Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-20

COurSc NJ ldlLudSe uuNlbts Us ~ uo
pur best in the spheres where we are
placed and not wait to serve God in
resounding position; text, l Corinthl-
ans x, 81, Whether, therefore, ye ent
or drink or whatsoever We do, do all to
the glory Of God"
When the apostle in this text sets
forth the idea that so common an &C.
ton as the taking of food and drink is
to be conducted to the glory of God, he
proclams the Importance of religion
In the ordinary affairs of our life. In
oil ages of the world there has been d
tendency to set apart certain days,
places and occasions for worship, and
to think those were the chief realms
In which religion was to act Now,
holy days and holy places have their
Importance. They give opportunity for
special performance of Christian duty
and for regaling Of the religious appe-
lite, but they cannot take the place of
continuous exercise of faith and pray
er. In other words, man cannot be
30 much Of Christian on Sunday that
he can afford to be a wording all the
rest of the week. If n steamer put out
for Southampton and go one day in
that direction and the other six days in
pther directions, how long before the
steamer will get to Southampton? 1t
will never get there And, though q
man may seem to be vOyaginC heaven
ward during the holy Sabbath day, If
during the following six days of the
week he is going toward the world
md toward the flesh and toward the
devil how long will it take him to
reach the peaceful harbor of heaven?
You cannot eat so much at the Sabbath
banquet that you can afford religious
abstinence the other six days. Hero
ism and princely behavior on great &C.
casions are no apology for lack of right
demeanor In circumstances insignih-
cant and inconspicuous. The genuine
Christian life is not spasmodic; does
not go by fits and starts. 1t tolls on
through heat and cold, up steep noun
tains and along dangerous declivities.
rs eye on the everlasting hills crowned
with the castles of the blessed. | pro-
pose to plead for an everyday religion.
In the first place we want to bring
the religion of Christ into our ':.rver-
sation. When a dam breaks and two
or three villages are overwhelmed or
an earthquake in South America swal-
lows Il whole city, then people begin
to talk about the uncertainty of life,
and they imagine that they are engag-
ed in positively religious conversation.
No. You may talk about these things
and have no grace Of God at all in
your heart. We ought every day to
be talking religion. If there is any
thing glad about it, anything beautiful
about it, anything important about It.
we ought to be continuously discuss
ing. : have noticed that men just
in proportion as their Christian expe-
riencc is shallow talk about funerals
and graveyards and tombstones and
deathbeds. The real genuine Chris
tian man talks chiefly about this life
and the great eternity beyond and not
so much about the insignificant pass
between these two residences. And
yet how few circles there are where
the religion of Jesus Christ is welcome.
Go into q circle even Of Christian peo-
pie, where they are full of Joy and hi
larity, and talk about Christ or heaven
and everything is Immediately silenced.
AS on summer day when the forests
are full Of life, chatter, chirrup and
Garcia mighty chorus Of bird harmo-
ny, every tree branch an orchestra-if
n & Nninn
stops and the forests are still. Just so
have seen n lively religious circle
Bilenced OF the appearance of anything
IKE religious conversation. No one had
anything to say save perhaps some old
patriarch in the corner Of the room. who
really thinks thar something ought to
be Said under the circumstances; SO he
puts one foot over the other and heaves
D long sigh and says, "Oh. yes; that's
20, that's sou
1t Makes the Heart Glad
Ny friends, the religion of Jesus
Christ is something to talk about with
J glad heart. 1t is brighter than the
waters it is more cheerful than the
punshine. Do not go around grooming
lboN your religion when you ought to
be singing 1t or talking it in cheerful
tones of voice. How often It is that
NE find men whose lives are utterly
Inconsistent who attempt to talk rell-
gion and always make a failure OF it!
My friends, we must live religion or
we cannot talk It. If man Is cranky
and cross and uncongenial and hard In
his dealings and then begins to talk
about Christ and heaven, everybody is
repealed by It. Yet have heard such
men say in whining tones, I'VE are
miserable sinners" "The Lord bless
you," 'The Lord have mercy on you"
their conversation interlarded with
such expressions. which mean nothing
but canting, and canting is the worst
form of hypocrisy. II we have really
felt the religion Of Christ in our hearts,
let us talk it, and talk it with an illu-
minated countenance, remembering
that when two Christian people talk
God gives special attention and writes
down what they say; Malachi Iii, 16,
"Then they that feared the Lord spake
often one to another, and the Lord
hearkened and heard it, and book OF
remembrance was written"
Again. | remark we must bring the