The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-04-19
AT THE TABERNACLE.
Or. TALMAGE DRAWS LESSONS FROM
THE WEDDING FEAST.

How Many and What Base1ess Excuses Men
Make For Not Becoming Christians.
Christianity Is a Very Great Help In Ev-
cry Proper Relation In Life.
: BROOKLYN, April 16.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
In his sermon in the Brooklyn Tabernacle
this forenoon spread before the great audi
ence in eloquent words the beauty and at
Effectiveness of the gospel feast, the text
chosen being from Luke xiv, Is, And they
all with one consent began to make excuse"
After the invitations TO a levee are sent
out the regrets come in. One man apollo
gizes for nonattendance on one ground, an
other on another ground. The most of the
regrets are founded on prior engagements
So in my text a great banquet was spread,
the invitations were circulated, and now
the regrets come in
The one gives an agricultural reason, the
other stock dealers reason, the other a
domestic reason-aH poor reasons. The
agricultural reason being that the man had
bought a farm and wanted to see il. Could
he not see it the next dayS The stock deal
er's reason being that he had bought five
yoke of oxen and he wanted to 90 and
prove them. He had no business to buy
them until he knew what they were. Be
vides that a man who can own five yoke Of
oxen can command his own time. Besides
Mat, he might have yoked two Of them to-
get her and driven them on the way 70 the
banquet, for locomotion was not as rapid
then as now. The man who gave the do
mestic reason said he had got marrIcd He
ought to have taken his wife with him.
The fact was, they did not want to GO
Sand they all with one consent began to
make excuse" So now God spreads a
great banquet. 1t is the gospel feast, and
the table reaches across the hemispheres,
and the invitations go out, and multitudes
come and sit down and drink out of the chal-
ices of Gods love, while other multitudes
decline comiIg-the one giving this apollo
gy and the other giving that apology And
they all with one consent began TO make
excuse" i propose this morning, so far as
God may help me, to examine the apollo
giles which men make for not entering the
Christian life.
RELIGION HAS MADE RECORD.
Apology the First-I am not sure there is
anything valuable in the Christian reli-
gion 1t is pleaded that there are so many
impositions In this day-so many things
that seem to be real are sham. a gilded
outside may have a hollow inside There
is so much quackery in physics, in ethics,
in politics, that men come to the habit of
incredulity, and after awhile they allow
that incredulity to collide with our holy
religion.
But, my friends, I think religion has
made a pretty good record in the world.
How many wounds it has salved; how
many pillars Of fire it has lifted in the mid
night wilderness; how many simeon struck
Saharas it hath turned into the gardens of
the Lord; how it hath stilled the chopped
sea; what rosy light 1t hath sent streaming
through the rift of the storm cloud wrack;
what pools of cool water it hath gathered
for thirsty Hagar and Ishmael; what man
ma whittier than coriander seed it hath
dropped all around the camp of hardly be-
stead pilgrims; what promises it hath sent
out like holy watchers TO keep the lamps
burning around deathbeds; through the
darkness that lowers into the sepulcher,
what flashes Of resurrection mornl
Besides that this religion has made 50
many heroes. 1t brought Summerfield, the
Methodist, across the Atlantic ocean with
his silver trumpet to blow the acceptable
year of the Lord until it seemed IS if all
our American cities would take the king
dom of heaven by violence. 1t sent Jehudi
Ashman into Africa alone in a continent
of naked barbarians, to lift the standard of
civilization and Christianity. 1t made John
Milton among poets, Raphael among paint
ers, Christopher Wren among architects,
Thorwaldsen among sculptors, Handel
among musicians, Dupont among military
commanders; and TO give new wings to the
Imagination, and better balance to the judg-
nent, and more determination to the will
and greater usefulness to the life, and
Erander nobility to the soul, there is moth
ng in all the earth like our Christian reli-
pon.
WERE THEY ALL DECEIVED?
Nothing in religioni Why, then, all
those Christians were deceived, when in
their dying moment they thought they
saw the castles of the blessed, and your
child, that with unutterable agony you put
AWAY into the grave, you will never see him
lgain nor hear his sweet voice nor feel the
throb of his young heart? There is moth
ng In religionl Sickness will come upon
Tou- Roll and turn on your pillow. No
relief. The medicine may be bitter, the
hight may be dark, the pain may be sharp.
No relief. Christ never comes to the sick
,oom. Let the pain stab. Let the fever
ourn. Curse it and die. There is nothing
religiOnl
After awhile death will come You will
near the paving of the pale horse on the
threshold. The spirit viii be breaking
away from the body and it will take flight
-WIlbncEs NnllueEf 1ueF6 Is no ITOu, no
ministering angels to conduct, no Christ,
no heaven, no home Nothing in religion!
Oh. you not willing to adopt such
dismal theory. And yet the world is full
of skeptics. And let me say there is no
class of people for whom have a warmer
sympathy than for skeptics. We do not
know how 70 treat them. Wederide them,
we caricature them. We instead Of taking
them by the soft hand Of Christian love,
clutch them with the iron pinchers of eccle-
siasticism.
Oh, if you knew how those men had fall
en- away from Christianity and become
skeptics you would not be so rough on
where religion was overdone. The most
wretched day in the week was Sunday Re
ligiOn was driven into them with a trip
hammer. They had a surfeit of prayer
meetings. They were stuffed and choked
with catechis IS. They were told by their
parents that they were the worst children
that ever lived because they liked to ride
down hill better than to read Pilgrims
Progress" They never heard their parents
talk Of religion but with the corners of
their mouths drawn down and the eyes
rolled up.
Others went into skepticism through
maltreatment on the part of some who
professed religion. There is a man who
says, MY partner in business was voluble
in prayer meeting and he was offciOus in
all religious circles, but he cheated me out