The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1900-08-10
THE TRUE RELIGION.
DR.. Talnage Says 1t Must Be from
Heaven.
MsIxeshifts of Human Manufacture
Are Useless when Measured by
Gods Plumb Llne-The
wall of Character.


Dr. Talmage is now staying, he sends
the following discourse, in which he
shows that the world can never be
benefited by religion of human man
ufacture. which easily yields 10 one
surroundings. but must have reli-
gion let down from Heaven; text,
Amos rs: "And the Lord said unto
me, Amos, what seest thou? And 1
said, A plumb line
The solid masonry of the world has
for me fascination. Walk about
some of the triumphal arches and the
cathedrals 400 or COO years old, and
see them stand as erect as when they
were built, walls of great height, for
centuries not bending O quarter OF an
inch this way or that. So greatly
honored were the masons who buiided
these walls that they were free from
taxation and called free masons.
The trowel gets most of the credit
for these buildings, and its clear ring
ing on stone and brick has sounded
across the ages. But there is another
Implement of just as much Importance
as the trowel, and my text recognizes
it. Bricklayers and stonemasons and
carpenters, in the building of walls.
use an instrument made of cord.
at the end Of which lump of lead
is fastened. They drop it over the
side of the wall, and, as the plummet
naturally seeks the center of gravity
in the earth, the workman discovers
where the wall recedes and where IL
bulges out and just what is the per-
pendicuiar. Our text represents God
as standing on the wall of character
whica the Iraelites had built and in
that way teang il. And the Lord
said unto me, Amos. what seest thou?
And l said, 4 plumb line"
What the world wants is straight up
and down religion Much of the So
called piety Of the day bends this way
and that TO suit the times. 1t is
obhque. with loweStarF Of sentiment
and morals. We have all been build
ing a wall OF character, and IL is glar-
ingly imperfect and needs reconstrue-
ton. How shall il be brought into
perpendicular? Only by the Divine
measurement "And the Lord said
unto me. Amos. what seest thOu2
And ] said. 4 plumb line"
The whole tendency of the times is
TO make ms act by the standard of
what others do. We throw over the
wall Of our character the tangled
plumbline of other lives and reject the
infallible test which Amos saw. The
question Tor me should not - what
YOU think is right. but what God
thinks is right. This perpetual refer
ence 10 the behavior of others, as
though il decided anything but hu-
man fallibility. is a mistake wide as
the world. There are 10000 plumb
lines in use. but only one is true and
exact. and that is the line Of Gods
eternal right. There is mighty at
tempt being made 20 reconstruct and
fix M the Ten COMMANDING uts. To
many they seem too rigid. The tower
Of Pisa leans over about 13 feet from
| the perpendicular. and people 90 thou
sands Of miles TO see its graceful in
clination and to learn how. by extra
braces and various architectural CON
trivances. IL is kept leaning from cen
fury 10 century. Why not have the
ten granite blocks Of Sinai set little
aslant? Why not have the pillar OF
/ truth a leaninAtOwer? Why Is not an
/ ellipse as good as a square? Why is
not an oblique as good as straight up
and down? My friends, we must have
a standard Shall il be Gods or
mans?
The Divine plumb line needs 10 be
thrown over all merchandise. Thou
sands of years ago Solomon discovered
the tendency Of buyers 10 depreciate
| goods. He saw a man beating down
an article lower and lower and saying
II was not worth the price asked, and
when he had purchased at the lowest
point he told everybody what a sharp
bargain he had struck and how he
outwitted the merchant. at is
naught. saith the buyer, out when he
Is gene his way, then he boasteth'
| Proverbs 2O:14. Society is so utterly
askew i'm this matter that you seldom
find a seller asking the price he eX-
poets TO get; he puts on a higher value
| than he expects TO receive, knowing
that he will have 10 drop. And if he
wants $50. he asks SIS. And If he
wants $1,000. he asks $4,000. ut is
naught," saith the buyer. "The fabric
is defective; the style of goods is
poor; / can get elsewhere a better ar
ticle at a smaller price. IL is out of
fashion; IL is damaged; il will fade;
Il will not wear well" After awhile
the merchant. from Oyerpersuasion OF
from desire 20 dispose of that partic-
ular sock Of goods, says: "Well. take
Il at your own price" and the pur-
chaser goes home with light step and
calls into his private Office his conf
Dental friends and chuckles while rs
tells how f"- half price he got the
| goods. In other words, he lied and
was proud of IT,
Nothing would make times so good
and the earning Of a livelihood so easy
as the universal adoption of the law
OF right. Suspicion strikes through
all bargain making. Men who sell
know not whether they will ever get
the money. Purchasers know not
whether the goods shipped will be ac
cording TO the sample. And what
with the large number OF clerks whc