The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-03-18
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WASHINGTON, March 1G.-In this dis
course DIR. Talmage advocates the idea
mat the Christian religion is as good
-or THIS world as the next and will help
rs to do anything that ought to be
done at all; l Timothy iv, 8, "Godli-
ness is profitable unto all things, hay
ing promise of the life that now is and
Of that which is to come"
There is a 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 fear
ing 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
prosperity. and / am determined, so far
as have anything to do with it, that
you shall not be disappointed, and,
$ therefore, / propose, as God may help
me. to project upon your attention a
new element Of success. You have in
b business firm frugality, patience,
Industry, perseverance, economy
very strong business frm-but there
needs to be one member added, might
Ter than them all, and not a silent part
ner either, the one introduced by my
text, Goodness, which is profitable un-
to all things, having the promise of the
life that now is as well as of that
which is to come"
suppose you are all willing to admit
that goodness is important in it's eter-
nal relations, but perhaps some of you
say, All l want is IN opportunity to
say a prayer before 1 die, and all will
be WELL" There are a great many peo-
pie who suppose that if they can finally
get safely out of this world into a bet
ter 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 it
were an admission ticket, of no use
except to give in at the door of
heaven. And there are thousands of
people who AVE great admiration for
Il lCIISlOh VI II oA1Ouo anu q AOLSAOA
of the coffin and a religion Of the
hearse and a religion of the cemetery
who have no appreciation Of q religion
for the bank, for the farm, for the
factory, for the warehouse, for the jew
eler's shop, for the office. Now, while
/ would not throw any slur on a post
mortem religion, 1 want today to eulo-
gize an antemortem religion. A religion
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 we'll as of that which is to come"
And l have always noticed that when
grace is very low in q mans heart he
talks a great deal in prayer meetings
about deaths and about collins and
about graves and about c~hurchyards.
/ have noticed that the healthy Chris
tan, the man who is living near to God
and is on the straight road to heaven,
is full of jubilant satisfaction and ak
about the duties of this life, under
standing we'll that if God helps him to
live right he will help hin to die right.
What GOdliness Is Good For.
Now, in the first place, l remark that
godliness is good for a mans physical
health. / do not mean to say that 1t
will restore a broken down constitu-
ton or drive rheumatism from the
limbs or neuralgia from the temples or
pleurisy from the side, but do mean
to say that it gives one such habits and
puts one in such condition as are most
favorable for physical health. That 1
believe, and that / ayow. Everybody
knows that ~buoyancy Of spirit is good
physical advantage. Gloom, unrest,
detection, are at war with every pull
sation of the heart and with every res
piration Of the lungs They W. the
vitality and slacken the circulation,
while exhilaration Of spirit pours the
very balm Of heaven through all the
currents of life. The sense Of insecur-
ity 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 everlast-
ing welfare is conducive to physical
health.
You will observe that godliness in
duces industry. which is the founda-
ton of good health. There is no Law
Of hygiene that will keep a lazy man
we'll Pleurisy will stab him. erysipe-
las will burn him. jaundice will dis
color him, govt will cripple him. and
the intelligent physician will not pre-
scribe antiseptic or febrifuge or ano-
ayne, but saws and hammers and yard
sticks and crowbars and pickaxes.
There is no such thing as good physic-
al condition without positive work of
some kind. although you should sleep
on down of swan or ride in carriage OF
softest upholstery or have on your Ia
BILE all the luxuries that were poured
from the wine watts OF Ispahan n
Shiraz. Our religion says: Away to