The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-12-05
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Weekly Discourse of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
s"bjecE 'I'aaIs Mission in
Athens" preached at
Athens, Grecce.)

through a glass darkln"-I Corinthians
xiii, ~,
Both these sentences written by the most
illustrious merely human being the world
ever saw, one who walked these streets, and
preached from yonder pile of rocks, Mars
Hill. Though more classic associations are
connected with this city than with any city
under the sun, because here Socrates and
Plato, and Aristotle, and Demosthenes and
Percles and Heroditus and Pythagoras and
Xenophon, aud Praxitees wrote or chiseled
or taught or Numbered or sung, yet in my
mind all those men and their teachings were
eclipsed by Paul and the Gospel he preached
in this city and in your nearby city OF Cor
NTH Yesterday, standing on the old fortress
at Corinth, the Acro-C ornthus, out from the
ruins at its base arose in my imagination the
old city, just as Paul saw it. | have been
told that for splendor the world behods no
such wonder to-day as that ancient Corinth
standing on an isthmus washed by two seas,
the one sea bringing the commerce OF Europe,
the other sea bringing the commerce Of Asia.
From her wharves, in the construction OF
which whole kingdoms had been absorbed,
war gslleys with three banks of oars pushed
out and COMPOUNDED the navy yards of all the
world Huge handed machinery, such as
modern invention cannot equal lifted ships
from the sea on one side and transported
them on trucks across the isthmus aud sat
tutiH uDWU III tflt sed on tnt OUutT sue. Inc
revenue officers of the city went down
through the olive groves that lined the
beach to collect tariff from all nations
The mirth OF all people sported in her
lsthmian games, and the beauty of all
lands sat in her theatres, walked her
porticos and threw itself on the altar Of
her stupendous dissipations Column and
statue and temple bewildered the beholder
There were white marble fountains, into
which, from apertures at the side. there
gushed waters everywhere known for health.
giving qualities. Around these basins,
twisted into wreaths of stone there were all
the beauties of sculpture and architecture;
while standing, as if to guard the costly dis
play, was statue of Hercules of FURNISHED
Corinthian brass. Vases of terra Gotta
adorned the cemeteries of the dead--vases so
costly that Julius Caesar was not satisfied UNI
til he had captured them for Rome. Armed
officials the corintharii, paced up and down
to see that no statue was defaced, no pedestal
overthrow, no bas-relief touched From the
edge of the city the hill held its magnificent
burden of columns and towers and temples
1000 slaves waiting at one shrinel, and
citadel SO thoroughly impregnabe that Glib
raltar is heap of sand compared with it
Amid all that strength and magniicence
Corinth stood and defied the world.
Oh, it was not to rustics who had never
seen anything grand that Paul uttered one
of my texts. They had heard the best music
that had come from the best instruments in
all the world; they had heard songs floating
from morning portiCos and melting IN even
ing groves they had passed their whole lives
among pictures and sculpture and architect
ure and Corinthian brass, which had been
nodded and shaped until there was no
chariot wheel in which il had not sped and
no tower in which it had not glittered and
no gateway that it had not adorned. All. it
was bold thing for Paul to stand there amid
all that and say: "All this is nothing These
sounds that come from the temple of Neptune
are not music compared with the harmonies
of which | speak These waters rushing in
the basin of Pyrene are not pure. These
statues of Bacchus and Mercury are not ex-
quisite Your citadel of .Acro-Corinthus is
not strong compared with that which offer
to the poorest slave that puts down his bur-
den at the brazen gate You Corinthians
think this is splendid city you think you
have heard all sweet sounds and seen all
beautiful sights: but | tell you eye hath not
seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him" Indeed,
both my texts the one spoken by Paul and
the one written by Paul, show us that we
have very imperfect eyesight, and that our
day of vision is yet to come; for now we see
through glass, darkly, but then face to face,
So Paul takes the responsibility of saying
that even the Bible is an indistinct mirror,
and that its mission shall be finally suspended
l think there may be one Bible in heaven
fastened to the throne. just as now in a
museum, we have a lamp exhumed from
Herculaneum OF Nineveh, and we look at it
with great interest and say: How poor
light it must have given, compared with our
modern lamps, so | think that this Bible,
which was lamp to our feet i'll this world,
may lie near the throne of God, exciting our
interest to all eternity by the contrast be
tween its comparatively feeble light and the
illumination of heaven, The Bible. now, is
the scatfolding to the rising temple but
when the building is done there will be no
use for the seaifolding, The idea | shall de-
velop to-day is, thati in this world our knowl-
edge is comparatively dim and unsatisfac-
tory, but nevertheless is Introductory to
grander and more complete vision This is
eminently true in regard to our view of Sod
We hear so much about God that we con
clude that We understand Him He is repre-
sented as having the tenderness of father,
the firmness of Judge the pomp of king
and the love of a mother. We hear ABOUT
Him. talk about Him, write about Him. We
lisp His name in infancy and it tTemhleS
tongue Of the dying octogenarian. We
think that we know very much about Him.
Take the attribute of mercy. Do we under
stand it? The Bible blossoms all over with
that word, mercy. 1t speaks again and again
Of the tender mercies of God, of the sure
mercies, of the great mercieS. of the mercy
that endureth forever. of the multitude of
His mercies. And yet know that the views
we have of this great being are most indefi-
mite. one sided and incomplete. When, at
DEATH the gates shall fly open, and we shall
look directly upon Him, how new and sur
prising We see upon canvas picture of
the morning. We study the cloud in the sky,
the dew upon the grass, and the husbandman
on the way to the field. Beautiful picture OF
the morning But we rise at daybreak, and
go up on hill to see for ourselves that which
was represented to us, While we look, the
mountains are TRANSPORTED. The FURNISHED
gates of heaven swing open and shut, to let
pass host of fiery splendors. The clouds
are all abloom, and hang pendant from arbors
of alabaster and amethyst. The waters make
pathway of inlaid pearl for the light to walk
upon; and there is morning on the sea. The
crags uncover their Scared visage; and there
is snoring among the mountains. Now you
go home, and how tame your picture of the
morning seems in contrast Greater than
that shall be the contrast between this script
ural view of God and that which we shall
have when standing face to face. Thisi a
picture of the morning; that will be the
morning itself.
Again: NY texts are true of the SAviours
excellency. By image and sweet rhythm OF
expression, anu d0tlbueotS. 1ni iot 10
set forth-His love, His compassion His work,
His life, His death, His resurrection. We are
challenged to measure it, to compute it, to
weigh it. In the hour of our broken en-
thrallment, we mount up into high expert
ence of His love, and shout until the coun-
tenance glows, and the blood bounds, and
the whole nature is exhilarated. Il have
found Him" And yet it is through glass,
darkly. We see not half of that compassion
ate face. We feel not half the warmth of
that loving heart. We wait for death to let
us rush into His outspread arms. Then we
shall be face to face. Not shadow then, but
substance. Not hope then, but the fulfilling
of all prefigurement. That will be magnifi-
cent unfolding.
The rushing out in view of all hidden ex-
cellency; the coming again of a long-absent
Jesus to meet us--not in rags and in penmy
and death, but amidst light and pomp and
outbursting joy such as Zone but glorifed
intelligence could experience. Oh TO gaze
full upon the brow that was lacerated, upon
the side that was pierced, upon the feet that
were nailed; to stand close up in the presence
of Him who prayed for us on the mountain
and thought of us by the sea, and agonized
for us in the garden, and died for us in horri
BILE crucifixion; to feel of Him, to embrace
Him, to take His hand. to kiss His feet, to
RIM our fingers along the scars of ancient sui