The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-20
THE IFS" OF THE BIBLE.
A Small Conjunction Hauled Out Of
Its InSignifiCalCy.

SermOn-A1 DeSt1nles w alk1nR In
Its Wake.
Brooklyn, Nov. 19.-In the Tabernacle
this morning, Rev. DR.. Talmage delivered
one Of his most unique and useful sermons
from text never before preached from.
Subject: The IFS" of the Bible The
text chosen was Exodus xxi: 30, II
thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not,
blot me, pray thee, out of thy book
There is in our English language a
small conjunction, which I propose, by
Gods help, to maui out of its present in
signifcancy and set upon the throne
where it belongs, and that is the con-
junction 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 il in our utterance,
we ignore it in our appreciation, and none
of US recognize IL as the most tremendous
word in all the voca bulary outside of
those words which describe Deity. If!
Why that word we take as a tramp
among words now appearing here, now
appearing there but having no value of
its own, when it really has a millionaire
dom of worlds, and in its train walk all
planetary, stellar, lunar, solar destinies. If
the boat of leaves, made water-tight, in
which infant Moses sailed the Nile had
sunk, who would have led Israel out of
Egypt2 If the Red Sea had not parted
for the escape of one host, and then
come together for the submergence of
another host, would the Book of Exodus
ever have been written If the ship on
which Columbus sailed for America had
gone down in an Atlantic cyclone, how
much longer would it have taken for the
discovery of this cOntinent2 If GrOuchy
no III with rsaip for9prr7 &c in inn
TO give the French the victory at Water
loo, what would have been the fate of
Europe2 If the Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked off the coast, how different
would have been many chapters in En-
glish history. If the battle of Hastings,
or the battle of Pultowa, or the battle of
Valmy, or the battle of Mataurus, or the
each one OF which turned the worlds
destiny, had 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 Thor
waldsen had never been born for sculp-
ture, 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 Cop
ernicus had never been born for astrono-
my, or Luther had never been born for
the reformation! Oh, that conjunction
off" How much has depended on it.
The hight of it, the depth of it, the
length of it, the breadth oft, the immens-
ity of it. the infnity of it, who can meas
urel 1t would swamp anything but ON
impotence. But must cOnfine myself to-
day TO the "Ifs' of the Bible, and in doing
so / shall speak of the If" of Overpower-
ing earnestness, the IF" of incredulity.
the IF of threat, the If of argumenta-
ton, the ''Ifn of eternal significance, or
so many of these IFS as l can compass
in the time that may be reasonably al
lotted to pulpit discourse.
First, the "If'' of overpowering earnest
ness. My text gives it. The Israelites
have been worshipping an idol, notwith-
standing all that God had done for them,
and now Moses offers the most vehement
prayer of all history, and it turns upon
an 'if." 'lf thou wilt forgive their sins
aud If not, blot me, | pray thee, out of
thy book" Oh, what an overwhelming
'if!" 1t was as much as to say, IF thou
wilt not pardon them, do not pardon me
If thou wilt not bring them to the prom
ised land, let me never see the promised
land, if they must perish let me perish
with them; in that book where thou re-
cordeSt their doom, record my doom; if
they are shut out of heaven, let me be
shut out of heaven; if they go down into
What vehemence and holy reckless
ness of prayer! Yet there are those
here who, l have no doubt
have, in their all-absorbing desire
TO have others saved, risked the same
prayer, for 1t is risk. You must not
make it unless you are willing to balance
your eternal salvation on such an III. 3,
Yet there have been cases where a
mother has been so anxious for the re
coyery of hayward son that her prayer
has swung and trembled and poised on
an If like that of the text. If not,
blot me, l pray thee, out of thy book.
Write his name in the Lambs Book of
Life, or turn 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. If he
IS to so into shipwreck, let me be tossed
amid the same breakers. If he cannot be
a partner in my bliss, let me be a partner
in his woe. | have for many years loved
thee, o God and it has been
my expectation to sit with Christ and all
the redeemed at the banquet of the skies,
but now give up my promised place at
the feast, ana my promised robe, and my
promised crown and my promised throne
unless John, unless George, unless Henry
unless my darling son can share then
with me- Heaven will be no heaven
without nun. y Goa, save my boy, OF
count me among the lost" That is ter
rife prayer, and vet there is young man
sitting in thepew 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, diving at home, what
does he care how much trouble
he gives herr Her tears are NJ
more TO him than the rain tina
drops from the caves of the house on
dark night. The fact that she does not
sleep because 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-sacri.
flee 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 owl
eternity and set it upon that one If. by
which she expects TO decide whether VOL
will 60 up with her or she down witt
you. She may be this moment LOOKING
heavenward, and saying oh Lord, re
claim him by thy grace" and then adding
that heartrendiug If of my text: Il
not, blot me, pray Thee, out of Tn,
book" After three years of absence a sol
wrote his mother in one of the New
England whaling villages that he wa,
coming home in a certain ship Mother
like, she stood watching, and the shin
was in the otfing but a fearful storm
Il