The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-04-12
Or. TALMAGES SERMON
.ssNcAr's DISCOURSE ~ TIE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: The Work Nearest at Hand-Put
Your Religion Into Practicable Crate
full For Gods Common Blessings
Revenue of Spiritual Strength.


WASHINGTON, D. Gin this discourse
4 DR.. Talmage advises us to do our best IN
! the spheres where We are placed and not
wait to serve God in resounding position;
! text, Corinthians X, 81 "W neither, there
/ fore, we eat or drink or whatsoever We do,
! do All to the glory OF Cod
/ NJ men the apostle in this text sets forth
the idea that so common an action as the
taking OF food and drink is to be conduct
ed to the glory Of God, be proclaims the
importance of religion in the ordinary al
fairs OF our life. In all ages Of the world
there has been tendency to set apart GER
tain days, places and occasions for wor-
ship, and to think those were the chief
realms in which religion was to act. Now,
holy days and holy places have their I'M
portance. They G i've opportunity for ,spe-
cial performance OF Christian duty and Tor
RECALLING Of the religious appetite, but they
cannot take the place of continuous exer-
else OF faith and prayer. In other words,
a man cannot be SO much of a Christian on
Sunday that he can afford to be world
ling all the rest OF the week II a steamer
put out for southampton and go one day
in that direction and the other six days in
other directions, how long before the steam
er will get to Southampton? 1t will never
get there. And, though a man may seem
to be voyaging heavenward 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
the peaceful harbor Of heaven. You can
not eat so much at the Sabbath banquet
that Won can afford religious abstinence
the other six days. Heroism and prlncely
behavior on great occasions are no apology
for lack of right demeanor in circumstances
insignificant and ineonspicuous. The gen
uine Christian life is not spasmodic; does
not 60 by fits and starts. 1t tolls on
through heat and cold. up steep mount
aims and along dangerous decllvltles, its
eye on the everlasting hills crowned with
the castles of the blessed. l propose to
plead for an everyday religion.
II tic first place we want to bring the
religion of Christ into our conversation.
When dam breaks and two or three vii
lagcs are oytrwnelmed or an earthquake
in South America swallows a whole city,
then people begin 10 talk about the uncef-
tainty Of life, and they imagine that they |
are engaged in positively religious CONVEX |
sation. No You may talk about these |
things and have no grace of God at all in |
your heart. We Il tght every day to be |
talking religion. :. there Is anything glad
about il. anything beautiful about it, any
lii0P important dDOdL IL, VIC " be
discussing.
| have noticed that men Just in proper
ton as their Christian experience is shall
low talk bout funerals and graveyards and
tomhstones and deathbcds The real. gen
uine Christian man talks chiefly about this
life and the great eternity beyond and not
so much about the insignificant pass be- |
tween these two residences
And vet how few circles there are where
the religion Of Jesus Christ is welcome.
50 into circle even Of Christian people,
where they are full of JOY and hilarity, and
ak about Christ or heaven and everything
lay when the forests are full of life, chat | ,
e., chrrup and Garcia mighty chorus of
ird harmony, every tree branch an orches- t
ra-lf hawk appear in the sky, every t
DICE stops and the forests are still. t
just 50 | have seen a lively religious cir t
'e sll2nced on the appearance Of anything a
Ike religious conversation. No one had d
nything to say save perhaps some old pa q
riarch in the corner of the room. who
ea!ly thinks that something ought to he i
aid under the circumstances; so he puts !,
ne foot over the other and heaves long !,
sh aad says, ooh, yes; that's SO, that's n
My friends, the religion of Jesus Christ h
something to talk about with glad I"
cart 1t is brighter than the sunshine. II
o not 60 around groaning about your re- il
rlon when you ought to be singing it or | g;
liking it in cheerful tones Of voice How SC
ten it is that we find men whose lives ir
e utterly inconsistent who attempt to "a
TX religion and always make failure OF | O
My friends, we must live religion or | Il
e cannot talk it. If man is cranky and in
oss and 'lncongenial and hard in his deal A,
gs and then begins to talk about Christ | D
ID heaven, everybody is repealed by it, i
ct have heard such men say in whining 4
'nca Ne are miserable sinners "The | i
ord bless YOU "The Lord have mercy on O
%, their conversation interlarded with f
Icn expressions which mean nothing but g
anting, and canting is the worst form OF $
ypocrisy. If we have really felt the re- n
gion of Christ in our hearts, let US talk t
and talk it with an Illuminated counte- +
ance, remembering that when two Chris O
an people talk God gives special atten- t
on and writes down what they say: Ma
chi III, 16, Then they that feared the G
ord spoke often one to another, and the c
ord hear and heard it. and a book v
remembrance was written" c
Again, | remark, we must bring the rel O
}" say, mat IS Ssry Fry Veil i man hanale
rye sums of money or if he have an ex- >
nsive traffic, but in the humble work in 7
e that | am called to the sphere is too -"
nall for the action Of such grand, heaven q
principles" Who told you so? Do you II
1t know that God watches the faded leaf =
| the brooks surface as certainly as He Il
'cs the path of blazing sun? And the q
oss that creeps up the side Of the rock g
axes as much impression upon Gods
ind as the waving tops of Oregon pine .
ID Lebanon cedar, and the alder, crack =
lg under the cows hoof, sounds as loud d
Gods ear as the snap of worlds con
grafton. When you have anything to DO a.
life, however humble it may seem to be, y
ID is always there to help you to do it. IL!
If your work is that of a fisherman, then Y
ID will help you, as He helped Simon IL
zen He dragged Gennesaret. If your
,rk Is awning water then He will hep a ai
u, as when He talked at the we'll curb | u
the Samaritan woman. If you are en- III
ged in the custom house, He will lead az
Il as He led Matthew sitting at the re 81
pit of customs. g
A religion that is not good in one place nj
not worth anything in another place \
e man who has only days wages in his OF
cket as certainly needs the guidance OF
LYON al he who rattes the keys of "a
nix and could abscond with hundred II
orSand dollars ne
neie are those prominent in the Ga
lrches who seem to be on public occa, sa
rs very devout who do not put the IL
ncioles of Christ's religion into practice yc
ey are the most memorable of creditors. 81
Cy are the most crashing of dealers | eV