The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-12-15
TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "a Family Quarrel Settled"

TEXT: Let there be no strife, Ipray thee,
6etWeen me and thee. and Get,veen my herds
men and thy herlsmen. Is not The uhole
land before theer Genesis riii.. s. ..
Uncle and nephew-Abraham and Lo'
Both pious, both mi!lionaircs; with focks SO
large that the herdsmen got into fight,
better water priv lege, ,r the cow Of one
he'd b. oked the cow of another herd. :, 1t
was not their poverty OF opportunity that
brought these two m=n iuto difference, ouG
it was their wealth OF ooportunlty. Aora-
ham, the glorious old Bedouin sheik, saw
that the controversy was absurd anu he sald
to Lot-for it really see 9 like two ships in
about sea rooni-AbraEam said to Lot:
Snow, let US agree to disler. Here IS the
mountain district swept Of ths tonic sea
bree q, and with a far-reachiug proSre t.,
aud out youder is the Valley of the Jordan.
with cornfieids and vineyards, and tropical
luxur;ance and ilnmeaSurable acreage OF
wealth, and the great river in which to water
the ilo ks You can havo either" Lot, who had
not as much wealth as Abraham and might
have been expected 70 make the second
choice, made the first selection, and with
mo6esty that must have brought q smile to
Abraham'S face, said: abraham, you can
have tie rocky district and the fine pros
poets, and rll take the valley of the Jordan
with the corniields and the great river In
which to water the flocks, and all the tropi-
cal luxurance Of the vineyards. I'll take
that" So the controversy was forever SET
tied, and Abraham, great-souled Abraham,
. carried out the suggestion of the text: Let
there he no strife. pray thee, between me
and thee, and between my herdsnen aud thy
h,rdsrnen. Is not the whole land before
thee"
: Well. in this last quarter Of the nineteenth
century, and in this beautiful laud called
America, arter Americus Vespucius, but
which ought to have been called Columbus
after its discoverer, Columbus, we have
wealth of religious opportunity and OF eccie-
Siastical 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 difficulty in making seiec-
ton. Let there be no war Of vestments, no
contest as between liSurgical and non-liturgl-
cal adherence, no strife about baptlsmal
modes, no quarrel as to whether handful
of water or riverfull Of water Is the better.
If Abraham on the heights gets only the
sprinkling of tho clouds. let him not begrudge
: Lot, who has the whole river Jordan
in which to immerSe himself. 'Let there be
no strife / pray thee, between me and thee
and between my herdSmen and thy herdsmen.
Is not the whole land before thee" 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 one side of the table some one
says: II never could bear The rigid do:trlnes
of Presbyter;anism," and the answer comes
from the other end OF the table saying: ~
never could endure the conventionalities
of Episcopacy," and from one side, OF
stand the noise in the Methodist Church"
and from the other side there comes back the
response: IAN the BaptiSts are bigots!"
Hundreds of families have been split of &c
clesiasticism, and as the discussion goes on
there is kindling of Indignation, and it needs
some Abraham to come out aud put his foot
on the lighted fuse before the explosion takes
piase, and say: LET there be no strlfe be-
tween me and thee and between my herdsmen
and thy herdsmen. Is not the whole land
be. ore theef' I undertake this morning a
discussion never before undertaken IN
the pulpit, because it Is q very deli
cate subject and il not rightly
handled might produce great otfense; but !
approach the question without the slightest
!
direction in the matter to be proposed 1t is
q tremendous question, often asked with
tears and so;s and heartbreakS-a question
involving sometimes the peace OF families
and the salvation Of immortal souls: I'm
matters of church att ,ndance and in matters
OF religion, should the wife 60 with the hus-
band or the housband 60 with the wife"
lay tie foundation for my remarks IN the
fact that all denominations OF Christians
have in them enough truth to save the
soul and fit us for happiness and for heaven:
Go with me into any we'll selected theological
library, and will show you sermons from
all denominations of Christians setting forth
the idea that man is sinner and that Christ
j. the deliverer from sin and sorrow. Well,
that is the whole Gospel. Get that into your
heart aud your life and you are tit for the
here and the hereafter. The world has
twenty-si1 letters in its alphabet, but there
are only two letters in the Gospel alphabet, S
and G, standing for man, the sinner,
and G standing for Christ, the deliv-
erer. Blessed be His glorious name
forever Now, in any church where you can
stand for you ought to be ediied and you
ought to I've happy. Then there is differ
ence between denominations Of Christians,
and some we like better than others. But
suppose four or five of us should agree to
meet ea other one week from now in Chi
cago on some very important business, and
one man should take the N. Y. Gen.
t.al R. R., and another man should
take the Eric, and another man
should take the Pennsylvania r. r.,
anil another man should take the Baltimore
and Ohio II. II. One because he likes the
scenery on this route the b.tter, another be-
cause he likes the cars-ns they are more lux
uriant on this route than the others, another
man takes this route lie ,ause the train Is
swifter, another man takes another route be-
cause he knows all the employees on that
road. It makes no difference so Tar as our
engagement is concerned if we only getthe
1t makes no difference by which route we
come if we come to the terminus and meet
our engagement Now, in every denomina-
til Of evangelical Christians, there is
enough truth to take you to heaven: Al
though some denominations may run trains
on a broad guase and others may run trains
on 6 narrow guage, still you follow the
teachings Of any one Of the evangelical de-
om:natious Of Christians and you will
come out at the Grand central Depot OF the
uuivei se-Heaven. the great metropolis OF
God on high. Now, having understood this,
that O man is safe in any evangelical de-
nomination, proceed to remark:
First-If in the married couple one be
a Christian and the other not q Caristian,
then it is the duty of the one who is Chris
tian to 20 with the one who is nota Christian
to any church preferred, If he or she will go
to no other. You of the connubial partner
ship are q Christian. You are safe for the
skies, and your first duty then is to secure the
eternal salvation of your lifetime partner
The salvation of the wife impenitent, or the
salvation of the husband impenitent, is Of
more Importance than your church worship.
The residence Of your companion for
quadrillon Of ars is mightier considers
ton than the qualification Of your e:clesias-
tical taste for forty or fifty years II q man
ar a woman half one half q minute before