The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-08-11

or in any way Of a million God blesses him..
Once the man finds out that secret and
he goes on to fortune. There nre men
whom | have known who for ten years have
been trying to pay God $1,000. They have
never been able to get 1t paid, for Just rs
they were taking out from one fold OF their
pocketbook a bill mysteriously somehow In
some other fold Of their pocketbook there
came q larger bill. You tell me that Chris
tian generosity pays in the world to come.
l tell you it pays now, pays in hard cash,
pays in Government securities. You do
not believe it? All, that is what keeps you
back. 1 knew you did not believe it. The
whole world and Christendom Is to be re-
constructed on this subject, and as you are
in your own soul. 'But," says some one,
81 don't believe that theory, because I
have been generous and l have been losing
money for ten years." Then God prepaid
you, that Is all.
What because OF the money that you
made in other days? You say to your son,
"Now I will give you $500 every year az
long as you live" After awhile you say,
"Well, my son, you prove yourself 80
worthy of my confidence I will just give
you 800, 900 In a single lump" And you
give it to him, aad he starts off. In two or
three years he does not complain against
you: Gather Is not taking care Of me. I
ought to have $500 O year." You prepaid
your son, and he does not complain. There
are thousands OF us now who can this year
get just enough to supply our wants.. Blu
did not God supply for us in the past and
has he not again and again and again paid
us in advance? In other words, trusted you
all along-trusted you more than you had
a right to ask? Strike, then, a balance fol-
God. Economic in anything rather than
in your Christian charities. There Is not
morethan one out OF 300 OF you who ever
give enough to do you any good, and when
some cause Of Christianity, some mis-.
sionary society or Bible society OF
church organization, comes along and gets
anything from you what do you say? You
say: 81 have been bled." And there never
was a more significant figure Of speech
than that used in common parlance. Yes,
you have been bled, and you are spiritually
emaciated, when il you had been cour-
erty md say: "That belongs to God, and
this belongs to God, and the other thing
belongs to God" and no more dared to sp-
pirate it to your WI use than something
that belonged to your neighbor, instead OF
being bled to death by charities you would
have been r~einvigorated n recuperated
and built up for time and for eternity. God
will keep many Of you cramped in money
matters until the day Of your death unless
you swing out into larger generositles.
People quote as a joke what Is divine
promise, "Cast thy bread upon the waters,
and it will return to thee after many days"
What did Gbd mean by that2 There is an
allusion there. In Egypt when they SOW
theNcorn it is at a time when the Nile Is
OVERLOOKING it's banks, and they SOW the
seed corn on the waters, and as the Nile be-
gins to recede this seed corn strikes In the
earth and comes up q harvest, and that Is
the allusion. 1t seems as il they are throw
ing the corn away on the waters, but after
awhile they gather it up in o harvest. Now
says God in His word, "Cast thy bread
/ upon the waters, and 1t shall come
back to thee after many days" 1t may
senm to you that you are throwing 1t away
GU charities, but it will yield q harvest OF
green and gold-a harvest on earth and a
harvest in heaven. II men could appre-
ciate that and act on that, we would have
no more trouble about individual or ma
tioial finances.
Prescription the third, for the cure OF MI
our individual and national financial diS-
~tresses, a great spiritual awakening. 1t Is
no mere theory. The merchants OF this
country were positively demented with tle
monetary excitement in 1857. There never
before nor since has been such a state OF
financial depression as there was at that
time. A revival came, and 500 900 people
were bonn into the Kingdom OF God. What
came after the revival? The grandest
financial prosperity we have ever had in
this country. The finest fortunes, the
largest fortunes in the United States, have
been nude since 1857. "Well." you say,
"what has spiritual improvement and re-
vival to do with monetary improvement
and revival?' Much to do. The religion
OF Jesus Christ has @ direct tendency to
make men honest and sober and truth tell
ing, and are not honesty and sobriety and
truth telling auxiliaries OF material pros
peritv?
II we could have an awakening in this
country as in the days Of Jonathan Ed
wards OF Northampton, as in the days OF
DR.. Finley Of Basking Ridge, as in the
days OF DR.. Griffin OF Boston, the whole
land would rouse to a higher moral tone,
and with that moral tone the honest busi-
ness enterprise Of the country would come
I'D. You say q great awakening has al
influence upon the future world. l tell you
1t has a direct influence upon the financial
walfare of this world. The religion Of
Christ Is no foe to successful business.
1t is it's best friend. And II there should
come a great awakening in this coun-
try, and all the banks and insurance
companies and stores and offices and
shops should close up for two weeks and
do nothing but attend to the public wor-
Slllp VI hlLulkuIJ UOot oiLOl oAShh
vacation the land would wake up to such
financial prosperity as we have never
dreamed Of. Goodness Is profitable for the
life that now is as we'll as for that which Is
to come. But, my friends, do not put too
much emphasis OF worldly SUCCESS as to
let your eternal affairs 20 at loose ends.
I have nothing to say against money. The
more money you get the better, II It comes
honestly and goes usefully: For the
lack of it sickness dies without medi-
cine, and hunger finds its coffin in
an empty bread tray, and nskedness shivers
for clothes and fire. All this canting TRADE
against money, as though 1t had no prsctt-
cal use, when I hear a man indulge In 1t,
makes me think the best heaven for him
would be an everlasting poorhouse. MOI
there is a practical use in money. but while
we admit that we must also admit that 1T
cannot satisfy the soul, that 1t cannot pay
for our ferriage across the Jordan OF death,
that it cannot unlock the gate Of heaven
for our immortal soul.
All the mines OF Australia and Brazil,
strung in one carcanet, are not worth to
You as much as the pearl Of great price.
You remember, 1 suppose, some years ago,
the shipwreck Of the Central America? A
storm came on that vessel. The surges
tramped the deck and swept down through
the matches, and there went up q
hundred voiced death shrek. The foam
on the jaw Of the wave. TIL pitching OF
the steamer, as though it would leap a
mountain. The glare Of the signal rockets.
The long cough of the steam pipes. The
hiss of exttnguished furnaces. The walk
ing Of God on the wave. Oh, 1t was Il
stupendous spectacle. But that ship did
not 90 down without a struggle. The pas
sengers stood in long lines trying to bail 1t
out, and men unused 10 toll tugged until
their hands were blistered and their muscles
ware strainad After nWhila q sail came in