Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-02-10
REV. DR.. TAlMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's SUM-
DAY SERMON.
SUBJEcT:-"THE SUNSHINE OF RE
IGIoN.n

TExr: "Her ,cays are ,cdys Of pleasant.
HeSs.n-Proverbs ILL.,, IL.
You have all heard OF Gods only begotten
Son. Have you heard OF Gods daughteri
She was born in heaven. Shs 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.
| NY text introduces her. "Her ways are
ways OF pleasantness and all her paths are
peace"
But what is religioni The fact Is that
theological study has had q different effect
upon me from the effect sometimes pro-
duced. Every year | tear out another leaf
| from my theology until have only three or
1. dr leaves lsft-in other words, . very brief
and plain statement OF Christian belief.
An aged Christian minister said: "When
| was q young man, | knew everything:
when | got TO be thirty-fve years OF age, in
my ministry had only hundred doctrines
of religion; when got TO be forty years of
age, had only fifty doctrines OF religion;
when got to be sixty years OF age, had
only ten doctrines OF religion, AM now am
| dying at seyenty-five 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 have noticed in the study
! OF Coils word and in my contemplation of
| the charac er Of God and of the eternal
| world that 1t is necessary for me to drop this
| part OF my belief and that part OF my belief
as being nonessential. while | cling to the
one great doctrine that man is a sinner and
| Christ is his Almighty and Divine Saviour.
Now take these three or four leaves Of
my theology, and 1 find that, in the first
| place, an dominant above all Others, is the
| sunshine OF religion. When go intsa room
| have passion for throwing open all the
shutters. That is what l want to do this
morning. We are apt to throw so much Of
the sepulchral into our relig on and to close
the shutters and to pull down the blinds
that it is only through here and there Gre
| vice that the light streams The religion OF
the Lord Jesus Christ Is a religion OF Joy in
descrlbable and unutterabe. Wherever
| can find bell mean 70 ring it.
Ii there are any in this house this morn
ing who are disposed to hold on to their
melancholy and gloom, let them now depart
this service before the fairest aud the bright
EST and the most radiant being OF ali the
universe comes in. Gods Son has left our
world, but Gods daugher is here. Give her
room. Hail, princess OF heavenl Hail,
daughter Ok the Lord God Almighty! Come
in anu make this house thy throneroom.
| In ting forth this idea the dominant
| theory OF religion is one of sunshine |
hardly know where TO begin, for there are
| SO many thoughts that rusn upon my soul,
A mother saw ner little child seated on the
| floor in the sunshine and with a spoon in her
band Shs said, ".dy darling, what are
you doing therev' oh" replied the child,
Would Goi that to-day might present you
with a cleaning chalice OF this glorious,
everlasting Gospel sunshine!
First OF all, find great deal Of sunshine
in Christian society.
do not know OF anything more doeful
than the companionship of the mere fun
makers OF the world-the Thomas Hoods,
the Charles Lambs, the Charles Matthews
OF the worlt-the men whose entire business
it is to make sport They make others
laugh. but il you will examine their autobi-
ography or biography you will find that
| dowp in their soul there was a terrific dis
| quietude. Laughter is no sign Of happiness.
| The manaic laughs. The hyena laughs. The
loon among the Adirondacks lausn. The
drunkard, dashing his decanter against the
wall, laughs.
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 ie was so dull,
SO inane and SO stupid. My nature is
voracious OF joy. | must have 1t.
Ialways walk on the sunny side OF the
street, and for that reason | have crosse J
over into Christian society. like their mod,
of repartee better; like their style
amusement better. They live longer.
Cnristian people, | sometimes notice, live on
when bv all natural law they sught to have
died. l have known persons who have con-
tinued in their existence when the doctor
said they ought to have been dead ten years
Every day OF their existence was defiance
Of the laws OF anatomy ami 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
room for Christian conversation, ani you
will from to 10 o'clock hear more resO und-
ing glee, see more bright strokes OF wit and
find more thought and profound satistac-
ton than in any merely worldly party.
Now. when say worldly party" | mean
TINT to which you are invited, because un-
der all the circumstances OF the case it Is
the best for you to be invited, and to which
| you 20 because under all circumstances Of
the case it is better that you 90, and leaving
the shawls on the second floor you go to the
paror to give formal salutation TO the host
ami the hostess, and then move around
spending the whole evening in the discus
sion of the weather, and in apology for
treadng on long trails, and In effort to keep
the corners of the mouth up to the sign
| Of pleasure ant going around with an
| idiotic he-he about nothing, until the COLA
ton is served, AMI then after the collation.
is served going back again into the parlor
to resume the weather, and then at the close
going at a very late hour to the host and
hostess and assuring them that you have
had a most delightful evening, AMI then pass
ing down of the front steps, the slam Of the
door the only satisfaction OF the evening.
Oh, young man, come from the country
to spend your days in city life, where are
you going to spend your eveningsF Let me
tell you, while there are many places of in
nocent worldly amusement, it is most wise
for you to throw your DO ty, mind aud soul
into Christian society. Come to me at the
close Of five years and tell me what has been
the result of this advics. Bring with you
the young man who refused to take the ad.
vice and who went into sinful amusement
He will come dissipated, shabby in apparel,
ind sposed to look any one in the eyes, moral
character eighty-five per cont on. You will
come with principle settled, codntensnce
frank, habits good soul saved and all the
inhabitants Of heaven, from the lowest angel
up to the archangel and clear past him to
the Lord God Almighty, your cosdjutors.
This is not the advice of q misanthrope.
There is no man in the house to whom the
world is brighter than 1t is to me. It is not
the advice of a dyspeptic-my digestion Is
perfect: it is not the advice OF a man who
cannot understand a joke or who prefers a
funeral: it is not the advice OF wornout
man, but the advice of a man who can see
this world in all its brightness, and, consld-
ering myself competent in judging what Is
good cheer. / tell the muItitudes OF young
men in this house this morning that there is
nothing in worldly associations so grand
and so beautiful and so exhilarant as in
Christian ,cety.
know there is q great deal OF talk about
the self denials of the Christian. | have to
tel you that where tue Christian has one
self denial the man o: the world has thou
sand self denials. The Christian is not COM
manded to surren Ter anything that is worth
Keeping But what does man deny him
self who Genies himself the religion OF
Christ. He denies himsslf pardon of sin;
he denies himself peace of conscience; he de-
MES himself the Joy OF the Holy Ghost; he
denies himsslf q confort lie death pillow;