The age-herald., 1902-03-23


 Washington, March 1G.-In this dis course Dr. Talmage advocates the idea that the Christian religion is as good Tor this world as the next and will help us do anything that ought to be done at all; I Timothy, iv, 8, "Godliness is profitable unto all things. having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come"
 There is gloomy and passive way of waiting for events to come upon us, and there is a heroic way of going out to meet them strong in God and fearing nothing. When the body of Catiline was found on the battlefield it was found far in advance of all his troops and among the enemy, and the best way is not for us to lie down and let the events of life trample over us. but to go forth in Christian spirit determined to conquer You are expecting prosperity and I am determined, so far as l have anything to do with it, that you shall not be dis appointed, and, therefore, 1 propose, as God may help me, to project upon your attention a new element of success. You have in the business firm frugality. pa- tience, industry, perseverance, economy a very strong business firm-but there needs to be one member added, mightier than them all, and not silent partner either, the one introduced by my text, "Godliness which is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come"
 I suppose your are all willing to admit that godliness is important in its eter- nal relations, but perhaps some of you say, All I want is an opportunity to say prayer before I die, and all will be we'll" There are a great many peo- pie who suppose that If they can fin ally get safely out of this world into better world they will have exhausted the entire advantage of our holy religion They talk as though religion were a mere nod of recognition which we are to give to the Lord Jesus on our way up to a heavenly mansion; as though 1t were an admission ticket, of no use ex- cept to give in at the door of heaven And there are thousands of people who have great admiration for a religion of the shroud and a religion of the coffin and a religion of the hearse and a re- ligion of the cemetery who have no ap- preciation of a religion for the bank, for the farm, for the factory for the ware house, for the jewellers shop, for the office. Now, while I would not throw any slur on a post-mortem religion, I want today to eulogize an antemortem re- ligion. A religion that is of no use to you while you live will be of no use to you when you die "Godliness Is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come" And I have always noticed that when grace Is very low in mans heart he talks a great deal in prayer meetings about deaths and about cof- fins and about graves and about church yards. I have noticed that the healthy Christian, the man who is living near to God and is on the straight road to heav- en, Is full of jubilant satisfaction and talks about the duties of this life, under standing well that if God helps him to live right he will help him to die right.
 What GodIiness Is Good For.
 Now, in the first place. I remark that godliness is good for a mans physical health. I do not mean to say that 1t will restore a broken down constitu ton or drive rheumatism from the linn bs or neuralgia from the temples or pleur- isy from the side. but I do mean to say that it gives one such habits and puts one in such condition as are most fav- orable for physical health. That l be- lieve, and that I avow. Everybody knows that buoyancy of spirit Is good physical advantage Gloom, unrest, dejection, are at war with every pulsation of the heart and with every respiration of the lungs. They lower the vitality and slacken the circulation, while collaboration of spirit pours the very balm of heaven through all the currents of life. The sense of in- security which sometimes hovers over an unregenerate man or pounces upon him with the blast of ten thousand trumpets of terror is most depicting and most exhausting, while the feeling that all things are working together for our good now and for our everlasting welfare is conductive to physical health.
 You will observe that godliness induces industry, which is the foundation of good health -.4ere is no law of hygiene that will keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will stab him, erysipelas will burn him. jaun- dice will discolor him. gout will cripple him. and the intelligent physician will not prescribe antiseptic or febrifuge or anodyne, but saws and hammers and