Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-08-03
Christ is no foe to successful business

Christ Is no foe to successful busin ess |;
it is its best friend And il there
should como i great awakening in this
country. and all the banks and insur
ance companies and stores and offices
and shops should close up for two
weeks. and do nothing but attend to
the public worship of Almighty God
after such a spiritual vacation the land
would wake up to such financial pros
perity as We have never dreamed of.
Goodness is profitable for the life that
now is as well as for that which is to
come. But. my friends, do not put so
much emphasis on worldly success As
to let your eternal affairs go at loose
ends. ] have nothing to say against
money. The more money you get the
better, if it comes honestly and goes
usefully. For the lack of it. sickness
dies without medicine, and hunger
finds its coffin in an empty bread-tray,
and Eakedness shivers for clothes and
fire. All this canting TRADE against
money as though it had no practical
use, when | hear man indulge in ii,
1t makes me think the best heaven for
him would be an everlasting poor
house! No, there is practical use in
money; but while We admit that we
must also admit that it cannot satisfy
the soul, that it cannot pay for our fer
riage across the Jordan Of death, that
it cannot unlock the gate of heaven
for our immortal soul. Yet there are
men who act as though packs of bonds
and mortgages could be traded off for
mansion in heaven, and as though
gold were legal tender in that land
where it is so common that they make
pavements out Of 1t. Salvation by
Christ is the only salvation. Treasures
in heaven are the only incorruptible
treasures. Have you ever ciphered out
that sum In loss and gain. What shall
ii profit man If he gain the whole
world and lose his soul?" You may
wear fine apparel now. but the winds
of death will flutter it like rags Home
spun and threadbare coat have some
times been the shadow of robes white
in the blood Of the Lamb. All the
Z,
in one carcanet, are not worth to you
as much as the pearl of great price
You remember. suppose, some years
ago, the shipwreck of the Central
America? A storm came on that ves-
sci. The surges tramped the deck and
swept down through the matches, and
there went up hundred-voiced death
shrek. The foam on the jaw of the
wave. The pitching OF the steamer,
as though 1t would leap a mountain.
The glare Of the signal rockets. The
long cough of the steam-pipes. The
hiss of extinguished furnaces. The
walking of God on the wave o, it was
stupendous spectacle.
So, there are men who go on in life
"a fine voyage they are making out Of
it. All is well, till some euroclydon of
business disaster comes upon them.
and they go down. The bottom Of this
commercial sea is strewn with the
shattered hunks. But. because your
property goes. shall your soul go? o,
no! There is coming a more stupen-
dous shipwreck after while. This
world-God launched it 5000 years ago.
and it is sailing on; but one day it will
stagger at the cry Of "fire.' and the
timbers of the rocks will burn. and
the mountains fame like masts and
the clouds like sails in the judgment
hurricane. God will take good many
off the deck, and others out Of the
berths, where they are now sleeping in
Jesus. How many shall go down? No
one will know until it is announced
in heaven one day: "Shipwreck of
world! So many MILLIONS saved! So
many millions drowned" Because
your fortunes go, because your house
goes, because all your earthly possess
ions go, do not let your soul go! May
the Lord Almighty. through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, save your
SnulS