Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-01-12
God Wants You to Bow the Knss
To-day
WHILE YET THERE is TIME.
Christians are lethargic and Asleep While
the World Rushes to the
Devil.
DR., TALMAGE's SUNDAY SERMON.
Special 10 the REgisteI.

of reviyalistic services is now in progress in
the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and is exciting
great interest in the public mind. The
opening hymn was
I "COmc, holy Spirit; Heavenly dove
With all thy 9uiekenlns PoEerSp
After expounding appropriate passages Of
Scripture, DR.. Talmage preached on the
subject Awakening" taking his text from
Malachi, ill.,, l: Behold l will send my
messenger and he shall prepare the way be
fore me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to mis- temple, even the mes
senger of the covenant, whom ye delight In
behold he shall come, saith the Lord ot
hosts.
Sometimes, said DR.. Talmage, minis
ter's subject is suggested by his artistic
tastes; sometimes by the occurrences Of the
previous week; sometimes by hearer who
desires some particular religious subject dis
cussed. My subject comes in no such way
1t drops straight from God into my heart
Give me your prayerful and intense listening,
| want to show this morning 30 far as God
may help me that the greatest need Of the
church universal is a mighty awakening
The OK in the pasture field looks around and
perhaps come to the concluson that all the
world is clover field So we, standing in
the midst Of luxuriant religious advantages
might think perhaps that the earth is cover
ed With the knowledge of God; but SO tal
from that, if this platform were the world
so much o! it as | now cover with my right
DOT would represent all that is conqured fol
Emanuel Or if this whole tabernacle were
the world, then one pew would represent 9
much of it as the grace Of God had already
conquered. Oh, there is need OF radica
cbangel Something must be done aud
shall show this morning that the creates
need of the church is
A Great Awakening.
I.learn this need in the first place from th'
coldness in the majority Of church members
If a religious society have thousand mem
bers, eight hundred Of them are sounC
asleep. If it have FIVE hundred members
iour hundred are lethargic. If the Chris
tains can rally-that is, professed Christians
for communion day, and succeed in no
dropping the wine cup, how many OF then
are satisfied If it be q choice betweeI
Christ and the world, the world has it. Iol
know it as we'll as | do. If religion
meeting be on a certain night, and on tha
same night there be an extraordinary oper
ATTIC entertainment, or a social gather
ing, or a literary club, or q, politica
meeting, or Free Mason society, or an Odc
Fellows association, you know which the
60 to. God there fairly demonstrating tha
while such professed christians pretend t
be on His side, they are really on the othe
side; for there is point blank issue be
tween Christ and the world and the worl'
has it. You know very well whether yo
are a professed christian or not; you kno'
very well that the dividing line between tn
church and the world to-day is-like tn
equator or arctic or antarctic circle an lmag
mary line and that there are men and VIC
men sworn of God who sit discussing iptir
iteslmsl questions: "Shall we dance Z Sha
we play cards2 Shall we go to the theatre
Shall we attend the opera" While ther
are FIVE hundred millions of the race goin
down to darkness unwarned. These shsr
christians will go on, occasionally taking
little religion with the tip end OF their fir
gers, sauntering along lazily towcrd the ba
of Christ until they come in front OF God
swift revolving MILL and find themselves
be ''the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Dead Wood.
OH how much dead wood we have in q
our churches. The day Of Judgment wi
make fearful thinning out among pre-
fessed christians. ] suppose it will B
found on that day that there are hundred
| of thousands of men who have their name
| ON the church books who really made n
| lieion a second rate or third rate thing
| living for themselves, unmindful OF God an
the salvation Of the race, and them tum'
| ling over the enbankment where Juda
vent and Asian went, and where all thos
sball 90 who do not make religion the pr
mordial thing-the first and the last matte
| of the soul. o, worldly professor OF relil
ion, vacillating professor, idle Professo
tremble before God today. Do yop NJ
know that if you die as you are, all tn
| communion tables at which you have eve
sat will lift up hands of blood, err
ing for your condemnation; An
your neglected Bible and yo'
prayerless pillow will cry: "Go down! 3
down. You pretended to have religion b'
| vou had none. Out Of the seven days
ihe week you gave not FIVE honrs to Chris
You broke your sacrsmental oath; go dow
| ao JownW And the fiercest and mightie
thunderbolt of God indignation that is ey,
fmged will smite you into darkness. v
would rather be the man in the last ds
who has never seen q church than you wi
professed to be so much and to do so muc
and vet did nothing. You shall perish
the way when Gods wrath Is
KindIed But Little.
o, worldly professor OF rehgion-and the
are hundreds of them here to-day, | am air
inc AT the mark-if you could 70 day reali
your true condition, and your true ,Posih'
before God, you would bite your hP IN
the blood came; you would wiring 20
hands until the bones cracked; you WOO
inter a CIV that would send this whole an'
ence 10 their feet with horror. May 81
wake YOU up, worldly professor OF rehglo
before YOU wake up in the barred and aal
ing dungeons Of destroyed eterni'
When you look abroad and see lethar
among the professors Of religion almost
the world over, do you not zee that there
a need that the bugles. and the cymbals, o
the drums and the trumpets Of all earth q
heaven call upon the church TO wake
these dormant professors OF rehgio
Awake, thou that sleepest; awake, a
Christ shall give thee life.
No Enthusiasm.
Sth further. see a need for gr'
awakening in the fact that those Of as v
preach the gospel have 50 little enthusia
and zeal compared with what We ought
have. Nov you see the gun kicks.
, we Who preach the gospel have 20 III
: zeal and enthusiasm for Christ, compal
with what We ought to have. Oh, It
tremendous thing 10 stand before an I
! r. -. G.kL.&h 1.wa roat51iu0 the 4