Connecticut western news., 1893-02-02
THE TRUE SUNSHINE.
DR. TALMAGE SAYS ONLY THE CHRIS
 TAN GAN APPRECIATE IT.


 Tho Gloomiest Men on Earth Are Those Whose Business It Is to Make Fun for : Others-Christian Society Is wittier and More Humorous Than Any Other.
 BROOKLYN, Jan. 29.-Rev Dr. Talmage this forenoon preached to great audi ence in the Tabernacle on s'The Sunshine of Religion" the text chosen being Proverbs iii, IT, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness.
 You have all heard of Gods only be- gotten Son. Have you heard of Gods daughter? She was born in heaven. She came down over the hills of our world. She had queenly step. On her brow was celestial radiance. Her voice was music. Her name is Religion. My text intro duces her. "Her ways arc ways of pleas antness, and all her paths are peace."
 But what is religionp The fact is that theological study has had different ef- feet upon me from the effect sometimes produced. Every year tear out another leaf from my theology until have only three or four leaves left-in other words, a very brief and plain statement of Chris tain belief
 An aged Christian minister said: "When I was 8 young man, I knew everything; when I got to be thirty-fve years of age, in my ministry had only hundred doctrines of religion; when l got to be forty years of age, had only fifty doctrines of religion; when got to be sixty years of age, I had only ten doc trinee of religion, and now am dying at ssventy-fve years of age, and there is only one thing know, and that is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" And so I have noticed in the study of Gods word and in my contemplation of the character of God and of the eternal world that it is neces sary for me to drop this part of my be- lief and that part of my belief as being nonessential, while I cling to the one great doctrine that man is sinner, and Christ is his Almighty and Divine Sav- four.
 SUNSHINE OF THE HEART.
 Now take these three or four leaves of my theology, and find that, in the first place, and dominant above all others, is the sunshine of religion. When I go into room have passion for throw ing open all the shutters. That is what want to do this morning. We are apt to throw SO much of the sepulchral into our religion and to close the shutters and to pull down the blinds that it is only through here and there crevice that the light streams. The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a religion of joy indescribab1e and unutterable. Wher- ever I can find bell I mean to ring it.
 If there are any in this house this morning who are disposed to hold on to their melancholy and gloom, let them now depart this service before the fair est and the brightest and the most radi- ant being of all the universe comes in. Gods Son has left our world, but Gods daughter is here4 Give her room. Hail, princess of heavenl Hail, daughter of the Lord God Almighty! Come in and make this house thy throneroom.
 In setting forth this idea the dominant theory of religion is one of sunshine. l hardly know where to begin, for there are 90 many thoughts that rush upon my soul. A mother saw her little child seated on the floor in the sunshine and with spoon in her hand. She said. My darling, what are you doing thereY "Oh," replied the child, ''I'm getting spoonful of this sunshine" Would God that today might present you with cleaning chalice of this glorious, ever lasting Gospel sunshinel
 First of all, I find 8 great deal of sun- shine in Christian society.
 do not know of anything more dole .ful than the companionship of the mere funmakers of the world-the Thomas Hoods, the Charles Lambs, the Charles Matthews of the world-the men whose entire business it is to make sport They make others laugh, but if you will ex- anime their autobiography or biography you will find that down in their soul there was terrific disquietude. Laugh ter is no sign of ofhappiness. The maniac laughs. The hyena laughs. The loon among the. Adirondacks laughs. The drunkard, dashing his decanter against the wall, laughs.
 THE AWFUL REACTION.
 There is terrible reaction from all sinful amusement and sinful merriment. Such men are cross the next day. They snap at you on exchange, or they pass you, not recognizing you. Long ago quit mere worldly society for the reason 1t was so dull, so inane and so stupid. My nature is voracious of joy. I must have it.
 I always walk on the sunny side of the street, and for that reason have crossed oyer into Christian society. I like their mode of repartee better; like their style of amusement better. They live longer Christian people, sometimes notice, live on when by all natural law they ought to have died. have known persons who have continued in their existence when the doctor said they ought to have been dead ten years. Every day of their ex- istence was defiance of the laws of anatomy and physiology, but they had this supernatural vivacity of the Gospel in their soul, and that kept them alive.
 Put ten or twelve Christian people in a room for Christian conversation, and you will from to 10 o'clock hear nfore resounding glee, see more bright strokes of wit, and find more thought and pro- found satisfaction than in any merely Z worldly party. Now, when I say 8 worldly party" I mean that to which you are invited, because under all the cir cumstances of the case it is the best for you to be invited, and to which you go because under all circumstances of the case 1t is better that you go, and leaving the shawls on the second floor you go to the parlor to give formal salu- tation to the host and the hostess, and then move around spending the whole evening in the discussion of : the weather, and in apology for tread ing on long trails, and in effort to keep the corners of the mouth up to the sign of pleasure, and going around with an idiotic he-he about nothing, until the