News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-09-30
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
DIR. TALNIAGE RETURNS TO THE
BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.
He Inquiries rs to the Physical and Spirit
uaI Welfare of His People and Draws
n Contrast Between Brooklyn and
CharIt stOn.

Contrast Between Brooklyn an
Charls stOn.
DR. Talmage preached from the stor,
of the ehunamite woman, the text beln!
the inquiries of Gehazi, the servant o
Elisha sis it we'll with Thee 2 Is i
well with thy husband Is it well will
the child 2" Ir. Talmage said, among
other things, the following
Standing before you in the first Sab
bath after some weeks OF absence | hav,
thought that this textanight be very
appropriate. Gehazi u asking these
questions of this worfa expressed ar
anxiety in regarS personal health
and when l meet you XIV, after the Sc
we're months of the Summer have passed
and sickness has been abroad in diff,
ferent parts of the land and many OF
you have been amid the perils of rail
train and steamer, it seems to me that
the questions that Gehazi asked of the
woman of Shunam is as appropriate for
me to ask this morning of my beloved
people when | cry out els it well
with thee Is it we'll with thy husband
Is it well with the child?" There is
hardly family represented in this house
to-day that has not in some of its men,
bers been afflicted with some style of
physical disorder, but by the ministry
of mother. or friend, or medical atten-
dant the disease was baked and you
are in the house of God to day, while
Greenwood and Mount Auburn and Lau-
rel Hill have added nightly to their
silent population. Through days or
weeks some of you have breathed the
tonic of the mountain air, and the tides
of health have come into some of your
pulses with the rising tides of the sea-
There is more color in your cheek, there
is more fire in your eye, there is more
nerve in your purpose, there is more
capacity in your natnre to serve God.
But we all know that is not the case
with many. As God looks down upon
these great cities, through the beautiful
streets and the dark alleys, oh how
many consumings and wastings away of
disease 1t is not, therefore, a trivial
question, but one of momentous interest
when l PROFOUND it this morning and
say to you personally: IS it well with
thee 2' We run so many risks,
we have so little foresight, we
violate so many laws of nature, there
are so many elements of destruction in
breath, in wave, in cloud, in sea, it is a
matter worthy of indestructible record
| if this morning, after all the exposures
of the summer, you can answer these
| interrogatories of my text in the affir-
NATIVE and put your hand on brain, or
| lung, or heart, and say: SIT is well.
Oh, what a glorious thing it is to be
well--to have free foot, and clear eye,
and easy digest ion, and alert ear, and
stout muscle. Strong men and women,
have you thanked God for your health /?
If not, go and listen to the cry of those
who in the morning say. ''Would God
it were night" and in the night say,
"Would God it were morning" If you
are seated in the house of God to-day
in comfortable health le, your soul go
out toward the throne of mercy, while
you say within yourselves, 1T IS well. y
But my subject goes still further and it
| indicates that Gehazi was not only anx-
ious in regard to the personal welfare of
| this woman of Shunam, but he was
anxious in regard to the comfort of her
whole family. Standing here to-day,
looking into your friendly faces, | am
anxious to know not only how you fare
personally, but how it is with your
household. There was a time when
you were wrapped up in yourself. The
question was, 'My health" my we'll
being" "Where shall go2" "What
shall | do2" What will happen to me?'
That is changed now and you life is
wrapped up in the life of others. God
has set you in a family and there are
influences all around about you, circling
and widening and widening out. 1t
Il ay have been many years ago, but not
far enough back to make you forget
when you took the oath of conjugal in
fidelity. One in hope and one in affec-
ton you have walked up the path of
life to this hourr God has put many
blessings in the conjugal cup, and while
sometimes you walked under the clouds
and through the waves and have halted
at the brink of grave where your
hearts both broke at once, you, this
day ought to send up one long, loud,
exhilarant song to the God who chose
your habitation and gave you such
pleasant surroundings. Has that early
love faded out /, or is it a Christian
benediction2 Have the kindly offices,
the offices of gentleness, become more |
rare now that the light has gone from
the eye and the hair is getting little |
gray-snOw on the ravens wings Are |
you less careful for each others well |
fare, and less patient with each others
foibles2 Has the caress become silly |
because so long the honeymoon has
passed Will there be mound |
after a while growing harvest |
of nettles and nightshade, snake
infested, devil haunted Oh. |
your larger house, your brighter associ- |
ations, your greater prosperities, my |
sister, cannot atone for the lack of that |
kindness which characterized you when
you started life together But my sub
ject takes a step further You know
that almost every house has the blessing
of children. Indeed, this blessing |
seems to be given in great profusion in
proportion as other blessings are denied |
There are thousands of homes in which |
the only light is in the child's eye, and |
the only music in the chilCsren's foot
steps. You almost pity the poor man
because he has so many little o1es in his
cot. Talk to him about its being a
pity! Ask him which one of the tiaxen
headed pets he would spare from the
household Why that one has it's
mOlnef eyes, dHu dHoIner 1IS ldlueI |
mouth, and another the different points
of all the family, and all these peculiar
tiles, commenting them to the parental
heart Not one could be spared. Oh,
Christian parent, whatever you do for
your children or neglect to do, do not
neglect their eternal salvation. Do not
make the mistake of that family who,
when their house was on fire, secured
all the household goods but forgot to
ask until too late, "Are the children
safe2" Oh, what terrific neglect. When
the elements shall melt with fervent
heat and the world shall burn, will
your children be safe? will your chill
dren be safe2 But my sub ect takes
step further, and l am permitted, in
carrying out the idea that hovers above
the text and is suggested by the text,
to ask you this morning, how is it with
the old people that have come to spend
their last days in your house, oh man,
oh woman2 Do you give them room
on the fourth story2 Do you make
them eat at the second tablei Have
you as much patience with the weak
nesses of their second childhood as they
had patience with the follies of your
tirs2 All, smooth the steps for those
aged feet, for they will soon stop on the
way. SIS it well with thy father! Is
it we'll with thy mother?' But my sub
ject goes one step further, and makes
inquiry as to your spiritual welfare. A