The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-09-12

where did you get that" They think thai
il an impertinent religion. They would Iik"
to have II religion to help them when they
are sick, md when the shadow ol death
ligion as Il sort OF night.kcy with wlicl, to
Open the doors OF heaven; but religion un.r
other circumstances they take to be an i'm
p"rtlnencr. Now. my friends, religion never
robbed man of Il dollar. Other things be-
ing cuua u mason will build IL better wall.
i plumber will make better pipe. n lawyer
will make better plea, merchant will SCI!
| IL better bill of goods.
! say other things being equal, O!cOu.s"
| when religion gives II man new heart, it
does not propose TO give him new head. or
| condition when his ordinary state in an over
throw OF the philosophical theory that to-
| tai vacuum il impossible: hut the more let
ters YOU have to write, the more burdens you
have to carry. the moro miles you have to
| travel, the more burdens YOU have to Ii t.
more disputes yon have to settle. the more
opportunity you have OF t,eing a Christian.
| lty0u have ~ thousand irons in the fire.
you have Thousand more opportunities oi
serving God than Il you had only one iron
in the fire, Who so busy asChrist: And yet
men tn" best men. All 1.-The persons converted
converted. Matthew Attending to his Gus.
tom house duties; the rrodigal son iee,ling
swine; Lydia selling purple: Simon Peter
hauling in the net rom tho seu: Saul spur.
down on his law business. Busy. busy. Dan
lei Will all the affairs OF state Weighing down
upon his soul. and vet three tunes n day
worslliping the God of Heaven.
Again: learn from this subject that n man
may take religion into his politics. Daniel
\ t.Nl l,,ll ,s..,. r
Christian He could not have kept his Gle.
vnted position unless he had been IL thor
oueh politicians and yet all the thrusts of
officials and all the danger o. disgrace did
not make him yield one iota of higll-toned
religious principle. He stood beore that
nE". he stands before all ages, Il specirnen ot
IA Christian politician.
So there llnv" been in our day and in the
days of our nilr"a men as eminent in he
service o! God ar they have hcrn eminent in
IN" service of the state. Such was benjamin
r. BUTLER attorney general Of New Yora il,
Mclean, of Ohio. Such was George Briggs
Of massachusetts. Such was Theodore
Friinghuyser, of itcw Jersey. Men nithful
to tho state, ut the same time faithful to
God.
IL is absurd to EXPECT that men who have
been immersed in political wirk"dncss tor
10 or 40 yenrs shall come to reformation:
and our hone is in the young men who are
coming up. that they have patriotic prinri-
pie and Christian principle side by side
when they come to the ballot box aud east
their arst vote, and that they swear nll,-
sHinr. TO the government OF heaven az well
ns to the government of the United States
We would have Bunker Hill mean less to
! them than Calvary and Lexington mean less
to hem than Bethlcham.
hut l,crnrse there arp bad men around the
! hnllot lox Is no reason why Christian men
should retreat from the arena.
| Ili" last time you ought to give up your
enid or forsakc your child is when it il sur.
rounded l'y n company of Choctnws; and
tn" last time to surrender tho ballot box is
! when il is surrounded by impurity and dis
honesty and all sorts ot wickc.lncss.
Daniel stood on most unpopular plat
form. lie stood firmly. though the denim
gogues of he day Missed ut him and tried to
overthrow him. We must carry our religion
1 into our politics. But there are a great
many men who are in favor of taking ra.
| ligion into national politics who do not SEQ
tho impnrtnnc"o OF taking il into city politics,
as though MIN were intelligent about tho
welfare of his neghborhooi. and had no
concern about his own house.
| Religion would drive out all base perso,,-
alitie> from politics. You have right to
discuss mems politics and denouncc their
! political sentiments. or rereive hem, M YOU
| will: hut yon have no right to nssnil their
| nrivnt" character, ar is done every autumn
That III not carrying religion into poll les.
| Now you can always tell without asking. in
any contest, what candidate will vote for
1T is always for the Nun who is most badger
cd. and most abused, and most spit upon.
/ and most lowled nt. Yon have n right to
contest n mans political sentiments: you
hay" no right Tor base political purposes to
assall his private moral character.
4 My subject also impresses me with the fact
that lions cannot hurt II good man. No
man ever got into worse company tlnn
| Daniel got into when he WAS thrown into the
den. Whntarnrem morsrI that fnir youngmn
/ would have been for the hungry monsters! II
they had plunged at him liz could not have
climbed into niche beyond tho reach of
their paw or the snatch of tlieir tooth They
cam" pleased all about him. us II hunters
hounds ut the well-known whistle come
| bonn ding to his feet.
You need not go to Numihin to get among
lions You have all had them after yor-
the lion Of financial dist rcss the lion of sick
ness. the lion of persecution. You saw TINT
lion OF i':,nrinl pnnic putting his mouth
down to the earth and he ronred until all
the banks and the insurance companies
uunk"l. With Ills nostrils he scattered the
ashes on the domestic hearth. You have
bad trial after trial, misfortune ftrr mis- or
tune. lion after lion and yet they have never
hurt YOU If you put your trust in God,
nnI they meyer will hurt Won. They dilnot
r y
/ The Irrsians used to think that spring rain
inlling into sea shells would turn into pearls:
ANA have to tell you that the tears of snr-
row turn into precious gems whefl they drop
into Gnd's bottle. You need be afraid Of
nothing. putting your trust in God. Even
death. that monster lion whose den is the
worlds srpnrhre. aud who puts his pnw
down amid thousands ofmllions ofthe dead.
4 cannot alright yom.
/ When in ol,len times II man wns to get the
/ honors nt the knighthood. he was compelled
/ togo fully armed the night be ore, among
the tombs of the dead. carrying n sort Of
sp"nr. aud then when the day broke he would
com" forth. and, amid the sound of corl"t
aud area, parade, he would get the honors Of
knighthond. And so il will be with the
Christian in thenight before heaven, us fully
4 armed with spear and helmet uf salvation.
he will wait and watch through til. darkness
! until morning dawns. and then he will take
til" honors of heaven amid that great throng
with snowy rohes, streaming over sens oi
cnpphi:e.
t - S-ON--------