The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-04-21
EXCUSES FOR DELAY.
DR.. TALMAGE ON THOSE INVITED
TO THE WEDDING FEAST.


Poor Doctors. Poor Farmers. Poor Law.
yers and Poor Christians.
BROOKLYN, April 16.-Rev. DIR. Tai.
mage in his sermon in the Brooklyn
Tabernacle this forenoon spread before
the great audience in eloquent words
the beauty and attractiveness of the
gospel feast, the text chosen being from
Luke xiv, IS, "And they all with one
consent began to make excuse"
After the invitations to levee are
sent out the regrets come in. One man
apologies for nonattendance ON one
ground, another on another ground.
The most of the regrets are founded on
prior engagements. So in my text a
great banquet was spread, the invita-
tons were circulated, and now the re-
grets come in. The one gives an agri.
cultural reason, the other stock deal.
er's reason, the other domestic reason
all poor reasons. The agricultural rea.
son being that the man had bought a
farm and wanted to see it. Could he
not see it the next day9 The stock deal
er's reason being that he had bought five
yoke of oxen, and he wanted to go and
prove them. He had no business to buy
them until he knew what they Were.
Besides that man who can own five
| yoke of oxen can command his own
time. Besides that he might have yoked
two of them together and driven them
on the way to the banquet, for locomo-
ton was not as rapid then as now. The
man who gave the domestic reason said
he had got married. He ought to have
taken his wife with him. The fact was
they did not want to go. "And they all
with one consent began to make ex-
cuse." So now God spreads great ban
quet; it is the gospel feast, and the table
reaches across the hemispheres, and the
invitations go out and multitudes come
and sit down and drink out of the chalices
of Gods love, while other multitudes de-
cline coming-the one giving this apollo
gy and the other giving that apology.
And they all with one consent began to
make excuse" propose this morning,
SO far as God may help me, to examine
the apologies which men make for not
entering the Christian life.
Apology the frst am not sure there
is any thing valuable in the Christian re.
igion. 1t is pleaded that there are sc
many impositions in this day-so many
things that seem to be real are sham. A
! gilded outside may have hollow inside
There is SO much quackery in physics, in
ethics, in politics, that men come to the
habit of incredulity, and after awhile
they allow that incredulity to collide
with our holy religion.
1T HAS MADE GOOD RECORD.
But, my friends, think religion has
made pretty good record in the world
How many wounds it has salved; how
many pillars of fire it has lifted in
the midnight wilderness; how many 81
NOON struck Saharas it hath turned into
the gardens of the Lord; how it hath
stilled the chopped seal What rosy light
it hath sent streaming through the rift
Of the storm cloud wrack; what pools Of
cool water it hath gathered for thirsty
Hagar and Ishmael; what mama whittier
than coriander seed it hath dropped ali
around the camp of hardly bestead pill
grims; what promises it hath sent out
like holy watchers to keep the lamps
burning around deathbedsl Through the
darkness that lowers into the sepulcher
what flashes of resurrection morn!
Besides that, this religion has made sc
many heroes. 1t brought Summerfeld
the Methodist, across the Atlantic ocear
with his silver trumpet to blow the &C
ceptable year of the Lord, until it seemed
as if all our American cities would take
the kingdom of heaven by violence. Il
sent Jehudi Ashman into Africa alone
in continent of naked barbarians, tx
lift the standard of civilization ant
Christianity. 1t made John Milton
among poets, Raphael among painters
Christopher Wren among architects
Thorwaldsen among sculptors, Handle
among musicians, Dupont among mill
tary commanders; and to give new wings
to the imagination, and better balance
to the judgment, and more determine
ton to the will, and greater usefulness
to the life, and grander nobility to thu
soul, there is nothing in all the eartl
like our Christian religion.
Nothing in religion! Why, then, al
those Christians were deceived when il
their dying moment they thought they
saw the castles of the blessed; and YOU
child, that with unutterable agony yor
put away into the grave-you will never
zee him again, nor hear his sweet voice
nor feel the throb of his young heart
There is nothing in religion! Sickness
will come upon you. Roll and turn OF
your pillow. No relief. The medicine
may be bitter, the night may be dark, tn
pain may be sharp. No relief. Chris
never comes to the sick room. Let tn
pain stab. Let the fever burn. Curse i
and die. There is nothing in religion
After awhile death will come. You vii
hear the paving of the pale horse on tn
threshold. The spirit will be breakir!
away from tie body, and it will TAX
tight--whither, whittier? There is n,
God, no ministering angels to conduct
no Christ, no heaven, no home. Moth
ing in religion! Oh, you are not willin,
to adopt such dismal theory. And We
lhe world is full Of skeptics. And lie
mo say there is no class of people TO
whom have warmer sympathy thai
for skeptics. We do not know how t.
treat them We deride them, we carl
cature them. We, instead Of taking then
by the soft hand of Christian love, clutcl
them with the iron pincers of ecclesias
ticism. Oh, if you knew how those mel
had fallen away from Christianity an,
become skeptics you would not be s
rough on them. Some were brought u
in homes where religion was overdone
The most wretched day in the week wa
Sunday. Religion was driven into then
with a triphammer. They had surfei
of prayer meetings. They were stuffe
and choked with catechisms. They wer
told by their parents that they were tn
worst children that ever lived becaus
they liked to ride down hill better thai
to read Pilgrims Progress" The
never heard their parents talk of religio
but with the corners of their mouth
drawn down and the eyes rolled up.