The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-07-31

ness is simply a they nave Deen
Withholding from God that which be-
longs to Him. The rule is, give and
you will receive; administer literally
and you will have more to administer.
I am in full sympathy with the man
who was to be baptized by immersion,
and some one said: "You had better
leave your pocketbook out, it will get
wet" NO" said he, 81 want to go
down under the wave with everything.
1 want to consecrate my property and
all to God" And so he was baptized.
What we want in this country is more
baptized pocketbooks.
/ had a relative whose business
seemed to be failing. Here a loss, and
there a loss, and everything was
bothering, p~erplexing and annoying
him. He sat down one day and said:
God must have a controversy with me
about something. / believe | haven't
given enough to the cause of Christ"
And there and then he took out his
check-book and wrote a large check
for a missionary society. He told me:
'That was the turning point in my
business. Ever since then | have been
prosperous. From that very day, aye,
from hat very hour, 1 saw the change"
And. sure enough, he went on. and he
gathered a fortune. The only safe in
vestment that a man Ear make in this
world is in the cause of Christ, If a
man give from a superabundance, God
may or He may not respond with q
blessing; but if q man gives until he
feels ii, if a m a give until 1t fetches
the blood, If a man give until his self
ishness cringes and twists and cowes
under it. he will get not only
spiritual profit, but he will get
paid back in hard cash or
in convertible securities. We often
see men who are tight-fisted who seem
to get along with their investments
very pro1tably, Notwithstanding all
their parsimony. But wait. Sudden
ly in that mans history everything
goes wrong. His health fails, or his
reason is dethroned, or a domestic
curse smites him, or a midnight shadow
of some kind drops upon his SOU and
upon his business. What is the mat
ter? God is furnishing him for his
small-heartedness. He tried to cheat
God, and God worsted him. So that
one of the recipes for the cure of in
dividual and national finances is more
generosity. Where you bestowed n
dollar on the cause of Christ, give two.
God loves to be trusted, and He is very
apt to trust back again. He says:
THAT man knows how to handle
money; he shall have more money to
handle;" and very soon the property
was on the market for a great
while gets a purchaser, and the bond
that was not worth more than so cents
q dollar oes to par, n the open
ing of a e street doubles the value
of his house. or in way of a million
God blesses him.
People quote as a joke what is a di-
vine promise: 'Cast thy bread upon
the waters and it will return to thee
after many days" What did God mean
by that? There is an allusion there.
In Egypt, when they sow the corn 1t is
a time when the Nile is overlooking
its banks. and they sow the seed corn
on h waters. and as the Nile begins
to recede this seed CORE strikes in the
earth and comes up a harvest, and that
is the allusion. 1t seems as If they are
throwing the corn away on the waters,
but after awhile they gather it up in
a harvest. Now. says God in His
word: s'Cast thy bread upon the
waters, and it shall come back to thee
after many days" 1t may seem to you
that you are throwing it away on
charities. but it will yield a harvest of
green and gold-a harvest on earth
and a harvest in Heaven. If men
could appreciate that and act on that,
would have no more trouble about
or national finances.
Prescription the third, for the cure
IF all our individual and national
financial d-istresses: A great spiritual
awakening. 1t is no mere theory. The
of this country were posi-
lively demented with the monetary ex-
element in 1857. There never before
since has been such a state of
financial depression as there was at
hat time. A revival came, and 500, 600
people were born into the kingdom of
Tod. What came after the revival?
The grandest financial posperity we
aver had in this country. The
fortunes, the largest fortunes
the United States, have been made
ince 1857. WELL" you say, what
las spiritual improvement and re-
'ival to do with monetary i'm
and revival?" Much to
~. ~ 4lRl VI jesus OuElSI UdS u
Iirect tendency to make men honest
md sober and truth-telling, and are
lot honesty and sobriety and truth
auxiliaries of material prosper
ty? If we could have an awakening
u this country as in the days of Jona-
han Edwards, of Northampton, as in
he days of DR.. Finley. of Basking
as in the days of DIR. Griffin, of
lncfnn the rrhnlo lorA rny0..1I nice 80 IN
Iigher moral tone, and with that
loral o the honest business enter.
of the country would come up.
say a great awakening has an in
uenee upon the future world. l tell
on it has a direct influence upon the
~nancial welfare of this world. The
of Christ is no foe to sue
essful business; it is Its best friend,
nd If there should be a great awaken
az in this country, and all the banks
nd insurance companies and stores
nd shops should close up for two
'eeks and do nothing but attend to
ne public worship of Almighty God
fter such q spiritual vacation the land
'ould wake up to such financial pros,
as we have never dreamed of. .
odlfness is profitable for the life that
80 - "Stf ~ NOS SFSs UpfeA ~ W. {
1me, d,
But. my friends. do not put so much /
nphRsis on worldly success as to let
Dur eternal affairs go at loose ends, ]
have nothing 10 say against money.
he more money you get the better. il I
comes honestly and goes usefully. l
or the lack of 1t. sickness dies with.
ut medicine, and hunger finds its
,fin in an empty bread tray, and q
akedness shivers for clothes and fire. :
this canting TRADE against money
} though it had no practical use, when S
hear a man indulge in it, makes me
link the best Heaven for him would
, an everlasting poor house! No. L
lere is a practical use in money; but
lille we admit that. we must also adj
it hat 1t cannot satisfy the soul,
lat it cannot pay u ferriage
ross the Jordan of death, that
cannot unlock the gate of Heaven Of
our immortal soul Yet there