The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-14
TALMACE IN HIS PULPIT,
A Bold CHALLENGE The Subject Of His
Sermon.

?
Lifted Paul Into Triumphal Mood.
The Grave the Darkest OF Chasms.
Brooklyn. Aug. l3.-Bev DIR. TalmaEe
TODAY chose for his subject. "A Bold
Challenge" the text being Romans S: "a,
"Who is he that condemncth1' To is
Christ that died. yea that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand OF God, who
also maketh iutercession for us
This is the last sermon ] shall ever
preach" said Christmas Evans on the
18th Of june 1898. Three days after
ward he expired. ] 90 not know what
his text was. but do know that no man
could choose a better theme-though he
knew it was the last time he should ever
preach-than the subject found in this
text.
Paul flung this challenge Of the text at
the feet of all ecclesiastical and civil au-
thority. He feared neither swords nor
lions. earth nor hell Diocletian slew un-
counted thousands under his administra-
tion. and the world has been fun of per
secution; but all the prosecutors Of the
world could not alright Paul. Was il be-
cause he was physically strong Oh, no
l suppose he was very much weakened by
exposure and maltreatment. Was it be
cause he was lacking in sensitlVenessf
No: YOU find the most delicate shades OF
feeling playing in and out his letters and
sermons. Some OF his communications
burst into tears. What was il that lifted
Paul into this triumphant moOd} The
thought of a Savior dead, Savior
risen. q Savior exalted, a Savior inter
ceding.
All the world has sung the praise of
Princess Alice. One child having died
of a CONTAGIOUS disease-she was in the
room where another was dying, and the
court physician said TO her, You must
not breathe the breath Of this child. or
YOU yourself will die.n But seeing the
child mourning because OF the death OF
her brother, the mother stopped down,
and in sympathy kissed the little one,
caught the disease, and persisted. All
the world sang the heroism and the self
sacrifice of Princess Alice, but | have to
tell you that when our race was dying
the Lord Jesus stopped down and gave us
the kiss of his everlasting love, and per-
ished that we might live. 1T is Christ
that died"
CanMyOu tell me how tender-hearted
Paul could find anything to rejoice at in
the horrible death scene of Calvaryl We
weep at funerals; we are sympathetic
when we see a stranger die, when a muir
derer steps upon the scaffOld we pray for
his departing spirit and how could Paul
the great-hearted Paul-find anything
to be pleased with at the funeral of a
God Besides that, Christ had only re-
Gently died, and the sorrow was fresh in
the memory of the world, and how In the
fresh memory of a Saviors death could
Paul be eXultantl
It was because Paul saw in that dea tn
! dol H.aliF n
of race from still worse disaster; he
saw the gap into which the race must
plunge, and ne saw the bleeding hands
of Christ close it, The glittering steel
on the top of the exeCutioner's spear in
his sight kindled into a torch to light
men heavenward. The prosecutors saw
over the cross five words written in He
brew, Greek and Latin; but Paul saw
over the cross Of Christ only one word
''eXpiationI" He heard in the dying
groan of Christ his own groan of eternal
torture taken by another. Paul said 10
himself, Had it not been that Christ
volunteered in my behalf, those would
have been my mauled hands and feet, my
gashed side, my crimson temples
Men of great physical endurance have
sometimes carried very heavy burdens
three hundred pounds, four hundred
pounds and they have still said, MY
strength is not yet tested put on more
weight" but after awhile theylwere com
PEELED to cry out. stop ! can carry no
more" But the burden of Christ was
illimitable. First, there was his own bur
den of hunger, and thirst. and bereave-
ment, and thousand Outrages that have
been heaped upon him, and on top of that
burden were the sorrows Of his poor old
mother and on top of those burdens the
crimes of the rutfians who were eXecut-
ing him. stop you cry, lit is enough
Christ can bear no more" And
Christ says, Roll on more burdens;
roll on me the sins of this en-
tire nation, and after that, roll on me the
sins Of the inhabited earth, and then roll
on me the sins Of the four thousand years
past, so far as those sins have been for
given And the angels of God, seeing the
awful pressure, cry, stop, He can bear
no more" And the blood rushing to the
nostril and lip seems to cry out, Enough
He can endure no more" But Christ SAYS,
"Roll on a greater burden-roll on the
sins of the next nineteen hundred years,
roll on me the sins of all the succeeding
ages, roll on me the aGonies of hell. ages
on ages, the furnaces and the prison
houses and the tortures" That is what
the Bible means when it says, He bore
our sins, and carried our sorrows"
"Now, says Paul, 81 am free; that
suffering purchased my deliverance; God
never collects a debt twice | have a re
ceipt in full; if God is satisfied with me,
then what do all the threats Of earth and
hell amount tor Bring on all your wit
nesses, SAYS Paul; 'show all your force;
do your worst against my soul; / defy
you; / dare you [ challenge YOU Who is
he that Conference.-The 1t is Christ that
died" Oh what a strong argument that
puts in the hand of every Christian man
Some day all the past sins of his life come
down on him in fiery troop, and they
pound away at the gate of his soul, and
they say, We have come for your arrest.
ANY one Of US could overcome YOU; we are
ten thousand strong! surrender" And
you open the door, and single-handed and
alone You contend against that
troop; you fling this divine weapon
into their midst YOU scatter
those sins as quick as you can think it
1t IS Christ that died. Why then bring
up 10 US the sins of our past ufe} What
have we to do with those obsolete things
You know how hard it is for a wrecker
10 bring up anything that is lost near the
shore of the sea; but suppose something
be lost half way between Liverpool and
New York; 1t cannot be found. it cannot
be fetched up. Now" says God "your
Sins have cast into the depths of the
sea" Mid-Atlantic! All the machinery
ever fashioned in fOundrieS of darkness.
and launched from the doors of eternal
death, working for ten thousand wears.
cannot bring up one of our sins forgiven
ana forgotten and suukeu into the depths
OF the sea. When a sin is pardoned it
Is gone-it IS gone out of the books, it is