Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1887 — CANNOT BE KEPT DOWN [ARTICLE]

CANNOT BE KEPT DOWN

Christian Character Compels the World to Honor It, Anil n Religious l.lt* is Not to Ur PrsplsrU and Retain Respect. Rev. Dr. Talfnage preached'at Brooklyn last Sunday. Subject: “The Prime Minister.” Text: Gen. xii., 41. He said: ••••--"- -■ - -- -- There are those who affect to despise a religious life. They speak of it as a system of phlebotomy by which a man is bleu of ail his courage and nobility. They say he has bemeaned himaelf. They pretend to have, rip more confidence i,n him since his conversion than nefore his conversion. But all that is hypocrisy. It is impoisibh* lor any man uot to admire and confide in a Christian who shows that he has really become achild Of God, arid is what he prrifcSPes'to'lwV Yo.i can not despise a son or a daughter of the Lord God Almighty. Of course half-and-half religious character wins no approbation. Redwaid, the King of the Saxons, after Christian baptism, had two altars, one for the service of God, and the other for tbe sacrifice of devils. You may have a contempt for such men for mere pretension of religion, hut when yon behold the excellency of Jesus Christ come out in the life of one of His Disciples, all that there is good and noble in your soul rises up into admiration. Though that Christian be as far beneath you in estate as the Egyptian slave of whom we are discussing, by an irrevocable law of our nature Potiphar and Pharaoh will always esteem Joseph. Chrysostom, when threatened with death by Eudoxia, the Empress, sent Word to her, saying: “Go tell her that I fear nothing but sin.” Such nobility of character will always be applauded. There was something in Agrippa and Felix which demanded their respect for Paul, the rebel against government. I doubt not they would willingly have yielded their office and dignity for the thousandth pari of that true heroism which beamed in the eye and beat in the heart of the unconquerable Apostle. The infidel and worldling are compelled to honor in their hearts, though they may not eulogize with their lips, a Christian, firm in persecution, cheerful in poverty, trustful in losses, triumphant in death. I find Christian men in all professions and occupations, and I find them respected, honored and successful. A man in the cars said: “I would like to become a Christian if I only knew what religion is. But if this lying and cheating and bad behavior among men who profess to be good is religion I want none of it.” But. my friends, if I am an artist in Rome atuLa mam, comes to me and asks what the art of painting is, I niust not show hint the daub of some mere pretender. I will take him to the Raphaels arid the MichaM Angelos. It is most unfair and dishohest to take the ignominious failures in Christian profession instead of the glorious successes. The Bibb* and the Church are great ’picture galleries filled with masterpieces. Furthermore, we learn from this story of Joseph that the result of persecution is alleviation. Had if not been for his being sold into Egyptian bondage by malicious brothers and his false imprisonment, Joseph would never have become Prime Minister. Every body accepts the promise, “Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness’ saxe, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” hut they do not realize the fact that this principle applies to worldly as well as spiritual success- -It is true in all departments. Had it not been for .Machines, who brought, impeachment against , Demosthenes, the immortal oration De Corona would never have been delivered. Men rise to high political position through misrepresentation and the insult of the public. Public abuse is all that some of our public men have had to rely upon for their elevation. It has brought to them what talent and executive force rould never have achieved. Many of those who are making great effort for place and power will never succeed just because they are not of enough importance to be abused. I go into another department. and I find that those great denominations of Christians which have been most abused have spread the most rapidly. No good man was ever more’ vilely maltreated than John Wesley. His followers were hooted at and maltreated, and called by every detestable name that infernal ingenuity could invent, but the hotter the persecution the more rapid the spread of that denomination, until you knew what, a great host they have become, and what a tremendous forcetor God and the truth they are wielding all the world over. It was persecution that gave Scotland to Presbyterianism. It was persecution that gave onr own land first to civil liberty, and afterward to -religious freedom. Yea, I may go further back and say it was persecution that gave the world' the great salvation of the Gospel. The State hassometimes said to the Church: “Come, let me take your hand and I will help von.”. What has been the result? The Ihurch has gone back and has lost its esta e of holiness and has become ineffective. At other times the State has Said to the Church: “I will crush you.” W oat has been the result? After the storms have spent their fury, the Church, so far from having lost any of its force, has increased and is worth infinitely more after the assault than before it. The Church is far more indebted to the opposition of civil government than to its \ approval. The fires of the «';<Ke have . only been the torches which Christ held in His hand by the light which the | Church has marched to her present, position. In the sound of and .implements of torture I hear tffe rum- j bring of the wheels of the Gospel chariot. I Scaffolds of martyrdom have been the j stairs by which the Church has ascend- j ed. Aqua fortis is the best test.of pure j gold. Aye, my hearers, you can r.ot keep an \ iniquity quiet. At just the wrong time’ the sheep will bleat and the oxen will • beriow. Achan can not steal thb Baby-1 lonish garment without getting stoned j to death, nor Benedict Arnold betray * his country without having his neck stretched. Look over the police arrests,! these thieves, these burglars, these { adulterers, these assassins. They all! Thought they could bury their iniquity i so deep down that it would never come to WufrrSitlon. "~But there was some 6hoe that answered to the print in the

isand, some false keys fpurni in. ! sion, some bloody knife' that whispered I of the deed; and the puhlic indignation and the anathema of outraged law j hurled him into the Tombs; or 'hoisted : him on the gallows. At the close nf the battly between the Dauphin of Prince and the Helvetians, BnrcharO Monk was so elated with the victory that he lifted his helmet to look off' upon the field, when a wounded soldi-r hurled ti ! atone that etrnck his uncovered forhead and befell. Sin will always leave point exposed, and there is no safety in iniquity. Francis*!.. King of France, was discussing how it was best to get his army into Italy. Amaril, „the court j fool, sprang out from the fcojner and 'said to the King and his staff v officers: ! “You had better .be thinking how you ! will get your army back out of Italy as- • ter oriee you have entered.” In other I words it is eksier for us to get into sin ! than to get out of it. Whitqfield was riding on horseback in : a lonely way with some missionary I money in a sack fastened to the sadrilei bags. A highwayman sprang out from j the thicket and put hia haad.out taward j the gold, when Whitefield turned upon j him and said, “That belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ; touch it if you dare,” and the villain fell back empty handed into the thicket, Ob, the power of canscience. If offended it. becomes God’s avenging minister. Do not think that I you can hide any great and protracted sin in your hearts. In an unguarded moment it will slip off of the lip, or some slight occasion may for a moment set ajar this door of hell that you wanted to keep closed. But suppose that in this life you hide if, and vou get along with that transgression burning in your heart as a ship oh fire within for days may hinder the flame from bursting out by keeping down the hatchways, yet at last in the judgment that iniquity will blaze out before the throne of God and the universe. Furthermore, learn from this subject the inseparable connection between all events, however remote. Lord Hastings was beheaded one year after he had caused the death of the Queen’s children, in the very month, the very day, the very hour, the very moment, There is wonderful decision in' the Divine judgments. The universe is only one thought of God. Those things which seenf fragmentary and isolated are 'only different parts of that one great thought. How far apart seemed these Two events—Joseph sold to the Arabian merchants and the rulership of Egypt. Yet you see in what a mysterious way God connected ttrg ivy pin, one plan. No all events are linked together. You who are aged can look back and group -together a thousand tilings in your life that once seeme.l isolated. God can trace a direct ancestral line from the blue jay that last year built his nest in a tree behind ‘the house to some one of that flock of birds which, when Noah hoisted tire Ark-’s window, with a whirl and dash of bright wings went out to sing over Mount Ararat. The tulips that bloomed this summer in the flower-bed were nursed of last winter’s snow-flakes. The furthest star on one side of the universe could not look to the furthest, star on the other side and say: “You are no. relation to me;” for from that bright orb a voice of light would ring across the heavens responding: “Yes, yes, we'are sisters.” Sir Robert Peel, from a pattern he drew on the back of a pewtfer din-ner-plate, got suggestions of that which led to the important invention by which calico is printed. Nothing in God’s universe swings at loose ends. Accidents are only God’s way of turning a leaf in the book of His eternal decrees. 'From our cradle to our grave there is a path all marked out. Each event in our rife is connected with every other event in onr life. Our loss may be the most direct road to our gain. Our defeats and victories are twin brothers. The whole direction of your life was changed by something which at the time seeuied to you a trifle, while some occurrence which seemed tremendous affected you but little. That one great thought of God goes on through the centuries, and nations rise and fall, and years pass, and the world itself changes, but God still keeps the undivided mastery, linking event to event and century to century. To God they are a’l one Oven:, one history, one plan, oue development, one system. Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty! Furthermore: We learn from this story the propriety of laying up for the future! During seven years of plenty Joseph prepared for thefamine,a >d when it came he had a crowded store-house. The life of most men in a lyortdly' respect is divided into years of plenty and famine. It is seldom that any man passes through rife without at least seven years of plenty. During these seven prosperous years your business "bears a rich harvest.- Youhardly know where all the money comes from, it comes so fast. Every bargain you moke seethe to turn into gold. You contract few bad debts. Y"ou are astounded with large dividends. You invest more and more capital. You wonder how men can be content with a small business, gathering in only a hundred dollars where you reap your thousands. These are the seven years of plenty. Now, Joseph, is the time to prepare for famine, for to almost every man there do come seven years of famine. You will be sick; you will be unfortunate; you will be disappointed; you will be old, and if you have no store house upon which to fall back;you may be faminestruck. We have no admiration for this denying one’s self of all present comfort and luxury for.the mere pleasure of hoarding up, this grasping for the mere pleasure of seeing how large a pile you can get, this always being poor and cramped, because as soon as a dollar comes in it is sent out to see if it can’t find another dollar to carry home on its back; but there is an intelligent and noble minded forecast which we love to see in men who have families and kin--<dred dependent upon them for the bless-' ings of education and home. ' God sends us to the insects for a lesson, which, while they do not stint themselves in the present, do not forget their I duty to forestall the futures “Go to the I ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways i and be wise, which having no gtide, overseer or rulfer, provideth her meit in the summer and gathereth her f ood.fii the ; harvest.” Now, there are two wave of ! laying up money; the one by investing !it in stock and depositing -it in tanks l and loaning it on bond and mortgage. The other way of laying up monsy is giving it away. He is the safest who makes both investments. Bat the man

f who devotes none of his gain to the ! cause Of Christ? and thinks only of his ! own comfort and luxury, is not ease, I j don’t care how his money iB invested. ' Bat aboye »11 lay up treasuresjn heaven. ! They, never depreciate in value. They never are at a discount. They are always available. Yoa may'feel safe now ‘ with your present yearly income, hut j what will such an income be worth after ■ you are dead? Others will get it. # Par* ! Imps some’of them will quarrel ahout it, | before you are buried. They will be ! right glad that you are dead. They a^f* ! only waiting for y.u to die. What then will all your accumulation be worth it. | you could gather it all into your bosom I and walk lip with it to heaven’s gate? It would not purchase your admission; 1 or, if allowed to enter, it could not buy | ybu a crown or a robe and the poorest • saint in heaven would look down and say: “Where did that pauper come I from” ' ” p Finally, learn from hjssubject that in ! every famine there is a Up i the long row of building, piled to .he ; very roof with corn, copies the hungry j multitudes, and Joseplecommanded that their sacks and their wagons be filled. The world has been blasted. Every green thing has withered under the | tbrch of sin. From all continents and, islands and zones dome up the groans of dying millions. Over tropical spicegrove, and .Siberian ice-hut and Hindoo jungle, the bright has fallen. The famine is universal. But, glory be to God! there ds a great store-house. Jesus Christ, our elder brother, this day bids us come in from our hunger and beggary, and obtain infinite supplies of grace enough to make us rich forever. Many pi you have for along time been smitten of the famine. The world has not stilled the throbbing of your spirit. I Your conscience sometimes rouses you up with some suddenness and strength that it requires the most gigantic determination to quel' the disturbance. Your courage quakes at the thought of the future. Oh, why will you tarry amid the blastings of the famine when such a glorious store-house is open in God’s mercy?