The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-01-07
POWER FROM ON HIGH.
The Time Rife for a Great Relig'
ious Awakening.
AEvidences Of the Need Of Forward Move.
ment Apparent ON Every side-The
Great Reylvais OF 1881 and1sb7
Rev. DR.. Talmage's New
Years sermon.

The new years sermon Of Rev. DIR.
Telmage is a ringing battle cry TO min
listers and Christians everyw here, call
ing upon them to join in combined
charge on the entrenchments Of sin and
Satan. The speaker spoke as follows
from the text, Luke XIV, 49 "Tarry We
in the city of Jerusalem until We be en-
dued with power from on high"
For few months, in the providence of
God, have two pulpits, QUE in Brook
lyn and the other in New York, and
through the kindness of the printing
press an overwhelming oppor tunity. To
all such hearers and readers come
with an especial message. The time
has arrived for a forward movement such
as the church and the world have never
seen. That there is a need for such a
religious movement is evident from the
fact that never since our world was first
swung out among the planets has there
been such an organized and determined
effort to overthrow Righteousness and
make the Ten Commandments obsolete
and the whole Bible derision. Mean
= while alcoholism is taking down It's VIC
Tins by the hundreds Of thousands, and
the polit ical parties get down on their
knees, practically saying: 20, thou al
mighty Rum jug, we bow down before
thee. Give us the offices, city, State and
national. o, give us the Offices and we
will worship thee forever and ever,
amen" The Christian Sabbath mean
while, appointed for physical, mental
and spiritual rest, is being secularized
: and abolished. AS II the bad publishing
houses Of our own country had ex-
hausted their literary filth, the French
and Russian sewers have been invited
TO pour their scurrility and moral slush
into the trough where our American
swine are now wallowing. Meanwhile,
there are enough houses Of infamy in all
our cities, open and unmolested Of the
law, TO invoke the omnipotent wrath
which buried Sodom under a deluge of
birthstone. The pandemoniac world,
think, has massed its troops, and they
are this moment training their batteries
upon family circles, church circles, So
cial circles, political circles, and national
circles Apollyon is in the saddle, and
riding at the head of his myrmidons
would capture this world for darkness
and woe.
That Is one side OF the conflict now
raging. On the other side we have the
most magnificent gospel machinery that
the world ever saw or heaven ever in
vented. In the first place, in this coun-
try more than eighty thousand ministers
Of religion, and, take them as a class,
more consecrated, holier, more consis-
tent, more self-denying, more faithful
men never lived. know them by the
thousands. / have met them in every
city. ] am told, not by them, but by
people outside our profession, people en-
gagged in Christian and reformatory
work, that the clergy of America are al
the head Of all good enterprises and,
whoever else fails, they may be de-
pended on. The truth of this is demon.
strated by the fact that when a minister
Of religion does fail, IL is so exceptional
that the newspapers report II as some
thing startling, while hunderd men in
\ other callings may go down without the
pNmatter being considered as especially
|worth mentioning. In addition to theii
Z lquipment in moral character. the clergy
\ Z this country have all that the schools
\ n give. All arch geological, rhetori
scientific, scholastic, literary attain
ut. So much for the Christian minis
bf all denominations. In the mex
ON our side of the conflict, W,
(the grandest churches Of all time
hhigher style of membership, ant
4of them, and host without mum
sjof splendid men and women, whit
| lre'doing their best TO have this worlC
u. purified, elevated, gospelized. But w
feel that something is wanted. Enougl
hearty songs have been sung, an'
enough earnest sermons preached, with
In the last six months, TO save all tn
cities of America, and saving the 0itie
you save the world, for they overflow
all the land either with their religion o
their infamy.
But look at some OF the startling facts
II Is nearly nineteen hundred years sine
Jesus Christ came by the way Of BethlC
hem caravansary TO save this world, ye
the most Of the world has been no NOR
touched by this most stupendous fact G
all eternity than II on the first Christina
night the beasts of the stall, amid th
bleatings Of their own young, had nc
heard the bleating Of the Lamb tha
was to be slain. Out Of the eightee
hundred million Of the human rac'
fourteen hundred million are withor
God, and without hope In theworld, tn
camel driver of Arabia, Mahomet, wit
his nine wives, having half as man
disciples as our blessed Christ, and moi
people are worshiping chunks Of painte
wood and carved stone than are wo
Shipping the living and eternal Go'
Meanwhile, the most Of us who are el
gagged In Christian work--I speak Il
myself as well as others-are toiling d
10 our full capacity Of body, mind. an
soul, harnessed up 10 the last buckl
\ not able TO draw pound more than "
are drawing, or lift an ounce more tha
we are lifting.
What Is the natter My text lets o,
the secret. We all need more Of Il
power from on high. Not muscnli
power, not logical power, not scientii
power, not social power, not financi
power, not brain power, but power fro
on high. With it we could accomplii
more IN one week than without II In
hundred years. And am going TO g
Il. II In answer 10 prayer, earnest Al
long continued, God win grant II m
his unworthy servant. Men and wom'