The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-01-06
REV. DIR, TALMAGE
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject: GA Practical Religion"

TEXT: ''Faith without works is dead."-
james H., 20.
The Roman Catholic Church has been
churged with putting too much stress upon
good works and not enough upon faith. l
charge Professionalism with putting not
enough stress upon good works as connected
with salvation. Good works will never save
a nan, but If man have not good works he
has no real faith and no genuine religion
There are those who depend upon the fact
that they are all right inside while their con-
duct is wrong outside. Their religion for
the most part is made up OF talk-vigorouss
talk. They will entertain you by the hour
in telling you how good they are. They
come up 10 such higher life that they have
NO patience with ordinary Christians in the
plain discharge Of their duty, As near as
can tell, this ocean craft Is mostly sail and
very little tonnage. Foretopmast staysall,
foretopmast studdinS sail, main topsail, miz-
zen ,opsail Everything from flying jib to
mlzzen spanker, but making no useful voy!
are. Now. the world has got tired of this,
and it wants religion that will work Into
all the circumstances oflife. We dc not want
a new religion, but the old religion applied
In all possible directions.
Yonder is q river with steep and rocky
hunks, and it roars like young Niagara as
it rolls on over its rough bed. It does moth
irg but talk about itself all the way from Its
source In the mountain to the place where 1t
synpties into tho sea- The banks are so steep
that the cattle cannot come down to drink.
II does not run one fertilizlng rill into the
adjoining field. 1t has not one gristmill or
ft.ctory on either side. It sulks in wet
weather with chilling fogs. No one cares
" hen that river is born among the rocks and
no one cares when it dies into the. sea. But
yonder is another river, and II moses 1ts
banks with the warm tides. and 1t rocks with
floral lullaby the water lilies asleep on Its
bosom. 1t invites herds OF cattle and focks
OF sheep and coveys of birds to coma there
and drink. 1t has three gristmiils on one
side and six cott ON factories on the other. II
is, the wealth OF 200 miles of luxuriant farms.
The birds Of heaven chanted when It was
born in the mountains, and the ocean ship
ping will press In from the sea to hail 1t as il
comes down from the Atlantic Coast. The
one river is man who lives for himself.
The other river is a man who lives fol
Others. ..-. ..-
Do YOU know how the site OF the ancient
city OF Jerusalem was chosen2 There were
two brothers who had adjoining farms. The
one bi other had q lsrge family, the other
had no family. The brother with large
filmily said: "There is my brother with no
family. He must be lonely, and will try
to cheer him up, and will take some OF the
saeaves from my field in the night time and
sat them over on his farm and say nothing
about It," The other brother said: my
brother has large family ana 1t is very
difficult for him to support them, and will
help him along, and will take some OF
the sheaves from my farm In the night time
and set them over On his farm and say moth
ing about it." SO the work OF transference
went on night after night and night after
night. but every morning things seemed 20
be just as they we're, for, though sheaves
had been substracted from each farm,
sheaves had also been added, and the BROTH
ers were perplexsd and could not under
stand. But one night the brothers hap
rened to meet while making this generous
t:ansference, and the spot where they met
was so sacred that il wa, chosen as the site
Of the city Of Jerusalem. II that tradition
should prove unfoundel, 1t will neverthe-
lass stand as a beautiful allegory setting
forth the idea that wherever kindly and
generous and loving act is performed that is
the spot At for some temple OF commem-
Grafton.
lhave often spoken to you about faith,
hut this morning Ispeak to you about works,
for "iaith without works Is dead" think
1Od WILL dHEO6 WILL LILO III tnC 6iotcuOnt kuoI
the greal want in this world is more practi-
cal religion. We want practical religion to
SO into all merchandise. 1t will supervise
the labelling Of goods 1t will not allow a
Iaan to say that thing was made In one
factory when 1t was made in another. It
will not allow the merchant to say that watch
l7as manufactured in Geneva when It was
manufactured In Massachusetts. It will not
ellow the merchant to say that wine came
from Madeira when It came from California.
Practical religion will walk along by the
store shelves and tear of all the tags that
make Misrepresentation. 1t will not allow
the merchant to say that Is pure coffee when
dandelion root and chioory and other ingred-
that Is pure sugar when there are in 1t sand
and ground glass.
When practical religion gets its full swing
in the world, it will 60 down the street and
it will come TO that shoe store and rip of the
fictitious soles Of many q fine looking pair Of
shoss and show that it Is pasteboard sand
wiched between the sound leather. And this
practical religion will 60 right into gro
Gerry store and it will pull out the plugs Of all
the adulterated slrups, and 1t will dump into
the ash barrel In FROM Of the store the cassia
bark that Is sold for cinnamon and the brick
dust that is sold for cayenne pepper, and it
will shake out the prussian blue from the tea
leaves. and it will sift from the -four plaster
of paris and bone dust and soapstone. and 1t
will by chemical analysis separate the one
quart Of water from the few honest drops Of
cows milk, and 1t will throw out the live
animalcules from the brown sugar.
There las been 80 much adulteration OF
articles Of food that 1t is an amaZement TO
me that there Is healthy man or woman in
America. Heaven only knows what they
put into the spices and into the sugars and
into the butter and into the apothocary drug.
But chemical analysis and the microscope
have made wonderful revelations. The board
of health in Massachusetts analyzed great
amount Of what was called pure coffee and
land there is law that forbids the putting
OF alum in bread. The public authorities
examined fifty-one packages Of bread and
found them all guilty. The honest physi-
clan. writing prescription, does not know
but that it may bring death instead OF health
TO his patient, because there may be one OF
the drugs weakened by q cheaper article,
and another drug may be in full force, and
80 the prescription may have just the oppo
site effect intended. OIL OF wormwood war
ranted pure from Boston was found to have
Eorty-one per cent. Of rosin and alcohol and
chloroform. Scammonyis Is one Of the most
valuable medical drugs. 1t is very rare,
very precious, 1t is the sap Of the gum of
Tree or bush in Syria. The root Of the tree
is exposed. an incision is made into the root,
md then shells are placed at this incision to
catch the sap or the gum as 1t exudes. 1t Is
very precious, this scammony. But the
peasant mixes 1t with cheaper material;
then 1t is taken to Aleppo, and the merchant
there mixes it with cheaper material; tnen
it corpes on to the wholesale druggist IN Lon
dor or New York. and he mixes 1t with
cheaper material: then 1t comes to the retail
druggist, and he mixes 1t with a cheaper
material, and by the time the poor sick man
gets it into his bottle 1t is ashes and chalk
and sand, and some of what has been called
found to be no scammony at all.
IL. = AL far roll