The Opelousas courier., 1890-10-18
REV. DR.5TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY R


In the days of George Stephenson, the
perfector Of the locomotive engine, the sci
entists proved conclusively that a railway
train could never be driven by steam power
successfully and without peril; but the
rushing express trains from liverpool to
Edinburgh and from Edinburgh to London,
have made all the nations witnesses Of the
splendid achievement. Machinists and
n~avigators proved conelusively that a
steamer could never cross the Atlantic
Ocean; but no soone had they successfully
proved the impossibility of such an under
taking than the. work was done, and the pas.
sengerS on the Cnnard and the Inman and
the National and the White Star lines are
witnesses. There went up a guffaw 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 Associated Press
put in your hands every morning and night,
has made all nations witnesses.
So in the time of Christ 1t was proved
conclusively that it was impossiblefo for Him to
rise from the dead. It was shown logically
! that when a man was dead he was dead, and
| the heart and the liver and the lungs having
ceased to perform their Offices the limbs
would be rigid beyond all power of friction
or arousal. They showed it to be an absolute
absurdity that the dead Christ should ever
| get up alive; but no sooner had they proved
this than the dead Christ arose, and the dis
ciples beheld Him, heard His voice and
talked with Him, and they took the witness
stand to prove that to be true which the
wiseacres 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 wit
nesses."
Now let me play the skeptic for a moment.
There is no God" says the skeptic, 'for
/ have never seen Him with my physical
eyesight. Your Bible is a pack Of contra
dictions. There never wasa miracle. Iaz-
arus was not raisedfrom the dead, and wa
ter was never turned into wine. Your re-
ligion is an imposition on the credulity OF the
ages" There is an aged man moving over
yonder as though he would like to respond.
Here are hundreds Of people with faces q
little flushed at these announcements, and
all through this assembly there 10 q sup
pressed feeling which would like to speak
out in behalf OF the truth OF oar glorious
Christianity, dis In the days of the text. cry
ing out, ave are witnessesp
The fact is that If this world Is ever
brought to God it will not be through argu-
ment, but through testimonG. YOU might
cover the whole earth with apologies for
Christianity and learned ~treatises in defense
of ~religion-you would not convert a soul.
Lectures on the harmony between science
aud religion are beautiful mental discipline,
but have never saved a soul and never will
save a soul. Put a man of the world and a
of the church against each other and the
man of he world will in all probability get
the tri mph. There are a thousand
things Ia our religion that seem illogi-
cal to the world and always will
seem illogical. Our weapon in this conflict
is faith, not logic; faith, not metaphysics,
faith, not ~profundity; faith, not scholastic
exploration. But then in order to faith
we must have testimony, and il five hundred
men, or one thousand men. or i've hundred
thousand men, or five million n1en get up n
tell me that they nave felt the religion OF
Jesus Christ a JOY, a comfort, a help, an as
piration, am bound as G fair minded man TO
accept their testimony. want just now 70
of which I think this audience will attest
with overwhelming unanimity.
The first proposition is: We are witnesses
that the religion of Christ is able to con-
vert a soul. The Gospel may have had q
hard time to conquer us, we may nave
fought il back, but we were vanqulshed
Yon say conversion is only an imaginary
thing. We know better. w are wit
nesses." There never was SO greats change
in our 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 convert; but there
are 33, 600 converts in Madagascar to-day
People laughed at DIR. Adomram Judson,
@Baptist missionary, because ne kept on
preaching in Burmah five years without o
single convert: but there are 10000 Baptis6
in Burmah to-day. People laughed at DR.
Morrison. in China, for preaching there
seven years without a single conversion; Du
there are as, 600 Christians in China to-day
People laughed at the missionaries 10
preaching At Tahiti h~fteeneyears wlOnous
single conversion, and at the missionaries 10
preaching in Bengal seventeen years withou
q single conversion; yet in all those land
there are multitudes of Christians to-day.
But why 90 SO far to find evidence OF TN
Gospels power to save q soui9 we az
Witnesses We were so proud tha6 n
man could have humbled us; we were s
hard that no earthly power couSS hav
meltSd us; angels of God were all aroqn'
abodg us: they could not overcome US. Blu
one day, perhaps at a MethGdist anxlou
seat or at a Presbyterian catechetlcai let
ture. or al q burial, or on horseback,
power seized us, and made us get down, an
made us tremble, and made us kneei, an
made us CRY for mercy, and we Wled J
wrench ourselves away from the grasp, 81
we could not. 1t flung US fat. and when "
arose we were as much changed as GoufgA
J the heather, who went intoa prayer meetin
with a dagger and o gun TO disturb the meet
ing and destroy it, but the next day VIZ
found CRYING: tOh, my great sinsi Oh, m
great Saviour and for eleven year
{ preached the Gospel of Christ to his fello'
Y mountaineers, the last words on his dyin
lips being Free Gracer' Oh, it was fire
gracel
, There is a man who for ten years was
hard drinker. The dreadful appetite ha
. sent down it's roots around the palate an
) the tongue, and on down until they wei
interlinke6 with the vitals OF the BODY
mind and soSA but he has not taken an
!, stimulants for ten years. What did tina
laws. Not moral snasion. Conversion di
Il. ttWhy,n said one upon whom the gres
Q change had come, sssir, ! feel just 4
y thongh / were somebody elsep There is
j sea captain who swore all the wayfrom Ne
York 10 Havana, and from Havana to Sa
Francisco, and when he was IN port ne W
: worse than when he was on the sea. VIVA
newer was it that washed his tongue clean
p~rofanities and made him a psalm singe
q Conversion by the Holy Spirit. There a
+ thousands of people In this assemblage to-da
!. who are no more what they once were tbs
= q waterlily is a nightshade, or a mornir
y lark is a ~vulture. or day Is night.
b Now. lie / should demand that all tho
i reonle here present who have felt the co
!, yertinr power of religion should rise, so 4
from being ashamed thsy would spring
their feet with more alacrity than they ev
sDrang to the dance, the tears mingllng WI
. their exhilaration as they cried. W q
. Witnesses, And IL they tried 20 sing q
!. old GOSPEL hymn they would break dov
= with emotion by the time they got TO :
y second line.
q Ashamed Of Jesus, that dear Friend
on whom my hopes Of heaven depend7
MOI When / blush, be this my shame;
~ That I no more revere His natne
Again Irenark that We are WlFnesses
kfhe Gospel's power TO comfort. There
IuS-.Ase. unennfs hara Wh0 ara willing