The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-03-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Ninth Discourse Of the Series ON
The Marriage Ring"

The Domestie Clrcle-Home Life ~ Test
81 Character, . Refuge. . Politics
Safeguard. . school and ~ . Type
81 Meavsa o. Earth.
Below We give Rev. T. Dewitt Talmags's
ninth discourse Of 1.-THE Marriage Ring"
series, delivered at Brooklyn Tabernacle.
The subject, ''Ths Domestic Circle" was
illustrated from the following text:
90 home to thy friends. and tell them how
great things the Lord hash done for thee
Mark, '. u.
There are . great many people longing
for some grand sphere in which to serve
God. They admire Luther at the Diet Of
Worms, and only wish that they had some
such great opportunity in which to display
their Christian prowess. They admire
Paul making Felix tremble, and they only
wish that they had some such grand occa.
sion in which to preach righteousness, tenn.
perance aud Judgment to come; all they
want Is only an, opportunity to exhibit
their Christian heroism. Now the apostle
comes to Us and he practically says: ~
will show you place where you can ex-
hibit all that is grand, and beautiful, and
glorious in Christian character, and that Is
the domestic circle"
II one is not faithful in an Insignificant
sphere he will not be faithful in a resound-
ing sphere. II Peter will not help the
cripple at the gate Of the temple
he will never be able to preach three
thousand souls into the kingdom at the PEN
tecost. II Paul will not take pains to in
struct in the way Of salvation the jailer Of
the Philipian dungeon, he will never make
Felix tremble. He who is not faithful in q
skirnish would not be faithful in an
placed in Just the position in which we
can most graudly serve God: and we
ought not to be chiefly thoughtful about
some sphere Of usefulness which we may
after awhile gain, but the all-absorbing
question with you and with ME ought to
be: "Lord what wilt Thou have ME now
and here to do."
There is one word in my text around
which the most Of our thoughts will this
morning revolve. That word is "home."
Ask zen different men the meaning Of that
word, and they will give you ten different
def litions. To one it means love at the
hearth; it means plenty at the table, in
dustry at the workstand, intelligence at
the books. devotion at the altar. To him it
G,eans a greeting at the door and a smile
>. she chair. Peace lowering like wings.
ola, hurIv xx,itl, lanrhfar
Life a tranquil lake. Pillowed on the rip
Piles sleep the shadows.
Ask another man what home is, and he
will tell you it is want looking out of a
cherries fire-grate, kneading hunger in
an empty bread tray, the damp air shiv.
ering with curses. No Bible-on the shelf.
Children, robbers aud murderers in EN-
bryo, obscene songs their lullaby. Every
face picture of ruin. Want in the back
ground and sin staring from the front.
No Sabbath wave rolling over that door,
sill. Vestibule of the pit. Shadow of in
fernal walls. Furnace for forging ever
lasting chains. Faggots for an unending
funeral pile. Awful word, 1t is spelled
with curses, it reeks with rum, it chokes
with woe, it sweats with the death agony
of despair.
The word "home" in the one case means
every thing bright. The word "home' in
the other case means every thing terrific.
1 shall speak to you this morning Of
home as test of character, home as q
refuge, home as q political safeguard,
home as . school, and home as q type Of
Heaven.
And, in the first place, remark that
home is powerful test OF character. The
in public may be in gay cos.
tune, while in private it is in deshsbille.
As play actors may appear in one way on
the stage and may appear in another way
behind the scenes, so private character
may be very different from public
character. Private character is Of
ten public character turned wrong
side out. A man may receive you into his
parior as though he were a distiilation Of
SMILES, and yet his heart may be a swamp
of nettles. There are business men who
all day long are mild and courteous and
genial and good in commercial
life, dRmming back their irritabilisy and
their petulance and their discomfort, but
at nightfail the dam breaks and scolding
pours forth in foods and freshst<.
Reputation is only the shadow Of char.
acter, and . very small house sometimes
will cast q very long shadow. The lips
may seem to drop with myrrh and cassia,
and the disposition to be as bright and
warm As sunbeams, and yet they may be
only . magnificent sho~-window to .
wretched stock Of goods. There is many .
man who is afable in public life and amid
spheres, who, in a cowardly
way, takes his anger and his petulancs
home and drops them on the domestic
circle.
The reason men do not display their bad
temper in public is because they do not
want TO be knocked down. There are men
who hide their petuIancy and their ir-
ritability for the same reason that they
do not let their notes 60 to pro-
test-it does not pay. Or for the
same reason that they do not want
. man in their stock company to sell his
stock at less than the right price, lest it
deprsciste the value. As sometimes the
wind rises, SO after q sunshiny day there
may be tempestuous night. There nre
people who in public act the philanthro-
pist, who at home act the Nero. with respect
to their slippers and their gown.
Audubon. the great ornithologist, vita
gun and pencil, went through the forest.,
of America to bring down and to sketch
the beautiful birds, and after years Of toll
and exposure completed his manuscript
and put it In trunk in Philadelphia for a
few days Of recreation and rest, and came
hack and found that the rats had utterly
destroyed the manuscript; but without
any discomposure and without any fret
or bad temper. he again picked up his gun
and pencil and visited again ali the great
forests Of America and reproduced his i'm
mortal work. And yet there are people
with the ten thousandth part Of that loss