The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1891-04-23
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS.
Sermon on Practical Religion by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage.
True Religion Recognizes Neither Time,
Place Nor Circumstances - 1t is
Ever Present to Guide Our
Thoughts and Actions.

ESllSI0H was OelV6reQ DIV Kew. L. DE
Witt Talmage in Brooklyn and New
York City, from the text:
Faith without works s-dead.-James H., 20.
The Roman Catholic church has been
charged with putting too much stress
upon good works and not enough upon
faith. charge Professionalism with put
ting not enough stress upon good works
as connected with salvation. Good works
will never save a man, but if man
have not good works he has no real
faith and no genuine religion. There
are those who depend upon the fact that
they are all right inside, while their
conduct is wrong outside. Their relig-
ion, for the most part, is made up of
talk-vigorous talk, fluent talk, boast
full talk, perpetual talk They will en-
terrain you by the hour in telling you
how good they are. They come up to
such higher life that they have no pa
thence with ordinary Christians in the
plain discharge of their duty. AS near
as can tell this ocean craft is mostly
sail and very little tonnage. Foretop-
mast staysail, foretopmast studding
sail, maintopsail, mizzen-topsail-e
thing from flying jib to mizzen spank
er, but making no useful voyage. Now,
the world has got tired of this, and it
wants religion that will work into all
the circumstances of life. We do not
want a new religion, but the old relig-
ion applied in all possible directions.
Yonder is river with steep and rocky
banks, and it roars like a young Mag
ara as it rolls on over its rough bed. 1t
does nothing but talk about itself all
the way from its source in the mount
ain to the place where it empties into
the sea. The banks are so steep the
cattle can not come down to drink. 1t
does not run one fertilizing rill into the
adjoining field. It has not one grist
mill or factory on either side. 1t sulls
in wet weather with chilling fogs. No
one cares when that river is born among
the rocks, and no one cares when it
dies into the sea. But yonder is anoth-
er river, and it moses its banks with
the warm tides, and it rocks with floral
lullaby the water lilies asleep on its
bosom. 1t invites herds of cattle and
fiocks of sheep and coveys of birds to
come there to drink. It has three girst
AA4A1Ao On CA~C oielC anu Din CObGOn ldCJO-
ries on the other. 1t is the wealth of
two hundred miles of luxuriant farms.
The birds of Heaven chanted when it
was born in the mountains, and the
ocean shipping will press in from the
sea to hail it as it comes down to the
Atlantic coast. The one river is the
man who lives for himself. The other
river is man who lives for others.
Do you know how the site of the
ancient City of Jerusalem was chosen?
There were two brothers who had adj
joining farms. The one brother had
large family, the other had no family.
The brother with large family said:
There is my brother with no family;
he must be lonely, and / will try to
cheer him up, and l will take some of
the sheaves from my field in the night
time and set them over on his farm,
and say nothing about it. The other
brother said: my brother has large
family, and it is very difficult for him to
support them, and will help him along,
and | will take some of the sheaves
! from my farm in the nighttime and set
them over on his farm, and say nothing
about it," So the work of transference
went on night after night, and night
after night; but every morning things
seemed to be just as they were, for,
though sheaves had been subtracted
from each farm, sheaves had also been
added, and the brothers were perplexed
and could not understand. But one
night the brothers happened to meet
while making this generous transfer
ence, and the spot where they met was
so sacred that it was chosen as the site
for the city of Jerusalem. If that
tradition should prove unfounded it will
nevertheless stand as beautiful al
legory setting forth the idea that where
ever kindly and generous and loving
act is performed, that is the spot fit for
some temple of commemoration.
have often spoken to you about
faith, but now l speak to you about
works, for faith without works is
dead" think you viii agree with me
in the statement that the great want of
this world is more practical religion.
We want practical religion to go into
all merchandise. 1t will supervise the
labelling of goods. 1t will not allow
man to say that a thing was made in
one factory when it was made in an
other. 1t will not allow the merchant
to say that watch was manufactured in
Geneva, Switzerland, when it was
manufactured in Massachusetts, 1t will
not allow the merchant to say that wine
came from Madeira when it came from
California. Practical religion will
walk along by the store shelves and
tear off all the tags that make misrep-
resentation. 1t will not allow the mer-
chant to say that is pure coffee, when
dandelion root and chicory and other in
gradients go into it. 1t will not allow
him to say that is pure sugar, when
there are in it sand and ground glass.
When practical religion gets its full
swing in the world it viii go down the
streets, and it will come to that shoe
store and rip off the fictitious soles of
many fne-looking pair of shoes and
show that it is paste-board sandwiched
between the sound leather. And this