Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-04-22

that business antagonist ami hs was i'm
pressed with the fact that it was bis duty
when customer asked for : certain kintoe
goods which he had not, but which he knew
Els oppOneut had, to recommend him 20 60
to that stora. suppose that Is about the
hardest thing the man could da but Dsanz
thoroughly converted to Col hs resolved to
do that very thing. and being asked fo- q
certain kind Of foods which he had not be
said, "YoA 60 70 such and such . store and
you viii get it.n After awhile merchant
No. Q found these customers coming %
sent. and he found also that merchant No. !
had been brought to God and he SOUGHT the
same religion. Now thsy are good friends
and good neighbors, the grace OF Goi en-
tirely changing their disposition.
oh says some one, IT have rough.
Jagged. impetuous nature, and religion can't
do anything for man Do you know that
Martin Luther and Robert Newton and
Richard Baxter were iuipetuous all con
Stunning natures yet the grace Of God turnei
them into the mightiest ttsesuinesss Oh,
how many who have besl pugnacious ani
hard to please and irascibls and more both
ersd about the mote In their neighbor's eye
than about tbs beam like ship timb,r in
their own eye have bsen entirely changed
by the grace of God and have founl out
that s.godliness is profitable for the life that
now Is as we'll. 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 xept bitterly. Rici
harvests of grace may grow On the tiptop Of
the jagged Steep and hocks Of Christian
gracss may ind pasturage in fieldsof bram-
be ali a-bristle with fretfulness, though yot
have a temper a-gleam with quick light.
nings though your avarics be Ike that OF
the horse-leech, crying, "diver though
damnable Impurities have wrapped You in
all consuming fire, Col can drive that devil
out OF your soul, and over the caa1 AMI tbs
darkness BE can say. Let there be igat."
Converting grace has lifted the drunxard
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 INST the daughter OF sin
under the dim lamplight and scattered her
sorrow and her guilt with tae worls, SHY
sins are forgiven-go and sin no more" For
scarlet sin a scarlet atouemant.
the Christion life because of the incon listen.
cies of those who profess religion. There are
thousands Of poor farmers. They do not
know the nature Of soil NOR tia propsr rota-
ton Of crops. Their corn Is shorter in the
stalk and smaller in the ear. Taey have ten
less bushels to the acre than their neighbors
But who declines being d farmer becauss
there are 30 MANY poor farmers.
There are Thousands Of incompetent mer'
chants. They buy at the wrong time. They
get cheated in the sale of their goods. Every
bale Of goods is to them disaster. They fail
after while and 60 out OF business: But
who declines I'd be a merchant because
there are % many incompetent merchants!
There are thousands Of poor lawyers: They
cannot draw declaration that will stand
the test. They cannot recover just dam
ages. They cannot help defendent escape
from theinjustics 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 50 many
incompetent lawyersi Yet there are tens
of thousands Of people who decline being re-
ligious because there are SO many unworthy
Christians. Now, say it Is illogical. Poor
lawyers are nothing against Jurisprudence,
poor physicians are nothing against medi-
cine, poor farmers are nothing against agri-
culture, and mean, contemplate professors
OF religion are nothing against our glorious
Christianity.
Sometimes you have been riding along on
q summer night by swamp, and you have
seen lights that kindled over deci yed vege-
tation-lights which are callel jack-o'-lan-
tern or wili-o-the.wiso. These lights ars
your way to heaven you will want better
light than the wili-5'.the- which dance
on the rotten character Of dead Christians.
Exu1ations from poisonous trees in our
ueighbor's garden will make a very poor
balm for our wounds.
Sickness will come, AMI we will be pushe
out toward the Raj Sea wnicl divides this
world from the next, and not the incoa-
sistency of Christians but the rod OF faith
will wave bacS the waters as a commander
wheels his host TIE judgment will coma
with its thundersiod soemnities, atten lei
by bursting mountains and the deep lau 81
o. earthquake, aud suns will fly before the
feet of God like sparks fro n the anvil, AMI
1000 burning worlds shall blaz, like ban-
ners in the track OF God omnipotent. Oh,
then we will stop and say, 'Tnere was a
mean Christian; there was a cowarily
Christian; there was an impure Christian"
shalt be wise for tnyself, bui if thou scorn-
est thou alone shall hear it." Why. my
brother, the Inconsistency OF Christians SO
far from being an argument to keep you
away from Col ought to be an ar sument to
drive you to Him. The.best place for skill.
full doctor is neighborhood where they are
ali poor doctors: the best place for an enter.
prising merchant to open his store is In a
place where the bargain makers do not un'
derstand their business and the best place
for you who want to become the ilustrloui
and complete Christians the best place for
you is to come rignt down among US who
are so incompetent and so inconsistent some
times.
Other persons apologize for not becoming
Cnristtahs because they lack time, as thotgt
religion tnuddled the brain of the account
ant or tripped tbs pen Of the author, OF
thickened the tongue of the arator, or weak
enc / the arm OF the mechanic, or scattered
the briefs of the lawyer. or interrupted thu
sales of the merchant They bolt their stor,
doors against 1t and iyht it back with
trowels and with yard sticks arr On y
"Awav with your religion from our store
our office. our factory"
They do not understand that religion in
this workaday world will help you to dc
anything you ought to do. 1t can lay a
keel, 1t can sail a ship. it can buy cargo, il
can work pulley, 1t can pave street, il
can fit wristband, 1t cln write a constitu.
ton, it can marshal host. It is as appro-
pirate to the astrono ner as his telescope, to
the chemist as his laboratory, to the mason
as his plunbline, to the carpenter as his
plane, TO the child as his marbles. to the
grandfather as bis staff
No time to be religious herai You have
no time not to be religious. You might as
well have no clerks in your store, no books
IN your lihrary. no compass on your ship,
no rihs IN the battle no hat for your
head, no coat for your back, no shoes OF
your feet. Better travel on toward eternity
bare headed and bare footed. and houseless
AMI homeless, AMI friendlsss, than 60
through life without religion.
Did religion make Raleigh any less OF a
statesman, or HavelocS any less of sol
der. or Grinnell any less Of merchant, or
West any less of painter? Religion is the
best security in every bargain. it is the
sweetest note in every song. it is the bright
est gem in every coronet. No time to bs re.
ligious! Why, you will have to take time
to be sick. to he troubled, to die. Our
world is only the wharf from which we are
to embark for heaven. No time to secure
the friendship of Christ. No time to buy a
lamp aud trim il for that walk through the
darkness which otherwise will be illumiue
only by the wilderness Of the tonbstones.
No time to eiucate thu eye for heavenly
spiendors. or thu han I for choral harps, or
the ear for everlasting songs, or the soul n
honor. glory ami Immortality. One would
think we had tins for nothing else.
Othsr persons s"oiogiz, for not entering
the Christian life because 1t is time enough
| yet. That is very like thoss persons who
u o. ,As-- At :.