The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-02-11
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Come."

first text, inviting autadiluvians into Noah's
ark. and it stands at the other gate Of the
Bible As in my second text inviting the
postdiluvians into the ark Of Saviours
mercy. "Come" is only word Of four
letters, but it is the queen Of words, and
nearly the entire nation Of English voca5u.
4, larry bows to its scepter. 1t lis an ocean into
which empty ten thousand rivers of meaning.
, Other words drive, but this beckons.
! All moods Of feeling hath that word
"Come." Sometimes it weeps and sometimes
it laughs. Sometimes it prays, sometimes it
tempts and sometimes it destroys. 1t sounds
from the door of church and from the serag-
los Of sin, from the gates of heaven and the
! gates Of hell. 1t is continent and accrescent
| Of all power. 1t is the heiress Of most Of the
past and tho almoner Of most Of the future.
! "Come!' You may pronounce it so that all
the heavens will be heard in its cadences, or
/ pronounce it so that all the woes Of time and
eternity shall reverberate in its one syllable.
1t is the migEtiest of all solicitants either for
! good or bad.
! To-dayI weigh anchor and haul in the
planks, and set sail on the great word, al
! though am sure will not be able to- reach
; hefurther shore. Twill let down the faith
oming line into the sea and try to measure
/ Its depths, and though tie together all the
! cables and cordage have on board, I will
not be able to touch bottom. All the power
! of the Christian religion is in that word
Come" The dictatorial and commandatory
, In religion is of no avail. The imperative
mood Is not the appropriate mood when we
would have people savingly impressed. They
! may be coaxed, but they cannot be driven.
Our hearts are like our homes; at friend
! " knock the door will be opened, but an at
tempt to force open our door would land the
assailant in prison. Our theological semin-
aries, which keep young men three years in
their curriculum before launching them into
the ministry, will do well IL in so short
time they can teach the candidates for the
holy office how to say with right emphasis
and information and power that. one word
"Comew That man who has such efficiency
In Christian work, and that woman who has
such power to persuade people to quit the
wrong and begin the right, went through
series of losses, bereavements, prosecutions
and the trials Of twenty or thirty years be-
fore they could make it triumph Of grace
every time they uttered the word Come"
You Sust remember that in many cases
our "Come" has O mightier "Come" to
conquer before it has any effect at all. Just
give me the accurate census, the statistics,
Of how many are down in fraud, in drunken
ness, in gambling, in inpurity, or in vice OF
any sort, and will give you the accurate
census OF statistics of how many have been
slain by the word "Come." "Come and
click wine glasses with me at this ivory bar"
"Come and see what we can win at this gam
inc table" "Come, enter with me this
doubtful speculation" Come with me and
read those infidel tracts on Christianity"
"Come with me to a place Of bad amuse-
mept," "Come with me In q gay bout
through underground New York" If in this
CITY there are twenty thousand who are down
in moral character, then twenty thousand
fell under the power Of the word "Come."
was reading of wife whose husband had
been overthrown by strong drink, and she
went to the saloon where he was ruine1, and
she said: ''Give me back my husband" And
the bartender, pointing to maudlin and
! battered man browsing in the corner Of the
barroom, said: ''There be is. Jim, wake up;
here's your wife come for you" And the
woman said: "Do you call that my husbands
What have you been doing with him2 Is
that the manly brow? Is that the clear eye?
Is that the noble heart I married. What
vile drug have you given him that has turned
him into fend? Take your tiger claws off
Of him. Uncoil those serpent folds OF evil
habit that are crushing him. Give me back
my husband, the one with whom l stood at
tho altar ten years ago. Give him back to
me-" Victim was he, as millions Of Others
have been, of the word Come"
With that word which has done so much
for others approach you to-day. Are you
all right with God? NO" you say, II
think not; am sometimes alarmed when I
think of Him; fear will not be ready to
meet Him in the last day; my heart is not
right with God" Come then and have it
made right. Through the Christ who died
to save you, come! What is the use in
waiting? The longer you wait the further
of you are, and the deeper you are down.
Strike out for heaven! You remember that
few years ago a steamer called the Princess
Alice, with crowd of excursionists aboard,
sank in the Thames, and there was an awful
sacrifice of life. A boatman from the shore
put out for the rescue and he had big boat
and be got it so full it would not hold an.
other person, and as he laid hold of the oars
to puli for the shore, leaving hundreds help
less and drowning he cried out, sOh, that
had bigger boatn Thank God, I am not
thus limited, and that / can promise room
| for all in this Gospel boat. Get in; get inl
And vet there is room. Room in the heart
: of pardoning God. Room in heaven.
also apply the word Of my text to those
who would like practical comfort. If any
ever escape the struggle OF life, have not
! found them. They are not certainly among
the prosperous classes. In most cases 1t was
struggle all the way up till they reached
; the prosperity, and since they have reached
! these heights there have been perple1ities,
anxieties and cries which were almost
enough to shatter the nerves and turn tbs
| brain. It would be hard to tell which have
the biggest fight in the world-the' prosperi
ties or the adversities the conspicuities or the
obscurities. just as soon as you have enough
success to attract the attention Of others the
! envies and jealousies are let loose from their
/ kennel. The greatest crime that you can
| commit in the estimation of others is to get
on better than they do They think your
addition is their subtraction. Five hundred
! persons start for certain goal OF success
one reaches it and the other four hundred
and ninety-nine are mad. It would take
! volumes to hold the story Of the wrongs, out
+ RACES and defamations that have come upon
+ you as result Of your success. Th, warm
sun Of prosperity brings into life swamp
full of annoying insects.
On the other hand the unfortunate classes
! have their struggles for maintenance. To
achieve livelihood by one who had nothing
to start with, and after while for family
as well. and carry this on until children are
reared and educated and fairly started i'll the
world, and to do this amid all the rivalries
Of business, and the uncertainty Of crops,
and the fckleness Of tariff legislation, with
an occasional labor strike, and here and
there financial panic thrown in, is mighty
thing to do, and t'iere are hundreds and
thousands such heroes and heroineS who live
unsung and die unhonorad. What We all
need, whether up or down in life. or half
way Detween, Is the lnnnIte solace of the
Christian religion. And so we employ the
word Gomez 1t will take all eternity tc
find out the number OF business men who
have been strengthened by the promises OF
God, and the people who have been fed by
the ravens when other resources gave out,
and the men and women who, goin. into thi:
battle, armed only with needle, or saw, orax,
yardstick, or pen, or type, or shovel, OF
shoelast, have gained a victory that made
the heavens resound. With all the resources