The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-03-05
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVI MES sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Glorious Christ"


above dU."-John Ill, 81.
The most conspicuous character OF history
steps out upon the platform. The finger
which, diamonded with light, pointed down
to Him from the Bethlehem sky, was only2
ratification Of the finger of prophecy, the
finger of genealogy, the finger Of chronology,
the finger Of events-all five fingers pointing
in one direction. Christ is the overtopping
figure of all time. He is the vox humana in
all music, the gracefu!est line IN all sculp-
ture the most exquisite mingling OF lights
and shades in all painting, the acme of all
clmaxes, the dome Of all cathedraled gran
dcur, and the peroraticn Of all splendid Ian
guage.
four letters and when Christ compared Him
self to the first letter and the last letter, the
alpha and the omega, He appropriated
to Himself all the splendors that you
ters and all the letters between them. II
am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and tho last" Or, If
you prefer the words Of the text, above
ALL"
What does it mean? 1t means. after you
have piled up all Alpine and Himalayan
attitudes, the glory of Christ would have to
leagues to touch those SUBMITS Pelion,
high mountain Of Thessaly; Ossa, high
mountain, and Olympus high mountain;
but mythology tells us when the giants
warred against the gods they piled up these
three mountains, and from the top of them
proposed to scale the heavens; but the height
was not great enough, and there was COM
pete failure. And after all the giants
Isaiah and Paul, prophetic and apostolic
giants: cherubim and seraphim and arch
angel, celestial giants-have failed to CLIMB
to the top of Christ's glory they might all
we'll unite in the words of the text and say:
''He that cometh from above is above ALL"
First Christ must be above all else in our
preaching There are so many books ON
homiletics scattered through the country
that all laymen, as well as all clergymen,
have made up their minds what sermons
ought to be. That sermon is most effectual
which most pointedly puts forth Christ as
the pardon Of all sin and the correction Of all
evil-individual, social political, national.
There is no reason why we should ring the
endless changes on a few phrases. Thereare
those who think that if an exhortation or
discourse have frequent mention of Justi..
fication, sanctiication, covenant OF
works and covenant OF grace, that
therefore it must be profoundly evangelical,
while they are suspicious Of discourse
which presents the same truth, but under
different phraseology. Now, say there is
nothing in all the opulent realm Of Anglo
Saxonism. Of all the word treasures that we
inherited from the Latin and the Greek and
the Indo-European, but We have right to
marshal it in religious discussion. Christ
sets the example. His illustrations were from
the grass the flowers, the spittle, the salve,
the barnyard fowl, the crystals OF salt, as
we'll as from the seas and the stars; and we
do not propose in our Sabbath-school teach
ing and in our pulpit address to be put on the
limits.
I know that there is great deal said in our
day against words, as though they were
nothing. They may be misused, but they
have an imperial power. They are the
bridge between soul and soul, between AL
mighty God and the human race What did
God write upon the tables Of stones? Words.
What did Christ utter on Mount Oliyet?
Words. Out of what did Christ strike the
spark for the illumination Of the universe?
Out Of words. "Let there bo light" and
light was. OF course, thought is the cargo,
and words are only the ship; but how fast
would your cargo get on without the
ship' What You need, my friends
in, all your work, in your Sabbath
institutions, and what We all need is to en-
large our vocabulary when we come to speak
about God and Christ and heaven. We ride
few old words to death when there IS such
llimitable resource. Shakespeare employed
fifteen thousand different words for dra-
matte purposes; Milton employed eight thou
sand different words for poetic purposes;
Rufus Choate employed over eleven thou
sand different words for legal purposes; but
the most of us have less than thousand
words that we can manage, less than five
hundred, and that makes us so stupid.
When we come to set forth the love Of
Christ we are going to take tenderest
phraseology wherever we find it. and If 1T
has never been used in that direction before,
all the more shall We use it. When we
come to speak Of the glory Of Christ, the
Conqueror, we are going to draw our SMILES
from triumphal arch and oratorio and
everything grand and .stupendo1s. The
French navy have eighteen flags by
eighteen flags they can put into sixty-six
thousand different combinations. And I
lave to tell you that these standards Of the
cross may be lifted into combinations infinite
and varieties everlasting. And lot me say
to these young men who come from the the
illogical seminaries into our services every
Sabbath and are after a while going to
preach Jesus Christ, you will have the
largest liberty and unlimited resource. You
only have to present Christ in your own way.
Jonathan Edwards preached Christ in the
severest argument ever penned, and John
Bunyan preached Christ in the sublimest al
legory ever composed. Edward Payson, sick
aud exhausted, leaned up against the side Of
the pulpit and wept out his discourse, while
George Whitfield, with the manner and the
voice and the start Of an actor overwhelmed
his auditory. 1t would have been different
thing il Jonathan Edwards had tried to
write and dream about the Pilgrims progress
to the celestial city, or John Bunyan had at
tnTnOta6 m eSSay On tbe human will
Brighter than the light, fresner than the
fountains, deeper than the seas, are all these
Gospel themes. Song has no melody, flowers
have swsetness sgSe sky has no Golos
harvests OF grace spring up quicker than we
thoir fire, and producing revolutions with
their power, lighting up dying beds with
thei' glory, they are the sweetest thought
for the poet, and they are the most thrilling
illustration for the orator, and they offer
tho most intense scene for the artist,
and they are to the ambassador of tho
sky all enthusiasm. Complete pardon for
agony. Brightest hope for grimmest death.
Grandest resurrection for darkest sepulchre.
Oh, what Gospel to preachl Christ over all
in it, His birth, His suffering, His miracles,
His parallels, His sweat His tears, His blood,
His atonement, His intercession-what glo-
rious themes. Do we exercise faith2 Christ
is its object Do we have lover 1t fastens
on Jesus. Have we fondness for the church?
1t is because Christ died for it. Have we a
hope Of heavens 1t is because Jesus went
ahead, the herald and the forerunner.
The royal robe of Denletrius was so costly.
80 beautiful, that after he had put it of no
one ever dared put it on; but this robe of
Christ, richer than that the poorest and the
wannest and the worst may wear. where
sin abounded grace may much more abound"
ooh mn Gins my sins y said Martin Ilfthar