Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-11-20
REV. Or. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
suBJRcr: THE ISLAND OF PArMos. "

SUBJRCT: THE ISLAND OF PATMos."
TEXTS: "lThen iUe had djscorsTed CII
prus tre left ii on the lenhand. Acts xxi.
3, and ~ John, IcdS ia the isle that is called
Fdtmos. l., 9.
Goodby, Egypt Although interesting
and instructive beyond any country in al
the world. excepting the Holy Land, Egypt
was to me somewhat depressing. 1t was
post mortem examination of cities that died
four thousand years ago. The mummies OF
wrapped up bodies of the dead were pre.
pared with reference to the Resurrection
day, the Egyptians departing this life want.
.lng their bodies to he kept in as good condi.
ton as possible so that they would be pre-.
sentable when they were called again to oc.
cupy them. But II when Pharaoh comes to
resurrection he finds his body looking as
saw his mummy in the museum at Boulac,
his soul will become an unwilling tenant
The Sphinx also was to me stern monstros
ity, statue carved cut of rock of red gran.
ite slxty-two feet high and about one hun.
dred and forty-three feet long, and having
the head of man aud the body of a lion.
We sat down in the sand of the African
desert TO study it. With cold smile it has
looked down upon thousands of years OF
earthly history, Egyptian civilization,
Grecian civilization, Roman civilization;
upon the rise and fail of thrones in.
Vulnerable, the victory and defeat of the
armies of centuries. 1t took three thousand
years to make one wrinkle on its red cheek
1t is dreadful in its stolidity. Its eyes have
never wept tear. Its cold ears have not
listened TO the groans of the Egyptian ma
tion, the burden of which | tried to weigh
last Sabbath. Its heart is stone. 1t cared
not for Pliny when he measured 1t in the
first century. 1t will care nothing for the
man who looks into its impertubabe coun-
tenance in the last century.
But Egypt will yet come up to the glow of
life. The Bible promises it. The mission
aries, like my friend, good and great Dr.
Lansing, are sounding resurrection
trumpet above those slain empires There
will be some other Joseph at Memphis. There
will be some other Moses on the banks Of the
Nile. There will be some other Hypatia to
teach good morals TO the degraded Instead
OF destroying angel to slay the firsthorn OF
Egypt the angel of the New Testament will
shake everlasting life from his wings over a
nation born in a day. When soon after my
arrival in Egypt, | took part in the solemn
and tender obseques Of a missionary from
our own land dying there far away from the
sepulchers of her fathers, and saw around
her the ousky and weeping congregation OF
those she had come 10 save | said to myself.
Here is self sacrifice of the noblcst tyne,
Here is hcroism immortal. Here is a queen
unto God forever. Here is something
Grander than the pyramids. Here is that
which thrills the heavens Here is n speci.
men of that which will yet save the world"
Goodby, Egypt! This sermon finds us on
the steamer Minerva in the Grecian archi-
pelago, the islands of the New Testament.
and islands Paulinan and Johannian in their
reminiscence. What Bradshaw's directory
is to travellers in Europe and what the rail.
road guide is TO travellers it America, the
ppNl Of tha Ante u, h.. =
in the Grecian, or, as / shall call il, the Cos
pei archipelago The Bible geography Of
that region is accurate without shadow of
mistake, We are sailing this morning on the
same waters that Paul sailed, but in the
opposite direction to that which Paul voy-
aged. He was sailing southwark and we
northward. With him it was Ephesus, Coos.
Rhodes, Cyprus. With us it is reversed, and
1t is Cyprus, Rhodes, Coos Ephesus. There
is no book in the world SO accurate as the
Divine Book.
My text says that Paul left Cyprus on the
left; we, going in an opposite direction, have
1t on the right. On our ship Minerva were
only two or three passengers besides our
party, so we had plenty of room to walk the
deck, and oh, what night was Christmas
night of 1889 in that Grecian archipelago
islands OF light above, islands of beauty be-
meath 1t Is a royal family of islands, this
eitNiuh diNhptldSO-Lub Crown OIL Iub
worlds scenery set with sapphire and emerald
and topaz apd chrysoprasus, and ablaze with
glory that seems let down out of celestial
landscapes. God evidently made up His
mind that just here He would demonstrate
the utmost that can be done with islands for
the Identification of earthly scenery.
The steamer had stopped during the night,
and III the morning the ship was as quiet as
this floor, when we hastened up to the deck
and fOunl that Ind apnbprod off ha
island OF Cyprus. In boat, which the ma
tives rowed standing up, as is the custom,
instead OF sitting down, as when we row, we
were soon landed on the streets where Paul
and Barnabas walked and preached. YEA
when at Antioch, Paul and Barnabas got
into fight-as ministers sometimes did, and
sometimes do, for they all have imperfec-
tlons enough to anchor them to this world
till their work is done, / say-when, because
OF that bitter controversy, Paul and Barna-
bas parted, Barnabas came back here to
Cyprus, which was his birthplace. Island,
wonderful for history IL has been the prize
sometimes won by Persia, by Greece, by
Egypt by the Saracens, by the Crusaders,
and last Of ALL not by sword but by pen, and
that the pen Of the keenest diplomatist Of the
century, Lord Beaconsfeld, who, under
lease which was as good as purchase sci
Cyprus among the jewels of Victoria,
crown.
We went out into the excavations from
which Di Cesnoa has enriched our American
museums with antiquities, and with no bet
ter weapon than our foot we stirred up the
ground deep enough to get tear bottle in
which some mourner shed his tears thou
sands OF years ago, and lamp which before
Christ was born lighted the feet of some
Cyprus has enough to set an antiquarian
wild The most Of its glory is the glory Of
the past, and the typhoid fevers that swept
its coast and the clouds of locusts that often
blacken its skies Though two hundred thou
sand dollars were expended by the British
empire in one year for the extirpation OF
these noxious insects, yet failing to do the
work., and the frequent change of govern
mental masters hinder prosperity.
| But when the islands of the sea come TO
| God, Cyprus will come with them, and the
agricultural and commercial opulence which
adorned 1t in ages past will be eclipsed by
the agricultural and commercial and relig
ious triumphs Of the ages to come Why Is
the world so stupid that It cannot see that
nations are prospered in temporal things In
proportion as they are prospered in religious
things2 Godliness is profitable not only fol
individuals, but for nations. Questions o.
tariff, questions Of silver bill, questions o.
republic or monarchy have not SO much K
do with nations temporal welfare as ques
tions of religion. Give Cyprus to Christ
give England to. Christ, give America y
Christ, give the world to Christ and He will
give them all prosperity unlimited. VIII.
Is Brooklyn one Of the queen cities OF tn
earthf Because it is the queen cities o
churches.
Blindfold me and lead me into any cit
OF the earth 30 that cannot see street c
a warehouse or home, and then leads m
into the churches and then remove th
bandage from my eyes, and I win tell 20
from what I see inside the consecrate
walls having seen nothing outside, wha
is that citys merchandise, its literature
It's schools its printing presses, lie govern
ment its homes lis arts, its sciences, \
prosperity or Its depression. and Ign
rance and pauperism ana oh ohlsW = m. NJ II,