The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-06

travellers grin. They are HES
invaluable when the stomach - y -
is out of order; headache. biliousness, and
az liver troubles. Mild and e1oient. Is cents
----------------
It is misquoted and spoken of as though
it were an iron chain which bound us hand
and foot for time and for eternity, when
so far from that in every fiber of your
body, in every faculty of your mind, in
every passion of your soul. you are a free
mana free man-and IT will no more to-
morrow be a matter of choice whether
you shah go 10 business through Pennsyl-
Vania avenue or some other street; 1t will
be no more a matter of choice with you
tomorrow Whe Their you shall go to Phila-
dephia or New York or stay at home
than it is this hour a matter of free choice
whether you will accept Christ or reject
him.
In all the army of banners, there is not
one conscript. Men are not to be dra-
gooned into heaven. Among all the tens
of Thousands of the Lords sodiery there
is not one man but will tell you, Il chose
Christ; l wanted him; ! desired to be in
his service; I am not a conscript-I am a
volunteer" oh. that men had the same
common sense in the matters of religion
that they have i'm the matters of the world
the same concentra ton, the same push,
the same enthusiasm In the one case a
secular enthusiasm; in the other, a conse-
Grated enthusiasm
Again, ! remark: We want more COM
mon sense in the building up and enlarg-
ing of oNr Christian character There are
men who have for forty years been run
ming the Christian race and they have not
run quarter of mile! No business
man would be willing to have his invest
ments unaccumulative. If you invest a
dollar You expect that dollar 20 come
home bringing another dollar on its back.
What would you think of a man who
should invest ten thousand dollars in
monetary institution, then go off for five
years, make no inquiry in regard to the
investment then come back, step up to
cashier Of the institution and say: "Have
you kept those ten thousand dollars safely
that lodged with you?" but asking no
question about interest or about dividend?
Why, You say, That is not common
sense" Neither is it, but that is the way
we act in matters of the soul. We make
far more important investment than ten
thousand dollars. We invest our soul. Is
it accumula tive? Are we growing in
grace? Are we getting better? Are we get
ting worse? God declares many dividends,
but we do not collect them; we do not ask
about them; we do not want them Oh
that i'm this matter of accumulation we
were as wise i'm the matters of the soul as
we are in the matters of the world!
of the scriptures! We get any other book.
and we open it. and we say: Now. what
does this book mean to teach me? 1t is
book on astronomy; it will teach me
astronomy. 1t is book on political econ
omy; it will teach me political economy"
Taking up this Bible, do we ask ourselves
what it means to teach? 1t means to do
just one thing; get the world converted
and get us all to heaven. That is what it
proposes to do. But instead of that we
go into the Bible as botanists to pick
flowers, or we go as pugilists to get some
thing to fight other Christians with or
we go as loSicians trying to sharpen our
mental faculties for a better argument
and we do not like this about the Bible
and we do not like that, and we do not
like the other thing. What would you
think of a man lost on the mountains;
night has come down; he cannot find his
way home and he sees a light in noun
tain cabin; he goes to it, he knocks at
the door; the mountaineer comes out and
finds the traveller and says: well here
| have lantern; you can take it, and it
will guide you on the way home;" and
suppose that traveller should say: Il don't
like that lantern, l don't like the handle
of it; there are ten or fifteen things about
it l don't like; if you can't give me bet
ter lantern than that. / won't have any?"
Now. God says this Bible is to be
lamp to our feet and a lantern TO our
path, to guide us through the midnight of
this world to the gates of the celestial
city. We stop and say we do not like this
about il and we do not like that, and we
do not like the other thing. Oh, how much
wiser we would be if by its holy light we
found our way to our everlasting home!
Then, we do not read the Bible as we
read other books. We read 1T perhaps four
or five minutes just before we retire at
night. We are weary and sleepy, SO SOM
nolent we hardly know which end of the
book is up. We drop our eye perhaps on
the story of Samson and the foxes, or
upon some genealogical table, important
In its place, but stirring no more religious
emotion than the announcement that
somebody begat somebody else, and he be-
gat somebody else, instead of opening the
book and saying: Now, 7 must read for
my immortal life; my eternity is involved
in this book.
How little we use common sense in
prayer! We say, "Oh, Lord give me
this and "Oh, Lord, give me that" and
ooh, Lord, give me something else and
we do not expect to get it, or, getting it,
we do not know we have it. We have no
anxiety about it. We do not watch and
wait for its coming. As a merchant, you
telegraph or you write to some other
city for a bill of goods, You say: Send
me by such express, or by such steamer,
or by such a rail-train." The day arrives.
You send your wagon to the depot or to
the wharf. The goods do not come. You
Immediately telegraph. What is the
matter with those goods? We haven't
received them. Send them right away.
We want them now, or we don't want
them at all" And you keep writing, and
you keep telegraphing, and keep sending
your wagon to the depot, or to the express
office. or TO the wharf until you get the
goods. In matters of religion we are not
so wise as that. We ask certain things
TO be sent from heaven. We do not know
whether they come or not. We have not
any special anxiety as to whether they
come or not. We may get them and may
not get them. Instead of at o'clock In
the morning saying. Have I got that
bessing?" at u o'clock MONDAY asking,
Have / got that bessing?" at z o'clock
in the evening saying; ''Have I received
that blessing" and not getting it. plead
ing, pleadin g-begging. begging-asking,
asking until you get it, Now my breth-
rem. is not that common sense? If we
ask thing from God, who has sworn by
his eternal throne that he will do that