Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-06-04
REV. DR.. TALNAGE
TIE TEOOELYN DININE'S Sun
DAY SERMON.

SuisH. lHe sun Oh Tue OOuSeQOtu was pos :.
sessed OF an evil spirit which, among other
things, paralyzsi his tongue and made him
SPECIFICS. When the influence was on the
patient he could not say q word-articuia-
ton was impossible. The spirit that cap
tured this member o. the household was a
dumb spirit-so callel by Christ-a spirit
abroad to-day and as lively and potent as in
New Testament times. Yet in all of the
realms OF sernonology l cannot And a dis
course concerning this dumb devil which
,hrist charged upon my text, saying,
Come cut Of him"
There has ben much destructive supersti-
ton abroad i'll the world concerning posses
sion by evil spirits, Under the form Of belief
IN witc icraft this delu5ion swept tie
continents. Persons were supposed to be
possessed with some evil spirit which made
them able to destroy others. In the six
teenth century in Geneva 1909 persons were
burned to death as witches. Under one
Judge in Lorraine $40 persons were burnei
10 death as witches. In one neighborhood of
France 1000 persons were burned. In two
centuries 200, COO persons were slain as
witcnes- So mighty was the delusion that
1t included among its victims some OF the
greatest inteilects of all time, such as Chief
Justice Mathew Hale and Sir Edward Coke,
and such ministers Of religion as
Cotton Mather, one of whose books, Benjamin
Franklin said, shaped his life-and Richard
Baxter and Archbishop Cranmer and Mar
TIN Luther, and among writer's and phtlOSO-
pliers, Lord Bacon. That belief, which has
become the laughing stock ct all sensible
people, counted its disciples emOng the wisest
and best people Of Sweden, Germany, Eng
land, France, Spain and New England. But
while wereject witchcraft any man who be-
iieves the Bible must believe that there are
diabolical agencies abroad in the world.
While there are ministering spirits to bless
there are internal spirits to hinder, to poison
and destroy. Christ was speaking to a spir-
ltual existence when, standing before the
afflicted one OF the text, He said, Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, come out Of him.
Against this dumb devil Of the text, l put
you on your guard. Do not think that this
agent of evil has put his blight on those who.
by commission OF the vocal organs, have had
the golden gates Of speech bolted and barred.
Among those VINO have never spoken a WORT
are the most gracious and lovely and tai
ented souls that were ever incarnated. The
chaplains OF the asylums for the dumb can
tell you enchanting stories OF those, who
never called the name of father or mother
or child, and many OF the most devout and
prayerful souls will never in this world
speak the name Of God or Christ. Many a
deaf mute have | seen with the angel Of In
teliigence seated at the window Of the eve,
who never came forth from the door Of the
mouth.
What a miracle of loveliness and knowl-
edge was Laura Bridgman, of New Hamp
shire. Not only without faculty of speech.
but without hearing and without sight, all
these faculties removed by sickness when
two years of age, yet becoming q wonder at
neailework, at the piano, at the sewing ma
chine, and an intelligent student of the
SCRIPTURES, and contounding philosophers,
who came from all parts OF the world to
study the phenomenon. Thanks to Christi
anity for what it has lone for the amelior-
alton of the condition of the deaf and the
dumb. Back i'll the ages they were put to
death as having no right, with such paucity
Of equipment, to live, and for centuries they
were classed among the idiotic and unsafp.
But In the Sixteenth century came Pedr 0
Ponc,, the Spanish monk, and in the Seven @.
teenth century ca,ne Juan Pablo Bonet,
aIothor Spanish monk, with dactylo logy or
the finger alphabet, and in our own century
we have had John B%raidwood n Drs.
Mitchell and Ackerly and Peet and Gallau
Diet, who have given uncounted thousands OF
those whose tongues were forever silent the
power to spell out on the air by a manual
alphabet their thoughts about this world and
their hopes for the next. We rejoice in the
brilliant inventions in behalf of those who
were born dumb
One of the most impressive audiences !
ever addressed was in the far west two or
three years agO-an audience of about 600
persons who had never heard a sound or
spoken a word. an interpreter standing beside
me while | addressed them. l congratulated
that audience on two advantages they had
and over the most of us-tne one that they
escaped hearing Il great many disaGreeable
thing and on the other fact that they es-
capped saying things they were sorry for af-
terward. Yet after all the aheviations a
shackied tongue Is an appalling limitation.
Blu we are not this morning speaking OF
congenltal mutes. We mean those who are
born with all the faculties Of vocalization
and yet have been struck by the evil one
mentioned in the eNt-the dumb devil t.
whom Christ called when He said, Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, | charge thee, come
out of him.
There has been apotheosization 0: silence.
Some one has said that silence is golden, and
sometimes the greatest triumph is to keep
Your mQpth shut. But sometimes silence is
a crime and the direct result Of the baleful
influence OF the dunk devil Of our text.
lhere Is hardly a man or woman in this
house to-lav who hos n3t haan rrA-au. 90
some occasion when the Christian religion
became a target for raillery. Perhaps 1t was
over i'll the store someuav when there was
not much going OF and tue clerks were in 6
group. or 1t was in the factory at the noon
spell, or 1t was cut on The farm under the tree
wnlle you were resting, or 1t was IN the
ciuproonl, or 1t was III a social circle, or it
was III the street on the way home from
business, OF II was on some occasion which
yOi iliti Jct "litiDuN ln' icSCfiDtlI IL
Some one GOT the laugh on the Bib
and caricaturet the profession Of re
hSion as hypocrisy. or made a pun GU
OF something that Christ said. Tn laugh
started and you joined IN, and not one word
of protest dill you utter. What kept you
silent; Modesty, No. Incapacity t
answer No. Lack of opportunity Nc
1t was a blow on both your hips by the wins
OF tha DUMB devil. 1t souls one should ma
lga your father or mother or wife or hus
band or child You would flush up quick, an
either with an indignant word or doubles
up fist make response. And Yet here is gu
Christian religion which has done SO muci
tor you ami 50 much for the world that j
will take all eternity TO celebrate il, and We
when 1t was attacked YOU did not 90 nue.
as say Il differ. | object. l am sorry t
hear you say that. There is another side I
this.
You Christian people ought. in such time
ms these 10 go armed, not with earthl
weapons, but with the sword of the Spirit
You ought 70 have four or tive question
with which YOU could c~1ntouni any ma
VINO attacks Christianity. A mar nine'
Years Old was tel!ln, ME a few days a
how lie put - flight a ~scotfer. My az
friend said TO the skeptic. "Did YOU ev.
read the history Of ,Iosapb in fI,a p;hIa