The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-08-01
TALMAGE IN KENTUCKY.
WITNESSES To THE TRANseoRMlNG
POWER OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Ignorance of Unbelievers-
HIGH BRIDGE, KY, July IA vast con-
course of people assembled this morning
ON the historic camp ground at High
Bridge, KY, to hear Dr. Talmage preach. |
They came from all the surrounding cities, |
towns and ~neighborhood. "A large contin-
gent from Louisville and another from |
Cincinnati were present. Many of the |
visitors have remained here since yester- |
day afternoon, when DIR. Talmage preached |
in the same place. The text of his sermon
this morning was from Acts iii. Is. I'VE |
arc witnesses.ps s.StsEEs FEs
Standing amid the hills and groves of |
Kentucky, and before this great multitude
shat no man can number, most of whom ] |
never saw before and never will see again |
in this world, choose a very practical
theme. In the days of George Stephenson,
the perfector of the locomotive engine, the |
scientists proved conclusivefy that "a rail- |
road train could never be driven by steam
power successfully without peril; but the |
rushing express trains from liverpool to.
Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh to Lon
slon, have made all the nation witnesses OF
the splendid achievement "a. = sH ts
Machinists and nayigators proved con-
clusiyely that steamer could never cross
the Atlantic ocean; but no 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, and the National, and the
White Star lines are witnesses There went
mp d guffaw of wise laughter at Professor
Morse's proposition to make the lightning
of heaven his errand boy, and it was proved
conclusiveiy that the thing could never be /
done; but now all the news of the wide
world put in your hands every morning
and night has made all nations witnesses. K
So in, the time of Christ it was proved
eoncIusively that it was impossible for
n -io fr-fntr hE r. CHI
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 limbs would be rigid beyond all
power of friction or arousal. They showed
It to be an absolute absurdity that the
dead Christ should ever get up alive; but
mo 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
shat to be true which the wiseacres of the
day had proved to be impossible; the rec
ord of the experiment and of the Testimony
isin the text: Him hath God raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses"
FOLLY OF THE AGNosTIC.
Now let me play the skeptic for a mo-
ment @'There is no God, I" says the skeptic,
''for have never seen him with my phys
ical eyesight. Your Bible is pack of con-
tradictions. There never was a miracle.
the water was never turned into wine.
Your religion is an imposition ON the Gre
dulity of the ages" There is an aged man
moving in that pew as though he would
like to respond. Here are hundreds of
people with faces a little flushed at these
announcements, and all through this
throng there is a suppressed feeling which
would like to speak out in behalf of the
truth of four glorious Christianity, as in the
days Of the text. crying out. 1--WE are wit
x1essesI" -. u-~ ~ . = 81.
The fact is that If this world Is ever
Brought to God it will not he through ar
Rument, but through testimony. You
might cover the whole earth with apollo
gies for christianity and learned treatises
In defense of religionTyou would not con-
vert a 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 and 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 explora-
tion. But then, in order to have. faith, we
must have testimony, and if five hundred
men, or one thousand men, or five hun
Slred thousand men, or five million men
yet up and tell me that they have felt
the religion Of Jesus Christ joy.aa COM
tort, a help, an inspiration, l am bound as
a fair minded man to accept their testi-
mony. want just now to put before you
= three propositions, the truth of which I
think this audience will attest with over
Whelming unanimity. The first proposition
ds: We are witnesses that the religion OF
Christ is alberto convert a soul. The Cos
pel may have had a hard time to tonot1er
us, may have fought it back but we
were vanquished. You say conversion is
only an imaginary thing. We know bet
ter. 1--WE are witnesses" :" There never
WINS so great q change in our heart and life
ON any other subject as on this.
People laughed at the missionaries In
Madagascar because they preached ter
years without one convert; but there ars
many thousands of converts in Madagas
car today. People laughed at DIR. Judson
the Baptist missionary because he kept or
preaching in Burmah five years with
out a single convert; but there are many
rUu6housands of Baptists in Burmsh today
People laughed at DR.. Morrison in Chini
for preaching there seven years without
single conversion; but there are man.
thousands of Christians in China today
People laughed at the missionaries 70
preaching al Tahiti for fifteen years with
out a single conversion, and at the mis-
sionaries for preaching in Bengal seven
teen years without a single conversions; We
in all those lands there are multitudes o
Christians today.
But why go so far to find et .iences O
the Gospels power to save sodl? .'W
are Witnesses" We were proud that n
Inan could have humbled us; we were s
hard that no earthly power could hav
melted us. Angels of God were all aroun
about us; they could not overcome u.s.. bu