The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-08-01

| In your profession there are mean and
| dishonest men. Is that anything against
the law? You are a doctor There are
unslNllled and contemplate men In your
] profession. Is that anything against
| medicine? You are a merchant There
are thieves and defrauders in your bust
ness. is that anything against merchan-
disc? Behold. then, the unfairness OF
charging upon Christianity the wicked
ness or ITS disciplesl 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 members OF the church.
There are men In the churches who
| would not be trusted for 50 without good
| collateral security. They leave their
business dlshonesties Ia the vestlbule OF
| the church as they go In and sit at the
! communion. Having concluded the
sacrament, they get up, wipe the wine
| from their lips, go out and take up their
sins where they left off. To SCI We the
| devil Is their regular work: 10 serve
God. sort Of play spell. With Sun
| day sponge they expect 10 wipe OFF from
their business sla'e all the past weeks
inconsistencies You have no more right
! 20 take such mans life as "A specimen
| OF religion than you have 20 take the
| twisted irons and split timbers that lie
| on the beach at Coney Island as "A speci-
men Of an American ship. II Is time that
we drew line between religion and the
IT.
a Righteous Indignation.
Again. there may be some OF you who
I'm the attempt after a Christian life will
have 20 run against powerful passions
and appetites. Perhaps a Is a disposition
TO anger that you have TO contend
against, and perhaps, while In very
serious mood. you hear of something that
makes you feel that you must swear or
die. know OF a Christian man who was
once so exasperated that he said to a
mean customer. II cannot swear at you
myself for | am "A member OF the church
but II you viii go down stairs my part
ner In business will swear at you"
All your good resolutions heretofore
nave been torn TO tatters by explosions
OF temper Now there Is no harm IN get
ting mad II YOU only get mad at sin
You need 10 bride and saddle these hot
breathed passions. and with them ride
down injustice and wrong There are
a thousand things In the world that we
ought 10 be mad at. There IS no harm
In getting redhot II you only bring 10 the
forge that which needs hammering. A
man who has no power Of righteous in
dignation Is am imbecile. But be sure
IL Is a righteous Indignation and not a
petulancy that blurs and unravels and
| depletes the soul
There is "A large class Of persons I'm mid
life who have still I'm them appetites that
were aroused I'm early manhood, at a time
when they prided themselves on being
little fast high livers." free and
| easy" hail fellows we'll met" They are
now paying I'm compound interest for
troubles they collected twenty years ago.
Some OF you are trying 10 escape, and
you will-yet very narrowly. "as with the
skin Of your teeth" God and your own
soul only know what the struggle is.
Omnipotent grace has pulled out many
soul that was deeper In the mire than
YOU are They line the beach OF heaven
the multitude whom God has rescued
from the thrall OF suicidal habits. If
you this day turn your back on the wrong
and start anew God viii help you. oh,
the weakness OF human help Men will
sympathlze for awhile and then turn you
off. II you ask FOR their pardon they will
give it and say they will try again; but.
falling away again under the power of
temptation. they east YOU off forever.
But God forgives seventy times seven;
yea, seven hundred times; yea, though
this be the ten thOusandth time lie Is
more earnest. more sympathetic, more
hopeful this last time than when YOU took
your first misstep.
II, with all the influences favorable for
right life men make so many mistakes,
how much harder II is when, FOR instance,
some appetite thrusts rs iron grapple
into the roots Of the tongue and pulls a
IT, under such circumstances, he break
away. there viii be no sport In the under
taking. no holiday enjoyment, but
struggle IN which the wrestlers move
from side TO side and bend and twist and
watch for an opportunity to get in
heavier stroke. until with one final effort.
IN which the muscles are distended, and
the veins stand out, and the blood starts,
the swarthy habit falls under the knee
Of the ViCtOr-escaped at last with
the skin of his teeth.
A Trial Asked.
In the LIST day it will be found that
Hugh Latimer and John Knox and Huss
and Ridley were not the greatest martyrs,
but Christian men who went up incorrupt
from the communications and perplexities
Of Wall-st. Water-st.. Pearl-st.. Broad-st..
Safest. Third-st.. Lombard-st. and the
bourse. on earth they were called brok-
ers or stockholders, or retailers or inn
pOrters, but in heaven Christian heroes.
No fagots We're heaped about their feet,
no inquisition demanded from them re-
cantation. no soldier aimed a spike at
their heart. but they had mental tor
lures, compared with which all physical
consuming is as the breath Of a spring
morning.
I find in the community a large class
of men who have been so cheated, so
lied about so outrageously wronged that
tleN nave lO-L IdlLn III everything. III a
world where everything seems so topsy
turvy they do not see how there can be
any God. They are COMPOUNDED and fren-
zied and misanthropic. Elaborate argu-
ment to prove to them the truth OF
Christianity or the truth Of anything else
touches them nowhere. Hear me, all
such men. L preach to you rounded
periods, no ornamental discourse, but 1
put my hand on your shoulder and invite
you into the peace of the gospel. Here
is a rock which you may stand firm.
though the waves dash against il harder
than the Atlantic pitching its surf clear
above Eddystole Lighthouse. Do not
charge upon God all these troubles OF the
world. As long as the world stuck to
God God stuck 10 the world but the earth
seeded from his government, and hence
all these outrages and all these woes.
God is good For many hundreds of years
he has been coaXing the world to come
back 10 Him, but the more he has coaxed
the more violent have men been in their
resistance, and they have stepped back
and stepped back until they have dropped
into ruin.
Try this God, We who have had the
bloodhounds after you. and who have
thought that God had forgotten you. Try
Him and see II He will not help Try
Him and see If He will not pardon. Try
Him and see If He will not save. The
flowers Of spring have no bloom so sweet
the Towering of Christ's affections
The sun hath no warmth compared with
the glow Of His heart. The waters have
no refreshment like the fountain that will
slake the thirst of thy soul. At the mo-
ment the reindeer stands with his lip and
nostril thrust into the cool mountain tor