The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-07-08
WE ARE WITNESSES!
DR.. TALMAGE's OPEN AIR SERMON
AT BEATRICE, NEB.

The Logic Of the skeptic Is Met by the
Overwhelming Testimony of Millions
Of Christians and Proved to Be False
BEATRICE, Neb., July 6.-Dr. Il l-
mage preached here in the open air to
an immense congregation which had
gathered from all the surrounding
country to hear the famous preacher.
His text was, "NVe are witnesses" (Acts
iii, 15). Following is his sermon:
III the days of George Stephenson,
the perfector of the locomotive engine,
the scientists proved conclusively that
9 railway train could never be driven
by steam power successfully and with
out peril; but the rushing express trains
from Liverpoolto Edinburgh, and from
Edinburgh to London, have made all
the nations witnesses of the splendid
achievement Machinists and naviga-
Tors proved conclusively that steamer
could never cross the Atlantic ocean;
but no sooner had they successfully
proved the impessibility of such an I'M
dertaking than the work was done, and
the passengers on the Cunard, and the
Inman, and the National, and the
White Star lines are witnesses. There
went up Il g,lifaw of wise laughter at
Professor Morse's proposition to make
the lightning of heaven his errand boy,
and it was proved conclusively that the
thing could never be done; but now all
the news of the wide world, by Asso-
GATED Press put in your hands every
morning and night, has made all ma
tons witnesses.
So in the time of Christ it was proved
conclusively that it was impossible for
him TO rise from the dead. 1t was
shown logically that when man was
dead he was dead, and the heart and
the liver and the lungs having ceased
10 perform their Offices, the limbs would
be rigid beyond all power of friction or
arouSal They showed it to be an abso-
lutte absurdity that the dead Christ
should ever get up alive; but no sooner
had they proved this than the dead
Christ arose and the disciples beheld
him, heard his voice and talked with
him, and they took the witness stand
to prove that TO be true which the wise
acres of the day had proved to be i'm
possible; the record OF the experience
and of the testimony is in the text:
Him hath God raised from the dead,
whereof we are witnesses. !"
THE sKEPTTC'S ARGUMENT.
Now, let me play the skeptic for q
moment. There is no God" says the
skeptic, 'for l have never seen him
with my physical eyesight. Your Bible
is a pack of contradictions. There never
was miracle Lazarus was not raised
from the dead and the water was never
turned into vine Your religion is an
imposition on the credulity of the ages "
There is an aged man moving over yon-
der as though he would like to respond.
Here are hundreds of people with faces
g little flushed at these announcements,
and all through this assembly there is
suppressed feeling which would like
to speak out in behalf of the truth of
our glorious Christianity, as in the days
of the text, crying out: I'VE are wit
nesSes.''
The fact is that if this world is ever
brought TO God it will not be through
argument, but through testimony You
might cover the whole earth with apol-
oeies for Christianity and learned trea-
tises in defense of religion-you would
not convert a soul Lectures on the
harmony between science and religion
are beautiful mental discipline, but
have never saved soul and never will
save a soul Put man of the world
and a man Of the church against each
other, and the man of the world will
IN all probability get the triumph.
There are thousand things in our re-
Iigion that seem illogical to the world
and always will seem illogical.
Our weapon in this conflict is faith,
not logic; faith, not metaphysics; fait ii,
not proftndity; faith, not scholastic
exploration. But then, in order TO
have faith, we must have testimony,
and if five hundred men, or one thou
sand men, or five hundred thousand
men, or five million men get up and
tell me that they have felt the religion
of Jesus Christ joy, comfort, help,
an aspiration, am bound as fair
minded man to accept their testimony.
I want Just now to put before you three
propositions, the truth of which I think
this audience will attest with over
whelming unaniniity.
RELIGION BRINGS A CHANGE OF HEART.
The first proposition is, We are wit
ncsses that the religion of Christ is able
10 convert a soul The Gospel may
have had u hard time to conquer US,
we may have fought it back, but we
were vanquished You say conversion
is only an imaginary thing. We know
better. 1--WE are witnesses" There
never was so SreaC Il change Ill oue
heart and life on any other subject as
on this. People laughed at the mission
aries in Madagascar because they
preached ten years without one con-
vert; but there are $4,000 converts in
Madagascar today.
People laughed at DR.. Adomram Jud-
son, the Baptist missionary, because he
kept on preaching in Burmah five years
without single convert; but there are
twenty thousand Baptists in Burmah
today. People laughed at DIR. Morri-
son, in China, for preaching there seven
years without a single conversion; but
there are twenty-five thousand Chris
tians in China today. People laughed
at the missionaries for preaching at Ia
-: Gc4oo,, ,-o,r, without n SinO1a con-