The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-12-22

the Holy Ghost Bear Witness Against
Him, but Christ Pleads His Case and
He IS Saved.
BROOKLYN, Dec. lo.-The Rev. I. Dewitt
Talmage, y. D., preached to-day in the
Brooklyn Tabernacle on the subject: aOn
Trial" taking toF his text I John i, 2: Eve
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous he said:
Standing in a court room you say TO your
self: at this bar crime has often been ar
raigned; at this witness stand the oath has
often been taken; at this jurors bench the
verdict has been rendered, at this judges
desk sentence has been pronounced" But /
have 10 tell you to-day Of a trial higher than
any oyer and termjner, or circuit, or supreme,
or chancery II is the trial Of every Chris
tian man for the life Of his soul. This trial is
different from any other in the fact that it is
both civil and criminal The issues at stake
are tremendous, and I shall in my sermon
show you, first, what are the grounds Of
complaint; then who are the witnesses in the
cause, and lastly, who are the advocates.
When "A trial Is called on, the first thing is
30 have the Indictment read Stand up, then,
o Christian man, and hear the Indictment Of
the court Of high heaven against thy soull
hast directly or indirectly broken all the ten
commandments. You know how it thun-
dered on Sinai, and when God came down
how the mountain rocked, and the smoke as
cended as from a smolderiug furnace, and
the darkness gathered thick and the loud,
deep trumpet uttered the words: "The soul
that sinneth IL shall disl7 Are you guilty or
not guilty. Do not put in "A negative plea too
quick for : have 20 announce that "all have
sinned and come short Of the glory Of God.
There is none that d0eth good; no. not one.
Whosocver shall keep the whole law yet
offend In one point, he is guilty Of all" Do
not, therefore, be 100 hasty in pronouncing
yourself not guilty.
This lawsuit before us also charges you
with the breaking Of a solemn contract.
Many a time did we promise 10 be the Lords.
We got down on our knees and said: 20
Lord, ! am Thine now and forever" Did
you keep the promisel Have you stood up 10
the contractl ! % back TO your first COM
muniOu. You remember it as we'll as if it
were yesterday You know how the vision
Of the cross rose before ycsl You remember
how from tine head, and the hands, and the
side, and the feet, there came bleeding forth
these two words. "Remember me" You
recall how the cup Of communion trembled
in your hand when you first took it; and as
in "A sea shell YOU may hear, or think you
hear. the roaring of the surf even after the
shell has been taken from the beach so you
lifted the cup Of communion, and you heard
in It the surging of the great ocean Of a
Savi0ur's agony; and you came forth
from that communion service with
face shining as though you had been
on the Mount Of TRANSPORTATION; and the
very air seemed tremulOus with the love of
Jesus, and the woods, and the leaves, and the
grass, and The birds were brighter and
swoeter voiced than ever before, and you said
down In the very depths of your soul: Lord,
Thou l,nowest all things; Thou knowest that
love thee Have you kept the bargain, o
Christian mani Have you not sometimes
faltered when you ought 20 have been truel
Have you not been proud when you ought to
have been humblei Have you not played
the coward when you ought 10 have been the
herol I charge it upon you and charge it
upon myself-we have broken the contract.
Still further. this lawsuit claims damages
at your hands The greatest SANDER on the
Christian religion is an inconsistent pro-
fessor The Bible says religion is one thing
we by our inconsistency say religion is some
other thing, and what is more deplorable about
1t is, that people can see faults in others while
they cannot see any in themselves. If you
shall at any time find some miserable old
gossip, with imperfections from the crown Of
her head to the sole Of her foot, perfect
blotch of sin herself, she will go tattling,
tattling, tattling all the years of her life,
about the inconsistencies Of others, having no
idea that she is inconsistent herself God
save the world from the gossip, female and
male ] think the males are the worst Now
the chariot of Christs salvation goes on
through the world, but it is our inconsistent
cies, my brethren, that block up the wheels,
while all along the line there ought 10 have
been cast nothing but palm branches, and
the shout should have been lifted, "Hosanna
TO the son Of David"
Now you have heard the indictment read
Are you ready TO plead guilty or not guilty
Perhaps you are not ready yet TO plead. Then
the trial viii 60 on The witnesses win be
called, and VIC shall have the matter decided.
In the name OF God l now make proclama-
ton: "Oyezl oyezl oyezl Whosoever hath
anything to offer in this trial, in which God
Is the plaintiff and the Christian soul the de-
PENDANT let him now step forth and give tes-
timony in This solemn trial"
The first witness that l call upon the stand
in behalf of the prosecution is the World-all
critical and observant of Christian character.
who perpetually banquet on the frailties of
Gods children You may know, if you have
lived in the country, that a crow cares for
nothing so much as carrion. There are those
who imagine that out of the faults Of Chris
tians they can make a bridge of boats
across the stream of death, and they
are going 10 try it; but, alas
for the mistakei When they get amid
stream away will go the bridge and down will
60 their soul to perdition. o, World Of the
greedy eye and the hard heart come on the
stand now and testify in behalf Of the prose
cution against this Christian soul ON trial
What do you know about this Christian man
sob" SAYS the World, II know a great dea
about him. He talks about putting hi
treasures in Heaven, but he is the sharpes
man in n trade / ever knew. He seems Il
want US to believe that he is a child of God
but he is just full of imperfections. do no
know but | am great deal better than he il
now. Oftentimes he is very earthly, and h,
talks so little about Christ and so much abou
himself, am very glad to testify that this il
bad man"
Stop, O World with the greedy eve and thu
hard heart. j fear you are too much in
terested in this trial to give impartial evi
dence Let ali those who hear the testimony
family quarrel between these two parties
There always has been q variance between
the World and the Church, and while th.
world on the witness stand to-day has told
great deal of truth about this Christian man
you must take it all with some allowance
remembering that they still keep the ole
grudge good. o World of the greedy eye ans
the hard heart, that VIII do You may 81
down.
The second witness / call in this case i
Conscience. Who art thou, Oh Conscience
What is your businessl Where were yoI
borni What are you doing herea "Ohl" say
Conscience II was born in heaven. / came
down to befriend this man I have lived
with him l have instructed him. l have
warned hun / showed HIM the right and
the wrong, advising him to take the one and
eschew the other l have kindled a great
light IN his soul With a whip of scorpions
have scourged his wickedneSs and ]
have tried 10 cheer him when doing right;
and yet / am compelled to testify on the
stand to-day that he has sometimes rejected
my mission. Oh. how many cups Of life
have pressed to his lips that he dashed
down, and how often has he stood with his
hard heel on the bleeding heart of the Son OF
Godi 1t pains me very much that have &c
testlIy against TINS Christian man, and vet
must, in behalf OF Him who viii in no wise
clear the guilty, say that this Christian man
has done wrong. He has been worldly He
has been neglectfuL He has done thousand
things he ought not to have done, and left
undone thousand things he ought to have
done That viii do, Conscience You can
SIT down.
The third witness / call in the case, is an
Angel of God Bright and shining ono, what
doest thou heref What hast thou to say
against this man on triall @Ohi" says the
angel, Il have been messenger to him ]
have guarded him. / have watched him.
With this wing have defended him. and