The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-09-21
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
sAcRAMENTAl DAY AT THE BROOK
LYN TABERNACLE.

sAcRAMENTAL DAY AT THE BROOK
LYN TA6ERNAcLE.
The Learned and Eloquent Divine Dis
courses ON tho PHILOSOPHY OF the Chain.
It's Rattle Heard and It's Coil Seen from
Genesis to Revelation.
BRooKLyN, Sept. i6-Today was sacra-
mental day at the Tabernacle, and the more
than four Thousand communicate members
were Joined by thousands from all parts Cd
this country and from other lands In the
sacred commemoration. The Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage, D. D., preached from Ezekiel
VII, %. "Make chainf" he said:
At school and IN college, In announcing
mechanical powers, We giorihed the lever,
the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw, the
axle and the wheel, but my text calls NJ tc
study the philosophy Of the chain These
links Il metal, one with another, attracted
the old Bible authors, and we hear the chain
rattle aud see its coil all the way through
from Genesis to Revelation, flashing IS an
adornment, or restraining a. IN captivity, o.
holding In conjunction, as In case Of ma
chinery. To do him honor, Pharaoh hung @
chain Of gold about the neck Of Joseph, and
Belshazzar one about the neck Of Daniel
The high priest had on his breastplate two
chains Of gold. On the canels' neohs, n
the Ishmaelites drove up to Gideon, jingied
chains of gold
The Bible refers to the church as having
such glittering adornments, saying: "fhy
neck Is comely with chains Of gold.n On the
other hand, q chain means captivity. David
the psalmist, exnlts that power had been
given over his enemies, ito bind their kings
with chains" The old missionary apostle
cries out, "For the hope Of Israel, am
bound with this chain.n In the prison whers
Peter is incarcerated, You hear one day q
great crash at the falling of Of his chains St
John saw an angel como down from heaven
to manacle the powers Of darkness, and
having ga great chain In his hand, and the
fallen angels are represented as reserved In
everlasting chains, (" while In my text for the
arrest and limitation Of the iniquity Of bis
time, Ezekiel thunders out: snake q chain r
What wish to impress upon myself and
upon you Is the strength In right and wrong
directions, of consecutive forces, the superior
power Of chain Of Influences above one In
fuence the great advantage Of congerie6
Of Hhks above one link, and In all family
government and In all effort to rescue other,
and In all attempt to stop iniquity, take thu
suggestion Of my text and make q chainl
That which contains the greatest import
ance, that which encloses the most tsenend
Gus opportunities, that which Of earthly
things Is most watched by other worlds, that
which has beating against tts Two kidss al
the eternities, Is the cradle The grave
nothing In Importance compared with II, 70,
that Is only gully that we step across In 6
second, but the cradle has Within II q new
eternity, tust born and never to cease Wher
three or four years ago the Ohio river over
flowed its banks and the Wild freshets sweep
down with them haxvests and cities, one day
was found floating ON the bosom Of tha
waters q cradle With child In 1t al unhurt
wrapped up snug ana warm, and its blueeye.
looking into the blue Of the open heavens. 4
was mentioned a. something extraordinary
But every cradle Il, with its young passenger
floating on the swift current Of the centuries
and Misissippis Of influence, bearing II ON
ward Now. what shall be done with thi
new life recently launched Teach him Al
evening 4uae ~ 4uHJEee1Aby DkAt LIZ
enough. Hear him as soon as he can recita
some gospel hymn or catechismi That IL i'm
portant, but not enough. Every Ssbbeta
afternoon read him Bible storyf That
Important, but not enough. Once In q Will
q lesson, once In a while a prayer, once In I
while restraining influenced AL these ar,
important, but not enough. Each one d
these influences Is only q link, and IL VIII no
hold him In the tremendous emergencies d
life Let II be constant instruction, constant
prayer, constant application Of good infiu
ences, long line Of consecutive impressions
reaching from his first year TO his fifth, ana
from his fifth year to his tenth, and from hi
tenth year to his twentieth "Make {
chainI"
Spasmodic education, paroxysmal disci
pline, occasional fidelity, amount to nothing
You can as easily hold an anchor by one linl
as hold child to the right by isolated and In
termittent faithfulness. The example mus
connect with the instruction. The CONVEX
sation must combine with the actions Tn
week day consistency must conjoin with tn
Sunday worship. Have family prayers b.
all means; but be petulant and inconsisten
and unreasonable In your household, ana
your family prayers wiz be a blasphemou
farce. 30 great in our times are the temp
tations Of young men to dissipation ant
young women to social follies, that 10 70 mos
Important that the first eighteen years o
| their life be charged with religious powe
that will hold them when they get out OF th
harbor Of home into the stormy oceal
| of active life There Is such q thing q
impressing children 90 powerfully with good
that sixty years win have no more powe
| to efface It than sixty minutes What rougl
time that young man has In doing wrong
/ carefully nurtured as he vast his father an
mother have been dead for years, or over h
| Scotland or England or Ireland, but the.
have stood In the doorway Of every dram
shop that he entered, and under the chande
| lier Of every house Of dissipation, saying
"My son. this Is no place for you Have yo'
forgotten the old folksi Don't you reoogniz
these wrinkles and this stoop In the shoulde
| and this tremulous handi Go home, my boy
| 90 homei By the God 10 whom we consecrats
| you, by the cradle In which we rocked you, b.
| the grass grown graves in the old countr.
| churchyard, by the heaven where we hop
| yet TO meet you, 60 homei Go home, my bog
/ 90 homeT" And some Sunday you win b
surprised to find that young man suddenl,
asking for the prayers Of the church. Som
Sunday you viii zee him at the sacramen
and perhaps drinking from the same kind Q
i chalice that the old folks drank out Of year
| ago when they commemorated the suffering
Of the Lord. Yes. my lad, you do not hav
| such fun In SIN as you seem to have ] know
what spoils your fun. You cannot shake Of
the influences Of those prayers long ago d
fered, or Of those kind admonitions. 70
cannot make them go away, and You feel Lib
saying: "Father, what are you doing here
Mother. why do you bother me with sue
/ gestions Of those oldsn timesf But the
win not 90 away They win pus
you back from your evil paths. thong
they have to come down from thei
shining homes In heaven and stand
the very gates of hell, and their back
scorched Of the fiery blast, and with thei
hand ON your shoulder. and their breath O
your brow, and their eyes looking straigh
into yours, they WIN say, ave have come I
take you home, oh, son Of many anxietiesi
Il At last that young man turns through th
consecutive inhuenceof pious parentagt
who out OF prayers and facilities innumei
aba, made chain. That d the chain tina
pulls NIGHTLY this morning on 800 q yc'
You may Be TOO proud 10 shed . tear, On
you may, 10 convince others Of pour irnpa
turbability, smile 10 your frisnd bssids yc'
but there h not % much power IN an AlpiI
avalanche after 10 has slipped for thousar
feet and having struck Q lower cliR IL talrir
its second bound for t,6oo feet more ,
plunge, as there b power IN the chain TIL
pulls you this moment toward God and Chri
and heaven Obi the almighty pun Of q
long chain Of early gracious infuencesi
J But ell people between 90 and 20 years ,
age, yes. between % and to-aye, between
and 90 years, and ali peptuagsnazians
veil, need surrounding conjunction Of got
influences In Sing Sing. Auburn, Mcy
nensing and all the other great prisons, q
....a a..A sus,s.,ns, sr xu,asak ,s,r IN MID Il