Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-07-11
M 1DE WITNESSES!
.,MAGE'S OPEN AIR SER
r" AT BEATRICE. NEB.

W." and Proved to BE False.
u.p. Neb.. July 9th. DR.. Talmage
l}fN,IN5i' bonn, in the open air to an i'm
l~roaeI''u 'Gregation which had gathered
meA7' .ir surrounding country to hear
frai! a. We nrnacher. His text was, I'VE
t'' ,I+ ~ ,ursscs" GActs i'll. 10y. Following is
lif se hn days OF George stephenson, the
m '!t :" - the locomotive engine. the
IeFiet..t nroyed conclusively that Il rail-
sr''iha7n c.nnld never be driven by steam
way a'. a','l,cessfully and without peril: but
pew .binr express trains from Liverpool
IT, ITi,,,IilIr,gh. and from Edinburgh to Lon
laa' have made all the httions Witnesses OF
doN' ,.lIinndid achievement. Machlnlsts and
III in,6rs proved conclusively that a
lt'iS'," rrolll never cross the Atlantic
st'an" hut no sooner had they success
ot%"nr ,yel the impossibility of such an
iu1N ! liking than the work was Gone. and
I'M, sssrnrers on the Cunard. and the In
tNe "a.nJ tuc National. and the White Star
mn wise laughter at Prof. Morse'sprop
1aM 70 make the lightning of heaven his
O., 49, how. and it was lproved conclusively
crf,.. ,Hn hing could never be done; buf
1la. III he news of the wide world. by As
~ nf.f,l Press put in your hands morning
swj nieht. has made all nations witnesses.
'H' IN me lime of Christ it was proved
nmInsiyclv that it was impossible for Him
W. W.. from the dead. 1t was shown logic
ln,. ,hat when a man was dead he was
~ and the heart and the liver and the
, n"+ having ceased to perform their Offices,
IH'7 limbs would be rigid beyond all friction
~ ~ orallsal. They showed it to be an abso-
lnt. absurdity that the dead Christ should
r aver get up alive: but no sooner had they
nr1yei this THAI the dead Christ arose and
H. diseiples beheld Him, heard His voice
.m1 talked with Him. and they took the
,ritne,s stand to prove that to be true which
tGe wisacres of the day had proved to be
;mnossible: the record of the experience
and Of the testimony is in the text: Him
bath God raised from llle deaa' Whefeol we
are Witnesses.
Now. let me play the skeptic for a NOM
on. There is no God" says the skeptic,
Nor have never seen him with my physi-
cal cyesight. Your Bible is Il pack OF con-
traJictions. There was Il miracle.
lazarus was not raised from the dead. and
The waterI was never turned into wine.
Your religion is an imposition on the credu-
6tv of The ages" There is an aged man
moving over yonder us though he would
like 10 respond. Here are hundreds of peo-
hc with faces a little flushed at these an
houneements, and all through this assem-
bly, there is a suppressed feeling which
would like to speak out in behalf of the
truth Of our glorious Christianity. as in the
Liz VI AN tS-S So0 = "ASN
hrsses.."
The fact is that if this world is ever
brought to God it will not be through argu-
nent, but through testimony. You might
cover the whole earth with apologies for
Christianity and learned treatises in de-
Tense of rcligion-you would not convert q
soul. Lectures on the harmony between
science and religion are beautiful mental
discipline, but have never saved a soul. and
never will ave Il soul. Put a man of the
world and a man of the church against each
t.her, and the man of the world will in all
probability get the triumph. There are a
thousand things in our religion that seem
Illogical to the world and always will seem
Illogical. .
Our weapon in this conflict is faith, not
osic; faith, not metaphysics: faith, not pro-
undity: faith, not scholastic exploration.
But then, in order to have faith. we must
baye testimony. and if five hundred men,
pr one thousand men. or five hundred thou
eani men. or five million men iget up and
cline that they have felt the religion of
csus Christ a JOY, a comfort, a help. an
SEPARATION, l I'M bound as affair mindedman
oaccept their testimony. l want just 10Y
9 put before you three propositions, the
ruth Of which 1 think this audience will at
est with overwhelming unanimity.
The first proposition is. We are witnesses
lat the religion of Christ is able to convert
soul. The Gospel may have had a hard
line 10 conquer us, we may have fought it
pack, but We were vanquished. You say
inversion is only an imaginary thing. We
nov better. I'VE are Witnesses" There
bever was so great a change in our heart
lli life on any other subject as on his.
People laughed at the missionaries in Mad
sascar because they preached ten years
Without one convert; but there are $4,000
converts in Madagascar to-day.
People laughed at DIR. Adomram Judson.
ae Baptist missionary, because he kept on
Preaching in Burmah five years without a
Fad Baptists in Burmah TODAY. People
alsI>d at DR.. Morrison. in China, for
Preaching there seven Years without a sim
e. conversion; but there are twenty-five
Aolsand Christians in China to-day. Peo-
Pc laughed at the missionaries for preach
~ III Tahiti fifteen years without Il single
DIVERSION, and at the missionaries Tor
Preaching in Bengal seventeen years with
put Il single conversion: yet in all those
5ads there are multitudes of Christians to-
lay.
But why go SO far to find evidence of the
p2sl'els power to save a soul? we are
Witnesses" We were so proud that no man
old nave humbled US. WA were SO hard
lMt no earthly power could have melted us;
hsels OF God were all around about US;
ny could not overcome us. But n day,
cFlaps at u Methodist anxious seat, or at a
!'snyterlan catcchetical lecture, or at a
uIlai, or on horseback, a power seized us,
knl made us get down. and made us trem-
w. and made us kneel. and made US cry
" Nercy,and we tried to wrench ourselves
WAY ron the grasp. but we could not. 1t
uAS US Nat. and when we arose we We're as
laeh changed as Gourgis, the heather.
no went into a prayer meeting with a dag
ef ana a gun to disturb the meeting and
sslfoy 1t, but the next day was found cry
~ On. any great sins! Oh, my great
",!o1f! and for eleven years preached the
YsP'i"1 Christ to his fellow mountaineers.
IT. lAS1 words on his dying lips being. Free
M = On. it was free grace!
~, IRE is Il man who was for ten years a
e Hrlhker- The dreadful appetite had
~ NoMn Its roofs around he palate and
uHAg'e. and on Gown usti. they we're
,%rIlniiel with the vita 5 of the body. mind
a., sou!; but he mas not taken any stimn-
sm Tor ten years. What did that? Not
mP'fahce societies. Nor prohibition
:" Not moral suasion. Conversion did
WY said one upon whom the great
VIZ nm mad come. sir. | feel just as though
a". somebody else!" There is a sea
E nri'. VINO sworc all the way from New
ran ~ ~ havana, and from Havana to San
Fo m..is.o' and when he was in port he was
kv, . nan when he was on the sea. What
N, r' was It that washed his tongue clean
mm","lltles and made him a psalm singer?
nn Sn" by the Holy Spirit. There are
nv @ sls OF people in this assemblage to-
IAN Wv are no more what they once We're
b. ia - Naterllly is Il night shade. or a morn
y =. is a V%ulturc, or day is night.
e 4n"' II Should demand that all those
ri, H. mere present who nave felt the O II