The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-11-12
Talmage's Sermon.
THE DOCTRINE OF SUBSTITUTION FoRcI-
BLY, PRESENTED.

Inc I0llOTinS is u recent sermon pfeitcil-
ed in Brooklyn Tabernacle by Rev. L. De
Witt Talmage on the subject of Blood, =
as applied to yicarious sacrifice. His text
was
Without shedding of blood is no remission
hebrews, w., y.
The preacher said: John G, Whittier,
the last of the great school of American
poets that male the last quarter of 4 CEN
tury brilliant, asked Inc in the White
Mountains enc morning after prayers, in
which had given ont Cowper's famous
hymn about tie The fountain filled with
blood :" do you really believe there is a
literal application OF the blood of Christ to
the soul ~ My negative reply then is my
negative reply how. The Bible statement
agrees, wita all physicians and al physi-
ologists ard al scientists III saying that
the blood is tlit. lie, AMI in-the christian
religion ii lne;tt,sS siuply that Christ S life
was given tor orr life. Hence all il.is ialk
of mrn wha shy the Bible storyof blood is
Disgusting, alni that they don t want what
they call '.sh,nghter- house religion, =
only shows !l,eir incapaci.y or unwilling
ness 10 la,k tltruugl the figure of speech
toward hs Ting s.gniicd. The blood that
OH tie darkest Friday the world ever saw
oozpd. or triekled, or poured from the
brow aid tie sit.e and hands AID the feet
Of tile iliustlio,is sufferer, back Of Jerusa-
lem III "a few hours coagulatsd ani dried
up AID forever disappeared: and il man
had depended Oh The application Of the lit
eral blood Of Chr:st there would not have
been a setl saved. f.r lhe ls.ss Gig teen
centuries
In order 10 ulr',rsIAlri this red word Of
my text, se pltly iiiss clio exercise as much
common SENSE in religion as We do in
everything else. Pal!g for pang. hunger
for hunger, fatigue for fatigue, tear for
tear, blood for blood, life for life, we see
every day Illustrated. The act of substi-
tuition is no novelty. salthough l hear men
talk as though the idea of Christ s suffer
ing substituted for our suffering were
something abnormal, something distress
ingly odd, something wildly eccentric, II
solitary episode in the worlds history !;
when could take you into this city and
befo.e shutdown point to you five hundred
cases of substitution and voluntary suf-
fering Of one in behalf of another.
At two o'clock to morrow afternoon go
among the places of business or toll. 1t
will be no difficult thing for you to find
men who, by their looks, show you that
they are oyerworked. They are prema-
turely old. They are fastening rapidly
toward their decease. They have gone
through crises.in business that shattered
their nervous system and pulled on the
brain. They have u shortness of breath
and a pain in the back of the head, and at
night an insomnia that alarms them.
Why are they drudging at business early
and late? For fun No; it would be diff
fcult to extract any amusement out Of
that exhaustion. Because they are avari
cious? In many cases no. Because their
own personal expenses are lavish? No;
few hundred dollars would meet all their
wants. The fact is, the man is enduring
all that fatigue and exhaustion and wear
and tear to keep his home prosperous.
There is an invisible line reaching from
that store, from that bank, from that shop,
from that scaffolding, to quiet scene a
few blocks, few miles away, and there is
the secret of that business endurance. He
is simply the champion of homestead
for which he wins bread and wardrobe and
education and prosperity. and in such bat
tie 10000 men fall. Of ten business men
whom | bury nine die of oyerwork for
others. Some sudden disease finds them
with no power Of resistance, and they are
gone. Life for life: blood for blood. Sub
stitution.
At one o'clock tomorrow morning, the
hour when slumber is most uninterrupted
and most profound, walk amid the dwell
ling houses Of the city. Here and there
you will find dim light, because it is the
household custom to keep a subdued light
burning, but most of the houses, from
base to top, are as dark as though unin-
habited. A merciful God has sent forth
the archangel of sleep, and he puts his
wings over the city. But yonder is clear
light burning, and outside on the window
easement glass or pitcher containing
food for sick child, the food set in the
fresh air. This is the sixth night that
mother has sat up with the sufferer.
Sic has to the last point obeyed the ply
sician's prescriptions, not giving drop
too much or too little, or a moment too
soon or too late. She is very anxious, for
she has buried three children with the
same disease, and she prays and weeps,
each prayer and sob ending with kiss of
the pale cheek. BY dint of kindness she
gets the little one through the ordeal.
After it is all over the mother is taken
down. Brain or nervous fever sets it, and
one day she leaves the convalescent child
with mothers blessing and goes up to
join the three in the kingdom of Heaven.
Life for life.
About twenty-four years ago there went
forth from our homes hundreds of thous-
ands of men to do battle for their coun-
try. And the poetry of war soon vanish
ed and left them nothing but the terrible
BILE prose. They waded knee-deep in
mud. They slept in snow banks. They
marched till their cut feet tracked the
earth. They were swindled out of their
honest rations and lived On meat not fit
for dog. They had jaw all fractured,
and eyes extinguished, and limbs shot
away. Thousands of them cried for water
as they lay dying on the fed the night
after, and got it not. They were home
sick and received no message from their
loved ones. They died in barns, in
bushes, in bitches, the buzzards of the
summer heat the only attendants on theiI
obsequies. No one but the infinite God
who knows everything, knows the ten
thousandth part Of the length and breadth
and depth and height of anguish of North.
ern and Southern battlefelds. Why did these
fathers leave their children. and go to the
front. and why did these young men, post
poning the marriage day, start out into
| the probabilities of never coming back {
For the country they died. Life for life
Blood for blood. Substitution. But we
need not go SO far. What is that monu
| ", ont in Grannuoo62 IT. 10 tn tlo doofore