The Forrest City times., 1890-03-08
LOOSE HIM AND LET HIM CO.,
Memorial Sermon of Dr. Talmags on R. :
 vision of Crsels."
At tho Ruins of Bethany. Mary, Martin and Lazarus Christ Commando the Locsea- Fact

La.t Sunday Rev T. Do Wit Talmago, surplementinc his sermon with a statement that he thought tho New Brooklyn Tabar- nacle would be dedicated in September, and that the idea would bs carried out of build ing the church by subscription to Tho Christian Herald, of which he has become editor, all the subscriptions upto hundred and fifty thonsaud to bc paid to Mir. John Wood, treasurer of the Tabernacle, Fulton street. near Concord, Brooklyn, N. Y. The subject of his discourse was Revision Of Creeds," and he took for his text John Xii 4: "Loose him, and let him go." Dr. Tal- mage said,
 My Bible is, at tho place of this text, written all over with lead pencil marks made last December at Bethany on the ruins of the house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. We dismounted from our horses on tho way up from Jordon to the DeAd Sea Bethany was the summer evening rerteat of Jesus. After spending the day in the hot city of Jerusalem he would come ou; there almost every evening to the house of his three friends. 1 think the occu- pants of that house were orphans, for the fath and mother are not men toned. But the son and two daugh- ters must have inherited property, for 1t must have been, judging from what I saw of tho foundations and the size of the rooms, an opulent home Lazarus, tho brother was now the head of the house hold and hls sisters depended on hun and were proud of him. for he was very popu lar and everybody liked him, and these girls were splendid girls. Martha first rate housekeeper and Mary a spirituele, somewhat dreamy, but affeetiouate, and as good girl as could be found in all Paes- tine. But one day Lazarus got sick. The lN and mother gone, they feel very ner- vous lest they lose their brother also Disease did its qutek work. How the girls hung over his pillow Not much sleep about that house. no sleep at all From the characteristics otherwhore de- veloped judge that Martha prepared the medicines and made tempting dishes ot food for the poor appetite of the sutferer, but Mary p~ayed and sobbed, Worse and worse gets Lazarus, until the doctor announces that he can do no moro The shrek that went up from yhat house. hold when the last breath hat been drawn and the two sisters were being led by sym pathizers into an adioinie- room, all those of us can imagine who have had our own hearts broken. But why was hot Jesus there as he 80 often had beenl Far away in the eoun- try districts preaching, healing other sick, how unfortunate that this omnipotcnt Doc tor had not been at that domestic crisis in Bethany hen ut last Jesus arrived in Bethany Lazarus had been buried four days and dissolution had taken place. In that climate the breathless body disinte- grates more rapidly than in ours. If, i'm. mediateiy after decease, that body had been awakened into life unbet!eycrs might have said that he was only n in of trance, and by some vigorous manipala- tion or powerful stimnlant vitality had been renewed. Noi Four days dead At the door Of the sepulchre is Il crowd ot people but the three most memorable arc Jesus who was tho family friend, and the two bereft sisters Ne went into tha tra- ditional tomb in December, and it is deep down and dark, and with torches we explored it. We found it ali quiet that afternoon of our visit but the day spoken Of in the Bible there was present an excited multitude. l wonder what Jesus will do He orders tho doors of the grave remove1, and tben he begins to desceud the steps, Mary and Martha close after him, nud the crowd after them Deeper dowa Into tae shadows and deeper The hot teats of Jesus roll over his cheeks and splash upon the back of his hands Were ever so many sorrows compressed into so small q space us in that group pressing on down alter Chrsst. all the time hemoauing that ho had not come betoeel +Now all the whisaariny and all the erfIng and al the souads of shutliing feet arc sioepat. It is the silcnca of expectauey beatn has conqusred, but now the vauqusher of death confronted the scene Amid the awful husb ol the tomb the familiar mama which Christ had often had upon his llps in the hospitaiities of tho village home came back to hls tongue and with a pathos and almightyness Of which the resurrection of the last day shall be only an echo, he cries "I4azarus! come fourthw The eyes Of the slumberer open and he rises and comes to the foot Of tue steps and with great difficulty begins to ascend, for the cerements of the tomb are yet on him and his feet and hands arc fast and the imnedl. ments to all his movements are so great that Jesus commands: Take of these cerements, remove these hindranees; unfasten these grave clothes; loose him and let him Rom Oh l am so glad that after the Lord raised Laza- rus he went on and commandea the looseung of inc cords that bound his feet so that he could walk. and the breaking of Of the corement that bound his hands so that he could stretch out his arms in salu- tattau, and the tearing of Of the bandaSe from around his jaws so that he could speak What would resurreciei life have been to Lazarus f he had not been freed from all those supplements Of his bodyl 1 am glad that Christ commanded his com pleto emancipation, saying, "Loose him, and let him gn.H
 The unfortunate thing now Is that so many Christians sre only half liberated They have been raised from the death and burial ot sin into spiritual life, but they yet have the grave clothes on them They are like Lazarus, hobbling up tho stairs of tho tomb ueund hand and foot and the object oi this sermon is to help free their soul. ana shaii try to obey the Masters command that comes to me and comes to every min- ister ef religion, Loose him, and let him go First, many Are bound hand and foot by religious oreeds, Lev no man mis- mterprat me as antagnnlxng creeds I have eight or tea of them; q creed about religion, a erect about art, a creed about social iifo, creaa about government and So on. A creed is something that man believes, whether t ba written or unwrit- ten. The Presbyterian church is now agitating about it's creed Soule good men in tt nre for keeping 1t because it wus framed from the belief of John Calvin. Other good men tn it want revision. am with neither party. Instead of revision waat substitution was sorry to have the question disturbed at all. The creed did not hinder us from offering tue pardon and the comfort of tho gospel to all men, and tho Nestmiuster Confession has not inserferad with me one minute Bat now that tho electric lights have been turned on ths imperfactions of that creedand everything that man fash. ions is imperfect tot us put tho old creed P aat tsN.sftN NsalN 1ss tss
 one II ts impossible that people who iiyea hundreds Of years ago should fashion m at.. propriaAe creed for oar times John Calvin was great and good man, but he died three hundred and twanty-slx years ago The best centuries of 8iele study have come since then, aud explorers havs done their work and as you mlsht as well