The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-02-22
THE r CHRIST.
DR.. Talmage on the Greatness of
the Saviour.
Above All on Earth and lii Heaven-The
Best of Language Requisite In Portray
Ing His Goodness-The Christians
Final Triumph.

- ACtChl bGEuloH ~ bTbDhlOh nov
i. Dewitt Talmage preached on Tho
Glorious Christ" His text was: HE
that cometh from above is above all"
John iii. 81. The great preacher said:
lhe most conspicuous character OF his
tory steps out upon the platform. The
nnger which, diamonded with light,
pointed down to him from the Bethle-
hem sky was only q ratification OF the
prophecy, the finger of g~enealogy, the
nnger of chronology, the finger OF
events-an Ave fingers pointing in one
direction. Christ Is the overlapping
figure of all time. He Is the vox hui
mana in all music, the gracefulest line
in all sculpture, the most exquisite
mingling OF lights and shades in all
painting, the acme Of all climaxes, the
dome of all cathedral grandeur and the
peroration Of all splendid Language.
The Greek alphabet Is composed OF
twenty-four letters, and when Christ
compared himself to the first letter and
the last letter, the alpha and the omega,
he appropriated to himself all the
splendor that you can spell out either
with those two letters, and all the let
ters between them. 81 an the Alpha
and the Omega, the beginning and the
end, the first and the last" Or, IL you
prefer the words of the text, ''above
ALL"
What does 1t mean? 1t means, after
you have piled up Alpine and Himalay-
an attitudes, tho glory of Christ would
have to spread its wings and descend a
thousand leagues to touch those sum-
mits. Pelion, a high mountain OF Thes-
sally; Ossa, a high mountain, and Olym-
pus, q high mountain; but mythology
tells US that 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 n complete failure. And after
all the g~iants--Isaiah and Paul. prophet
ic and apostolic giants; Raphael and
Michael Angelo, artistic giants; cheru-
BIN, %seraphim and archaDgel, celestial
giants-have failed TO climb to the top
of Christ's glory they might all well
unite in tho words of the text and say:
HE that cometh from above Is above
all"
First, Christ mnst be above all else in
our preaching. There are 80 many
books on homiletics scattered through
the country that all laymen, as we'll az
c~lergymen, have a 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-individu-
al, social, political, national. There Is no
reason why we should ring the endless
changes on a few phrases. There are
those who think hat II an exhortation
or o discourse have frequent mention OF
justification, sanctifcation, covenant of
works and covenant Of grace, that
therefore 1t must be profoundly
evangelical. while they are sus-
plcious of q discourse which presents
the same truth but under different
phraseology. Now, | say there is moth
ing In oil 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 q right to marshal 1t in religious
discussion. Christ sets the example.
His Illustrations were from the grass,
the flowers, the spittle, the salve, the
barn-yard fowl, the crystals Of salt, as
we'll as from the seas and the stars, and
we do not propose in our Sunday school
teaching and in our pulpit address to be-
put on the limits.
l know that there is q great deal said
in our day against words, as though
they were nothing. They may be mis-
used, but they ave an imperial power,
They are the bridge between soul and
soul, between Almighty God and the
human race. What did God write upon
the tables OF stones? Words. What did
Christ utter on Mount 0livet? Words.
Out Of what did Christ strike the spark
for the illumination OF the nniversei
Out of words. LET there be light, and
light was. OF course, thought is the
cargo and words are only the ship; but
how fast would our cargo get on without
the ship? What you need, my friends
In all your work, in your Sabbath school
class, in the reformatory institutions
and what we all need Is to enlarge oul
vocabulary when we come to speak
about God and Christ and Heaven. Wa
ride a few old words TO death when there
Is such illimitable resources. Shakes
peare employed $4,000 different words
for dramatic purposes, Milton employed
5000 different words for poetic purposes
Rufus Choate employed over 1000 diff
ferent words for legal purposes, but the
most Of w have less than 1000 wordi
that We can manage, less than 500, ant
that makes us so stupid.
When we come TO set forth the love o
Christ we are going to take tenderes
p~hraseology wherever we find II, n !
IL has never beer used In that direction
before, all the moro shall we use II
When we come TO speak OF the glory o
Christ, the conqueror, We are going b
draw our SMILES from triumphal arcl
and oratorio and every thing grand ant
~stupendous. The French navy hav'
eighteen flags by which they give sig
nal, but those eighteen flags they ca
nut into 90, 900 different combinations
And I have to tell you that these stand
ards of the cross may be lifted into com
binations Infinite and varieties everlast
ING. And let me say TO these younI
men who come from the theological
seminaries into our services every SAT-
bath. and are after awhile going I
preach Jesus Christ, You will w tn
largest liberty and unlimited resourcss
You only have TO present Christ In you
own way.
Jonathan E1SHfds preached Christ /
the seyerest argument ever penned an
John Buhyan preached Christ In tn
sublimest allegory ever composed Ef
ward Payson, sick and exhausted. leane
np against the side OF the pulpit an
xept out his discourse, while Georg
Whtteield, with the manne and II
voice and the start of an actor, owe
whelmed his auditory. 1t would ha'
been a difefent thing II jonathan e
wards had tried to write and drea
about the pilgrims progress to Il
celestial city, or John Bunyan had 9
tempted an essay on the human will.
Brighter than the light, fresher thi
the fountains, deeper than the seas, a
all those Gospel themes. Song has
melody, flowers have no sweetness, 81
set sky has no color compared with the
glorious themes. These harvests
grace spring up quicker tina
we can sickle them. Kindling pulp
with their fire, and producing revol
tom with their power, lighting up q
ing beds with their glory, they are 7
sweetest thought for the poet, and th
are the most thrilling Illustrations
The orator, and they, offer the most
tense scene for the artist, and they q
to the ambassador Of the sky all emil
sissm. Complete pardon for dire
quilt Sweetest comfort for ghastli'
agonies. Brightest hope for grimm'
death. Grandest resurrection for dai
estsepulchers.