The Forrest City times., 1891-01-23
COME COME !! COME !!
oR TALMAGE SOUNDS THE GREAT GOSPEL INVITATION.

A Sermon Preached in the Brooklyn and New York Academies of Music N, Which Caused a Great Awak ening.
 BROOKLYN, N. Y., Jan. 1S.-Dr. Tal- tmago preached the following sermon this morning to an overfowing congregation in ehe Academy of Music, this city. At night when service was held in the New Nork Academy of Music fully six thousand persons were massed in the large building. "a marked solemnity pervaded the assem- ply, and at It's close many persons in various parts of the house, rose at the invitation of the preacher to ask for prayers for their salvation. Dr. Talmage chose the following texts for his sermon: s4Come." Gen. 6 IS. Come" Revela- aion 22 IT.
 e Imperial, tender and all-persuasive is ehis word 'Come." Six hundred and seventy eight times is it found in the Scriptures. It stands at the front gate of the Bible as in my first text, inviting ante- diluvians into Noahs ark, and it stands at the other gate of the Bible as in my second text, inviting the post-diluvians into the ork of Saviour's mercy. "Come" is only . word of four letters, but it IS the queen of words, and nearly the entire nation of English vocabulary bows to it's sceptre. It is an ocean into which empties ten thousand rivers of meaning. Other words drive, but this beckons. All moods of feeling hath that word ''Come." Some times 1t weeps and sometimes it laughs. Sometimes it prays, sometimes it tempts, and sometimes it destroys. It sounds from the door of the church and from the serag- lios of sin, from the gates of heaven and the gates of hell. It is continent and accrescent of all power. It is the heiress of most of the past and the almoner of the future. s'Comew You may pronounce 1t 90 that the heavens will be heard in it's cadences, or pronounce it so that all the woes of time and eternity shall reverberate in it's one syllable. It is on the lip of saint and profigate. It is the mightiest of all solicitants either good or bad.
 You must remember that in many cases our Come" has 8 mightier Come" to conquer before it has any effect at all. Just give me the accurate census. the statistics, of how many are down in fraud, in drunkenness, in gambling, in impurity, or In vice of any sort, and will give you the accurate census or statistics of how many have been slain by the word "Come. :" s'Come and click wine glasses with me at this ivory bar" 'Come and see whs4t we can win at this gaming table" Come, enter with me this doubtful speculation :" Isscome with me and read those infidel tracts on Christianity" ''Come with me to q place of bad amusement" 'Come with mo in a gay bout through underground New York" If in this city there are twenty thousand who are down in moral character, then twenty thousand fell under the power of the word "Come"
 Now we want all the world over to har- ness this word for good as others have Aarnessed it for evil, and it will draw the five continents and the seas between them, yea, it will draw the whole earth back to the God from whom it has wandered. It is that wooing and persuasive word that will lead men to give up their sins. Was scepticism ever brought into love of the truth by an ebullition of hot words against infidelity? Was ever the blasphemer stop ped in his oaths by denunciation of blasphemy? Was ever drunkard weaned from his cups by the temperance lecturer 8 mimicry of staggering step and hiccough? No. It was: ''Come with me to church today and hear our singing" Come and let me introduce you to a Christian man whom you will be sure to admire;" "Come with me into associations that are cheer full and good and inspiring;" 'Come with me into joy such as you never before ex- perienced."
 also apply the word of my text to those who would like practical comfort. If any ever escape the struggle of life I have not found them. They are not certainly among the prosperous classes. In most cases it were struggle all the way up till they reached the prosperity, and since they have reached these heights there have been per- plexities anxieties and crises which were almost enough to shatter the nerves and turn the brain. It would be hard to tell which have the biggest fight in this world the prosperites or the adversities, the con- spicuities or the obscurities. Just as soon as you have enough success to attract the attention of others. the envies and 1oalousies are let loose from their kennel The greatest crime that you can commit in the estimation of others is to get on better than they do. They think your addition is their subtraction. Five hundred persons StaXt AOI - CCTtdln kOdl Ol SuCCcSS, OnS reaches it, the other four hundred and nine- ty-nine arc mad. It would take volumes to hold the story of the wrongs, outrages and dofamations that have come upon you ,as result of your success. The warm sun of prosperity brings into life swamp-full of annoying insects. On the other hand tho unfortunate classes have their struggles Iles maintenance. To achieve a livelihood by one who had nothing to start with, and IaftR while for family as we'll and car lry this on until children arc reared and sducated and fairly started in the world, land to do this amid all the rivalries of lbusiness and tho uncertainty of crops, and tho hclEleness of tarin legislation, with an eccasional labor strike and here and there ,a financial panic thrown in, is . mighty thing to do, and there arc hundreds and thousands such heroes and heroines who live unsung and die unhonorcd What we all need, whether up or down in life or half way between, is the infinite solace of the ChTistian religion. And 70 we employ the word .Comel"
 But the word 'tCome" applied to those who need solace will amount to nothing unless it be uttered by some one who has experienced that s0lace. That spreads the responsibility of giving this Gospel call among . great many. Those who have lost property and been consoled by religion h that trial, arc the ones to invite those who have failed in business Those who have lost their health and been con- soled by religion are the ones to invite ehcsc who are in poor health. Those who have had bereavements and been con- solcd in those bereavements are the ones to sympathizo with those who have lost