Milford chronicle., 1905-12-15
Calnaqe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. D. D.

AVo AHSeitSi Cdl., Lee. III. - ina
godliness is profitable both in thi.
world and the next and that religion
brings in its train enduring success.
and material as well as spiritual bless
ing is shown in this sermon, for which
the preacher has taken as his text the
story Of Joseph in Genesis xxx, 2
'And he was a prosperous man."
'Did you ever stop to think how much
God appeals to the selfish motives OF
the children Of Israel in the Old Tesla
ment?" said an aged Christian some
time ago. 81 am nearly eighty years
of age now, but am not too old to read
the Bible. So a few weeks ago, with
my daughter, 1 decided to start at the
first chapter of Genesis and go straight
through the Old Testament. Though
have read the Bible many times be-
fore, 1 was never struck with this fact
so much as during the last reading.
All through the Pentateueh and up to
the time of Joshua and the Judges
God keeps saying: Follow me, and
will increase your herds. Follow me,
and will give you land. Follow me,
and will make you a powerful peO-
Pile God seems to be appealing al
most entirely to mans self interest in
stead of to mans duty to make sacri-
fees for him." "Well," l said, ''that is
30. 1 never thought of that matter be-
fore. am going to look into it."
When l went home / began to turn
the leaves of my Bible, and 1 found
what my good friend said was literally
true. In that child age of the world
God wooed men as we WOO children.
to be good with promises of reward.
And he kept his promises. When the
children of Israel obeyed God, then
God prospered them. And when they
went to worshiping false idols and dis
Obeyed God, then God sent them wars
and pestilences and famines and trials
of all sorts. He seemed to say, "Obey
me and prosper" or, "Disobey me and
suffer-" He seemed to appeal to their
selfish motives in order to make them
good. And yet, as 1 sat in my study
brooding over this thought, said to
myself, rs it not possible to find the
cause of every mans actions and deeds
in a selfish motiveY
Abraham Lincoln said, mo man ever
did any thing in life unless it was with
a selfish motive" One day when riding
about on his Illinois circuit with a
brother lawyer he argued this question
by the way. At last as the two law
yers were passing mudhOle the fu-
ture president saw a little pig strug-
Cling in the mud and about to be
Lincoln dismounted from his
horse. He waded through the mud,
picked up the little pig and placed it
on the solid ground. Then he mounted
his horse to ride on to the next county
seat. '"There," said the lawyer, Lin
coin, you have disproved your own
case. You say a man does nothing but |
with a selfish motive. What selfish |
motive did you have in saving that lit
tle pig?" "AIy motive was purely a |
selfish one," answered Lincoln. II did |
not want to go into that puddle and get |
my clothes covered with mud any more |
than you did But I said to myself, |
Abe, IL you don't save that pig you
will hear him squealing all night long,
calling for help, and you won't get a
wink of Sleep saved him in order to
keep my conscience from bOthering
me-" Like Abraham Lincoln are many
If us. When we analyze our motives
FOR doing some good deed we often
ind self interest at the bottom. 1t is
not always pity for the sufferer that
the charitable gifts so much
IS fear of the self upbraidlng we would
lave to endure if we refused to give.
)f course that is a very low motive,
,ut it is a very potent one with the ma
ority of people. Now, / want to show
-Ou that even on that low plane reli-
ZION has claims that no one can afford
o ignore. Godliness is profitable for
he life that now is as well as for that
which is to come. Like Joseph, you
want to become a prosperous man, and,
ike Joseph, we all want to make the
est Of our lives.
Wants to BE Prosperous.
Every man, in the first place, wants
o be financially prosperous. This does
Iot mean that he necessarily wants to
,e a millionaire and have a private
acht and palaces scattered all over
be country, like the Duke Of Westmin-
ter, or a wardrobe crowded full Of
arments which he can never wear out,
Ike the head Of the German empire,
rho has a different uniform to CORE
pond with every regiment Of his army
nd a different uniform for every for
ign regiment and navy of which be is
n honorary colonel or admiral That
oes not mean that he wants to go on
oarding up his gold until his wealth
eeomes so great that he does not
now where to invest his surplus capi-
Il. But it does mean that every man
fishes to be financially independent
Ie wants to have home over his ,
cad. He wants to be able to pay his
utcher and baker and clothier's bills. !
Ie wants to be able to buy books. /
Yhen his family is sick he wants to be
BILE to hire a physician and a nurse !
nd to have the proper medicines and !
oil