Milford chronicle., 1893-05-05

DR.. Talmags Points Out That There Is n,
Intelligent Explanation of the Gospel
Save to Accept Them as Literal Truth
wild Attempts at Evasion.
Brooklyn, April 8O.-In the Tabernacl.
this fWenoon the large audience listeuel
with rapt attention to a powerful discours
by Rev. DR. Talmage, who chose for b.
subject, Over All Forever" the text Sc
lected being Romans TX, 5, Christ came
who is over al"
For AO00 years the world had been wait
ing for deliverer-waiting while empire
rose and fell COnquerors came and mao
the world worse instead Of making it bet
ter; still the centuries watched and waited
They looked for him on thrones, looked foI
him in palaces, looked for him in imperia
robes, looked for him at the head OF armies
At last they found him In barn. The c..t
tie stood nearer to him than the angels, 70.
the former were in the adjoining stall whi
the latter were in the clouds. A parentac
Of peasantry. No room for him in the inn
because there was no one to pay the ho.e
expense. Yet the pointing star and thean
Relic 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 t.
the difference between different denomina-
tions Of evangelical Christians have ne
concern. II could, by the turning over o.
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 ar
doctrines which are vital to the soul. ].
Christ be not God, we are idolators. To
this Christologtcal question devote myself
this morning and pray God that we may
think ariRht and do Alright in regard to a
/ question in which mistake is infinite.
suppose that the majority of those here
today assembled believe the Bible. 1t u
/ quires as much faith to be an infidel as O.
| be Christian. It is faith IN q different di-
rection. The Christian has faith in the
teachings Of Matthew, Luke, John, Paul
| Isaiah, Moses. The infdel has faith In the
\ free thinkers. We have faith in one class o.
men. They have faith in another class OF
men. But as the majority Of those-per-
| haps all Of those here assembled-are will
ing to take the Bible for a standard in NOR
ais and in faith l make this book my start
ing point.
suppose you are aware that the two gen
erals who have marshaled the great armies
against the deity of Jesus Christ are Strauss
and Renan. The number of their slain will
not be counted until the trumpet of tho
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 exegete says that all
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 IAIAGININGs OF INFIDELITY.
They say there was no miraculous birth
in Bethlehem, but that it is all a 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
manger; it was only the flash of passing
lantern. They say there was no miraculous
making of bread, but that 1t Is the corrup-
tion of the story that Elisha gave 20 loaves
of bread to hundred men. They say the
water never turned into wine. but that It is "a |
corruption of the story that the Egyptian |
plague turned the water into blood. They |
say it is no wonder that Christ sweat great |
drops of blood; he had been out in the 1
night air and was taken suddenly i'll. They /
say there We're no tongues of fire on the heads |
of the disciples at the Pentecost; that there |
was only a great thunderstorm, and the |
air was full Of electricity which snapped |
and few all around about the heads Of the |
disciples.
They say that Mary and Martha and |
Christ felt it important to 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
tha played the weepers, and Christ was the
tragedian. 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 few moments $50, when /
said it requires as much faith to be an in
fdel as to be a Christian. It requires a
more faith to be an infidel
than to be a Christian, for If Christianity
demand that the whale swallowed Jonah,
then skepticism demands that Jonah swal-
lowed the whalel 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 a rainbow overspans a mountain
top "Christ came, who is over all" Then
he must be a God.
BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER.
The Bible says that all things were made
by him. Does not that prove too much2
Gould it be that he made the Mediterra-
mean, that he made thefBlack 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 (
hemispheres, that he made the universeS
Yes. The Bible says SO, and lest we be too
stupid to understand John winds up with
a magnificent reiteration and says, with s
5ut him was not anything made that was
made" Then he was God.
The Bible says at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow. All heaven must
come down on its knees. Martyrs on their
knees, apostles on their knees, confessors
On their knees, the archangel on his knees.
Before whom-a man? No. He is a God?
The Bible says every tongue shall confess ,
Bornesian. Maylayan, Mexican, italian,
Spanish, Persian, English. Every tongue
shall confess. To whomf God The Bible
says Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever. Is that characteristic Of human
ty? 10 we not changer Does not the
body entirely change in seven years? Does
not the mind change? Christ the same yes
ierday, today and forever. He must be a
God.
Philosophers say that the law of gravita-
ion decides everything, and that the CEN
ripetal and centrifugal forces keep the
world from clashing and from demolition. ,
But Paul says that Christ's arm Is the axle {