The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-05-04

soon as ne gets the mortgage, ne re-
cords it and begins a foreclosure suit,
and the sheriff's writ comes down, and
the day of sale arrives, and away goes
the homestead, and the creditor buys |
it at half price" Honest? when he
loaned the money he knew that he
would get the homestead at half price. |
Honest? but he goes to the insurance
Office to get policy on his life, and
tells the doctor that he is well, when
he knows that for 10 years he has had
but one lung.
You build house and you put into it
rotten beam. A mechanic standing
standing by says, ut will never do to
put that beam in; it will ruin your
whole building" But you put it in.
The house is completed. Soon it be-
gins to rock. You call in the mechanic
and ask, "What is the matter with this
door? What is the matter with this
wall? Everythings seems to be giving
out" Says the mechanic, you put a
rotten beam into that structure, and
the whole thing has got to come
down." Here is an estate that seems
to be all right now. 1t has been build
ing a great many years. But fifteen
years ago there was a dishonest tran
saction in that commercial house. That
one dishonest transaction will keep on
" orking ruin in the whole structure,
until down the estate will come in
wreck and ruin about the possessor's
ears-one dishonest dollar in the es-
tate demolishing all his possessions. l
have seen it again and again, and SO
have you.
Here is your money-safe. The manu-
facturer and yourself only know how
it can be opened. You have the key.
You touch the lock and the ponderous
door swings back. But let me tell you
that, however firmly barred and bolted
your money-safe may be, you can not
keep God out. He will come some day,
into your counting-room, and he will
demand, "Where did that note of hand
come from? How do you account for
this security? Where did you get that
mortgage from? What does this mean?"
If it is all right God will say, "Well
done, good and faithful servant. Be
prospered in this world. Be happy.in
the world to come" If it is all
wrong he will say, Depart ye
cursed. Be miserable fo- your iniqui-
ties in this life; and then go down and
spend your eternity with thieves, and
horse jockeys, and pickpockets"
You have an old photograph of the
signs on your street. Why have those
signs nearly all changed within the
last twenty years? Does the passing
away of generation account for it!
Oh, no. Does the fact that there are
hundreds of honest men who go down
every year account for it? Oh, no. This
is the secret The Lord God has beer
walking through the commercial
streets of our great cities; and He has
been adjusting things according to the
principles of eternal rectitude.
The time will come when, through
the revolutionary power of this gospel
falsehood, instead of being called eX
aggeration, equivocation, or evasion
will be branded lie! And stealings
that now sometimes go under the heat
of percentages and commissions, ant
bonuses, will be put into the catalogu,
of state prison offenses. Society will
be turned inside out and upside down
and ransacked of Gods truth, unit
business dishonesties shall come to al
end, and all double-dealing; and Goo
will overturn, and overturn, and over
turn; and commercial men in ali cite
will throw up their hands, crying out
"These that have turned the worlC
upside down are come hither."
The religion of Jesus Christ will pro
duce revolution in our churches. TIL
non-committal, do nothing policy of tn
church of God will give way to a spiri
of bravest conquest. Piety in this da,
seems to me to be salted down just S
as to keep. 1t seems as if the churcl
were chiefly anxious to take care O
itself; and if we hear of want, an
squalor, and heathenism outside, we say
"What pityw and we put our hand
in our pockets, and we feel around fo
flourish we put it upon the pla an
2 are amazed that the world is not cor
5 verted in six weeks. Suppose ther
r were great war; and there were thre
l hundred thousand soldiers, but all c
r those three hundred thousand soldier.
excepting ten men, were in their tent!
r or securing their muskets, or cookin
L rations. You would say: "Of course
defeat must come in that case" 1t
worse than that in the church. Mi
: lions of the professed soldiers of Jesu
" Christ are cooking rations, or asleep i
y their tents, while only one man her
; and there goes out to do battle for til
: Lord.
S But" says some one, 1--WE are estal
}. fishing great many missions, and
r think they will save the Masses" n,
e they will not. Five hundred thousan
d of them will not do it. They are doin
l magnificent work; but every missio
e chapel is confession of the diseas
Il and weakness of the church. 1t
S making dividing line between til
e classes 1t is saying to tie rich and
+ the we'll conditioned, IF you can pa
: your pew rents, come to the main aud
a ence room" 1t is saying to the poo
:. man, "Your coat is too bad, and yol
y shoes are not good enough. If yc
u want to get to Heaven, you will hay
h to go by the way of the mission chapel
II The mission chapel has become IL
II kitchen, where the church does i
'f sloppy work. There are hundreds ar
d thousands of churches in this countl
s. -gorgeously built and supported
h that even on bright and sunshinv da,