Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1902-03-21
THE GOOD RELIGION DOES.
Or Talmage breaches on the Influence
of the Gospel in Business.
Christianity and the IntclIcct-Can You Yet
Along Without II.

WASHINGTON, D. Gin this discourse
DR.. Ialmage advocates the idea that the
Christian religion is as good for this world
as the next, and will help us to do any.
thing that ought to be done at all; Tim.
othy iv, 8, Goodness 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 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 lis 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 a Christian spirit deter
mined to conquer. You are expecting pros.
perity, and am determined, so far as |
have anything to do with it, that you shall
not be disappointed, and, therefore, pro-
pose, as God may help me, to project upon
YOUR attention a new element of success.
You have in the business firm frugality,
patience, industry, perseverance, economy
"a very strong business frm-but there
needs to be one member added, mightier
than them all, and not silent partner
either, the one introduced by my text,
Goodness, which is profitable unto all
things, having the promise of the life that
now is as well as of that which is to come"
l suppose you are all willing to admit
that goodness is important in its eternal
relations, but perhaps some of you say,
"Ail [ want is an opportunity to say, a
prayer before l die, and all will be we'll"
There are a great many people who sup
pose that if they can finally get safely out
of this world into better world they will
have exhausted the entire advantage Of
our holy religion. They talk as though re-
ligion were q mere nod of recognition
which we are to give to the Lord Jesus on
our way to heavenly mansion as though
it we're 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 religion of the
shroud and religion of the coffin and
religion of the cemetery who have no ap-
probation of religion for the bank, for
the farm, for the factory, for the ware
house, for the jewelers. shop, for the Office.
Now, while would not throw any slur on
post-mortem religion, want to-day to
eulogize an ante-mortem religion. A relig-
ion that is of no use to you while you live
will be of no use to you when you die.
Goodness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is as
well as Of that which is to come" And
have always noticed that when grace is
very low in a mans heart he talks a great
deal in prayer meetings about deaths and
about collins and about graves and about
churchyards. / have noticed that the
healthy Christian, the man who is living
near to God and is on the straight road to
heaven, 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.
Now, in the first place, l remark that
godliness is good for a mans physical
health. l do not mean to say that it will
restore a broken down constitution or
drive rheumatism from the limbs or neural
gia from the temples or pleurisy from the
side, but 1 do mean to say that it gives
one such habits and puts one in such con.
health. That | believe, and that l avow.
Everybody knows that buoyancy Of
spirit is good physical advantage. Gloom,
unrest, detection, are at war with every
pulsation of the heart and with every res
piraton of the lungs. They lower the vi
tally and slacken the circulation, while
exhilaration of spirit pours the very balm
of heaven through all the currents of life.
The sense of insecurity which sometimes
hovers over an unregenerate man or
pounces upon him with the blast of ten
thousand trumpets of terror is most depict
ing and most exhausting, while the. feeling
that all things are working together for
our good now and for our everlasting wei
fare Is conducive to physical health.
You will observe that goodness induces
industry, which is the foundation of good
health. There is no law of hygiene that
will keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will
stab him, erysipelas will burn him, iaun-
dice will discolor him, govt will cripple
him, and the intelligent physician will
not prescribe antiseptic or febrifuge
or anodyne, but saws and hammers
and yardsticks and crowbars and pick.
axes There is no such thing as good
physical condition without positive work
of some kind, although you should sleep
on down of swan or ride in carriage OF
softest upholstery OF have on your table
| all the luxuries that were poured from the
| wine watts of Ispahan and Shiraz. Our re-
ligion says: away to the bank, away to
the field, away to the shop, away to the
| factory! Do something that will enlist all
the energies of your body, mind and soul!'>
''Dilgent in business. fervent in spirit,
back of the idler and the drone comes
down the sharp lash of the apostle as he
SAYS, eff any man will not work, neither
she'll he eat"
Oh, how important is this day, when so
much is said about anatomy and physio-
logy and therapeutics and some new style
of medicine is ever and anon springlng
upon the world, that you should under
stand that the highest school of medicine
is the school of Christ, which declares that
"godliness is profitable unto all things,
having the promise of the life that now is
as well as of that which is to come" SO
if YOU start out two men in the world with
equal physical health, and then one of
them shall get the religion of Christ in his
heart and the other shall not get it. the
one who becomes a son of the Lord Al
mighty will live the longer. "With long
life will satisfy him and show him My
salvation"
Again I remark that goodness is good
for the intellect. / know some have sup
posed that just as soon as man enters
into the Christian life his intellect goes
into a bedwarGng process. So far from
that religion will give new brilhancy. to
the intellect, new strength to the magma
ton. new force to the will and wider
swing to all the intellectual faculties.
Christianity is the great central fire at
which philosophy has lighted its brightest
torch.
The religion of Christ is the fountain
out of which learning has dipped its Clear
est draft The Helicon poured forth no
such inspiring waters as those which flow
from under the throne of God clear as
crystal.
Religion has given new energy to poesy,
weeping in DR.. Young's might Thoughts"