The Penn's Grove record., 1893-11-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE,s SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The 'Ifs' of the Bible.

Subject: "The 'ifs' of the BibIe.s
TEXT. "y Thou .silt .forgtve their sin
and If rot, blot me, / pray Thee, out of Tn,
book, Exodus xxxii., 80.
There Is in our English language small
conjunction which, l propose, by Gods help,
to haul out Of its present insigniacancy and
set upon the throne where it belongs, and
that Is the conjunction "if." Though nads
of only two letters, 1t is the pivot on which
everything turns. All time and all eternity
are at its disposal. We slur it in our utter.
ance, we ignore it In our appreciation, and
none OF us recognize It rs the most tremen-
dous word in all the vocabulary outside OF
those words which describe deity.
"IfI" Why, that word We take as q tramp
among words, now appearing here, now APP
pearing there. but having no value of It's
own. when 1t really has a millionairedom of
worlds, and In IFS train walk all planetary.
i, stellar, lunar, solar destinies. II the boat OF
leaves made watertight, in which the infant
Moses sailed the Nile, had sunk who would
have led Israel out Of Egypt? II the Red
Sea had not parted for the escape Of one
host and hen come together for the SUBJ
mergence OF another, would the book of
Exodus ever have been written? II the ship
on which Columbus sailed for America had
gone down in an Atlantic cyclone, how much
u OAA0 Houlh - AN n " lDo u
cry Of this continent
II Grouchy had com up with reinforce
ments In time to give the French the victory
at Waterloo, what would have been the fate
OF Europe2 nthe Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked of the coast, how different
would have been many chapters in English
history II 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 worlds destiny, had been
decided the other wayl
II Shakespeare had never been 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 ~eloquenee, or Socrates
had never been born for philosophy, or
Blackstone had never been born for the law,
or Copernicus had never been born for as
tronomy. or Luther had never been born for
the reformation
Oh, that conjunction "ifr' How much has
depended on i'll The height OF 1t, the depth
of 1t, the length Of 1t, the breadth of it, the
1 immensely OF II, the intlnity of it-who can
} measure2 1t would swamp anything but
a onnipotenees But l must confine myself to-
day to the ''ifs" of the Bible, and In doing 50
I shall speak Of the "if' OF o~verpowering
\ earnestness, the SIR OF incrsiulity, the dr.
OF threat, the ''if' of augmentation, the 'if'
Of eternal significance, or so many of these
stifs'' as / can compass in the time that may
be reasonably allotted to pulpit discourse.
First, the sir Of overpowering earnest
\ ness. My text gives it. The Israeiites have
been wo%rshiping. an idol. Notwithstanding
all that God had done for them, and now
Moses offers the most vehement prayer OF all
history, and 1t turns upon an eff" ST
Thou wilt forgive their sins-and II mot, blot
me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book" oh,
what an Overwhelming "it!" 1t was as
much as 10 say: ''If Thou wilt not pardon
1 them, DO not pardon me. Ii Thou wilt not
4 bring them to the promised land, let me
never see the promised land. II they must
perish, let me perish with them. In that
4 book where Thou recoriest their doom re-
cord my doom. II they are shut out OF
heaven, let me be shut out OF heaven. IL
Y 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
( dou,t, have, In their all absorbing desire to
have others saved. risked the same prayer,
for II Is a risk. You must not makeit unless
yon are willing to balance your eternal sal
walton on such an ''if." Yet there have been
cases where a mother has been so anxious
for the recovery of a maynard son that her
prayer has swung and trembled and poised
on an 1'if" like that OF the text. "If not,
blot me-, / pray thee, out OF thy book. Write
4 his name In the Lambs Book OF Life, orturn
\ to the page where my name was written ten
or twenty or forty or sixty years ago, and
4 with the black ink OF everlasting midnight
1 erase my first name, and my last name, and
\ all my name, II he Is to go into shipwreck,
let me be tossed amid thesame breakers. II
he cannot be a partner in my bliss, let me bea
| partner in his woe. Ihave for many years loved
| Thee, o God, and 1t has been my expecta-
tion to sit with Christ and all the redeemed
at the banquet OF the skies but l now give
up my promised place at the feast, and my
promised robe, andmy promised crown, and
I my promised throne unless John. unless
George, unless Henry, unless my darlingson
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 n
young man sitting In the pew on the main
door, or in the lower gallery, or in thetop
/ gallery, who has already crushed such u
4 prayer from his mothers heart. He hardly
ever writes home, or, living at home, what
| does he care how much trouble he gives her !
4 Her tears are no more to him than the rain
1 that drops from the caves on a dark night:
1 The fact that she does not sleep because OF
4 a aching for his return late at night does nor
] choke his laughter or hasten his step forward.
\ She has tried coaxing and kindness and
self sacrifice and all the ordinary prayers thaf
4 mothers make for their children, and all nave
Il failed. She lie coming toward the viva ana
| venturescme and terrific prayer OF my teAt.
| She is going to lift her own eternity and set
it upon that one ''if," by which she expects
60 decide whether you will go up WIN her OF
she dow with you. She may be thls mo,
ment looking heavenw lrd and saying''O LORD
| reelaim him by thy grace" and then adding
tkat heart-rspdering sir ofmy text III not
biof me, j pray Thee. out of Thy book.
AfEsr three years OF absence 4 son Wrote
his mother In one OF the New England
wfRkEAg villages that he was coming home
In Q certain ship. Motherlike, she stood
watchtsg, and the ship was in the ofing, but
q fearful storm struck 1t and dashed tue snip
on the rocks that night. All that night the
mother Prayed for the safety OF the son, ana
just at dawn there was a knock at the cottage
door, md the son entered, crying ouii,
"Mother, 1 knew you would pray me nome!
II / would ask all those In this assembiage
who have been prayed home to Col by pious
mothers to stand up, there would be- scores
that would stand, and if | should ask them
to give testimony 1t would be the testimony
OF that New England son coming asnoro
from the split timbers OF the whaling SNIP
my mother prayed me home
Another Bible sif' Is the ''lf" OF lncredu-
lity. Satan used 1t when Christ Vtalty
was depressed by forty days abstinence ron
food, andthe tempter pointed to some stones,
in color and shape like loaves OF breA', ahu
said, IF thou be the Son OF Coo, on
mand that these stones be made bread.
That was appropriate, for Satan isthe iather
OF thar 'iF' Of increduity. Peter used me
same sir when, standing Cd the wei an
slippery deck OF a fishing smack on LaSe
Gallee, he saw Christ walking on the sea a.
though it were as solid as u pavement OF
basalt from the adjoining volcanic mis-, ana
Peter cried, "If 1t be Thou, let me come
Thee on the water"
What a preposterous "ifG' What human
foot was ever so constructed as to walk on
water2' In what part of the earth dld Jaw ot
gravitation make exception to the rule th1ta
man will sink to the elbows when ne toucnsS
the wave of river or lake ami VIII slnA sun
farther unlpss he can swimT But mere Fesel
looks out upon the form in the shape oia
man defying the mightiest law OF tue UNI
verse, the law Of grayitation, n tsniins
eHect on the top Of the liquid. Yet me IN i
are vuions PeiaS sstes out TO the LORD ~
II b. Thou" Alas, for that incredulous "hP
It - working as powerfully in the latter par
OF this nineteenth Christian century IS 1t do
In the early part Of the FIRST Christian cen
ltury.
Though q small conjunction, It is the big.
seest block to-day ia the way OF the gospel
Chariot. AIff' 0Ifs We have theological
sezainaries which spend most Of their time