The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-01-30
THE FOES OF OUR HOMES.
REvERsEs, DISEASES AND DEATH.
DR.. Talmage's Lesson From the Destruc-
ton of Characterization Misfor-
tunes Which Descend Upon Fami-
lies In a Variet of Forms.

T.
Sunday morning to as many people as
could be comfortably slowed away inthe
big tabernacle that the revival service con-
Quoted by DIR. Munhall would be contin-
ned with the exception of Monday and
Saturday evenings. Monday evening the
annual pew sales took place and the usual
spirited time occurred.
DR.. Talmage preached from the story of
the destruction of Ziklag by Amalekites
who were subsequently pursued and de-
stoyed by David and his men, found in l
Samuel. xxx. The preacher said these
things in the course of the sermon:
This whole scene impresses me most
nightly. Thank God the day has gone
by when our homes can be devastated.
man NAV leave home and be gone for
weeks and months, and when he comes
back there is no sign of incendiary torch
and his family are on the doorstep to
greet him if by telegraph he has foretold
the moment OF his arrival. But, never
theless, there are Amalekitish disasters
and Amalekitish diseases which would
come down upon the families or the
world, and there are scores OF such tanl-
lies represented in every audience. The
home has been upturned The home has
been despOiled. 1t was not q battering
ram that smote down the door. 1t was
not the flame leaping from curtain 10 cur
tain. 1t was not the icOnoclast crumbling
the statue. Oh, no. But Amalekitlsh
death and Amalekitish misfortune have
come down upon many home. Armed
diseases-scaret fevers, neuralgiaS,
pneumonias, consumption; and they
have carried away the loved ones. Ziklag
IN ashes. And there are many OF you IN
every assemblage who 90 about mourning
and weeping because of their desOlated
homes, and whereas they look Tor love-
illness and beauty coming over the hills,
they find nothing but devastation and
Indebtedness and woe. Ziklag in ashes.
Some of YOU went off from home and how
you counted the days. and every day OF
your absence was as long as week. And
how glad YOU were when the time came
for your return home. You got aboard
the steamer or rail car. You arrived. You
went up the street where your family
dwelt. and in the night YOU put your hand
on the door bell, and To- it was wrapped
with the signals of mourning and woe.
Amalekitish death that had destroyed
thousands of households had destroyed
yours. Oh, the long story OF silent voices
and still feet and devastated homes, and
how many of you have done as the bible
describes David and his men as doing
you have wept until you had no more
power to weep. Eklag in ashes. have
a friend in the city of Washington to
whom gentleman came and asked his
intercession that he might get a consul
ship in some foreign port. My friend
said to him: Il am astonished at you,
George. What do you want to 60 away
from home for? You have beautiful
I am hat va nj 10
60 to a foreign port. ooh, he replied,
INV home is gone. Nv six children are
lead. / want to get out of this country.
can stand it no longer" Ziklag in ashes.
Why is it that over any assembly that
gathers any time OF the year there are
such long shadows of mourning? Why
Is it that in almost every assemblage the
predominating color OF apparel is black
Oh, do you not appreciate violet and SAT
ron and other colors Just as much
- you used to- You say, Yes,
out the world isn't as bright to
me as it used TO be; il Is more of a
subdued world, and I subdue my apparel
that 1t may be brought in accord Xix
lag in ashes. In Ulster county, New
York, village church was decorated with
flowers until the fragrance OF the flowers
was almost oppressive. The maidens of
the village had brought out these garlands.
One OF their number had been afiianced
20 a minister OF Christ and he had come
to take home his bride, and amid a con-
gratulatory assemblage the hands were
Joined and the vows were taken. Three
days after ne who had stood at the altar
was transferred from earth to heaven, and
now there were hardly any flowers left in
the village for the casket, because they had
all been put upon the bridal altar The
-
requiem. Then the silent form was
taken to the other village and the villagers
came out to meet IL, and in the viii
lage church a great procession passed
around and the little children were lifted
up TO look at the still face that once had
been abeam with messages of salvation.
and the crowd passed around and the
weeping was dreadful to hear Flowers
again. but flowers in crosses to signalize
his triumph. 4 hundred, ave, thousand
bright lights blown out by one strong gust
from the open door of sepulcher. Ziklag
IN ashes. | am preaching this sermon to-
day because | want to rally you as David
rallied his men for the recovery of the
departed, the loved and the lost have
two ambitions. One, to get to heaven
myself; the other, to take this whole con-
gregation with me. | somehow feel some
what responsible for your arrival at
the shining gate. On other SabbaIhs
have brought forth other inducements.
To-day | bring another inducement.
Would you like to join the companionship
of your friends in heaven? Are YOU as
anxious to join with those loved ones as
David and his men were to join their de
parted families? II so, | am here, and
now in the name of God TO saw that YOU
may, and to tell you how. l notice that
these captains went up certain way-the
families of David and his men-and then
i notice that David and his men followed
In the same way. No sooner had David
and his men resuscitated that half dead
Egyptian and He had pointed out the way,
than David and his men followed right up
that way. And if We are to join our de-
parted friends on the hills of heaven we
will have 10 take the same way. They re-
pented we must repent They prayed
we must pray. They trusted in Christ
we must trust in Christ They lived re-
ligious lives; we must live religious lives
j know that In some respects they were
Just like Us. Now that they are gone we
put a halo around them. But they had
their faults. They said and did things
they ought never to have said and
done. Sometimes they were disheartened
and sometimes discouraged and sometimes
broken-hearted. You and | have been.
But they trusted in God. Christ con-