Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-02-07
REV. DR.. 9ALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun
day Sermon.
sabieet. aone Th,ns Lacking"

TEXT: "one thing thou idckest. MARK
H. 81
The young man of the text was splendid
nature. We fall in love with hun at the
first glance He was amiable and frank and
earnest and educated and refined and re-
spectacle and moral, and yet he was not a
Christian And so Christ addresses him in
the words that / have read to you, Zone
thing thou lackest." suppose that that text
was no more applicable to the young man OF
whom ] have spoken than it IS appropriate
to large multitude of people in this audi
ence. There are many Things in which you
are lacking. For instance, you are not lack-
ing in good home 1t is perhaps no more
than an hour ago that you closed the door,
returning to see whether it was well fastened,
of one of the best homes OF this city. The
younger children Of the house already asleep,
the older ones hearing your returning foot
steps, will rush TO the door to meet you. AMI
in these long evenings the children at the
stand with their games the wife plying the
needle and you reading the book or the
paper, you feel that you have good home.
Neither are you lacking in the refnements
and courtesies of life. You understand the
polite phraseology of invitation. regard and
apology. You have an appropriate apparel.
j shall wear no better dress at the wedding
than when / come to the marriage of the
kings son. II l am well clothed on other
occasions will be SO in a religious audience.
However reckless | may be about my per-
sonal appearance at other times, when /,
come into a consecrated assemblage | shall
have on the best dress I have. We all UNDER
stand the proprieties of everyday life and
the properties of Sabbath life.
Neither are you lacking in worldly sue
cess. You have not made as much money.
as you would like to make but you have an
income. While others are false when they
say they have no income, or are making no
money, you have never told that falsehood.'
You have had livelihood. or you have
fallen upon old resources, which is just the
same thing, for God is just as good to US
when He takes care of us by a surplus of the
past as by present success. While there arg
thousands of men with hunger tearing at the
throat with the strength of a tigers paw,
not one of youis hungry. Neither are they
lacking in pleasant friendship. You have
real good friends. If the scarlet fever
know very well who would come in and sit
up with the sick one; or, If death should
come, you know who would come in and
take your hand tight in theirs with that PEI
culiar grip which means ''Ill stand by you;h
and, after the life is fed from the loved one,i
take you by the arm and lead you into the
next room, and while you are gone to Green5
Il
aside the garments and the play things that
might bring to your mind too severely your
great loss Friends2 You all have friends.
Neither are you lacking in your adrlra-
ton of the Christian religion. There is
nothing that makes you so angry as to have
man malign Christ. You get red in the
| face, and you say Sir want you to under3
stand though am not myself Christian, L
don't like such things said as that in my
store" and the man goes off, giving you a
parting salutation, but you hardly answer
| him. You are provoked beyond all bounds
Many of you have been supporters of religion
and have given more to the cause of Christ
than some who profess His faith. There is
nothing that would please You more than to
see your son or daughter standing at the
alter of Christ taking the VOWS Of the Chris
! tian.
1 II might be little hard on you, and might
| make you nervous and agitated for little
while, but you would be man enough to say \
my child, that is right Go on. am glad
you haven't been kept back by my example
hope some day to join you" You believe
all the doctrines of religion. A man out
yonder says, 81 am sinner" You respond,
$50 am l." Some one says, II believe that
Christ came to save the world" You say,
$50 do l." LookinE at your character, at
your surroundings, | find a thousand things
about which to congratulate you, and yet 1
!
and with reference to my last account, Zone
thing thou lackest."
You need, my friends in the first place.
the element of happiness. Some day You
i feel wretched. You do not know what is the
matter with you. You say, II did not sleep
last night. think that must be the reason
of nv restlessness;n or, II have eaten some
thing that did not agree with me, and l
think that must be the reason" Aud you
nre unhappy. Oh, my friends, happiness
does not depend upon physical condition.
Some of the happiest people l have ever
known have been those who have been
wrapped in consumption, or stung with neu-
ralgia, or burning with the slow fire of some
fever
I shall never forget one man in my first
parish, who in excruciation of body cried
out: Mr. Talmage, forget all my pain in
the love and joy of Jesus Christ. l can't
/ think of my sufferings when | think Of
Christ" Why, his face was illunined.
There are young men in this house who would
give testimony to show that there is no hap
piuess outside of Christ, while there is great
who have not been Christians more than six
months who would stand up tonight, if
should ask them, and say in those six months
they have hal more joy and satisfaction than
In all the years Of their frivolity and dissipa-
tion. Go to the door of that gin shop TO-
night, and when the gang of young men
come cut ask them whether they are happy,
I They laugh along the street, and they jeer
and they shout, but nobody has any idea
they are happy.
/ could call upon the aged men in this
house to give testimony. There are aged
men here who tried the world, and they tried
religion, and they are willing to testify on
our side. 1t was not long ago that an aged
man arose in praying circle and said;
from college, and it broke my heart; but
am glad now he is gone. He is at rest, es-
capped from all sorrow and from all trouble.
And then, in 1857, lost all my property and
| you see am getting old, and it Is rather
hard upon me; but am sure God will not
let me suffer. He has not taken care of me
for seventy five years now to let me drop out
/ of His hands"
! went into the room Of an aged man-his
eyesight nearly gone, his hearing nearly gone
/ land what do you suppose he was talking
about The goodness of God and the joys OF
religion. He said: Il would like to go over
and join my wife on the other side of the
food, and am waiting until the Lord calls
ne. ] am happy now: l shall be happy
there What is it that gave that aged msn
so much satisfaction and peace? Physical
exuberance? No, it has all gone. Sunshinel
He cannot see it. The voices of friends? He
cannot hear them. 1t is the grace of God,
/ that is brighter than sunshine and that is
sweeter than music. If harpist takes q
harp and find that all the strings are broken
| but one string, he does not try to play upon
| 1t. Yet here I will show you an aged man
the strings Of whose Joy are all broken save
ono, and yet he thrums it with such satisfac
ton, such melody that the angels OF God
stop the swift stroke of their wings and hover
| about the place until the music ceases. oh,
! religions ways are ways OF pleasantness
and all her paths are peace" And II you
have not the satisfaction that is to be found
in Jesus Christ, must tell you, with all the
concentrated emphasis of my soul: "One
| thing thou lackest.n
remark, again, that you lack the ele
ments of usefulness. Where is your business
You say it is No. IS such street. or No, 26t
! such q street. or No. 800 such a street. My
! friend immortal, your business is wherever
there is tear TO be wiped away or soul &c
be saved. You may, before coming to Christ
/ do great many noble things. You take 9
loaf Of bread to that starving man in the
alley, but he wants immortal bread You
take pound of candles to that dark shanty.
They want the light that springs from the
/ throne OF God, and you cannot take it be.
cause YOU have it not in your own heart.
You know that the flight of an arrow de,
! ponds very much upon the strength of the
bow, and have to tell you that the best bow
i that was ever made was made out OF the
cross of Christ; aud when religion taxes a
( soul and puts it on that, and pulls it back an
/ lets it fly, every time it brings down Saul
or Goliath
There are people here of high social posi-
ton, and large means, and cultured minds,
who, if they would come into the kingdom
! of God, would set the city on fire with reiig
4 lous awakening. Oh, hear you not the more
than million voices of those in these two
cities who are unconverted? Voices of those
! who in these two cities are diving IA their