Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-07-01

You always will have friends, warm
hearted friends, magnanimous friends;
and when sickness comes to your dwell
ing there will be watchers; when
trouble comes to your heart there will
be sympathizers; when death comes
there will be gentle fingers to close
the eyes and fold the hands, and gem
tie lips to tell of resurrection Oh,
we are comprised by a body guard of
friends.
Every man. IL he has behas~3 him
self well, is surrounded by three circles
of friends-those of the outer circle
wishing him well; those in the next
circle willing to help him; while close
up to his heart are few who would die
for him. God pity the wretch who has
not any friends!
/ remark again, that God puts down
the limit to our temporal prosperity.
The world of finance seems to have no
God in 1t. You can not tell where a
man will land. The affiuent fall; the
poor rise. The ingenious fall; the
ignorant succeed. An enterprise open
Ing grandly shuts ir bankruptcy, while
out of the peat dug up from some New
England marsh the millionaire builds
his fortune. The poor man thinks it is
chance that keeps him down; the rich
man thinks it is chance which HOSTS
him; and they are both wrong. 1t is
SO hard to realize that God rules the
money market, and has a hook in the
nose of the stock gambler, and that all
the commercial revolutions of the
world shall result in the very best for
Gods dear children.
My brethren, do not kick against the
Divine allotments. God knows Just
how much money it is best for you to
lose. You never gain unless it is best
for you to gain. You go up when it is
best for you to go up, and go down
when it is best for you to go down
Prove it, YOU say. / will. Rom. viii.
IS, 'All things work together for
good to them that love God" You
90 INTO factory and you see 20 or
80 wheels, and they are GO
ing in different directions. This
band is rolling off this way, and an
other band another way; one down and
another up. You say, what confu-
sion in factory" Oh mol all these
different bands are only different parts
of the machinery. So l go into your
life and see strange things. Here is
one providence pulling you one way
and another in another way. But
these are different parts of one ma
chinery by which He will advance your
everlasting and present we'll being.
Now you know that a second mort
gage, and n third and a fourth mort
gage, are often worth nothing. 1t is
the first mortgage that is good in
vestment. | have to tell you that every
| Christian man has first mortgage on
every trial, and on every disaster, and
1T must make payment of eternal ad-
vantage to his soul. How many wor-
riments IL would take out of your heart
if you believed that fully. You buy
goods and hope the price will go up,
but you are in a fret and frown for fear
the price will go down. You do not
buy the goods using your best discre-
ton in the matter. and then say, 80,
Lord, have done the best /
could; | commit this whole transaction
| into y, ur hands" That is what reli-
gion is good for or il is good for
nothing. There are two things. suys
an old proverb. you ought not to fret
! about: First, things that you can help;
second, things which you can not help,
III you can help them, why do you not
apply the remedy? If you can not help
them, you might as well surrender first
as last. My dear brethren, do not S 1t
any longer moping about your ledger.
do not sit looking so responding upon
your stock OF unstable goods. DO YOU
think that God is going to allow you,
Christian man, to do business alone?
God is the controlling partner in every
firm; and, although your debtors may
abscond, although your securities may
fall, although your store may burn
God will, out of an infinity of results,
choose for you the very best results.
Do not have any idea you can over
step the limit that God has laid down
for your prosperity. You will never
get one inch beyond it. God has de-
cided how much prosperity you can
stand honorably, and employ usefullv.
and control righteously; and at the
end of the year you will have Just so
many dollars and cents, Just so much
wardrobe, just so much furniture. lust
so many bonds and mortgages, and
nothing more. l will give YOU one
hundred dollars for every penny YOU
get beyond that. God has looked
over your life. He knows what is
best for you, and He is going to bless
you in time, and BILE you for eternity:
and lie will do it in the best way. Your
little child says, Papa, | wish you
would let me have that knife" No"
you say, lit is a sharp knife and you
will cut yourself" He SAYS, IL must
have it" But you can not have il. ="
you reply. He gets angry and red in
/ the face, and says he will have
1t; but you say he shall not
have it. Are you kind in keeping II
| from him? So God treats His chill
dren. j say, II wish Heavenly Father
to get that God says, mo, nv
child say, Il must have it," God
= says, You can not have it." I get
angry and say, Il will have it," God
says, You shall not have it," and do
not get it. Is He not kind and loving
and the best of Fathers? Do YOU tell
me there is no rule and regulation in
these things? Tell that to the men
who believe in no God and no Bible.
Tell IL not 10 me,
a man Of large business concludes 20
go out Of his store, leaving much OF his
investments in the business. and he
saws tp his sons. stNovv I .r, ,r,t..,- -