The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-11-30
loeh down. Jrggernautdowr, Colder

Professional men, what is the charac-
teristic of the times in which we live?
Bad, you say. Though | should be
in a minority of one, venture the opin-
ion that these are the best times we
have had for the reason that God is
teaching the world, as never before,
that old-fashioned honesty is the only
thing that will stand We have learned
as never before that forgeries will not
pay; that the spending of fifty thousand
dollars on country seats and palatial
city residence, when there are only
thirty thousand dollars income, will not
pay; that the appropriation of trust
funds to our own private speculation
will not pay. We had great national
tumor, in the shape of fictitious pros
perity. We call it national enlarge
ment; instead Of calling it enlargement,
we might better have called it a swell
ing. 1t has been a tumor, and God is
cutting-has cut it out and the nation
will get well and will come back to the
principles Of our fathers and grand
fathers when twice three made six in
stead OF siA+y, and when the apples al
the bottom of the barrel were lust az
good as the apples on the top of the
barrel, and a silk handkerchief was not
half cotton, and man who wore FIVE
| dollar coat paid for was more honored
than man who wore fifty-dollar coat
not paid for.
The golden calf of our day, like the
one of the text, is very apt to be made
out of borrowed gold. These Israelites
of the text borrowed the earnings of
| the Egyptians and then melted them
into a god. That is the way the golden
calf is made nowadays. A great many
housekeepers, not paying fer the arti-
Giles they get, borrow of the grocer and
the baker and the butcher and the dry
goods seller. Then the retailer borrows
of the Wholesale dealer. Then the
wholesale dealer borrows of the CAPT
talist, and we borrow, and borrow, and
borrow until the community is divided
into two classes, those who borrow and
those who are borrowed Of; and after a
while the capitalist wants his money,
and he rushes upon the wholesale
dealer, and the wholesale dealer wants
his money and he rushes upon the re-
taller, and the retailer wants his money
and he rushes upon the consumer. and
we all go down together. There is
many a man in this day who rides in a
carriage and owes the blacksmith for
/ thu ~ and al f0- ba
Wheel and the trimmer for the curtain,
and the driver for unpaid wages, and
the harnessmaRer for the bride, and
the furrier for the robe, while from the
tip of the carriage tongue clear back to
the tip of the shawl futtering out of
the back of the vehicle, everything is
paid for by notes that have been three
| times renewed.
1t is this temptation to borrow. and
borrow and borrow that keeps the peo-
pie everlastingly praying to the golden
calf for help, and just at the minute
they expect the help the golden calf
treads on them. The judgments of God,
like Moses in the text, will rush in and
break up this worship; and l say, let
the work go on until every man shall
learn to speak truth with his neighbor,
and those who make engagements shall
feel themselves bound TO keep them
and when man who will not repent OF
his business iniquity but goes on wish.
ing to satiate his cannibal appetite by
devouring widows houses, shall by the
law of the land be compelled to ex.
change his mansion for Sing Sing. Let
the golden calf perish.
But, my friends, if we have made
this world our god, when we come to
die we will see our idol demolished.
How much of this world are you going
to take with you into the next? Will
you have two pockets, one in each side
of your shroud? viii you cushion your
coffin with bonds and mortgages and
certificates of stock? All! no. The
ferry boat which crosses this Jordan
takes no baggage-nothing heavier
than spirit You may, perhaps, take
$500 with you two or three miles, in
the shape of funeral trappings, to Green
wood, but you will have to leave them
there. 1t would not be safe for you tc
lie down there with gold watch or o
diamond ring; it would be temptation
to the pillagers. All, my friends! if we
have made this world our god, when we
die we will see our idol ground tc
pieces by our pillow, and we will have
to drink it in bitter regrets for the
wasted opportunities of lifetime. Soor
we will be gone. Oh! this is fieeting
world, it is dying world. A man who
had worshiped it all his days, in his dy
ing moment described himself when he
said; Fool! fool! fool!"
want you to change temples, and to
give up the worship of this unsatisfying
and cruel god for the service of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the golt
that will never crumble. Here are Sc
curities that will never fail Here arc
banks that will never break Here i.
an altar on which there has been one
sacrifice once for all. Here is God who
will comfort you when you are il
trouble and soothe you when you are
sick, and save you when you die. Wher
your parents have breathed their last
and the old, wrinkled and trem
bling hands can no more be pu
upon your head for blessing, II,
will be to you father and mother
both, giving You the defense of tn,
one and the comfort of the other; ant
when your children go away from you
the sweet darlings, you will not kiss
| them goodbye forever. He will Civ,
them back to you again, and He will
have them all waiting for you at tn,
gates of eternal welcome Oh! what