The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1893-02-04
GODS DAUGHTER.
DR.. Talmage Discourses on the
Christien Religion.
A Daughter of God That Walks In the
Sunshine -"Her ways Arc Ways of
Pleasantness"-Why Christians
Should BE Happy.

In a late sermon at Brooklyn Rev. r.
Dewitt Talmagc preached on ''The
Sunshine of Religion" the text chosen
being, Proverbs iii II: ''Her ways are
ways of pleasantness.' DIR. Talmage
said:
You have all heard of Gods only 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 voice
was music. Her name is Religion. My
text introduces her. "Her ways are
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths
are peace"
But what is religion? The fact is
that theological study has had u differ
emit effect upon me from the effect
sometimes produced. Every year I
tear out another leaf from my theology
until L have only three or four leaves
left In other words, a very brief and
plain statement of Christian belief.
An aged Christian minister said:
when l was a young man, l knew
everything; when l got to be IS years
of age in my ministry l had only a hun
dred doctrines of religion; when l got
to be 40 years of age, ] had only fifty
doctrines of religion; when 1 got to be
go years of age. l had only ten doctrines
of religion; and now l am dying at rs
years of age, and there is only one
thing l know, and that is, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sim
ners." And so | have noticed in the
study of Gods word, and in my contem-
plation of the character of God and of
the eternal world, hat it is necessary
for me to drop this part of my belief
and that part of my belief as being nom
essential, while 1 cling to the one great
doctrine that man is a sinner, and
Christ is his Almighty and Divine Saw
Jour.
Now, l take these three or four leaves
of my theology and l find that in the
first place and dominant above all 9TH
ers is the sunshine of religion. When
l go into n room l have a passion for
! throwing open all the shutters. That
is what ! want to do this morning. We
are apt to throw sc much of the sepul-
chral into our religion and to close the
shutters and to pull down the blinds
that it is only through acre and
there a crevice that the light streams.
The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is
a religion of joy indescribable and I'M
utterable. Wherever / can find q bell |
mean to ring it.
In setting forth this idea the domi-
nant theory of religion is one of sun
shine. 1 hardly know where to begin
for there are so many thoughts that rush
upon my soul.
First of all, l find a great deal of
sunshine in Christian society.
l do not know of anything more dole
full han the comp%anionship of the
mere 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 examine their autobiography,
or biography, you will find that down
in their soul there was a terrific dis
quietude. Laughter is no sign of hap
piness. The maniac laughs. The hy-
emu laughs. The DOR among the
A~dirondacks laughs. The d%runkard,
dashing his decanter against the wall,
laughs.
There is a terrible reaction from all
sinful amusement and sinful merri-
ment Such men are cross the next
day. They snap ut you on exchange Or
they pass you, not recognizing you.
Long ago 1 quit merely worldly society
for the reason it was dull, SO inane and
so stupid. My nature is voracious of
joy. must have it.
I always walk on the sunny side of
the street, and for that reason l have
crossed over into Christian society. 1
like their mode of repartee better; l
like their style of amusement better.
They live longer. Christian people, 1
sometimes notice, live oil when by all
natural law they ought to have died.
Put ten or twelve Christian people in a
room for Christian conversation, and
you will from 8 to 10 o'clock hear more
resounding glee, see more bright
strokes of wit and find more thought
and profound satisfaction, than in any
merely worldly party.
o young mani come from the country
to spend your days in city life, where
are you going to spend your evenings?
Let me tell you, while there are many
places of innocent worldly amusement,
it is most wise for you to throw your
body, mind and soul into Christian So
ciety. Come to me at the close of five
wears and tell me what has been the re-
suit of this advice. Bring with you the
Young man who refused to take the adj
vice, and who went into sinful amuse-
ment. He will come dissipated, shabby
in apparel, indisposed to look anyone
in the eyes, moral character SIS per
cent off. You will come with prin-
| ciple settled, c~ountenance frank, habits
good, soul saved, and all h inhabit-
ants of Heaven, from the lowest angel
up to the archangel and clear past him
to the Lord God Almighty, your coad-
jutators.
know there is u great deal of talk
about the self-denials of the Christian.
1 nave to tell you that where the Chris
tian has one ~self-denial the man of the
world has a thousand s~elf-denials. The
Chistian is not commanded to surrender
anything that is worth keeping. But
what does a man deny himself who de-
| mics himself the religion of Christ? He
denies himself pardon for sin; he denies
himself peace of conscience; he denies
himself the joy of the Holy Ghost; he
denies himself u comfortable death pill
low; he denies himself the glories of
Heaven. DO not talk to me about the
| s~elf-denials of the Christian life. Where
there is one in the Christian life there
are q thousand in the life of the world.
"Her ways arc ways of ple~asantness."
Again: I find a great deal of religious
sunshine in Christian and divine ex-
PLANTATION. To a great many people life
is IN inexplicable tangle. Things turn
out differently from what was sup
posed. There is u useless woman in
perfect health. There is an industrious
and consecrated woman u complete in
valid. Explain that. There is a bad
man with $50, 900 of income. There is
a good man with $500 of income. Why
is that? There is a foe of society who
lives on, doing all the damage he can.
to rs years of age; and here is a Chris
tan father, faithful in every depart
ment of life, at 80 years OF age taken
away by death, his family left help
less. Explain that. Oh! there is no
sentence hat oftener drops from your
lips than this: 81 cannot understand it.
l cannot understand it,"
Well, now religion comes in just at
that point with it's Illumination and its
explanation. There is a business man
who has lost his entire fortune. The
week before he lost his fortune there
were twenty carriages that stopped at