morning, to project up
on your attention a new element Of sue
cess. You will have in the business firm,
frugality, patience. industry, persevcr-
ance, economy IA very strong business
firm, but there needs to be one member
added, mightier than them all, and not a
silent partner either-the one introduced
by my text: "Godliness which is profit
able unto all things, having the promise
of the life that now is as well as Of that
which is TO come"
/ suppose you ere all willing to admit
that Goodness is important in its eternal
relations: but perhaps some of you say
"All ] want is an opportunity to say a
prayer before ! die, and all will be we'll"
There are a great many people who sup
pose that if they car finally get safely out
of this world into a better world, they
will have exhausted the entire advantage
of our holy religion. They talk as though
religion were a mere o or recognition
which we are to give TO the Lord Jesus
on u way up TO a heavenly mansion; as
though it were an admission ticket, OF no
use except 10 give in at the door of
Heaven. And there are thousands of
people who have great admiration for a
religion OF the shroud, and n religion Of
the coffin, and a religion Of the hearse,
and a religion of the cemetery, who have
no appreciation Of a religion for the bank,
for the farm, for the factory, for the
warehouse. for the jewelers. shop, for
the brokers Office. Now, while | would
not throw any slur on a poSt-mortem re-
iigion. | want this morning, and on the
first Sabbath OF the new year, to ~eulogize
an utc.mortcm religion. \ religion that
is of no use to you while you
live, will be of no use to you
when YOU die. Goodness is profitable
unto all things, having the promise of the
life that now is as well az Of that which
is 10 come" And | have always noticed
that when the grace is very low in n
mans heart he talks a great deal in
prayer meetings about deaths, and a5out
%coiiins, and about graves, and about
church yards. i have noticed that the
healthy Christian. the man who is living
near TO God. and is on the straight road
to heaven, is full of jubilant satisfaction,
and talks about the duties of this life, un-
derstanding well that if God helps him TO
live right He Will help him to die right.
Now, in the first place, | remark that
Goodness is good for a mans physical
health. | DO not mean to say that il will
restore 81 broken down constitution, or
drive rheumatism from the limbs. or neu-
ralgia from the temples, ~ pleurisy from
the side; but | do mean to say that il
gives one such habits and puts one In such
condition AZ il most favorable for phys
ical health. That | believe, and that
Everybody knows that buoyancy
of spirit il good physical advantage.
Gloom, unrest, detection are at war with
every pulsation of the heart, and with
every respiration of the lungs. II lowers
the vitality, it s,ackens the circulation,
while cXhilaration of spirit pours the very
balm of heaven throNgh all the currents
of life. The sense Of insecurity which
sometimes hovers over an unregenerate
man, or pounces upon him with the blast
Of ten thousand trumpets OF terror, is
most depicting and most exhausting,
while the feeling that all things are work
ing together for my good now, and for
my everlasting welfare, is conducive to
physical health.
You will observe that Goodness induces
industry, which is the foundation of good
health. There is no law of hygiene that
will keep a lazy mar well. Pleurisy will
stab him, erysipelas will burn him, jaun-
dice will discolor him, govt will cripple
him, and the intelligent physician will
not prescribe antiseptic, or f%ebrifuge, or
anOdyne, but saws and hammers and
yardsticks and crowbars and p%ickaxes.