Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-02-19
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject: standing on the Plain with
Christ"

ural elevations. But how is it that never be-
fore have we noticed Him on the plalnY
Amid the rocks, high 10 on the mountain,
Christ had passed the nigat, but now, at ear
ly dawn, He is coming down with some es-
pecial friends, stepping from shelving to
shelving, here and there a loosened stone
rolling down the steep sides ahead of Him,
until He gets in a level place. so that He can
be approached without climbing from all
sides. Heis on the level. My text says,
He came down with them and stood in the
plain"
Now that is wat the world wants to-day
more than anything elsa Christ Oh the
level, easy to get at no ascending no de-
scending, approachabls from all sides.
Christ ON the plain. 1hequestion among all
consecrated people to-day is, What Is the
matter with the minister's Many of them
are engaged in picking holes in the Bible and
apologizing for this and apologizing for
that In an age when the whole tendency is
to pay too little reverence to the Bible, they
are fighting against Bibliolatry. or too much
reverence for the Bible. They are building
fence on the wrong side of the road: not
on the side where the precipice is and OIL
VIII oh multitudes are falling, but on the
upper side of the road, so that people Will
not fall up hill. of which there is no danger.
There is no more danger of Bibliolatry, or
too much reverence for the Scriptures than
there is that astrology will take the place OF
astronomy, or alchemy the place OF chemis-
try, or the canal boat the place OF the Inn
tied express rail train. What a theological
farce il is: ministers fighting against too
much reverence for the Scriptures; ministers
making apology for the Scriptures: ministers
pretending to be friends of the Bible, yet
doing the Book more damage than all the
blatant iufideIs on all the earth. The trouble
is our theologians are uo in the mountain
in a fight above the clouds about things
which they do not understand. Come down
on the plain and stand beside Christ who
never preached technicality OF a didacti-
cism. What do you, o wise headed ecclesi-
astic. know about the DEGREES OF Col? Who
cares fig about your sublapsarianism or
your supralaparianism?
What a spectacle we have in our denomi-
nation to-day-committees trying to patch
up an old creed made two or three hundred
wears ago, so that it will fit on the Nine
tenth century. Why do not our millinery
establishments take out of the sarrets the
coal scuttle hats which your great.granf'
mothers wore and try to fit them on the head
of the modern maiden? You cannot fix up
q observation-disclosures creed SO as to fit
cur time. Princeton will sew on little
piece. and Union seminary will sew o1 lit
tie piece, and Allegheny seminary and Dan
vile seminary will sew on other pieces, and
the time the creed is done il will be as varie4
gated as Joseph's coat of many coiors.
Think of having to change an old creed to
make it clear that all infants dying 90 10
heaven am so glad that the committees
are going TO let the babies in. Thank you.
So many of them are already in that all the
hills of heaven look like Sunday school an
uiversary Now what is the use OF fixing up
a creed which left any doubt on that sub
ject: No man ever doubted that all infants
owing go to heaven, unless he be Herod or
a Charles Guiteau, was oppose to over
hauling the old creed at ell but now that it
has been lifted up and its imperfections set
up in the sight of the world, ! say Over
board with it an1 make new creed
There are today in our denomination five
hundred men who could make better one.
could make a better one myself As we
are now in process o. changing the creed,
and no one knows what we are expected to
believe, or will two or three years hence be
expected to believe, ] could not wait, and so
| have made creed of my own which | in
tend to observe the rest of my life. wrote
it down in my memorandum book some six
months ago, and it reads as follows: My
creed The glorious Lord. To trust Him,
IONt I1itl anu OUtl HUI II az btiob - L.
uured To that creed invite all mankind.
I. De Witt Talmage.'
The reason Christianity has not made
more rapid advance is because the people
are asked to believe too many things. There
are believe, to-day millions of good Chris
tians who have never joined the church and
are not counted among the Lords friends
bee use they cannot believe all the things
that they are requ red 70 believe. One-half
the things man is expected to believe in
order to enter the church and reach heaven
have no more to do with his salvation than
the question. How many volcanoes are there
in the moon, or How far apart from each
other are the rings of Saturn or, How
many teeth there were in the jawbone with
which Sampson smote the PhillstineS? | be-
lieve ten thousand things, but none OF them
have anything TO do with my salvation ex-
cept these two-I am sinner and Christ
came to save me.
Musicians tell us that the octave consists
Only of five tones aud two semitOnes and all
the Handels and Haydns and Mozarts and
Wagners and Schumanns OF all ages must do
their work within the range OF those five
tones and two semitones. So have to tell
YOU that all the theology that will be o.
practical use in our world is made odt OF
the two facts OF human sinfulness and
divine atonenent. Within that octave
swing THE Song of Moses aud the
Lamb the Christmas chant above
Bethlehem and the Hallelujah of all the
choirs standing on seas OF glass.
Is there not some mode of getting out OF
the way of these nonsssentials, these super
huities, these Emergencies from the main
issue. Is there not some way OF bringing the
church down out OF the mountain OF con-
troversy and conventionalism and TO put IL
on the plain where Christ stands The pres
ent attitude of things is like this; In famine
struck district table has been provided ant
is loaded with food enough for all. The
odors of the meats fill the air. Everything
is ready. The platters are full The chalices
are full. The baskets of fruit are full Why
not let the people in? The door i open: Yes,
Int there is a cluster OF wise men blocking
I'D the door, discussing the contents OF the
caster standing midtabie. They are shaking
theic fists at each other.
One saws there is too much vinegar in that
caster. and one says there is too much sweet
oil. and another says there is not the proper
proportion of red pepper. | say, 'Get out
of the way and let the hungry people CONS
in" Now our blessed Lord has provided
great supper. and the oxen and the fatllngs
have been killed, and fruits from all the vine
yarUS anu VI HSoNch NAN"A VIZ
table. The world has been invited to come,
and they look in. and they are hungry, and
the people would pour in by the millions TO
this world wide table, but the door is blocked
up by controversies, and men with whole
libraries on their backs are disputiug as to
what proportion of sweet oil aud cayenne
pepper should make up the creed. cry,
''Get out of tbs way AMI let the hungry
world come in.
The Christian church will have to change
its tack or it will run on the rocks OF demo-
lition. The worlds population annually in
creases fifteen millions. No one pretends
that half that number of people are con
verted to God There are more than twice
as many Buddhsts as Protestants: more
than twice as many Buddhists as Roman
Catholics. Protestants. 135, 900, 00D; Catho-
lies, ly5,OO0,0)0; Buddhists, 400 100000;
There are 175,0O0,00 Mohammedans and
900, OOO0O0 Brahmans.
Meanwhile, many of the churches are only
reli gious clubhouses. where q few people 90
on Sunday morning. averaging one person
TO a pew or one person to halt dozen pews,
AMI leaving the minister at night to sweat
through sermon with here and there ions
Traveller, unless, by Sunday evening sacred
concert, he can get out all audience OF re-
spectacle size.
The vast majority of the church member
ship around the world put forth no direcI