Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1902-04-03

ness-Can You Get Alon. without 1t?
WAsnISGToN, D. C.-In this discourse
| DIR. TamaGe advocates the idea that the
Christian religion is as good for this world
| as the nest, and will help Us to do any
| thing that ought to be done at all; Tim
othy iv, s, 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 g. 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 a Christian spirit deter
mined to conquer. You are expecting pros
| perity, and j am determined. 50 far as |
| have anything to do with it, that you shall
not be disappointed and, therefore, 1 pro-
pose, as God may help me, TO project upon
| YOUR attention new element of success.
You have in the business firm frugality,
patience, industry, perseverance, economy
| "a very strong business trm-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 godliness 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 ii they can finally get safely out
of this world into a better world they will
| have exhausted the entire advantage of
| our holy religion. They talk as though re-
| lgon were a mere nod of recognition
which we are to give to the Lord Jesus on
our way to a heavenly mansion as though
| it 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 Tor a religion of the
shroud and Il 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
a post-mortem religion, / want to-day to
| euloClze 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. l 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, | remark that
| godliness is good for q mans physical
| health. | 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 [ do mean to say that it gives
one such habits and puts one in such CON
| dition as are most favorable for physical
| health That I believe, and that ! 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
piration of the lungs. They lower the Vi
| tality 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 we!'
| fare is conducive to physical health.
You viii observe that godliness induces
| industry, which is the foundation of good
health. There is no law of hygiene that
will keep 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 antiseptlc 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
soitest upholstery or have on your table
all the luXuries that were poured from the
wine watts OF lspahan 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"
"Diligent in business. fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord" while upon the bare
| back of the idler and the drone comes
down the sharp lash of the apostle as he
says, ''1f any man will not work, neither
| she'll he eat"
Oh, how important is this day, when so
| much is said about anatomy and physo-
! logy and therapeutics and some new style
of medicine is ever and anon springing
upon the world, that you should under
stand that the highest school OF medicine
| is the school OF Christ which declares that
"godlines5 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 son Of the Lord Al
mighty will live the longer. with long
life will | satisfy him and show him My
salvation"
Again 1 remark that godliness is good
| for the intellect. ! know some have sup
posed that just as soon as 4 man enters
| into the Christian life his intellect goes
into bedwarfng process. So far from
! that, religion will give new brilliancy to
the intellect. new strength to the ima9ina-
ton, new force to the viii 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 j, 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,