The Dickinson press., 1892-05-14
THEGREATESTNAME
Talmage Speaks of 1t as Easily
Spoken and Never
Forgotten.
The Name That is so Remarkable
And fits Every Dialect
is Christ.


is Christ.
BROOKLYN, N. w. Special. DIR.
Talmage discoursed this morning
from the text Philippians ii, o. "The
name which is above every name"
Paul is here making rapturous and
enthusiastic description Of the name
OF Christ. There are merely worldly
names that sometimes thrill you
through and through. Such was the
name OF Henry Clay to y Kentuckian,
the name OF William Writ to a New
Highlander.
BY common proverb we have come
to believe hat "there is nothing in q
Nance" and so parents sometimes
at the baptismal altar give titles to
their children, reckless OF the fact that
that title, that name, will be q life
time hinderance or a lifetime help.
You have no right to give your child
q name lacking either i'll cuphony or
moral meaning. 1t is a sin to call o
child Jehoikim, OF Tiglathpileser-or
by anything that is disagreeable. Be-
cause you have had an exasperat-
ing name yourself is no reason
why You should inhict it
upon your progeny. And yet
how often it is that we see a name
full OF jargon rattling down from gen.
Grafton to generation, simply because
a long while ago some one happened
to be afflicted with it. Institutions
and great enterprises sometimes with
out sufficient deliberation take NOM
enclature. Mighty destinieshave peen
decided by q name. While we may,
by q %longcourse OF Christian behavior,
get over hemisfortune OF having been
baptized with thename OF a despot or
a cheat, how much better it would
have been if we could have all started
lite without any such ~incumbrance!
When Paul, in my text and in other
passages OF scripture, burst forth in
aspirations OF admiration for the
name OF Christ, | want to inquire
what are the characteristics of that
appellation. 1.-The name which is
above everyname." Inthe first place,
speaking to you inregard to the name
OF Christ, want to tell you.
IT is AN EASY NAME.
You are sometimes introduced to
people with long and unpronounce-
able names, and you have to listen
cautiously to get the names, and you
nave to hear them pronounced two or
three times before you risk trying to
utter them; but within the first two
years the little child folds its hands
and looks upward and says "Jesus."
Can it be that in all this church this
morning there are representatives OF
any household where the children
are familiar with the names OF the
father and mother and brother and
sister, yet know nothing about that
name which is above every name?"
Sometimes you forget the name OF q
quite familiar friend, and you have to
think and think before you get it; but
can you imagine any freak OF intellect
by which you should forget the name
OF Jesus? That word seems to fit the
tongue in every dialet. Down to old
age, when the voice is tremulous and
uncertain and indistinct, even then
this regal word findspotent %utterance.
Jesus, 1 love thy charming name.
lis music to my car;
Fain would l sound it out so loud
That heaven and earth might hear.
But [ remark further in regard to
this name ofChrist, that it is beau
tiful name. Now you have noticed
that you cannot d~isassociate q name
from the character OF the person WHO
has it. There are some names, for
instance, that are repulsive to my
ear. Those names are attractive to
your ear What is the difference?
Why, ] happened to know some per-
sons OF that name who were cross, or
sour, or queer, or unsympathetic, and
the persons you have happened to
know OF that name were kind and
genial. Since then, we cannot disas-
sociate q name from the character of
the person who has the name, that
consideration makes the
NAME OF JESUS UNsPEAHABLY BEAUTI-
FUL.
Icannot pronounce that name in
your presence, but you think of Beth
lehem and Gethsemane and Golgotha,
and you see his loving face and you
hear his tender voice, and you feel his
gentle touch. AS soon as l pronounce
his name in your presence you think
OF him who banqueted with heavenly
hierarchs, yet came down and break
tasted on fish which the rough men
hauled out Of Genesaret; you think Of
him who, though the clouds are the
dust OF his feet, walked foot
sore on the road to Emmaus, l can
not speak his name in your hearing
this morning, but you think right
away OF the shining one who restored
the centurion's daughter, and who
helped the blind man to sunlight, and
who made the cripple's crutch, USE
less, and who looked down into the
laughing eyes OF the babe until it
struggled to go to him; then finging
his arms around it, and impressing a
kiss upon it's beautiful brow said,
"Of such is the kingdom OF heav-
en-"
Oh, beautiful NAME, the name of
Jesus, which stands for love for pa
thence, for self-sacrifice, for magnanim-
ity, for everything that is good and
glorious and tender and sympathetic
and kind! 1t is aromatic with all
odors. 1t is accordant with harmo-
MES. Sometimes, when | look at
that name OF Jesus Christ, it seems
as if the letters were made of tears,
and they seem to be twisted out of
the straw OH which he lay, and then
it seems to be built out OF the thrones
on which his people are to reign.
Saxaa4i-aor L co.aal 4laA..A.i Ia...