The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1898-05-13
FAMILY F|RES|DE Sermon.
PREPARED ESPECIALLY FOR
YOUNG AND OLD.
An Appropriate Topic-The Great Need OF
Reforin-Churchcs Must Change TO
Work For Good-RelIgion That viii
Make Il Bexnluiiau In q E,aIiilx.

work For Good-lseiigiOn That Will
Make Revolution in the Family.
TEXT: These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also. -
Acts xviii, 6.
There is Il wild, believing mob around
the house of Jason, in Thessalonica. What
bias the man done greatly to offend the
People? He has been entertaining Paul
and his comrades. The mob surround the
house and cry: Bring out those turbulent
preachers They are interfering with our
business! They are running our religion!
They are actually turning the world upside
down."
The charge was true, for there is moth
nothing SO ruinous to every form OF estab-
lished iniquity, there is nothing that has
such tendency to turn the world upside
down as our glorious Christianity. The
fact is, that the world now is wrong side
up, and 1t needs to be turned upside
down in order that il may be right side up.
The time was when men wrote books en-
titlinG them Apologies for Christianity"
hope that day has passed. We want no>
more apologies for Christianity. Let the
apologies be on the part of those who do
not believe in our religion. We do not
mean to make any compromise in the mat
ter. We do not wish to hide the fact that
Christianity is revolutionary. and that its
tendency is to turn the world upside down.
Our religion has often been misreprc-
sentcd as Il principle of tears, and mild
ness. and fastidiousness: afraid OF crossing
peoples prcjudces; afraid of making
somebody mad; with silkcn gloves, lifting
the people up from the church pew into
glory, az though they were Bohemian
glass. so very delicate that with one touch
it may be demolished forever. Mon speak
OF religion rs though it were Il refined i'm
becility; as though it were spiritual
chloroform. that the people were to
take until the sharp cutting of life were
over. The Bible, so far from this, repre-
scnts the religion Of Christ as robust and
brawnY ransucking ana upScttinS ten
thousand things that now seem to be set
tied on firm foundations. l hear some
man in the house say. Il thought religion
was peace" That is the final result. A
mans arm is out OF place. Two men come,
socket. II goes back with great pain.
Then it gets we'll. Our world is horribly
distorted and out OF joint 1t must come
under an omnipotcnt surgery, beneath
which there will be pain and anguish be-
fore there can come perfect health and
quiet. proclaim. therefore. in the numc
OF my Lord Jesus Characterization!
Tho religion of the Bible will make a
revolution in the family. Those things
that are wrong in tho family circle will be
ovcrthrown by it. while Justice and har-
mony will take tho place. The husband
will be the head of the household only
when he is lit to be. | know II man who
spends all the money he makes in drink. as
and sometimes sells the cbildrens clothes
for rum DO you tell me that he is to be
tho head Of that household? If tho wife
have more nobility, more courage. more
consistency more of all that is right, she
shall have tho supremacy. You say that
the Bible says that the wife is to be subject
TO the husband. l know it,. But that is n
husband, not masculine caricnture.
There Is no human or divine law that
makes n woman subordinate to a man un-
riS OF inn if,,.
| into domestic circle it will give the do
minancy to that one who is the most
worthy Of it..
Again: Christianity will produce n a.rnrtv
merchants, and you find that they have
iifty standards OF what is right and wrong.
You say to some one about merchant "Is
nc honest: "Oh! yes" tho man saws, ..ho
IL honest: but he grinds the faces OF his
clerks. He Is honest; but he eXaggerates
the value OF his goods. He is honest: but
he loans money on bond and mortgage,
with the understanding that the mortgage
can lie quiet for ten years, but as soon ms
no gets the mortgage, he records il and
peGihs foreclosure suit, and the Sherifr's
writ comes down, and the day OF sale ar
riSes, ana away goes the homestead, and
the creditor buys it in at half price" Hon
est? When he loaned the money he knew
that he would get the homestead at halr
price. Honest? But he goes to the insur-
ancc Office to get policy on his life md
tells tn" doctor that he is well, when he
knows that for ten years he has had but
one lung. Honest? Though he sells pron-
erty by the map. forgetting to tell the pur-
chaser that the ground Is all under water.
out IT Is generous in him TO do that. for he
throws the water into the bargain
inc fraudulent man piles up his gains
pond above bond, United States security
above United States security, emolumpnt
huo ho"N" emoi"ment' until his property has
become u great pyramid; and, as he
stands looking at it, he thinks it can never
DO destroyed; but the Lord God comes ard
with Ills little finger pushes it all over.
lon build house and You put into il Il
rotten beam. 4 mechanic standing hv
says: 1T will never do to put that beam
IN; IT will ruin your whole building" Bui
you put it in. The house is completed
Soon it begins to rock. You call in the
mechanic and ask What is the matter
with this door? What is the matter with
this wall? Everything seems to be giving
out. Says tn" mechanic: ''You put a
rotten beam into that structure, and the
whole thing has got to come down." Here
u an estate that seems to be all right now.
1t has been building great many ycars
But ilitren years ago there was dishonest
transaction In that commercial housr
That one dishonest transaction will keen
on working ruin in the whole structure IN
til down the estate will come i'm wreck ond
rum about the rOSScsSOr'S carS-one dis
honest dollar in the estate dcmolishinp nh |
his possession. | have seen it again ana |
again: and so have you.
You have an old photograph OF the signs !
on your street. Why havcthose signs near |
" all changed within the last twenty ycnrsp |
Does the passing away of II generation ac- |
count for il? Oh, 10. Does the fact that |
thcr"arc hundreds of honest men who go |
down every year account for it? Oh, no.
This is the secret: The Lord God hns hnrn
walking through the commercial streets of !
orr great cities: and he has been adjusting
things according to tn" principles OF ctrr-
nal rcrtiiudc.
tn" time Will come when through tbc
revolutionary power of the GosucI. n false
hood, instead of being called cNa yycration
equivncation. or evasion, will be branded II