Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1894-08-02

consistent, living and diving in the
faith of the Gospel Would you not
like to live the same quiet life, and
die the same peaceful death? / re-
ceived letter, sent me by one who
has rejected the Christian religion. 1t
SAYS: II am old enough to know that
the joys and pleasures of life are
evanescent and to realize the fact
that it must be comforta BILE in old age
to believe in something relative to the
future and to have faith in some
system that proposes to save | am
free to confess that ! would be hap
pier if / could exercise the sim pie and
beautiful faith that is possessed by
many whom ! know. l am not will
ingly out of the church or out OF the
faith. My state of uncertainty is one
of unrest Sometimes doubt my
immortality. and look upon the death
bed as the closing scene, after which
there is nothing. What shall | do
that ! have not done?" All. scepticism
is a dark and dolcful land. Let Inc
say that this Bible is either true or
| false. If it be false, we are as well off
as you; if it be true then which of US
| is safer?
Let me also ask whether your
| trouble has not been that you con.
! founded Christianity with the incon-
sistent character of some who profess
| it. You are lawyer. In your pro-
fession there are mean men and dis
honest men. Is that anything against
the law? You are a doctor. There
are unskilled and contemplate men
in your profession Is that anything
against medicine? You areua merch-
ant There are thieves and defraud-
ers in your business. Is that anything
against merchandise? Behold, then,
the unfairness of charging upon
! Christianity the wiclieduess of its dis
! ciples. We admit some of the charges
against those who profess religion.
Some of the most gigantic swindles
of the present day have been carried
on by mem bers OF the church. There
are men in the churches who would
not be trusted for five dollars without
| good collateral security. They leave
their business dishonesties in the vesti-
bule of the church as they go in and
! sit at the communion. Having con-
| cluded the sacrament, they get mp,
| wipe the wine from their lips,
| go out, and take up their sins
where they left off. TO serve
the devil is their regular work; to
serve God n sort of play spell. With
Sunday sponge they expect to wipe
off from their business slate all the
! past weeks inconsiste ncies. You have
no more rigNt to take such mans
! life as specimen of religion than you
have to take the twisted irons and
split timbers that lie on the beach at
| Coney island as specimen of an
American ship 1t is time that we
drew a line between religion and the
frailties of tho who profess it,
To-day | invite you back into the
good old fashioned religion of your
fathers-to the God whom they wor-
SHIPPED, to the Bible they read, to the
promises on which they leaned, to
the cross on which they hung their
eternal expectations. You have not
been happy day since y on swung off;
you will not be happy a minute until
you swing back
Again: There may be some of you
who, in the attempt after Christian
life, will have to run against powerful
passions and appctitcs. Perhaps it is
disposition 30 anger that You have to
contend against; and perhaps while
in very serious mood, you hear OF
some thing that makes you feel that
L. # n
Chris ian man who was once so eXas-
perated that he said to mean Gus
toner, 81 can not swear at you my
self, for ! am mem Der of the church;
but if you will go downstairs my part
ner in business will swear at you. .
All your good resolutions heretofore
have been torn to tatters by explosions
of temper. Now there is no harm in
getting mad if you only get mad al
sin. You need to bride and saddle
these hot breathed passions, and will
them ride down in Justice and wrong
There are thousand things in the
world that we ought to be mad at
There is no harm in getting red kot i
you only bring to the forge tina
which needs hammering. A man wht
has no power of rig hteous indignation
is an i'm beetle. But be sure it is ;
righteous Indignation, and not
petulancy that ,blurs, and unravels
and depletes the soul.
There is large class of persons il
midlife who have still in them appe
tites that were aroused in early man
hood, at a time when they pride
themselves on being little fast,
high livers. free and easy" ''hai
fellows well met They are nov
I paying in compound interest 70
L troubles they collected twenty year
Z ago. Some of you are trying to es
, cape, and you will-yet very narrowly
las with the skin of your teeth" Go
and your own soul only know wha
I the struggle is. Omnipotent grac
: has pulled out many soul that wa
deeper in the mire than you are. The
e line the beach of heaven-the multi
, tude whom God has rescued from tn
t thrall of suicidal habits. If you tn
s day turn your back on the wrong, an
}. start anew, God will help you Oh
I | the weakness of human helm, Me