Democratic messenger., 1893-05-06
AT THE TABERNACLE.
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST
AND HIS WITNESSES.


Intelligent Explanation Of the Gospels
Save 10 Accept Them IA Literal Truth
wild Attempts at Evasion.
BROOKLYN, April 3O.-In the Tabernacle
this forenoon the large audience listened
with rapt attention to n powerful discourse
by Rev. DIR. Talmage. who chose for his
subject. Over All Forever" the text Sc
lected being Romans tx, ), Christ came,
who is over all.
For 1000 years the world had been wait
ing for deliverer waiting while empires
rose and fell. Conquerors came and made
the world worse instead Of making it bet
ter; still the centuries watched and waited
They looked for him on thrones, looked for
him in palaces, looked for him i'm imperial
robes looked for him at the head Of armies
At last they found him in a barn. The cat
tie stood nearer to him than the angels, for
the former were in the ad joining stall while
the latter were in the clouds A parentage
Of peasantry. No room for him in the inn
because there was no one To pay the hotel
expense. Yet the pointing star and the an
gelic cantata showed that heaven made up
in appreciation of his worth what the world
lacked. "Christ came who is over all, God
blessed forever. Amen
THE CENTRAL AND VITAL TRUTH.
But who is this Christ who came: AS to
the difference between different denomina-
tions of evangelical Christians have no
concern. II j could, by the turning over of
my hand, decide whether all the world shall
at last be baptist or Methodist or Congre-
gational or Episcopalian or Presbyterian,
would not turn my hand. But there are
doctrines which are vital to the soul. IL
Christ be not God. we are idolators. To
this Christological question devote myself
this morning and pray God that we may
think Alright and do Alright in regard to u
question in which mistake is infinite
| suppose that the majority Of those here
today assembled believe the Bible. Ii re-
quires as much faith tn be an infidel as 10
be Christian. 1t is faith in different di-
rcction. The Christian has faith in the
teachings of Matthew, Luke. John. Paul
Isaiah, Moses The infidcl has faith in the
free thinkers. We have faith in one class Of
men. They have faith in another class Of
men. But rs the majority of those-per-
haps all of those here assembled-are will
ing to take the Bible for standard in NOR
ais and i'm faith make this book my start.
ing point.
| suppose yo'i are aware that the two gen.
erals who have marshaicsi the great armies
against the deity uf Jesus Christ are Strauss
and Renan. The number of their slain will
not be counted until the trumpet of the
archangel sounds the roll call of the resur
rection. Those men and their sympathizers
saw that If they could destroy the fortress
of the miracles they could destroy Chris
tianity, and they were right Surrender
the miracles. and you surrender Christian
ity The great German exegcte saws that all
the miracles were myths. The great French
exegete says that all the miracles were leg
ends They propose to take everything
supernatural from the life of Christ and
everything supernatural from the Bible.
They prefer the miracles of human non
sense to the glorious miracles of jesus
Christ.
VAIN IMAGISINGs OF INFIDELITY.
They say there was no miraculous birth
in Bethlehem. but that it is all fanciful
story, just like the story of Romulus said
TO have been born Of Rhea Silvia and the
god Mars. They say no star pointed to the
mangcr; il was only the fash Of a passing
lantern. They say there was no miraculous
making of bread. but that it is the corrup-
tion of the story that Elisha gave 20 loaves
of bread To n hundred men. They say the
water never turned into wine but that il is
corruption of the story that the Egyptian
plague turned .he water into blood. They
say il is no wonder that Christ sweat great
drops of blood; he had been out in the
night air and was taken suddenly ill. They
say there were no tongues of fire on the heads
of the disciples at the pentecost: that there
was only Il great thunderstorm, and the
air was full OF electricity which snapped
and flew ali around about the heads of the
disciples
They say that Mary and Martha and
Christ felt it important 10 get up an excite
ment for the forwarding of their religion,
and so they dramatized funeral, and Laz-
arus played the corpse, and Mary and Mar
tina played the weepers, and Christ was the
tragciian. put it in my own words. but
this is the exact meaning of their state
ments. They say the Bible is a spurious
book, written by superstitious or lying men.
backed up by men who died for that which
they did not believe
Now, take back the limited statement
which made a few moments ago when
said it requires as much faith to be an in
fidel ms To be a Christian. IL requires n
more faith to be an infidel
than to be Christian, for il Christianity
demand that the whale swallowed Jonah,
then skepticisin demands that Jonah swal-
lowed the whale! can prove to you that
Christ was God not only by the supernat-
ural appearances on that Christmas night,
but by what inspired men said of him, by
what he says of himself and by his won
derful achievements Christ came who is
over all" All. does not that prove too
much, Not over the CAESARS, not over
Frederick, not over Alexander the Great,
not over the Henrys. not over the Louises:
Yes. Pile all the thrones of all the ages
together. and my text overspans them as
easily as rainbow overspans a mountain
top. "Christ came, who is over all" Then
he must be God.
BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER
The Bible says that all things were made
by him. Does not that prove too muchs
Could il be that he made the Mediterra-
mean, that he made the Black sea. that he
made the Atlantic. the Pacific. that he
made Mount Lebanon, that he made the
Alps the Sierra Nevadas. that he made the
that he made the universe:
Yes. The Bible says SO. and lest we be too
stupid to understand John winds up with
Il magnificent reiteration and says. With
out him was not anything made that was
made" Then he was God
The Bible says at the name of Jesus
e?ery knee shall bow. All heaven must
come down on its knees. Martyrs ON their
knees, apostles on their knees, confcssors
on their knees, the archangel on his knees
Before whom-a man: No. He is God.
The Bible says every tongue shall confess
Bornesian. Maylayan. Mexican, Italian.
Spanish, Persian, English Every tongue
shall confess. To whom; God. The Bible
says Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever. Is that characteristic Of human
ity. DO we not change, Does not the
body entirely change in seven years, Does
not the mind change. Christ the same yes
terday, today and forever. He must be n
God.
Philosophers say that the law Of gravita-
tion decides everything. and that the cen
tripetal and centrifugal forces keep the