The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-02-18

WASHINGTON. Feb. 10.-ln this dis
course DR.. T'almage advises US to do
our best In the spheres where we are
placed and net wait to serve God in
resounding position: text. ! C1rlnthi-
ans <. 81, whether. therefore. ye eat
or drink or whatsoever ye do. do all to
the glory OF God"
When the apostle In this text sets
forth the idea that so ccmmcn an &C.
ton as the taking of food and drink is
to be conducted to tie glory Of GCd. he
proclaims the Importance of religion
in the ordinary affairs CT our lie. In
all ages OF the world there has been q
tendency to set apart certain days.
places and occasions for worship. and
to think those were the chief realms
~ which religion was to act. Now.
holy days and holy places have their
Importance. They give opportunity fer
special performance of Christian duty
and for RECALLING of the religious appe-
tite. but they cannot take the place Of
continuous exercise OF faith and pray
er. In other words. Il man cannot be
so much Ct a Christian en- Sunday that
he can afford to be a worldling all the
rest of the week. If q steamer put out
for southampton and 60 enc day in
that direction and the other six days in
other directions. how long before the
steamer will get TO Southampton? 1t
will never get there. And. though a
man may seem to be voyaging heaven
ward during the holy Sabbath day. if
during the following six days of the
week he is going toward the world
and toward the flesh and toward the
devil how long will it take him to
reach thu peaceful harbor of heaven?
You amt eat so much ut the Sabbath
banquet that you can affcrd religious
abstinence the other SIX days. Hero
ism and princely behavior on great &C.
casions are no apology for lack of right
demeanor in circumstances inSigniti-
cant and inconspicuous. The genuine
Christian life is not spasmodic: DIES
not 60 by fits and starts. 1t tolls on
through heat and cold. up steep noun
tains and along dangerous declivities.
its eye on the everlasting hills crowned
with the castles of the blessed. | pro-
pose to plead fer an everyday religion.
In the first place we wan to bring
the religion of Christ into our CONVEX
sation. When a dam breaks and two
or three villages are overwhelmed or
an earthquake in South America swal-
lows q whole city. then people begin
TO talk about the uncertainty of life,
and they imagine that they are engag-
ed in positively religious conversation.
No. You may talk about these things
and have no grace Of God at all in
your heart. We ought every day to
be talking religion. If there is any
thing glad about it. anything beautiful
about it. anything important about it.
we ought to be continuously discuss
ing. / have noticed that men just
In proportion as their Christian eXpe-
rience is shallow talk about funerals
and ~graveyards and tombstones and
~deathbeGs. The real. genuine Chris
tan man talks chiefly about this life
and the great eternity beyond and not
so much about the insignificant pass
between these two residences. And
Yet hO" AS" hCA diS WHY
the religion OF Jesus Christ is welcome.
Go into a circle even of Christian peo-
pie. where they are full of JOY and hi
larity. and talk about Christ or heaven
and everything is Immediately silenced.
As on q summer day when the forests
are full OF life. chatter. chirrup and
Garcia mighty chorus Of bird harno-
ny, every tree branch an orchestra-if
q hawk appear In the sky. every voice
stops and the forests are still. Just so
! have seen q lively religious circle
silenced on the appearance OF anything
like religious conversation. No n had
anything to say ave perhaps some old
patriarch I'm the corner of the room. who
really thinks hat something ought to
he said under the circumstances: SO he
puts one foot over the other and heaves
a long sigh and says. "Oh. yes; that's
so, that's so"
II Makes the Heart Glad.
My friends. the religion Of Jesus
Christ is something to talk about with
O glad heart. Ii is brighter than the
waters: il is more cheerful than the
sunshine. DO not go around grooming
about your religion when you ought TO
be singing Ii or talking Ii in cheerful
tones OF voice. How often ii is that
we find men whose lives are utterly
inconsistent who attempt TO talk reli-
gion and always make Il failure OF 1t,
My friends. we must live religion or
we cannon talk il. If Il man is cranky
and cross and uncongenial and hard IN
his dealings and then begins TO talk
about Christ and heaven. everybody is
repealed by it. Yet ] have heard such
men say in whining tones. I'VE are
miserable Sinners" THE Lord bless
yoH.' The Lord have mercy on you.
their conversation interlarded with
such expressions. which mean nothing
but canting. and canting is the worst
form OF hypocrisy. If we have really
J felt the religion of Christ in our hearts.
let Us talk il. and talk it with an illu-