The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-16

A@1S
New York harbor, starting for Glas-
gov, and the next day should change
for Havre de Grace, and the next for
Charleston, and the next for Liverpool.
These men on the sea of life eyerlaSt-
ingly lacking ship and making 10
h~eadwayi Or they are like a man who
starts TO build a house in the Corinthian
style and changes it to Doric and then
complete il in the Ionic, the curse of
all styles Of architecture Young
right and keep on Have decis-
ion Of character. Character is like the
goldfinch of Tonquin- 1t is magnificent
while standing firm, but loses all its
beauty in fight How much decision
of character in order that these young
men may be Christians, Their old as
sociateE make filings al them.
They go on excursions, and they do
not invite them They prophesy la
he will give out. They wonder If he is
not getting wings A he passes they
grimace and wink and chuckle and
say, There goes a saint" o youns
man, have decisions Of character You
can afford in this matter of religion to
be laughed at. What do you are for
the SCOTS of these men, who are af-
fronted because o Will not go to ruin
with them? When the grave crack
open under Jhei feet, and grim mes
sengers push them into IL, and eternity
comes down ard upon their spirit, and
conscience stingS. and hopeless ruin lifts
them up to hurl them down, will they
laugh then?
1 learn also from my subject tina men
may take religion into their worldly
business. This is a most appropriate
thought at this season of the year,
whe so la men are starting out
in new enterprises. Daniel had enough
work to do to occupy six men. All the
AFFAIRS OF state were in his hands;
questions OF finance, questions of war,
of peace; all international questions
We're for his settlement or adjustment.
He have had a correspondence
vast beyond all computation. There
was not a man in all the earth who
had more to do than Daniel, the secre-
tary of state, n yet We find him three
times a day bowling before God in pray
ct. There are men in our day who
have not a 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 occupation, hat it will trip the
accountants pen or dull the rpen-
ters saw or confuse the lawyers brief
or ~dlsarrange the merchants store
shelf They think religion is imper-
tinent- They would like to have it very
vel seated beside them in church on
the Sabbath, to find the place in the
psalmbook or to nudge them awake
when they get sleepy under the di-
dastic discourse, OIL they would like to
leave it in the pew on Sabbath eve
ming as they go out. closing the door,
saying, o night, religion; I'll be
back next Sunday" But to have re-
ligion go right along by them all
through life, to have religion looking
over their shoulder whe they are MAX
ing a bargain, to nave religion take up
a bag of dishonest gold and shake it
and say, Whe did you get that?'
They think that is an impertinent re-
ligion- They would like to have a re-
ligiOn to help them when they are sick,
and when the shadow of death comes
over them they would like to have re-
ligion az a sort Of nightkey with which
to opens! h door of heaven, but re-
ligion nde other circumstances they
take to be im~pertinence.
CHRISTIANITY FOR BUSY MEN.
Now, my friends, religion never robb-
ed a man OF a dollar. Other things
being equal, a mason will build a bet
ter wall, a cabinet maker will make a
better chair, a plumber will make a
better pipe, a lawyer will make a bet
ter plea, a merchant Will sell a better
bill of goods. 1 ay, other things be-
ing equal. Of course when religion
gives a man a new heart, it does not
propose to give him a new head or to
in~tellectualize him or to change a
mans condition when his ordinary state
is an overthrow of the philosophical
theory that a total vacuum is impoS-
sible, but n more letters you have to
write, the more burdens you have to
carry. the more miles you have to
travel, the more burdens you have to
lift, the more engagements you have
to meet, h more disputes you have
TO settle, the more opportunity you have
&c h2s~r ~ CS,.&,,- Tf
thousand irons in the fire, you have a
thousand more opportunities of serving
God than if you only had n iron in
the fire. Who so busy as Christ? And
yet who a millionth part as holy? The
busiest men the best men. All the per-
o converted in Scripture busy at the
time of their being converted. Mat
thew attending ito 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, going
down IN his law business. Busy, busy!
Daniel with all the affairs of state
weighing down upon his soul. and yet
three times a day w~orshiping the God
of heaven.
Again 1 learn from the subject that
a man may lake religion into his poll
tics. Daniel had all the affairs of state
on hand, yet a servant of God. He
could not hav kept his elevated posi-
ton unless he had been a thorough
politician, and yet all the thrusts of
officials and all the danger Of disgrace
did not make him yield one iota of his
high toned religious principle. He
stood before hat age, he stands before
all ages, q specimen of a godly pOliti-
clan. So there have been in our day
and in the days of our fathers men as
eminent in the service of God as they
have been eminent in the service of the
state. Such was Benjamin f. 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 Massachusetts,. Such was
Theodore Frainghuysen, of New Jer-
Sey-men fifth to God, were faithful to.
the state at the same time,
faithful to God. 1t is abSurd to
expect hat men who have been inn
merSed in political wickedness for 80
or 40 years shall come to reformation,
n OUT hope is in the young men who
are coming UP, hat they ave patrt-
otto principle and Christian principle
side by side when they come to the
ha1Iof hox and caS their FIRST vote and