Telegram-herald., 1891-07-13
TALMAGE In KENTUCKY.
WITNESSES TO TttE TRANSFORMING
POWER or CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
The Dying Christians Testsassy-rhs
Gsssssas Aet1az "a Madame ssal>s.
Ihs Missionaries saa Their Resard-
Ixnsranes sf gabeiiesssA

Ixnsrsnes 81 gsbeiiesssA
course Of people assembled this raSrpiag
On the historic camp ground at High
Bridge. KY. 70 hear DR.. Talmage preach
They came from az the surrounding cities.
t0xas aad sigaborhood A large eontiE
geat from L0aisyills and another from
Cincinnati were present. May Of ths
visitors have remained here since yestsr-
day afternoon. when Dz. Talmase preached
Ia the same place The text Of his seruon
this morning was froEa Acts III. q, We
are witnesses.
Standing -slii the hills and groves Of
Kentucky, and before thls great maltituds
that no man can number, most Of whom
never saw before aud never viii ses again
ia this world, choose q very practical
theme IL the days Of George Stephenson.
the perfeetor of the locomotive engine, the
scientists proved conclusiveiy thai rail-
road train could never 10 driven by steam
power successfully without peril, bus the
rushing express trains from Liverpool to
Edinburgh, and from kdinbargh TO Lon
don, have mate all tho nation witnesses OF
che splendid achievement.
Machinists and navigators proved con-
elasively that q steamer could never cross
the Atlantic ocean; but 10 sooner had they
successfully proved the impossibility OF
such an undertaking than the work was
done, and the passengers on the Cunard.
and the Inman, AMI the National, and the
White Star lines are witnessed There went
mp gutfaw OF wise Laughter at Professor
Morse's proposition 70 make the lightning
OF heaven his errand boy, and IL was proved
concluslvely that the thing could never DO
done. but now all the news OF the wide
world put In your hands every morning
and night has made all nations witnesses.
So ia the time Of Carist it was proved
concluslvely that it was impossible for
him % rise FROM the dead II 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 liclbs would be rigid beyond all
power of friction or arousai. They showed
10 to be m absolute absurdity that the
dead Christ should ever get up alive; bu.
no sooner had they proved this than the
dead Christ arose. and the disciples beheld
him, heard his voice. and talked with him,
and they took the witness stand to prove
that tSbe true which the wiseacres Of the
day had proved TO be impossible; the rec
ord OF the experiment and OF the testimony
IS In the text: Him hath God raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses"
FOLLY or THE AGNosTIc.
Now let ms play the sxeptic for mo-
ment There Is no God. says the skeptic,
'for have never seen him with my phys
ical eyesight. Your Bible Is pack Of con-
tradlctions. There never was q miracle.
Lazarus was not raised from the dead, and
the water was never turned into wine.
Your religion is an imposition on the ere.
dulity Of the ases" There 10 an aged man
moving in that pew a. though he would
like to respond. Here are hundreds OF
people with faces little flushed at these
announcements, and all through this
throng there 10 suppressed feeling which
would like 20 speak out in behalf OF the
truth Of our glorious Christianity. as In the
days of the text, crying out. I'VE are wit
nessesp'
The fact il taat IL this world Is ever
brought to God it will not be through ar
gument, but through testimony. You
might cover the whole earth with apollo
giss for Christianity and learned treatises
In defense Of religion-yoa would not con
vert q soul. Lectures on the harmony be
tween science and religion are beautiful
mental discipline. but have never saved a
soul and never will save soul. Put man
OF the world snd a man Of the church
against each other. and the man OF the
world will. in all probability. get the tri
umph. There are a thousand things In
our religion that seem illogical 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 expiora
ton. But then. in order to have faith, we
must have testimony. and If Eve hundred
men. or one thousand men, or five hun
dred thousand men, or five million mer
get up and tell me that they have felt
the religion Of Jesus Christ q Joy. com
fort, help. IN inspiration, am bound n
a fair Minded man to accept their testi
mony. want just now to put before you
three propositions, the truth OF which
think this audience will attest with over
wheiming unanimity. The first proposition
Is. We are witnesses that the religion o.
Christ IL ablc 20 convert q soul. The Cos
pei may have had a hard time 70 conquer
us. we may have fought IL back, but WI
were vsneuishcd. You say conversion l.
only an imaginary thing. We know bet
ter I'VE are witnesses" There never
was so great change In our heart and lif'
on any other subject as on this
People laughed at the missionaries ir
Madagascar because they preached ter
years without one convert; but there ar
many thousands of converts in Mada9as
car today. People laughed At DIR. Judson
the Baptist missionary. because be kept OF
preaching in Barmah tive years with
ont siaxie convert, but there arc man,
thousands Of Bsptists In Burmah today
People laughed at Dr, Morrison In Chin'
for preaching there seven years without
single conversion. bat there are man.
thousands of Christians In China today
People laughed nc the missionaries 20
preaching at Tahiti for fifteen years with
out q single conversion, and at tho mis-
sionarfss for preaching Ia Bengal seven
teen years without q single conversion; ye
In all those lands there ara multltades o
Christians today.
But WAY 20 sa far 10 find evidences o
the Gospels power TO save . soui' wv
are witnesses" We were 81 proud that y
nan could have hnnahiesl US. we were s.
hard that no earthly power coald hav
melted rs Angels Of God were all srOan'
about rs; they could nee overcome rs, bu
enc day. perhsps at \ aethedist anxion
seas ar at Presbyterian eatecheticsl lee
turc or az burial or on horseback. powe
seized NJ and made Es get down and mad
Us srsm5se and made as kneel and mad
us err for mercy, and we tried 70 wrsncl
ourselves away frosa the grasp. but "
could not. rs Gung "a fas. and when W
arose We we're A. much changed a. Geurgis
the heather. who went into prayer meet
ing with dagger and gun, TO disturb n
meeting aud destroy it, but the next ds
was found crying: Ca, nay great Gins
Oh. mr. great Saviour and for eicve'
years preached the Gospel II Christ 20 hs