The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-08-22
ton, and there is huhanitarian religion

lets the soul look after Itself and there is
q legislative religion tliat proposes to rec
tify all wronrs by Enactment of better
laws. and there is IN aesthetic religion
that by rules of. exquisite taste would lift
the heart out OF its jdeformities, and reli-
gions Of all sorts, religions by the peck, re.
| liglons by the square foot and religions BY
the ton, all Of them devices of the devil
that would take the heart away from the
only religion that will ever effect anything
for the man race, and that is the
straight up and down religion written in
the book which begins with Genesis and
ends with Revelation, the religion of the
skies, the old religion, the God given reli-
gion, the everlasting religion, which says,
Love God above all and your neighbor as
yourself" All religions but one begin at
the wong end and in the wrong place.
| The Bible religion demands that we first
get right with God. 1t begins at the top
and measures down, while the other reli-
| gions begin at the bottom and try to
measure up.
I want you to notice this fact, that
when man gives up the straight up and
down religion of the Bible for any new
tangled religion it is generally to suit his
sins. You first hear of his change of reli-
gion, and then you hear of some swndle
he has practiced in special mining stock,
telling some one if he will put in $4,000
he can take out 100000, or he has sacrl-
feed his integrity. or plunged into irremed;;
liable worldliness. His sins are so broad
he has to broaden his religion, and he be-
comes al broad as temptation, as broad az
the souls darkness, las broad as hell. They
want religion that will allow them to
keep their sins and then at death say to
them. "Well done, good and faithful ser
want" and that tells them. "All is well,
for there i no hell" What a glorious
heaven they hold before us! Come, let us
20 in and see it. There are Herod and all
the babes he massacrcd. There are
Charles Gliteau and Robespierre. the
feeder of the French gullotine, and all the
liars, thieves, house burners garroters,
pickpockets and lbertines of an the centu,,
ries. They have all got crowns and
thrones and harps and ssGGspteTs, and when
..onor and glory and power to the broad
religion that lets us all into heaven with
out repentance and without faith in those
humiliating dogmas of ecclesiastical old
fogyism."
My text gives me grand opportunity
of saying useful word to all Young men
who are now forming habits for lifetime.
OF what use to asstone1nason or brick
lavcs is plumb line? Why not build the
wall by the uuaided eye and hand? Be-
cause they are insufficient, because if there
be DETECTION in the wall it cannot fur.
ther on be corrected. Because, by the
law of grayitation, wall must be straight
in Order to- be symmetrical and safe. A
you1k man. is ID danger Of getting defect
in his wall Of character that may never &c
Remember that the wall may be 100
feet high, and YET a DETECTION one foot
from the foundation affects the entire
structures And If you live 100 years and
do right the last eighty years you may
nevertheless do something at twenty years
of age that will damage all your earthly
existence. All you who have built houses
for yourselves or for others, am not right
in saying to these young men, You cannot
build wall 90 high as to be independent
[0f the character of its foundation? A man
enough s:< to last him lifetime. Now,
John so- George or Henry or whatever ba
your Christian name or surname, say here
and now Nc Wild oats for me, no cigars
or Cigarettes for me; no wine or beer for
me, no nasty stories for me, no Sunday
sprses for me. i am going to start right
and keen on right. God help me, for am
very weak. From the throne of eternal
Righteousness, let down to me the princi.
Piles by which can be guided in building
everything from foundation to capnstone'
Lord God, by the wounded hand OF Christ,
throw me plumb line. =,
Hear it, men and boys, women and girls,
all the fun is on the side Of right: Sin may
seem attractive, but it is deathful: and like
the manchineel, q tree whose dews are
poisonous. The only genuine happiness Is
in Christian life.
There they 60, two brothers. The one
was converted a wear ago in church one
Sunday morning during prayer or sermon
or hymn. No one knew it at the time.
The persons on either side OF him sus'
pected nothing, but in that young
mans soul this process went on: Lord,
here I am. a Young man amid the tempta.
tions OF city life, and I am afraid to risk
them alone. Come and be my pardon and
nv help. Save me from making, the mis-;
take some of my comrades are making, and
save me now" And quicker than flash
God rolled heaven into his soul. He is
Just as jolly as he used to be, is just as
brilliant as he used to be. He can strike
a ball or catch one as easily as before, ne
was converted. With gun or fishing rod in
this summer vacation he IS lust-ls skllltul
as before. The world is brighter tt HIM
than ever lie appreciates 2 pictures sd muse ass
and has plenty of fun, glorious fun: But
his brother is going down hill. In. the
morning his head aches from the cham.
pagne debauch Everybody sees he is IN
rapid descent. What cares he for right
or decency or the honor of his family
name? Turned out of employment, de.
pleted in health. cast down in spirits. the
typhoid fever strikes him in the smallest
room On the fourth story Of tifth.rate
boarding house, cnrsing God and calling
for his mother and fighting back demons
from his dying pillow. which is beswsated
world, with the shrek of destroyed
spirit.
Young man. there is no fun in shipwreck.
ing your character, nc fun IN dlsgraclng
your fathers name. There is no fun in
no fun in the physical pangs of the
dissolute. There is no fun in the protil'
gates deathbed. There is no fun in an un'
done eternity. Paracelsus out of the ashes
of burnt rose. said he could recreate the
rose, but he failed in the alchemic under
taking, and roseate life. once Durnedfdown
in sin, can never again be made to blossom.
God is now throwing that plumb line
over this republic, and it is a solemn time
with this nation, and whether we keep
His Sabbaths or dishonor them, whether
righteousness or iniquity dominate, whether
we are Christian or infdel, whether we
fulfill our mission or refuse, whether we
are for God or against Him, will decide
whether we shall as a nation! 80 on in
higher and higher career or so down in the
same grave where Babylon and Nineveh
and Thebes are sepulchered.,
"But." say you, "if there be nothing but
a plumb line, what can any OF us 40, tor
there is an old provcrb which truthfully
declares, If the best mans faults were
written on his forehead, it would make
him pull his hat over his eyes. What shall
,,,a do whom ocnor6ipo to Isaiah God