The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-04-19

uOUuercu duOuU Une mOUc III tnolI hoABH
boris eye than about the beam like ship
timber in their own eye, have been en-
tirely changed by the grace Of God,
and have found out that "godliness is
profitable for the life that now is as
well as for the life which is to come"
Peter, with nature tempestuous as
the sea that he once tried to walk, at
one look of Christ went out and wept
bitterly. Rich harvests Of grace may
grow on the tip-top of the jagged steep,
and hocks of Christian graces may find
pasturage in fields of bramble and rock
Though your disposition may be all
a-bristle with fretfulness, though you
have temper a-gleam with quick
lightnings, though your avarice be
like that of the horseleech, crying;
"GiveI' though damnable impurities
have wrapped you in all-consuming fire
God can drive that devil out of your
soul, and over the chaos and the dark
ness he can say, Let there be light"
Converted grace has lifted the drunk
ard from the ditch, and snatched the
knife from the hand of the assassin,
and the false keys from the burglar,
and in the pestiferous lanes OF the city
met the daughter of sin under the dim
lamplight, and scattered her sorrow
and her guilt with the words: "Thy
sins are forgiven-go, and sin no
more" For scarlet sin scarlet atone
ment.
Other persons apologize for not
entering the Christian life because OF
the inconsistencies of those who pro-
fess religion. There are thousands OF
poor farmers. They do not know the
nature of soil nor the proper rotation
of crops. Their corn is shorter in the
stalk and smaller in the ear. They
have ten less bushels to the acre than
their neighbors. But who declines
being farmer because there are SO
many poor farmers.
There are thousands of incompetent
merchants. They buy at the wrong
time. They get cheated in the sale Of
their goods. Every bale of goods is to
them bale of disaster. They fail after
awhile and go out of business. But
who declines to be merchant because
there are SO many incompetent mer-
chants? There are thousands of poor
lawyers. They cannot draw declara7
tion that will stand the test. They
cannot recover just damages. They
cannot help a defendant escape from
the injustice Of his prosecutors. They
are the worst evidence against any case
in which they are retained. But who
declines TO be lawyer because there
are so many incompetent lawyersP Yet
there are tens of thousands Of people
who decline being religious because
there are SO many unworthy Christians.
Now say It is illogical. Poor lawyers
are nothing against Jurisprudence,
poor physicians are nothing against
medicine, poor farmers are nothing
against agriculture, and mean, con-
temptible professors of religion are
nothing against our glorious Chris
tianity.
Sometimes you have been riding
along on summer night by swamp,
and you have seen lights that kindled
over decayed vegetatlon-lights which
are called jacl1-o'lantern or will-o'-the-
wisp. These lights are merely poison
GUS miasmata. My friends, on your
way to Heaven you will want better
light than the will-o'-the'wisp which
dance on the rotten character of dead
Christians. Exudations from poisonous
trees in our neighbor's garden will
make a very poor balm for our wounds.
Sickness will come, and we will be
pushed out toward the Red Sea which
divides this world from the next, and
not the inconsistency of Christians, but
the rod of faith will wave back the
waters as q commander wheels his
host. The Judgment will come with
its thundershod solemnities, attended
by bursting mountains and the deep
laugh of earthquakes, and suns will fly
before the feet of God like sparks from
the anvil, and ten thousand burning
worlds shall blaze like banners in the
track of God omnipotent. Obi then we
will not stop and say, There was a
mean Christian; there was a cowardly
Christian; there was lying Christian;
there was an impure Christian" In
that day as now, "If thou be wise thou
shalt be wise for thyself; but II thou
scornest, thou alone shall bear it."
Why, my brother, the inconsistency OF
Christians, so far from being an argu-
ment to keep you away from God,
ought to be an argument TO drive you
to Him. The best place for a slxillful
doctor is in u neighborhood where they
are all poor doctors; the best place for
an enterprising merchant 10 open his
store is in place where the bargain
makers do not understand their busi-
ness; and the best place for you who
want to become the illustrions and
complete Christian-the best place for
you is TO come right down among us
who are so incompetent and so incon-
sistent sometimes. ...,.
Other persons apologize for not be-
coming Christians because they lack
time. AS though religion muddled the
brain Of the accountant, or tripped the
pen of the author, or thicl1ened the
tongue of the orator, or weakened the
arm Of the mechanic, or scattered the
briefs of the lawyer, or interrupted the
sales of the merchant. They bolt their
store doors against it, and fight it' back
with trowel and with yard-sticlSs, and
cry: away with your religion from
our store, our Office, our factoryr'
They do not understand that religion
in this workaday world will help you
TO do anything you ought TO do, II