Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-02-09
SUNSHINE OF RELIGION.
RELIGION. THE DAUGHTER OF
GOD, WALKS IN SUNSHINE.

| HeT"ayS areWaVS OF PleaSantneSS
and All Her Paths are Peace"--
CheerfuIness of Christians
why They Should
Be Happy.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, Special.-Rev. DR..
Talmage preached to a. great audience
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
begotten son. Have you heard OF
Gods daughter? She was born in
heaven. She came down over the
the hills OF our world. She had queen
ly step. On her brow was celestial
radiance. Her voice was music. Her
name is Religion. My text introduces
her. "Her ways are ways of pleasant
ness, and all her paths are peace"
But what is religion? The fact is
the theological study has had differ
ent effect upon me from the effect
sometimes produced. Every year
tear out another leaf from my theol-
ogy until have only three or four
leaves left. In other words, a very
brief and plain statement OF Christian
belief.
An aged Christian minister said:
"When | was q young man knew
everything; when 1 got to be So years
OF age in my ministry 1 had only a
hundred doctrines OF religion; when l
got to be 40 years OF age, l had only
fifty doctrines Of religion; when l got
to be 60 years OF age, l had only ten
doctrines OF religion; and now l am
dying at IS years OF age, and there is
only one thing 1 know, and that is,
that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save Sinners" And so I have no.
ticed in the study OF Gods word, and
in my contemplation of the character
OF God and the eternal world, that is
necessary for me to drop this part of
my belief as being non-essential, while
1.cling to the one great doctrine that
man is a sinner, and Christ is his AL
mighty and Divine Savior.
Now, take three or four leaves of
my theology, and 1 find that in the
first place, and dominant above all
others, IL the sunshine of religion.
When | 90 into q room have a pas
sion for throwing open all the shut
ters. That is what I Want to do
this morning We are apt throw so
much Of the sepulchrai into our re.
ligion and to close the shutters, and
to pull down the blinds, that it is
only Through here and there q crevice
that the light streams. The religion
OF the Lord Jesus Christ is a religion
OF Joy inlescrlbable and unutterable.
Wherever 1 can find a bell l mean to
ring it.
If there are any in, this house this
incoming who are disposed to hold
on to their melancholy and gloom,
let them now depart this service be-
fore the fairest and the brightest and
most radiant being OF all the
universe comes in. Gods son has
left our world, but Gods daugh-
ter is here. Give her room Hail!
princess OF heaven. Hail! daughter
of the Lord God Almighty. Come in
and make this house thy throne
room.
In setting forth this idea the dom
inant theory OF religion is one of sun
shine. hardly know where to begin,
for there are SO 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 there?" "Oh," re-
piled the child, "Im getting spoon
full OF this sunshine" Would God
that today 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
doleful 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 examine their autobi-
ography, or biography, you will find
that down in their soul there was q
terrific disquietude. Laughter is no
sign ofhappiness. The maniac laughs.
The hyena laughs. The loon among
the Adirondacks laughs. The drunk
ard dashing his decanter against the
wall, laughs.
There is a terrible reaction from all
sinful amusement and sinful merri-
ment. Such men are cross the next
day. They snap at you on Exchange
or they pass you, not recognizingyo you.
Long ago | quit mere worldly society
for the reason it was so dull, so in
ane and so stupid. My nature Is vora-
cious of Joy. Unjust have it.
always walk on the sunny side of
the street, and for that reason have
crossed over into Christian society.
like their mode OF repartee better; I
like their style Of amusement better.
They live longer. Christian people, 1
sometimes notice, live on when by all
natural law they ought to have died.
1 have known persons who have con-
tinued in their existence when the