The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-12-06
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssThe fIfs' Of the Bible"


book. EXODUS xxxii., 80.
There is in our English language small
conjunction which, I propose. by Gods help,
to haul out Of its present lnslgnihcancy and
Get upon the throne where it belongs, and
that is the conjunction sif." Though made
Of only two letters, it is the pivot on which
everything turns. All time and all eternity
are at its disposal. We slur it in our utter
ance, we ignore it in our appreciation, and
none Of US recognize it as the most tremen-
dous word in all the vocabulary outside OF
those words which describe deity.
CTR Why, that word we take as tramp
among words, now appearing here, now ap-
bearing there but having no value OF It's
own. when it really has q millionairedom OF
worlds, and in its train walk all planetary.
stellar, lunar, solar destinies. II the boat OF
leaves made watertight, in which the infant
Moses sailed the Nile. had sunk who would
have led Israel out of Egypt? II the Red
Sea had not parted for the escape OF one
host and then come together Tor the SUD
mergence Of another, would the book OF
Exodus ever have been written? II the snip
on which Columbus sailed for America had
gone down in an Atlantic cyclone, how much
longer would 1t have taken for the discov-
cry Of this continent?
II Grouchy had come up with reinforce
ments in time to give the French the victory
at Waterloo, what would have been the late
of Europe? II the Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked of the coast, how different
would have been many chapters in English
history. II the battle of Hastings or the
battle OF Pultowa. or the battle OF Valmy, or
the battle Of Mataurus, or the battle OF Ar
bella, or the battle OF Chalons, each one OF
which turned the worlds destiny, he'd been
decided the other way! ~
If Shakespeare had never been born for
the drama, or Handel had never been born
for music, or Titan had never been born for
painting, or Thorwaldsen had never been
born for sculpture, or Edmund Burke had
never been born for eloquence, or Socrates
had never been born for philosophy, or
Blackstone had never been born for the law,
or Copernicus bad never been born for as
tronomy. or Luther had never been born for
the reformation!
oh. that conjunction "ifm How much has
depended on it! The height OF 1t, the depth
of 1t, the Ength OF 1t, the breadth OF It, the
immensity Of It, the infinity OF it-who can
measure? It would swamp anything but
omnipotence. But must cont1ns myself to-
day to the 'iis" of the Bible, and in doing 30
I shall speak of the 'sif' OF overpowering
'earnestness, the ssif'' OF lncredulity, the 'if'
OF threat, the sir Of augmentation, the 'ff'
of eternal significance, or so many OF these
'!lfs' as can compass in the time that may
be reasonably allotted to pulpit discourse.
First. the "if'' OF oyerpowerlng earnest
ness. My text gives It. The 1sraelites have
been worshiping IN idol. Notwithstanding
all that God had done for them, and now
Moses offers the most vehement prayer OF all
history, and 1t turns upon an "n. "lt
Thou wilt forgive their sins-and II not, blot
me, pray Thee, out Of Thy book" Oh,
what an Overwhelming sif!" It was as
much IS to say. ''It Thou wilt not pardon
them, do not pardon me. II Thou wilt not
nrlng them to the promised land, let me
never see the promised land. If they must
perish, let me perish with them In that
book where Thou recordest their doom re-
cord my doom. II they are shut out OF
heaven, let me- be shut out Of heaven. If
they go down into darkness, let me go down
into darkness" What vehemence and holy
recklessness OF prayer!
Yet there are those here who, have no
doubt, have, in their all absorbing desire to
have others saved. risked the same prayer,
for it is a risk. You must not makeit unless
you are willing to balance your eternal sal
yation on such an s.if" Yet there have been
oases where mother has been so anxious
for the recovery Of wsyward son that hel
prayer has swung and trembled and poised
on an :!tf'' like that OF the text. 'If not,
blot me, pray thee, out Of thy book. Write
his name in the Lambs Book OF Life, orturn
to the page where my name was written ten
or twenty or forty or sixty years ago, and
with the black ink OF everlasting midnight
erase my first name, and my last name, and
all my name. II he Is to go into shipwreck,
let me be tossed amid the same breakers. IT
he cannot be partner in my bliss, let me be a
ar:nsr in his woe. Ihaye for many years loved
Thee. o God, and It has been my e3pecta-
ticn to sit with Christ and all the redeemed
at the banquet of the skies but I now give
up my promised place at the feast, and my
promised robe, and my promised crown, and
my promised throne unless John. unless
George, unless Henry, unless my darling son
can share them with me. Heaven will be no
heaven without him. o God, save my boy,
or count me among the lost !"
That is terrific prayer, and yet there is
young man sitting In the pew on the main
floor, or in the lower gallery, or in the top
gallery, who has already crushed such
PRAYER from his mothers heart. BE hardly
ever writes home, or, living at home, what
does he care how much trouble he gives her:
Her tearS are no more to him than the rain
thar drops from the caves on a dark night.
The fact that she does not sleep because OF
watching for his return late at night does not
choke hislaughter or hasten his step forward.
She has tried coaxing and kindness and
self sacrifice and all the ordinary prayers that
mothers make for their children, and all have
failed. She is coming toward the vivid and
venturesome and terrific prayer OF my text.
She is going to lift her own eternity and set
it upon that one "lf,' by which she expects
to decide whether you will 60 up with her or
she down with you. She may be this mo-
ment looking heavenw lrd and saying" o Lord
reclaim him by thy grace" and then adding
that heart-rendering 'if ofmy text 'it not,
blot me, pray Thee, out Of Thy book.
After three years OF absence son wrote
his mother in one Of the New England
whaling villages that he was coming home
in certain ship. Motherl.Se, She stood
watching. and the ship was in the ofang, but
a fearful storm struck it and dashed the ship
mother prayed for the safety OF the son, and
Just at dawn there was knock at the cottage
door, and the son entered, crying out,
HMother, knew you would pray me home!
II I would ask all those in this assemblage
who have been prayed home to GOD by pious
mothers to stand up, there would be scores
that would stand, and if should ask them
to give testimony 1t would be the testimony
of that New England son coming ashore
from the split timberS OF tne whaling ship,
S'My mother prayed me home
Another Bible .if'' Is the ''if" OF incredu-
iity. Satan used it when Chrlst's vitality
was depressed by forty days abstinence trcn
food. 1.-The tempter pointed to some stones,
in color and shape like loaves OF brea1, and
said, .'If thou be the Son OF. God, con.
mand that these stones be made bread. v
That was appropriate, for Satan Is the father
OF that ''if'' Of incredulity. Peter used the
same '.if' when, standing On the wet and
Slippery DECK or usnlng snacS on LAKE.
Galilee, he saw Christ walking on the sea as
though it were as solid "a pavement OF
basalt from the adjoining volcanic hills, and
Peter cried, "If 1t be Thou. let me come IL
Thee on the water"
What a preposterous "fr' What human
fao. ,-ns auar % cnnstrncted as to walk on