Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-02-06
WHAT LACK YE 2
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON Upon
LIES ESSENTIALS.
To BE Christian the All-ImpOrtant
Require ment. - The Poverty of n
World Without Christian Appeal
to Young Men.


to Young Men.
BROOKLYN, Feb. THE deep religious
feeling manifested in DR.. Talmage's con-
gregations since his recent arousing cap
peal to Outsiders" has apparently en-
couraged him To continue preaching dis
tinctively evangelistic sermons. Today he
delivered another discourse OF the same
Gospel type, both at the morning service
in the Academy of Music in this city. and
at night IN The New York Academy of
Masc. His text was taken from Mark
10. 21.-"One thing thou lackest."
The young man of the text was
splendid nature. We fall in love with him
at the first glance. He was amiabe and
frank. and earnest, and educated. and re-
fined, and respectable, and moral. and yet
he was not "a Christian. And so Christ
add. csscs him in the words that i have
read TO YOU. Zone thing thou lackest." L
suppose that that text was no more aR
proprlatc TO the young man OF whom L
have spoken than it is appropriate TO
great multitude of people in this audience.
There are many things in which you are
no lacking. For instance. you are not
lacking in good home. II is, perhaps.
not more than an hour ago that you closed
the door. returning TO s,e whether IL was
well fastened, OF one of the best homes in
this city. The younger children OF the
house already asleep the older ones. hear
ing your returning footsteps, Will rush to
the door TO meet you. And in these winter
EVENINGS the children at the stand with
the lessons. the wife plying the needle,
apd you reading the book or the paper
You feel that you have good home
Neither are you lacking in the reincmerts
and courtesies of life. You understand
the polite phraseoogy of invitation, re-
gard and apology. You have on appro-
pirate apparel.
Neither are YOU lacking in worldly sue
cess You have not made as much money
as you would like TO make, but you have
an income. While others are false when
they say they have no income or are max
irg no money. you have never told that
falsehood. You have had a livelihood or
you have fallen upon old resources, which
is just the same thing, for God is just as
good TO us when he takes care of US by
surplus OF the past as by present success.
While there are thousands of men with
hunger tearing at the throat with the
strength of tigers paw, not one of you is
hungry Neither are you lacking in pleas
ant friendship. You have real good friends.
| If the scarlet fever should come tonight 10
your house. you know very well who would
| come in and sit up with the sick one: or, If
| death should come, you know who would
! come in and take your hand tight in theirs
! with that peculiar grip which means, III
stand by you and after the life has fled
from the loved one, take you by the arm
and lead you into the next room. and VIII lie
! YOU are gone 10 Greenwood they would
stay in the house and put aside the gar
ments and the pldythings that might bring
to your mind too severely your great loss.
Friends? You all have friends.
Neither are you lacking in your admira-
ton of the Christian religion. There is
nothing that makes you so angry as 10
have a man malien Christ. You get red
in the face. and You say. Sir want you
to understand that though | am not myself
Chr stan, don't like such things said as
that in any store" an1 the man goes of
giving YOU "a parting sllutation, but you
hardly answer him. You are provoked
beyond all bounds. Many of you have
been supporters of religion and have given
more to the cause of Christ than some who
profess his faith. There is nothing that
] v
son or daughter standing at the altar of
Christ taking the vows OF the Christian.
1t might be a little hard on you. and micht
make you nervous and agitatcd for little
while, but you would be man enough 20
say: My child, that is right. Go on.
am glad you haven't been kept back by my
/ example. / hope some day TO join YOU"
You believe all the doctrines Of religion.
man out yonder says II am sinner I"
! You respond: $50 am J." Some one says:
II believe that Christ came TO save the
world You say: $50 do l." Looking at
your character. at your surroundings |
find a thousand things about which To con-
graduate YOU; and yet must tell you in the
love and fear Of God. and with reference
to my last account, Zone thing thou
lackest."
/ remark again that you lack the clement
of usefulness. Where is your business?
You say il is No - such "A street. or No.
200 such street, or No. 800 such a street
My friend immortal your business is
wherever there is tear TO be wiped away
or a soul to be saved. You may. before
coming to Christ, do a great many noble
things. You take a loaf OF bread to that
starving man in the alley; but he wants
immortal bread. You take pound OF
! candles 10 that dark shanty. Ihey want
the light that springs from the throne Of
God and you cannot take IL because you
have it not in your own heart. You know
that the fight Of AN arrow depends very
much upon the strength Of the bow. and !
have TO tell you that the best bow that was
ever made WAS made out of the cross OF
Christ; and when religion takes soul and
puts it on that, and pulls it back and lets
it fly. every time il brings down a Saul or
Goliath. There are people here OF hjeh
social position, and large means, and cul
tured minds, who. If they would come into
the kingdom OF God, would set the city on
fire with religious awakening. But we all
have work 10 DO. / cannot DO your
work, nor can you do my work. God
points us out the place where we arc TO
serve, and yet are there not people in this
house who are thirty. forty, fifty and sixty
years Of age. and yet have not begun the
great work for which they were created?
With every worldly equipment: zone
thing thou lackest."
Again, you lack the element of personal
safety. Where are those people who AS