The Globe-republican., 1892-05-16
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
s a DISCOURSE ON THE POTENCY
OF CHRIST'S NAME.
The Name Itself Has . Certain Beauty
Of Sound, but No Familiar Name Can
be Dfssociated from tho Character Of
the Person Who Bears It


At the Tabernacle.
While DR.. Talmage is able to hold vast
audiences spellbound by his elOQuence.
whatever subject he has in hand, he is
never so eloquent, or so evidently great
orator, as when he breaches Christ as
the one hope for the regeneration Of the
World. The fact was proved when he
discoursed from the text, Philippians ii,
9, THE name which ais 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 a Kentuckian, the name of Will.
lam Writ to Virginian, the name of
Daniel Webster to New Highlander.
BY common prOverb We have come to
believe that "there is nothing in name;"
and so parents sometimes at the
baptismal altar give titles to their chill
dren, reckless Of the fact that that title,
that name, will be a lifetime hindrance
or lifetime help. You have no right
to give your child name lacking either
in euphony or moral meaning.
1t is sin to call child Jehoiakim or
Tiglath-pileser, or by anything that is
disagreeable. Because you have had an
exasperating name yourself is no reason
why you should inflict it upon your
progeny, and yet how often it is that we
see a name full OF jargon rafting down
from generation to generation simply
because long while ago some one hap
pened TO be afflicted with it. Institu-
tons and great enterprises sometimes
without sufficient deliberation take no
menclature. Mighty destinies have been
decided by name. While we may by a
long course of Christian behavior get
over the misfortune Of having been bap-
tized with the name of a despot or a
cheat, how much better it would have
been II we could have all started life
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 appellatioR, 1.-The
name which is above every name" In
the first place, speaking to you in re-
gard to the name Of Christ, want to tell
you it is an easy name. You are some
times introduced to people with long
and unpronounceable names, and you
have to listen cautiously to get the
names, and you have to hear them pro-
nounced 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, vet know moth
ing about that pane which is above
every name?" Sometimes you forget
the name of quite familiar friend, and
you have to think and think before you
get it; bat 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 dialect. Down
to old age, when the voice is tremulous
and uncertain and indistinct, even then
this resci word finds potent utterance.
When an aged father was dying, one
of the children came and said: Father,
do you know me?" and in the delirium
Of the last sickness he said, NO, L don't
know YOU" Another child came and
said, Father. do YOU know me?" NO, :"
he said. Il don't know you" Then the
village pastor came in and said, ''Do you
know me?" He said. NO: don't think
ever saw you" Then said the minis
ter, 'Do you know Jesus?' 'Oh. yesr'
said the dying man, Il know Jesus; chief
among 10000 is He, and the one alto
gether lovely" Yes, for all ages and
for all languages and for all conditions
is an easy name.
Jesus, love thy charming name,
lis music TO my ear;
Eain would 1 sound IL out loud
That Heaven and earth might hear.
ut remark further in regard to this
name of Christ, that it is a beautiful
name. Now you have noticed that you
cannot disassociate 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, l happened to know
some persons 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 diSaSSoclate a
name from the character of the person
who has the name, that consideration
makes the name of Jesus unspeakably
beautiful
cannot pronounce that name in your
presence, but you think of Bethlehem.
Gethsemane and Golgotha, and you see
His loving face, and you hear His tender
voice, and you feel His gentle touch. As
soon as pronounce His name in your
presence you think of Him who ban
quoted with heavenly bierarchs, vet
came down and breakfasted on the fish
which the rough men hauled out of
GeneSaret; you think Of Him who. though
the clouds are the dust Of His feet,
walked footsore on the road to EmMaus.
l cannot speak His name in YOUR hear
ing 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, aud
who made the cripple's crutch useless.
and who looked down into the laughing
eyes OF the babe until it struggled to 60
to Him: then flinging His arms around it
and impresSing kiss upon its beautiful
brow, said, 'Ot such is the kingdom of
Heaven"
Oh, beautiful name, the name Of Jesus,
which stands for love, for patience. for
Solf.aacrifics, for ms piypifv for