The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-01-23
TALMAGE ON REVEALS.
THE NEEo OF RELIGIOUS AWAKENING.
The Noted Brooklyn Divine breaches About
Universal Spiritual Arousal- The
People should Not Wait For
Church or Preacher.

The revival services now being con-
Quoted at the tabernacle by DR.. Munhall
afforded Pastor Talmage an opportunity
to preach last Sunday morning upon the
need of great religious awakening. 1t
was an earnest and telling sermon, and is
said to have made visible impression on
the very large congregation present. DIR.
Talmage preached at greater length than
usual, and said, among other things:
1 argue 1t in the first place from the lack
of zeal and enthusiasm on the part of
those OF US who preach the gospel and all
Christian workers in all departments.
You see this is a great gun that kicks.
The pulpit must preach to itself before 1t
breaches to the pew. The simple fact
is that many of our pulpits are struck
through with dry rot and are dying OF the
conventionalities and are blasted with
metaphysics, and none of us in pulpits or
in sabbath-schools, or in the reformatory
circles, is doing one half of what he ought
to be doing for God and the betterment
of the worlds condition. Thirtv-two
years ago, in the village church at Belle
vile, y. j., knelt, and some ten or
eleven excellent ministers of the gospel
put their hands on my head in ordina-
ton for the holy ministry, and I
look back this morning with two
emotions-one of gratitude to God,
and the other of utter dissatisfaction
with myself. Oh, the opportunities we re-
iected for preaching Christ to the
people and urging men TO attend to their
best interests. How poorly, often, they
have been improved. / tell you, ministers
of religion-for there are many here to-
day; / see you scattered all through the
house, as in all our services-I tell you,
ministers of religion, and Sabbath school
teachers and Christian workers, let the
work begin at home. And then 1 am
almost overwhelmed when think under
what parental blessing L started. Rev.
DR.. Chambers of New York, at present
one of the pastors of the Collegiate
church, in a letter which was printed
some years ago. after pastorate of long
and wide experience, said that my mother
The old folks were plain and they lived
close up to God, and no one doubted
where they went when they died,
my mother saying in her last
hour, after sixty years of married
life: "Oh, father, wouldn't it be pleasant
If we could both go together?" But they
were parted only little while. They are
now before the throne of God. Oh, my
glorifed ancestry We who have had
such early advantages, why, We ought to
have been flaming evangels. Oh, brother
ministers OF the gospel, what is the use of
telling men they are all right when they
know they are not all right? There is a
throne in every mans conscience that
tells him that when he accepts Jesus
Christ he is right, and when he refuses to
accept Jesus Christ he does wrong. But
oh the temptations which we in the min
istry have-you laymen know nothing
about them. In this age the temptation
is so mighty to smooth down the truth
and hush the alarms of the gospe' and pat
men on the shoulder or, as the poet
said:-
smooth down the stubborn text for ears polite,
And simply keep damnation out Of sightl'
Oh, my friends in the gospel ministry, if
you are hiding any of the truths of Gods
word, quit the folly or you had better
stand away from that soul in the last great
day; you had better not come near that
soul on the last great dav, for that soul
will cry out: Il admired your phiiosophi-
cal dispositions; 1 liked your gestures,
liked your sentences multiform, stellar
form and curvilinear, but you never told
me about the great day OF test and trial.
Cursed be your rhetoric. Witness, all We
hosts of light and all We hosts of dark
ness, am going down and / am going to
take that minister with me. 1t is his
fault. He never told me-" And worlds
OF darkness echo it back: "His fault his
fault" / argue also the need of a mighty
awakening from the cold-heartedness in
the experience of vast multitude of pro-
fessors of religion. l am not stating an
abstraction now. | am stating what
you know. If church have a member
ship of 500 700 are sound asleep. If a
church have a membership of 600 500 of
the members are sound asleep. ii a
church have a membership of 100 ninety
are sound asleep. And if a question of
religious meeting comes up and that same
night there Is to be some operate enter
tainment or a meeting of lodge or meet
ing of social circle or a meeting of a liter
airy circle and man has to choose between
the two, which does he take? | donot an
swer the question, but in your own silence
answer. Does Christ or the world get that
occasion? Hundreds and thousands of
Christians stand asking themselves the
infinitesimal questions: "Shall we dance?
shall we play cards? shall we 90 to the
theater ?" and thousand questions like
that without asking the one question.
"What is to be the destiny of
millions of souls now marching on toward
the bar OF God? What is to be the
destiny of the 50O,0O0,OOO souls without
God and without hope In the world ?"
Where are the men and women who are
making religion the primordial thing, the
first and the last? Oh, We back-slidden
Christians, you die as you are, and all the
communion tables at which you ever sat
will lift up their hands of blood crying
for your condemnation, and neglected
bibles and prayerless pillows will cry:
"Let him 90 down. He broke the sacra-
mental vow. Out of the seven days of
the week he gave not five hours to Christ.
Let him go down" / verify believe that
If the professors of religion who are living
far away from God and neglect their duty
could see their condition this morning
they would bite their lips until the blood
came, and wiring their hands until the
bones cracked, and would utter shrek
that would send this whole audience to
their feet l argue also the need of
great arousal from the fact that
the cause of God is comparatively
so slowly progressing. More Chris
tians now than ever, more churches
than ever, more religion in the world than
ever, you understand that; but at the
present ratio OF increase do you think this
world will ever be brought to God? Why.
it is mathematical impossibility. There
are more people born into the world than
are born into the kingdom of God, and in
600 000 000 wears the world UOuld NOT bo