Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-01-30
THE TRUE SUNSHINE.
DR.. TALMAGE SAYS ONLY THE CHRIS
TIAN CAN APPRECIATE 1T.

The Glooraiest Men on Earth Are Those
Whose Business 1T Is to Make Fun for
Characterization Society Is Whittier and
More Humorous Than Any Other.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 29-Rey Dr. Talmage
this forenoon preached to great audi
ence in the Tabernacle. on 1.-The Sunshine
of Religion" the text chosen being
Proverbs iii, II, @'Her ways are ways of
pleasantness."
You have all heard of God'ssonly be-
gotten Son. Have you heard of Gods
daughter? She was born in heaven She
came down over the hills of our world.
She had queenly step. On her brow was
celestial radiance. Her voicerwas music.
Her name is Religion. My text intro
duces her. ''Her ways are ways of pleas
antness, and all her paths are,peace."
! But what is religion? The fact is that
theological study has had a,diferent eff
feet upon me from the effect sometimes
produced Every year tear out another
leaf from my theology until I have only
three or four leaves left-in other words,
q very brief and plain statement of Chris
tain belief.
;"When I was a young man, / knew
everything: when got to be thirty-fve
years of age, in my ministry had only
hundred doctrines of religion; when l
got to be forty years of age, I had only
fifty doctrines of religion; when got to
be sixty years of age, 1 had only ten doc
trines of religion, and now am dying at
seventy-fiNe years of age, and there is
only one thing I know, and that is
that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners And so I have noticed
i'm the study of Gods word and in my
contemplation of the character of God
and of the eternal world that it is neces-
sary for me to drop this part of my be-
lief and that part of my belief as being
nonessential, while I cling to the one
great doctrine that man is a sinner, AMI
Christ is his Almighty and Divine Saw
Jour
SUNSHINE OF THE HEART.
Now I take these three or four leaves
of my theology, and find that, in the first
place. and dominant above all others, is
the sunshine of religion. When / go
into d room | have q passion for throw
ing open all the shutters. That is what
want to do this morning. We are apt
to throw so much of the sepulchral into
our religion and to close the shutters
and to pull down the blinds that it is
only through here and there a crevice
that the light streams. The religion of
the Lord Jesus Christ is q religion of joy
Undesirable and unutterable. Wher-
ever can find a bell l mean to ring it.
IF there are any in this house this
-I,O TO bn1 ON, 10
their melancholy and gloom, let them
now depart this service before the fair
est and the brightest and the most radi-
ant being OF all the universe comes in.
Gods Son has left our world, but Gods
daughter is here. Give her room. Hail,
princess of heaxenl Hail, daughter of
the Lord God Almighty. Come in and
make this house thy throneroom.
In setting forth this idea the dominant
theory OF religion is one of sunshine. l
hardly know where to begin, for there
are so many thoughts thatrush upon my
soul. A mother saw her little child
seated on the floor in the sunshine and
with a spoon in her hand. She said
My darling, what are you doing there?''
''Oh." replied the child, I'm getting
spoonful OF this sunshine Would God
that today might present you with q
cleaning chalice of this glorious. ever
lasting Gospel sunshine!
First of all. / find a great deal of sun
shine in Christian society.
| do not know of anything more dole
full than the companionship of tne NEE
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 ex-
anime their autobiography or biography
you will find that down IN their soul
there was terrific disquietude Laugh
ter is no sign of happiness The maniac
laughs. The hyena laughs. The loon
among the Adirondacks laughs. The
drunkard, dashing his decanter against
the wall, laughs.
THE AWFUL REACTION.
There is a terrible reaction from all
sinful amusement and sinful Glerriment.
Such men are cross the next day. They
snap at you on exchange. or they pass
yor, not recognizing you. Long ago I
quit mere worldly society for the reason
it was so dull, so inane and SO stupid.
My nature is voracious of Joy. must
have it.
always walk on the sunny side of the
street, and for that reason have crossed
over into Christian society. I 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 have known persons who
have continued in their existence whe-l
the doctor said they ought to have been
dead ten years. Every day of their ex-
fstence was a defiance of the laws of
anatomy and physiology, but they had
this supernatural vivacity of the Gospel
IN their soul, and that kept them alive.