Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-03-20

ficers arrived, and he felt himself In
awful peril, conscious OF his own in
tegrity. but unable to prove that in
tegrity. That morning he went to the
bank early, and he knelt down before
God and told the whole story of men
tai anguish, and he said: 20 Lord, /
have done right, have preserved my
integrity, but here am about to be
overthrow unless thou shouldst come
to my rescue. Lord, deliver me-" And
for one hour he continued the prayer
before God, and then he arose and
went to an old blotter that he had for
gotten all about. He opened 1t, and
there lay sheet Of figures which he
only needed to add to another line of
figures-some line Of figures he had
forgotten and knew not where he had
laid them--and the accounts were
balanced, and the Lord delivered him.
You are an infdel If you do not be-
lieve 1t. The Lord delivered him.
God answered his prayer, as he will
answer your prayer, oh. man Of bust
ness, in every crisis when you come ts
him.
Now, IL this be so, then am per-
suaded. as you are. of the fact that the
vast majority of Christians do not
fully test the value of their religion.
They are like a farmer in California
with $4,000 acres of good wheat land
and culturing only quarter OF an
acre. Why do you not go forth and
make the religion of Jesus Christ a
practical affair every day Of your busi-
ness life and all this year, beginning
now, and tomorrow morning putting
into practical effect this holy religion
and demonstrating that goodness Is
profitable here as well as hereafter?
How can you get along without this
religion? Is your physical health so
good you do not want this divine
tonic? Is your mind so clear. so vast.
so comprehensive, that you do not
want this divine inspiration? Is your
worldly business SO thoroughly estab-
lished that you have no use for that
religion which has been the help and
deliverance of tens of thousands of
men in crises of worldly trouble? And
IL what I have said is true then you
see what fatal blunder 1t is when @
man adjourns to life's expiration the
uses OF religion. A man who post
pones religion to sixty years Of age
gets religion fifty years too late. He
may get into the kingdom Of God by
final repentance, but what can COM
pensate him for whole lifetime I'M,
alleviated and uncontrolled? You
want religion to-day In the training Of
that child. You will want religion to-
morrow In dealing with that customer.
You wanted religion yesterday to curb
your temper Is your arm strong
enough to beat your way through the
floods? Can you, without being in
cased in thu mail of Gods eternal
help, 60 forth amid the assault Of all
hell's sharpshooters? Can you walk
alone across these crumbling graves
and amid these gaping earthquakes?
Can you, waterlogged and mast shiv-
cred. outlive the gale! Oh. how many
there have been who. postponing the
religion Of Jesus Christ. have plung-
ed into mistakes they never could cor
rect. although they lived sixty years
after, and like serpents crushed under
cart wheels dragging their mauled
bodies under the rocks to die. So
these men have fallen under the wheel
of awful calamity. while vast multi
tude of others have taken the religion
of Jesus Christ into everyday life and.
first, in practical business affairs. and,
second, on the throne of heavenly tri-
umph, have illustrated. while angels
looked on and universe approved.
the glorious truth that "godliness Is
profitable unto all things, having the
promise of the life which now is as
well as of that which is to come"