The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-08-10
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE rTHE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject; The Kind 81 Religion That the
World sseds-Oniy That which Comes
Straight Down From Heaven Can BE
of Benefit TO Humanity.
fcopyrishtIooot

where DIR. Tanage is now staying. he
sends the following discourse, in which he
shows that the world can never be bene-
fitted by religion OF human manufacture,
which easily yields % ones surroundings,
bat must have a religion let down irons
heaven; text, Amos VII, 2: And tho Lord
said unto me, Amos, what seest thOuy And
j sald, A plumb line"
The solid masonry OF the world has for
me fascination Walk about some OF the
triurnphal arches and the cathedrals,, 400
or GOO years old, and see them stand as
erect as when they we're bulded. walls OF
great height for centuries rot bending q
quarter of an inch this way or that. So
gCatly honored were the TnasOns who
buildcd these walls that they were free
from taxation and called free" 'nasons.
The trOwel gets most Of the credit for
these buildings. and rs clear ringing 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 10. Pricklayers
and stOn.Elasons and cfrpCnters IN .he
building Oi walls use nm instrument made
OF \ cord, nj the end Of which a lump Of
lead IL fastened They drop il over the
side Of the wall and az the plummet nat
urally seeks the centre Of gravity in the
earth, the workman discovers where the
wall rccedcs and where IL bulgrs out and
just what ~ the perpendicular. Our text
represents God as standing on the wall
Of character. which the lsraclites bad
built. and in that way testing il. "And
the Lord said unto me. Amos. what secst
thou? And | said. A plumb line"
What the world wants Is straight up
and down religion. Much Of the so-called
pieiy of the day bends this way and that
TO suit the times. IL is oblique, with
low state Ct sentiment and morals. We
have all been building n wall of character,
and - 10 f,iuttrUir iy,rrrfapf aud faafa
construction. How shall it be brought into
pcrpenGicu'ar? Only by the divine meas
urement And the Lord said unto me,
Amor, what seest thou! And ! said, \
plumb line"
The whole tendency Of the times s 10
make us act by the standard Of what 9th
crs do We throw over the wall OF our
lives and reject the inialliblc test which
Amos saw. The question for me should
not be what you thiDl; il right but what
God thinks * right. This perpetual refer
cncc to the behavior OF others, az though
it decided anything but human fallihility,
~ a mistake as wide az 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 a mighty at
tempt being made 20 reconstruct and fix
up the Ten Commandments. To many they
seem too rigid The tower Of Pisa leans
over about thirteen feet from the perpen-
dicular. and people go thousands of miles
10 see its graceful inclination and TO learn
how, by extra braces and various archtec-
tural contriyanccs, IL is kept leaning from
century TO century. Why not have the ten
granite blocks oi Sinai set little aslant?
Why not have the pillar OF truth a lean.
ing tower? Why is not an cllipsc as good
as a square? Why is not an obiquc as
good as straight up and down! My
irienda. we ,. ust have a standard. Shall
II be Gods or man'sy
The divine plumb line needs to be thrown
over all merchandise. Thousands Of years
ago Solomon discovered the tendency Of
buyers TO deprecIate goods. He saw a
man beating down an article lower and
lower, and saying IT was not worth the
price asked. and when he had purchased
at the lowest point he told everybody
what sharp bargain hc had struck, and
how he had outwtted the merchant. ut
is naught, saith the buyer, but when he is
gone his way, then he boastcth' prov
crbs Nx, lI) Society is so utterly askew
in this matter that YOU seldom find n sell
er asking the price that he expects 10 get.
lie puts on n higher value than he expects
10 receive knowing that he will have to
drop. And when he wants fifty he says
seventy five, and s he wants 2010 he asks
$500 "lt il naught.' saith the buyer.
The fabric is defective, the style Of goods
is poor. ! can get elsewhere a better ar
tlclc at q smaller price. 1t - out Of fash
ion, II - damaged, 1t will fade, 1t VIII not
wear WE'LL After awhile the merchant,
from ovCrpcrsuasion or from desire to dis
pose of that particular stock OF goods, SAYS,
well, take it at your own price and the
purchaser goes home with light step and
calls into his private office his confidential
friends aud chucklcs while he tells how
for half pr.cc he got the goods. In other
words, he lied and was proud of it.
Nothing would make times so good and
the earning OF livelihood so easy as the
universal adoption OF The law of right.
Suspicion strikes through all bargain max
ing. 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 who are max
ing false entries and then absconding and
the explosion of firms that fail for mill
ions of dollars, honest men ere at their
wits ends TO make n living. He who
stands up amid AL the pressure and does
rlgu. ia accomplishing something toward
the establishment OF high commercial
prosperity.
The pressure to do wrong is stronger
from tho fact that in our day the large
business houses are swallowing up the
smaller, the whales dining on bluefsh and
small ones because they buy IN greater
quantities and at lower figures from the
producer. They can afford to make moth.
ing or actually lose on some styles of
goods, assured they can make 1t up on 9th
ers. so great dry goods house goes out
side of it's regular line and sells books at
cost on less than cost. and that swOmps
the bookseller. or tho dry goods house
sells bricahrac at lowest figures, and that
swamps the small dealer in hric-a-hrac.
And the same thing goes on IN other
styles OF merchandise, and the consequence
is that all along the business streets of all
our cities there are merchants OF small
capital who are in terrific struggle to keep
their heads above water. The ocean liners
run down the Newfoundland fishing
smacks. This Is nothing against the man
who has the hig store, for every man has
as large q store and as great business as
he can manage.
TO feel right and do right under all this
pressure requires martyr grace, requires
tlVinc support. requires celestial rc-Cn-
forccmcut Yet there arc tens OF thou
sands OF such men getting splondiiy
through. They see others going up and
themselves going down, but they keep
their patience and courage and their Chris
tian consistency, and after awhile their
success will come There - generally rc.
tributicn "a some form Tor grccdincss. The
owners OF the bg business will die, and
their BOYS viii get possession of the busi.
ness. and th a cigar IN their mouths and
full TO the chins with the best liquor and
behind a pair Of spanking bays they viii
pass everything ON the turnpike road TO
temporal and eternal perdition. Then the
business will break up. and the smaller
dealers viii have fair opportunity, or the
spirit OF commitment and right feeling viii
take possession OF the large firm, as re.
Gently with famous business house, and
the firm will say: I'VE have enough money
10Y all oar needs and the needs OF our
children. Now let US dissolve business
anal make ,yaV for other mo-, i'm the sarnc