The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1893-11-24
"IFS" OF THE BIBLE.
Discourse by DR.. Talmage on Their
Significance.
The Overpowering Earnestness of Moses
Prayer-The dangerous "If' OF In
credultty-Be Wise for Thy
self.

The subject of a late sermon preached
at Brooklyn by Rev. 7. De Witt Tai
mage was 1.-The ifs of the Bible. The
text chosen was: Exodus xxi, 50.
eff thou wilt forgive their sin: and
if not, blot me, pray thee out of thy
book" DR.. Talmage said:
There is in our English language a
small conjunction. which propose, by
Gods help, to haul out of its present
insignificancy and set upon the throne
where it belongs. and that is the con-
junction If 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 utterance, we ignore it in our
appreciation. and none of US recognize
it as the most tremendous word in all
the voca bulary outside of those words
which describe deitv. If! Why that
word we take as a tramp among words.
now appearing here, now appear
ing there, but having no value
Of its own, when it really has
millionairedom of worlds, and
in its train walk all planetary.
boat of leaves. made water-tight. in
which infant Moses sailed the Nile,
had sunk. who would have led Israel
out of Egypt? If the Red sea had not
parted for the escape of one host. and
then come together for the submerg-
ence 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
continent? If Grouchv had come up
with reinforcements in time to give
the French the victory at Waterloo,
what would have been the fate of Eu-
rope? If the Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked off the coast, how differ
emit would have been many chapters in
English history. If 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 world IS destiny,
had been decided other wa:. If
Shakespeare lad never teen 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
eloqucnce. or Socrates had never been
born for philosophy, or Blackstone had
never been born for the law. or Copper
nicus had never been been born for
astronomy, or Luther had never been
born for the reformation. Oh. that
conjunction if How much has de-
pended on it. The height of it, the
depth of it. the length of it. the breadth
it. who can measure? 1t would swamp
anything bat Omnipotence- But | must
confine myself to-day to the ifs of
the Bible and in doing so l shall speak
Of the If of overpowering earneStneSs,
the if of incredulity. the if of
threat. the If of augmentation. the
''if'' of eternal significance. or so many
Of these ifs as | can compass in the
time that NAV Ice reasonably allotted
to pulpit discourse.
First, the if OF overpowering earn
estness- My text gives it. The Israel
ties have been worshiping an idol, not
withstanding all that God had done
for them and now Moses offers the
most vehement prayer of all history.
and it turns upon an If. If thou
wilt forgive their sin: and 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 prom
ised land: if they must perish let me
perish with them: in that book where
thou recordest their doom: record my
doom. if 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, l 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
make it unless you are willing to bal
ance your eternal salvation on such an
If" Yet there have been cases where
q mother has been so anxious for the
recovery of hayward son that her
prayer has swung and trembled and
poised on an If like that of the text.
''If not, blot me. 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
go 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 l now give up my prom
ised 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 a terrific prayer, and
yet there is young man sitting in the