Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-11-09


castle filings at them. They 90 on
excursions ard they do not invite them.
They prophesy that he viii give out.
They wonder IL he is not getting
wings. As be passes. they grimace
and wink and chUckle and say, There
goes saint" oh, young man. have
decision of character. You can afford
In this matter of religion TO be laughed
at What do you care for the SCOTS
Of these men, who are affron,ed be-
cause you VIII not go to ruin with
them? When the grave cracks open
under their feet. ana grim messengers
push them into it. and eternity comes
down hard upon their spirit. and con.
science stings, and hopeless ruin lifts
them up to hurl them down. viii they
laugh then?
Take Rc'tsion Into Business.
l learn also from my subject that
men may take religion into their world
ly business. This is a most appropri-
ate thought at this season of the year.
when SO many men are starting out in
new enterprises. Daniel had enough
work to do to occupy six men. All the
affairs of state were i'm his hands
questions of finance. questions of war,
of peace; all international questions
were for his settlement or adjustment.
He must have had u correspondence
vast beyond all computation. There
was not man IN all the earth who
had more TO do than Daniel. the sccre-
tary OF state, and yet we find him three
times day bowling before God in pray
er. There are men in our day who
have not hundredth part OF Daniels
engagements who say they are too
busy to be religious. They have an
idea somehow that religion will spoil
their worldly occupations: that II will
trip the accountants pen, or dull the
carpenters saw, or confuse the law.
yer's brief. or disarrange the mer-
chants store shelf. They think reli-
gion is impertinent. They would like
to have II very well seated beside them
in church on the Sabbath. to find the
place In the psalmbook or to nudge
them awake when they get sleepy I'M
der the didactic discourse, or they
would like to leave It in the pew OIL
Sabbath evening as they go out. clos
Ing the door. saying: Good night, reli-
gionl I'll be back next Sunday~ But
TO have religion go right along by them
all through life, to have religion look
ing over their shoulder when they are
making bargain. to have religion take
up a bag Of dishonest gold and shake
1t and say. Where did you get thatY'
they think that is an impertinent reli-
f~fg IN
gion TO help them when they are sick
and when the shadow Of death comes
over them. they would like to have re-
ligion as sort OF night key with which
to open the door Of heaven, but religion
under other circumstances they take to
be impertinence.
Serving God Costs Nothing.
Now, my friends, religion never rob
bed man OF n dollar. Other things
being equal. mason will build bet
ter wall. cabinet maker will make
a better chair plumber will make n
better pipe. Il lawyer will make bet
ter plea, n merchant will sell n better
bill OF goods. | say, other things be-
ing equal. OF course when religion
gives a man a new heart, Il does not
propose 60 give him n new head or to
intellectualize him or to change
mans condition when his ordinary
state is an overthrow OF the phIloscpb-
ical theory that total vacuum is
impossible. but the more letters you
have TO write. the more burdens you
have 10 carry. the more miles you have
TO travel, the more burdens you have TO
lift, the more engagements you have TO
meet, the more disputes you have TO
settle, the more opportunity you have
or being Christian. If you have n
thousand irons In the fire, you have n
thousand more opportunities OF serving
God than II YOU only had one iron in
the hre. Who SO busy as Christ? Aud
yet who millionth part as holy2 The
busiest men the best men. All the per-
sons converted In Scripture busy ut the
time OF their being converted. Mat
thew attending TO his custom house
duties. the prodigal son feeding swine.
Lydia selling purple, Simon Peter haul
Ing in the net from the sea, Saul spur
ring his horse toward Damascus. 60
ing down on his law business. Busy.
busy Daniel with all the affairs Of
state weighing down upon his soul and
yet three times day worshiping the
God OF heaven.
Religion I'm PoIittcs
Again, L learn from this subject that
man mny take religion into his poll
ties Daniel had all the affairs of state
on hand. yet servant OF God. He
could not have kept his elevated posi-
ton unless he had been thorough pol-
idcian, and yet all the thrusts OF OFF,
Gals and an the danger OF disgrace did
NOT make him Yield one iota of his high
toned religious principle. He stood be-
tore that age, he stands before all ages.
specimen Of godly politician. So
there have been In our day and In the
days or our fathers men as eminent In
the service OF God as they have been
eminent In the service of the state
such was Benjamin +. Butler, attorney
general of New York In the time OF
your fathers; such was John Mclean
OF the supreme court of the United
States; such was George Briggs of Mns-
sachusetts; such was Theodore Freling-
huysen OF New Jersey-men faithful to
the state, at the same time faithful 10
God. 1t is absurd to expect that men
who have been immersed In political
for so or 10 yeurs shall
come to reformation, and our hope Is
In the young men who are coming I'D.
that they have patriotic principle and
Christian principle side by side when
they come to the ballot box and cast
their first vote and that they swear al
egiance to the government Of heaven
as well as to the government OF the
United States. We would have Bun
ker Hill mean less to them than Cal
vary, and Lexington mean less 10 them
than Bethlehem. But because there
ire bad men around the ballot box Ia
40 reason why Christian men should
'etreat from the arena. The last time
Fou ought to give up your child or for
sake your child Is when 1t is surround
"a by company of Choctaws, and the
asst time to surrender the ballot box ia
When 1t is surrounded by impurity and
dishonesty and all sorts of wickedness.