The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-02-21

religion comes to him and says: MAN,
God is on your side. He will take care
of your reputation. If God be for you,
who can be against you?" How much
should that man worry about his reputa-
ton? Not much. If that broker who
some years ago in Wall street, after he
had lost money, sat down and wrote
farewell letter to his wife before ne
blew his brains out-if, instead Of taking
out of his pocket a pistol, he had taken
out wel-read New Testament, there
would have been one less suicide. "
nervous and feverish people of the world:
try this almighty sedatiye. You VIII
live twenty-five years longer under its
soothing power. 1t is not choral that you
want or morphine that you want. 1t IS
the gospel of Jesus Christ with long
life will | satisfy him.
Removes Corroding Care.
Again, practical religion is friend or
longevity in the fact that it removes all
corroding care about a future existence.
Every man wants to know what is to be-
come of him. If you get on board rail
train, you want to know at what depot
it is going to stop. If you get on board a
ship, you want to know into what harbor
it is going to run, and if you should tell
me you have no interest in what is to be
your future destiny l would in as polite
way as / know how tell you | did not
believe you. Before l had this matter
settled with reference to my future ex-
istence the question almost worried me
into ruined health. The anxieties men
have upon this subject put together
would make martyrdom. This is a
state Of awful unhealthiness. There are
people who fret themselves to death for
fear of dying.
| want to take the strain off your
nerves and the depression off your soul,
and / make two or three experiments.
Experiment the first: When you go out
of this world, it does not make any diff
ference whether you have been good or
bad, or whether you believed truth or
error, you will go straight to glory. I'm
possible you say. MY common sense
as we'll as my religion teaches that the
bad and the good cannot live together
forever. You give me no comfort in that
experiment" Experiment the second:
When you leave this world, you will go
into an intermediate state where you can
get converted and prepared for heaven.
impossible" you say; ''as the tree fall
eth, so it must lie, and l cannot postpone
to an intermediate state that reformation
which ought to have been effected in this
state Experiment the third: There is
no future world. When a man dies. that
is the last Of him. Do not worry about
what you are to do in another state Of
being; you will not do anything. I'm
80. hirn
that tells me that death is not the appen-
dix, but the preface; there is something
that tells me that on this side of the
grave | only get started and that l shall
go on forever. My power to think says
forever. my affections say forever, my
capacity to enjoy or suffer forever.
The Wages of Sin.
Well, you defeat me in my three ex-
periments. / have only one more to
make, and if You defeat me in that l am
exhausted A mighty one on knoll back
of Jerusalem one day, the skies filled with
forked lightnings and the earth filled with
volcanic disturbances, turned his pale
and agonized face toward the heavens
and said: Il take the sins and sorrows of
the ages into my own heart. | am the
expiation. Witness, earth and heaven and
hell, l am the expiatiOn." And the ham
mer struck him and the spears punctured
him, and heaven Numbered. THE wages
of sin is DEATH THE soul that sinneth
it shall die"' Il will by no means clear
the guilty. Then there was silence for
half an hour, and the lightnings We're
drawn back into the scabbard of the sky
and the earth ceased to culver and all the
colors Of the sky began to shift them
selves into rainbow woven out of the
falling teaxs of Jesus and there was red
as of the bloodshedding and there was
blue as of the bruising and there was
green as of the heavenly foliage and there
was orange as of the day dawn. And
along the line of the blue 1 saw the
words, Il was bruised for their iniqui-
ties" And along the line of the red
saw the words, ''The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all SIM" And along
the line of the green l saw the words,
THE leaves of the tree of life for the
healing of the nations" And along the
line of the orange | saw the words, THE
daysprng from on high hath visited u.s."
And then / saw the storm was over,
and the rainbow rose higher and higher
until it seemed retreating to another
heaven, and planting one column of it's
colors on one side the eternal hill and
planting the other column of it's colors on
the other side the eternal hill it rose up
ward and upward, and, behold, there was
rainbow about the throne
Accept that sacrifice and quit worrying
Take the tonic, the inspiration, the Ion
geyity, of this truth. Religion is sun
shine; that is health. Religion is fresh
air and pure water; they are healthy
Religion is warmth; that is healthy. Ask
all the doctors, and they will tell you that
a quiet conscience and pleasant anticipa-
tions are hygienic. / offer you perfect
peace now and hereafter
What do you want in the future world?
Tell me, and you shall have it. Orchards?
There are the trees with twelve manner
Of fruits, yielding fruit every month. Wat
err scenery? There is the river Of life,
from under the throne of God, clear as
crystal and the sea Of glass mingled with
fire. Do you want music? There are the
oratorio of the Creation" led on by Adj
am, and the oratorio of the "Red Sea"
led on by Moses, and the OratOriO of the