Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-12-10
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's sun.
DAY SERMON.
Subject, "a Family Quarrel Settled"

TEXT: LettheFe De no strife, pray thee,
bettCeen ne and thee and 6ettCeen ny herds
men and Thy herdSmeR. Is not the uhOle
land before tteef Genesis Tiii., s. o
Uncle and nephew-Abraham and Lot
Both piOus, both millionaires; with flocks so
large that the berdsmen got into a fight,
pc haps about etter pasturage, or about
better wattr priv lege, ,r the COW Of one
herd h oSet the COW Of another herd. 1t
was not their poverty OF opportunity that
brought these two mn into a difference, but
il was their wealth of opportunity. Abfa-
ham, the glorious old Bcdouin sheik, saw
that the controversy was absurd and he said
g Lot-for 1t really soel like two ships in
the middle OF the Atlantic Ocean quarreling
about sea rOo:n-Abraham said TO Lot:
SNOW, let US q rec to differ. Here is the
mountain district swept Of the tonic sea
breeze, and with q far-reaching proSTe't,
aud out yonder is tho Valley of the Jordan.
with cornhelds AMI vineyards, and tropical
luxuriance and immeasurabls acreage Of
wealth, aud the great river in which to water
the no ks You can have either.h Lot, who had
not as much wealth as Abraham and might
have been expected TO make the second
choice, mado the first selection, and with
modesty that must have brought smile to
Abrahan's face said; Abraham, you can
have tho rocky di trict all the fine pros
poets, and flI take thu valley of the Jordan
with the cornteldS and the great river in
which to water the flocks, and all the tropi-
calluyurianco Of the vineyards. I'll take
that" SO the controversy was forever set
tied, aud Abraham, great-souled Abraham,
carried cut the suggestion Of the text: "Let
there he no strife. pray thee, between me
aud thee, and between my herdsmen and thy
h'rdsmen Is no5 the whole land before
theep
Well, in this last quarter of the nineteenth
century, and in 5his beautiful land called
America, ter Americas Vespucius, but
which oughy TO have been called Columbus
re leo 1l,lG hnU
wealth of relig GUS opp rtunity and of ecce-
siastlcal advantage that is positively bewll-
dering. So many styles of creed, so many
styles of worship, 50 many styles of church
government, so many styles of architecture.
What opulence Of ecclesiastical opportunity.
While in desolate regions there may be only
one church. and it is that or nothing, in our
thirkly settled districts of country there is
such vast variety of churches and such vast
variety of creeds, one would think man
would have no ditEculty in making a selec-
ton. Let there be no war of vestments, no
contest as between litW gical and non-liturgi-
cal adherence, no strife about baptiSmal
modes, no quarrel as to whether handful
of water or rlverIull of water Is the better.
If Abraham Oh the heights gets only the
sprinsling of the clouds let him not begrudge
Lot, who hos thu whole river Jordan
In which to immerSe himself. Let there be
no strife, | pray thee, between me and thee
and between my hordsmen and thy herdsmen.
Is net the whole land before tha3" ESpe-
cially is it unfortunate when in the home cir
Gle there is an angry controversy across the
breakfast, or the dining, or the tea table,
and on the enc side of the tlble some ono
says: II never could b,ar the rigid do etrines
of PreSby ter anism," and the answer comes
from the other end Of the table saying: ~
never could endure the ConyentlOnalltles
of Episcopacy," and from one side Of
the table comes: ~ can't see how they
stand the noise in the Methodist Church"
and from the other ide there comes back the
RESPONDER "All the Baptists arc bigotS!"
Hundreds of families have been split of &C.
clesasticism, and a, the dis ussion goes on
there is kindlng of Indignation, and it ne IDS
some Abraham to como out and put his foot
on tho lighted fuse before the explosion takes
plase, aud say: "Let there be no strife be-
tween me and thee and between my herdsmen
and thy herdsnen Is not tho whole land
before theep | undertake this morning a
discussion never before undertaken in
the pulpit, because it is very deli
cate subject and if not rightly
handled might produce great offense; but [
approach the question without the slightest
trepidation because feel l have the divine
direction in the matter to be proposed. 1t is
tremendous question, often asked with
tears and sobs and heartbreaks-a question
involving sometimes the peace of families
and the salvation of immortal souls: "In
matters OF church attendance and in matters
of religion, should the wife go with the hus-
band or the housband go with the wife" |
lay the foundation for my remarks in the
fact that all denominations of Christians
have in them enough truth to save the
soul and TT us for happiness and for heaven.
Go with ne into any well selected theological
library, and | will show you sermons from
all denominations of Christians sotting forth
the idea that man is o sinner and that Christ
is the deiverer from sin and sorrow. Well,
that is the whole Gospel Get that into your
hoo, nj 1 H. 70, tln,N
here and thu hereafter The world has
tweuty-six letters in it's alphabet, but there
are only two letters in the Gospel alphabet S
anil G, standing for man, the sinner,
and standing for Christ the dcliv-
erer. Blessed be His glorious name
forever. Now in any church where you can
learn these two letters and appreciate al they
stand for you ought to be edited and You
ought to be happy. Then there is a differ
ence between denominations of Christians,
and some we like better than others But
suppose four CT five of us should agree to
meet ca h other one week from now in Chi
cago en- some very important business, and
one man should take the n. Y. Cen.
trail R. r., and another man shoGld
take the Erie, and another man
should take the Pennsylvania R. r.,
and another man should take the Baltimore
and Ohio h. Il. One because be likes the
scenery on this route the better, an other be-
cause he likes the airs, as they are more lux
urlant on this route than the others, another
man takes this route le1ause tho train is
swiftec, another man takes another route be-
eau @ he knows all the employees on that
road. 1t makes no difference so far as our
engagement is concerned if we only get there
1t makes no difference by which route We
COMB If we come to the terminus and meet
our engagement. Now, in every denomna-
ito of evangelical Christians, there is
enough truth to take you to heaven. AL
though some denominations may run trains
on broad guage and others may run trains
on q narrow guage, still you follow the
teachings of any one Of the evan seliCal de
nominations of Christians and you will
come out at the Grand Central Depot of the
unive se-Heaven, the great metropolis of
God on high. Now having understood this,
that man is safe in any evangelical de-
nomination, proceedto remark:
First-If in the married couple one be
Christian and the other not Christian,
then it is the duty of the one who is a Chris
tian to go with the one who is nota Christian
to any church preferred, if he or she will go
to no other. Yod of the connubial partner
skies, and your first duty then is to secure the
eternal salvation of your lifetime partner.
The salvation of the wife impentent, or the
salvation of the husband impenitent is OF
more imNortany e than your church wor hip
The residence Of your companion for q
duadrillIon Of years IS mightIer considers
ton than the qualification Of your ecclesias.
tcal taste for forty or fifty years If man
or woman halt one half minute before
,surrendering q church preference when the
question of the eternal salvation of q partner
is involvel-I say if such person halts for
half minute in tho consideration before
making tho surrender, such person has no re-
h2lon at all, never has had, and / fear, never
will have Mighty God, in all Thy creation
is IleTe pHrSOn prOfessipU n ha q