The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-02-20
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS Is DEAD
RELIGION TO BE VITAL MUST BE
CARRIED INTO EVERYDAY LIFE
AND APPEAR IN DAILY TRANS
ACTIONS.
Reforms Needed In Society and Business
Which Only Christianity Can Ac-

Reforms Needed In Society and Business
which Only Christianity Can Ac-
compIish.
Brooklyn, n. ", February f5.-Dr.
Talmage took for his text at the Brook
lyn academy this morning: Faith
without works is dead. - James, ii, 20.
The Roman Catholic church has
been charged with putting too much
stress upon good work and not enough
upon faith. | charge Professionalism
with putting not enough stress upon
good works as connected with salvation.
Good works will never save man, but
if man have not good works he has nc
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
religion. for the most part. is made 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
a. can tell this ocean craft is mostly
sail and very little tonnage. FOretop
mast stay sail, foretopmast studding
sail, maintopsail, mizzen topsail-
everything from flying jib to mizzen
spanker, but making no useful voyage.
Now. the world has got tired of this and
wants a religion that will work into all
the circumstances of life. We do not
want a new religion, but the old reli-
gion applied in all possible directions.
Yonder is river with steep and
rocky banks, and roars like young
Niagara as it rolls on over its rough
bed. II does nothing but talk about
itself all the way from its source in the
mountain to the place where it empties
ihto the sea. The banks are so steep
the cattle cannot come down to drink.
1t does not run one iertillizing rill into
the adjoining field. 1t has not one grist
mill or factory on either side. 1t sulks
in wet weathre with chilling fogs. No
one cares when that river is born among
the rocks, and no one cares when it
dies into the sea.
USEFUL HELP IN THIS LIFE.
But wonder is another river, and it
MOSES its banks with its warm tides,
and it rocks with its floral lullaby the
water lilies asleep on its bosom. 1t in
vites herds of cattle and hocks OF sheep
and coveys of birds TO come there and
drink. 1t has three grist mills on one
side and six cotton factories on the
other. 1t is the wealth OF 200 miles of
luxuriant farms. Birds of heaven chant
ed 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
a man who lives for himself The other
river is man who lives for others.
Do you know how the site Of the an
Gent city of Jerusalem was chosen?
There were two brothers who had ad-
Joining farms. The one brother had a
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 l 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 sup
port them, and will help him along,
and I will take some of the sheaves
from my farm in the night time 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
10 ffsQn
ence, and the spot where they met was
so sacred that it was chosen as the site
of the city of Jerusalem. II that tradi-
ton should prove unfounded it will
nevertheless stand as a beautiful alle-
CORY, 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 I speak to you about
works, for faith without works Is
dead" l think you will 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 the
merchant to say that watch was manu-
featured 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 re-
ligion will walk along by the store
shelves, and tear off all the tags that
make misrepresentation. 1t will not al
low III merchant to say that is pure
coffee, when dandelion root and chicory
and other ingredients 60 into il. 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 will go down the
streets, and it will come to that shoe
store and rip off the fictitious soles OF
many fine pair of shoes, and show that
it is pasteboard sandwiched between
the sound leather. And this practical
religion will go right into a grocery
store, and it will pull out the plug of all
the adulterated syrups, and it will
dump into the ash barrel, in front OF
the store, the caSSia bark that is sold
for cinnamon and the brickdust that Is
sold for cayenne pepper: and 1t will
shake out the Prussian blues from the
tea leaves, and it will sift from the -four
plaster of Paris and bone dust and soaI
stone, and it will by chemical analysis
seperate the one quart of Ridgewood
water from the few honest drops o.
cows milk, and it will throw out the
live animalcules from the brown sugar
There has been so much adulteratior
of articles of food that it is an ans 4e
ment to me that there is h sElthy mai
or woman in America. Heaven only
knows what they put into the spices at
into the sugars and into the butter = ID
into the apothecary drug. But chemi
cal analysis and the microscope have
made wonderful revelations.