The Red Cloud chief., 1891-01-30

a Stirring Revival Discourse Nv
Rev. I. DeWitt Talmaee.


In q recent sermon at BROOKLYN Dr.
Talmage chose for his text, Come
Genesis, vi. Is. Come Revelations.
x IL. Following is the ermon
imperial, tender and all persuasive il
this word Come" Six hundred and
seventy-eight times is it found in the
Scriptures. 1t stands at the front gate
OF the Bible as in my first text, inviting
antediluvians into Noah's ark. and il
stands at the other gate of the Bible n
an my second text, inviting the post
diluvians into the ark Of a 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 its scepter. II is
an ocean into which empty ten thousand
rivers Of meaning. Other words drive,
but this beckons. All moods Of feeling
hath that word "Comc." Sometimes il
weeps and sometimes it laughs. Some
times it rrays, sometimes il tempts, and
sometimes it destroys. 1t sounds from
The door OF the church and from the
seraglios OF sin, from the gates of Heaven
and the gates Of hell. II is confident
and ~accrescent of all power. 1t is the
heiress OF most Of the past and slmoner
OF most of the future. 'sCome." You
may pronounce it SO that all the heav-
ems Will I've heard in its cadences, or pro-
nounce it so that all the woes of time
and eternity shall r~evcrberafe in its one
syllable. ]. is on the top lip of saint
and PrOfiigate. 1t is the mightiest of
nj -
To-day i weigh anchor, and haul in
the planks, and set sail on that great
word, although / am sure ! will not lie
able to a the further shore. will
let down the fathoming line into this
sea and try TO measure its depths, and.
though i tie together all the cables and
cordagc ! have ON board, / will not he
able to touch bottom. All the power
OF the Christian religion is in that word
Come" The dictatorial and COM
mandatory in religion is Of no avail.
The imperative mood is not the appro-
PIRATE mood when we would have p3o-
pie savingly impressed. They may bc
coaxed, but they can not be driven. Our
hearts are like our homes; at a friendly
knock the door will he opened, but an
attempt to force open our door would
land the assailant in prison. Our theo-
logical seminaries, which keep young
men three years in their curriculum be-
fore launching them into the ministry.
will dc well il in sd short a time they
can teach the candidates for the holy
Office nov to say with right emphasis
and information and power that one
word-'Come." That man who has
such efficiency in Christian work, and
that woman who has such power to
persuade people to quit the wrong and
begin the right, went through a series
of losses. bcrcavenents, prosecutions
and the trials Of twenty or thirty years
before they could make il a triumph Of
grace every time they uttered the word
Come"
You must remember that in many
cases our Come" has a mightier
Come TO conquer before il has any
effect at all. Just give me the accurate
censu 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 nave
Ntcu Sldiu pk Tic WOIu SOu1e. OOu0c
and click wine glasses with me at this
ivory bar" Come and see what We
can win at this gaming table" Come,
enter with nc this doubtful specula-
ton" Come with me and read those
infidel tracts on Christianity" Come
with me to a place of bad amusement"
''Come with me in a gay bout through
underground New York"
If in this city there are 20, 900 who are
down in moral character, then 90, 600
fell under the power of the word
Come" was reading Of wife whose
husband had been o~verthrown by strong
drink, and she went to the saloon where
he was ruined, and she said: '1Give me
back my husband" And the bartender,
pointing to a maudlin and battered man
browsing in the corner of the barrooIn, |
said: There he is; Jim, wake up:
here's your wife come for you" And
the woman said: 'Do You call that INV
husband? What have you been doing
with him? Is that n manly brow? Is
that the clear eye? Is that the heart
that ! married? What vile drug have
you given him that has turned him into
q fiend? Take your tiger claws off of
him. UncOil those serpent folds of evil
habit hat are crushing him. Give me
back nv husband, the one with whom
/ stood at the altar ten years ago. Give
him back to me-" Victim was he, as
millions of others have been, of the
word Gomez"
Now we want all the world over to
harness this word for good rs others
have harnessed 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
il has wandered. 1t is that wooing and
persuasive word that will lead men to
give up their sins. Was skepticism
ever brought into love Of the truth by
an ebulition of hot words against inf
delity? Was ever the blasphemer
stopped in his oaths by denunciation of
blasphemy? Was ever q drunkard
weaned from his cups by the temper
ance lecturers mimicry Of staggering
steps and hiccough? No. 1t was:
Come with me to church to-day and
hear our singing Con and let me
introduce you to a Christian man whom
YOU will be sure to admire" 'Come |
with me into associations that are
cheerful and good and inspiring"
Come with me into joy such as you
never before experienced"
With that word which has done so
much for others I approach yOu to-day.
Are you all right with God? mo" you
say, Il think ! 4 am not; I am sometimes
alarmed when I think Of Him: I fear I
will not be ready 10 meet Him in the
last day; my heart is not right with
God" Come then and have it made
right Through the Christ who died to
save you, come! What is the use in
waiting? The longer you wait the
further OF you are and the deeper You
are down. Strike out for Heaven! You
remember that . few years ago .
steamer called the Princess Alice, with
a crowd of ex~cursionists aboard. sank
in the Thames. and there was n awful