The Penn's Grove record., 1891-06-19
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOkLYN DIyINES SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Thc Battle of Creeds.-

XVI, II.
Solomon here deplores the habit of rush
ing IN between contestants: of taking part
IN the antagonisms Of others: of joining In
fights which they ought to shun. They do
no good TO Others and get damage for them
selves. He compares it TO the experiment Of
taklng a dog by the ears. Nothing so irri-
tates CANNES as TO be clutched by the lugs,
Take them by the back of the neck and lift
them and it does not seem to hurt or offend:
but you take the dog by the ear, and he will
take you with his teeth. In all the history
OF kennels no intelligent or spirited dog will
stand that. Now says Solomon, you go
into quarrels or controversies that are not
yours and you will get lacerated and torn
and bitten. He that passeth by and med
dleth with strife belonging not to him is like
one that taketh a dog by the ears.'p
This is the time of ~resounding ecclesiastical
quarrel. Never within your memory or
mine has the air been so full of missiles.
| Inc Presbyterian Church has on hand q con-
troversy so great that 1t finds it prudent to
postpone its rettlement for at least one more
I year, hoping that something will turn I'D.
Somebody might die or a new general assem-
Dly may have grace to handle the exciting
questions. The Episcopal Church has cast
out some recalcitrants, and its digestive or
gans are taxed TO the utmost in trying to as
simulate others. ''Shall women preachT'
"Or be sent as delegates to confereucesg'
are questions TINT have put many Of
our Methodist brethren on the anxious
seat. And the waters in some of the great
. TAPESTRIES are troubled waters. Because of
the controversies throughout Christendom
The arr Is now like an August afternoon
about five O'clock, when it has been steaminy
hot all day, and clouds are gathering, and
there are lions of thunder with grumbling
voices and flashing eyes coming forth from
Their cloudy LARS, and people are waiting
Tor the iull burst of the tempest. / am not
much OF a weather prophet, but the cloud
look to me mostly like wind clouds. 1t may
be a big blow, but l hope it will soon be
over. In regard to the Battle of the Creeds,
i am every day asked about it. want to
make it so plain this morning what | think
that no one will ever ask again.
Let those who are iurymen in the caseLI
mean those who in the different ecclesiasti-
cal courts have the questions put directly
before them-weigh and decide. Let the rest
of us keep out. The most damaging thing
on earth rs religious controversy. No one
ever comes cut of it as good IA man as he
goes IN. Some of the ministers in all de-
nominations who before the present acerbity
were good and ind and useful, now seem "a
most swearing mad. These brethreu | notics
always open their violent meetings with
prayer before devouring each other, thus
saying grace before meat. They have a moral
hydrophohia that makes us think they have
taken a dog by the ears. They never read
the lmprecatory Psalms of David with such
zest as since the Briggs and Newton and
Mact1ueary and Bridgman and Brooks uues-
tons got into full swing. May the rams of
the sheepfold soon have their horns sawed
OH! Before the controversies are settled a
good many ministers will, through what they
cal liberalism, be landed INTO practical in
hdeity, and Others through what they call
conservatism will shrink up into bigots tight
and hard as the muInmies of Egypt which
got through their controversies three thou
sand years ago.
This trouble throughout Christendom
Was directly inspired by Satan. He saw
that too much good was being done. Re
crults We're being gathered by hundreds of
thousands to the Gospel standard. The
victories for God and the truth were too
near together. Too many churches were
being dedicated. Too many ministers were
being ordained. Too many philanthropies
We're being fostered. Too many souls were
being saved. 1t had been a dull time in the
neither world, and the arrivals were too few.
So Satan one day rose upon his throne and
said, "He powers of darkness, hesrr' And
all up and down the caverns the cry was,
Hear Hearm Satan said: There is that
American Board of Commissioners for For
eign Missions. 1t must either be dem ,lished
or crippled, or the first thing you know they
Will have all nations brought to God. Apol-
lyon the Younger! You go up to Andoyer
ana get the professors TO discussing whether
the heather can be saved without the Cos
pei; Divert them from the work of missions
ana get them in angry convention in
a room at Young's Hotel, Boston, and
by the time they adjourn the cause Of
foreign missions will be gloriously and
inaeniiicently injured. Diabolus the Youn-
GER! You 90 up and get Union Theological
SEMINARY of New York and the general
assembly OF the Presbyterian Church at De-
trolt at swords points and diverted from the
work of making earnest ministers OF religion.
and 1nIn that p1I Dr,-I,to. Gvl....L
which has been keeping us out of customers
LOT hundreds OF years, into a splendid pan
deinonium on a small scale. Abaddon the
Third You go up and assault that old Epis-
copal Church, which has been storming the
heavens for centuries with the subiimest
prayers that were ever uttered-churc of
Bishop Leighton, Bishop White and Bishop
Mcllvaue, and get that denomination discuss
ing men instead Of discussing the eternities.
Abaddon the Fourth! You 90 no to that old
Methodist Church.. which has, through her
revival, sent millions To heaven which we
would other wise have added to our popula.
ton; the church of Wesley and Matthew
Simpson, against which we have an especial
grudge. and get them so absorbed in discuss
ing whether women shall take part in her
conference that they shall not nave so much
time to discuss how many sons and daughters
she will take to glory"
What amazes me most is that all people
do not see that the entire movement at this
time all over Christendom is satanic. Many
OF the Internal attacks are sly and hidden
and strategic and SO ingenious that they
are not easily discovered. But here is a
bold and uncovered attempt of the powers
of darkness to split up the churches, to get
ministers to take each other by the throat,
to make religion a laughing stock of earth
and hell, to leave the Bible with no more
respect or authenticity than an old almanac
OF 49,, which told what would be the
change Of WanthpF sly InnnfhE ahaaA and
IN what quarter of the month it is best to
plant turnlps. In a word, the effort is to
stop the evangelization of the world. 1t
seems TO me very much like this: There has
been a railroad accident and many are
wounded and dying. There are several
drug stores near the scene of casualty. All
the doctors and druggists are needed and
needed right away. Bandages, stimulanta,
anRsthetics, medicines of all sorts. What
are the doctors and druggists doingt Dis
cussing the contents Of some old bottles on
The top shelf, bottles of medicine which
some doctors and druggists mixed two or
three hundred years ago. Come doctors"
Come druggists" cry the people, "aod help
these wounded and diving that S>Aino
brought from the timb4rs OF the crushed rail
train. In a little while it will be too late.
Come for Gods sakel Come right avayF'
NO." SAYS the doctor, mot until we have
settled whether the medicine on that top
shelf was rightly mixed. | say there
were too many drops OF laudanum IN 1t, and
this other man says there were too many
drops Of campfire, we must get this ques-
tiou settled before we can attend to the rail-
road accident"
Aud one doctor takes another doctor by
the collar and pushes him back against tbs
counter and one of the druggists says, 1T
you will not admit that | am right about
that one bottle 1 will smash every bottle in
your apothecary store" aud he proceeds 20
smash. on the lower shelf,
plainly marked aud within easy reach are
all the medicines needed for the helping OF
the sufferers by the accident, and m that
drawer. easily ogeuet, are bIndages AMI
splints for the lacS Of witch nifty people
are dying outside the drug store. Before |
andy this thought every one sees its appll-
cation, Here is this old world, AMI 1t Is OF
track. Sin and sorrow have col,idei with
1t. The groan OF agony is fourteen nun
dred million voiced. 60 has opensd for
relief and cure a great sanitarium, a great
house Of mercy, and all its shelves are