Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-11-24
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn DiVins's Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject; "Ihe IFS Of the Bible"

y
and if not, blot me, pray Thee, out of Thy
book Exodus xxi. 80.
There is in our English language a small
conjunction which, propose, by Gods help.
to haul out OF its present insignidcancy and
set upon the throne where it belongs, and
that is the conjunction eff" 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 ii as the most tremen-
dous word in all the vocabulary outside OF
those words which describe deity.
"lfr Why, that word we take as a tramp
among words, now appearing here, now ap-
pearing there, but having no value of It's
own, when 1t really has a 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 for the sub
| mergence of another, would the book Of
Exodus ever have been written? II the ship
on which Columbus sailed for America had
gone down in an Atlantic cyclone, how much
longer would it 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 fate
of Europe? II the Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked off 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, had been
decided the other way.
II 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 had never been born for as
tronomy. or Luther had never been born for
| the reformation
Oh. that conjunction off 20 How much has
depended on it The height Of 1t, the depth
CT il. the length Of it. the breadth of it, the
immensely of it, the infnity of it-who can
measuref 1t would swamp anything but
omnipotence But must cOnfne myselfto-
day to the Ifs" Of the Bible, and in doing so
I shall speak of the cir OF overJUwering
earnestness, the "if' Of incredulity. the sir
OF threat. the ''if of augmentation, the cir
Of eternal significance, or 50 many OF these
''ifs' as | can compass in the time that may
be reasonably allotted to pulpit discourse.
First. the "if' Of overpOwerng earnest
ness. My text gives it. The Israeites have
been wOrshiping an idol. Notwithstanding
all that God had done for them, and now
| Moses offers the most vehement prayer OF all
history. and il turns upon an ''if' "It
Thou wilt forgive their sins-and il not, blot
me, I pray Thee, out OF Thy book Oh,
what an overwhelming ''it!' 1t was as
much as TO say. III Thou wilt not pardon
them, do not pardon me. If Thou wilt not
bring 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 recoriest their doom re
cord my doom. II they are shut out OF
heaven, let me he shut out of heaven. II
they 90 down into darkness, lot me so 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. rsked the same prayer,
for it is a risk. You must not makelt unless
yOu are willing TO balance your eternal sal
walton on such an If" Yet there have been
cases where a mother has been so anxious
for the recovery OF a Maynard son that her
prayer has swung and trembled AMI poised
On an II like lutt VI lAt lNAts II nut
blot me, pray thee. out OF thy book. Write
his name in the Lambs Book Of Life orturn
10 the page where my name was written ten
or twenty or forty or sixty years ago, and
witu tho black ink OF everlasting midnight
erase my first name. and my last name. and
all nv name. If he is 10 60 into shipwrecs,
let me be tossed amid thesa breakers. II
he cannot be a partner in my bliss, let me bea
partner in his woe. 1 have for many years loved
Thee 0 GOD, and it has been my eXpecta-
ton 10 sit with Christ and all the redeemed
at the banquet of the skies but now give
upmy promised place at the feast, aud my
promised robe andmy 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 a 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 a
prayer from his mothers heart. He 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
that drops from the caves on dark night.
The fact that she does not sleep because OF
watching for his return late at night does not
choke his laughter 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 AMI
venturesome and terrific prayer OF my text.
She is going 10 lit her own eternity and SET
II upon that one III by which she expects
to decide whether you will 20 up With her or
she down with YOU. She may be this mo-
ment looking heavenwird and sayinc" o Lord
reclaim him by thy grace" and then adding
that heart-ren dering iii ofmy text ''if not,
blot me, pray Thee, out Of Thy boos.
After three years Of absence a son wrote
his mother in one Of the New England
whaling villages that he was coming home
in a certain ship. Motherlike, she stood
watching. and the ship was in the offing, but
a fearful storm struck il and dashed the ship
on the rocks that night. All that night the
mother prayed for the safety of the son, and
Just at dawn there was a knock at the cottage
door. and the son entered. crying out.
"Mothcr. | knewyOu would pray me home
! II would ask all those in this assemblag9
VINO have been prayed home to Go1 by pious
mothers 10 stand up. there would be scores
/ that would stand, and if | should ask them
to give testimony it would be the testimony
of that New England son coming ashore
from the split timbers Of the whaling ship.
"NIy mother prayed me home
Another blDlt II Is the II OF lncTtuu-
lity. Satan used it when Christ's vitality
was depressed by forty days abstinence from
food, andthe temPter pointed TO some stones,
in color and shape like loaves Of breaj AMI
said. ii thou be the Son OF God, con-
mand that these stones be made bread.
That was appropriate, for Satan is the father
OF that "f'' Of incredulity Peter used the
same III when. standing on the wet AMI
slippery deck OF a fishing smacS OIL Lake
Galilee he saw Christ walking on the sea as
though il were As solid as a pavement OF
basalt from the adjoining volcanic hills and
Peter cried, 1T it be Thou, let me come 10
Thee on the water.
What preposteroUs "ifi What human
foot was ever 50 constructed az to walk on
waterf In what part of the earth did law OF
gravitatiOn make exception to the rule that a
man will sink to the elbows when he touches
the wave Of river or lake AMI will sink still
farther unless he can SWIM But here Peter
looks out upon the form in the shape Of
man deiying the mightiest law Of the uni
verse the law Of gravitation, and Standing
erect on the top Of the liquid. Yet the in
credulOus Peter cries out 10 the Lord. I'll
It be Thou. Alas for that ncreduious III"
II is working as powerfully in the latt er part
OF this nineteenth Christian century rs il cid
In the early mart OF tho FIRST Christian com