The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-09-15
DR. TALAAGE'S SERMON.
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY
IN THE HOME.
preached ut Grimsby, Canada.)

AN 1hH nVAG.
preached At Grimsby, Cansds-)
Text: ''Entreat mo not to leave thee, or to
return from following after thee; for whittier
thou goest, will 20; and whore thou lodgest,
will lodge; thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God; where thou diest, will
die, and there will be buried; the Lord do
DO to me, and more also, II ought but death
part thee and me"-Ruth i, Ii and II.
Famine in Judah Upon fields distin-
guished for fertility the blight came, and at
the door of princely abodes want knocked.
Turning his back upon his house and his
lands, Elimelech took his wife, Naomi and
his two sons and started for the land OF
Moab in search Of bread Getting into
Moab, his two sons married ido!aters-Ruth
the name Of one, Orpah the name OF the
other. Great calamities came upon that
household. Elimelech died and his two sons,
leaving Naomi, tho wife, and the two daugh.
ters-in,law. Poor Naomi in a strange land
and her husband and two SONS dead She
must 20 back to Judah. She cannot stand it
In place where everything reminded her Of
her sorrow. Just as now, sometimes you
see persons moving from one house to anoth-
er, or from one city to another, and you can
not understand it until you find out that it is
because there were associations with GER
tain place that they could no longer bear.
Naomi must start for the land Of Judah: but
how shall she get there? Between Moab and
the place where she would like to 60 there
are deserts; there are wild beasts ranging the
wilderness; there are savages going up and
down, and there is tho awful Dead Sea.
Well, you say, she came over the road once,
she can do SO again. All! when she came
over the road before she had the strong arms
Of her husband aud her two sons to defend
her; now they are all gone The hour Of
parting has come, and Naomi must be sepa-
rated from her two daughters-in law Ruth
and Orpah. They were tenderly attached,
these three mourners They had bent over
the same sick bed; they had moved in tho
same funeral procession; they had wept
over the same grave. There the three
mourners stand talking. Naomi thinks
dab, with a prince for her companion.
Then they all think Of the marriage festivals
when Naomi's two sons were united to these
women, who have now exchanged the wreath
of the bride for the veil Of the mourner.
Naomi starts for the land Of Judah, and Ruth
and Orpah resolve to 60 a little way along
with her. They have gone but a short dis
tance when Naomi turns around and says to
may be days Of brightness yet for you in
your native land. can't bear to take you
away from your home and the homes of your
kindred. I am old and troubled. Go not
along with me. The Lord deal gently with
you as ye have dealt with the dead and with
ma" But they persisted in going, and so the
three travelled on until after awhile Naomi
turns around again and begs them to go back
Orpah takes the suggestion, and after sad
glorious Ruth, turns her back upon her home
She says: ~ can't bear to let that old mother
60 alone. It IS my duty to go with her. t"
And throwing her arms around weeping Ma
omi, she pourS out her soul in the tenderness
and pathos and Christian eloquence Of my
text: "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to
return from following after thee: for whittier
thou goest, will go; and whittier thou lodg-
ss .vd viii tho Ledge & thy ss1a shall Be my y
I viii die, and there will be buried; the
Lord do 50 to me, and more also, if aught
but death part thee and me-"
Five choices made Ruth in that text, and
ave choices must we all make, If we ever
want to get to heaven.
L In the first place, IL we want to become
Christians, we must, like Ruth in the text,
choose the Christians God Beautiful Ruth
looked up into the wrinkled face Of Naomi
and said: "Thy God shall be my Cod You
see it was o change Of gods. Naoni's God
was Jehovah; Ruthis God was Chemosh, the
divinity of the Moabites, whom she had wor-
shipped under the symbol of black star.
Now she comes out from that black-starred
divinity, ami takes the Lord in whom there
Is no darkness at all; the silver starred divin-
ity to whom the meteor pointed down in
Bethlehem, the sunshiny God, Of whom the
psalmist wrote: "The Lord God is q
to become Christians, we must change
gods This world is tho Chemosh to
most people. It is black starred god. It
can heal no wounds. It can wipe away no
sorrows. It can pay no debts. 1t can save
no undyiDg soul 1t is great cheat, so
many thousand miles in diameter and so
many thousand miles in circumference. II
half OF them would swear that this world is
tisement of what it has in the vaults and Of
the dividends that it declares, and tells US
that If we want happiness, all we have got
to do Is to come to that bank and apply for
It In the hour Of need, we 60 to that bank
to get happiness, and we find that the vaults
are empty, and all reliabilities have alb
seconded and we are swindled out Of every
thing. o thou black-starred Chemosh, how
many are burning incense at thy shrine!
Now, Ruth turned away from this god
Chemosh, and she took Naomi's God. Who
was that? The God that made the world and
put you in it. The God that fashioned the
heaven and filed it with blisSful inhabitants.
The God whose lifetime study it has been to
make you and all his creatures happy. The
God who watched us in childhood, and led us
through the gauntlet Of infantile distresses,
feeding US when we were hungry. pillowiug
rs whom we were somnolent, and sending his
only Son to wash away our pollution with
the tears and blood Of his own eys
and heart, and Offering to be our
everlasting rest, comfort, and &C.
stasy. 4 loving God. a sympathetic
God. A great-hearted God, An all-encom-
passing God. A God who hings himself on
this world in q very abandonment Of ever
lasting affection. The clouds, the veil Of his
face The sea, the aquarium OF his palace.
The stars, the dew-drops on his lawn. The
God Of Hannahs prayer and Esthers conse-
Grafton, and MaryAs broken heart, and Ruth's
loving and bereft spirit. Oh, choose ye be-
tween Chemosh and Jehovah! The one SER
vice is pain and disappointment; the other SER
vice is brightness and life. ! have tried both.
I chose the service Of Gcd because l was
ashamed to do otherwise. felt it would be
imbecile for me to choose Chemosh above
Jehovah.
"Oh, happy day that fixed my choice
Oh Thee, my Saviour, and my Godl
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its rapture all abroad
"Oh, happy bond that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to His sacred throne move.
"High heaven, that heard the solemn VOW,
That VOW renewed shall daily hear;
Till in life's latest hour bow,
And bless in death bond so DEAR
II. Again, is We want to be Christians
like Ruth in the text, we must take the
Christians path. Where thou goest will
60" cried out the beautiful Moabitess to
Naomi, the mother-in-law. Dangerous prom