The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-01-13
THAT LITTLE "IF."
DIR. Talmage Talks Upon the "Ifs" of
the Eible.
The Small. but Immensely Important Con.
Junction, According to Where and
How 1t Is Uscd-Moses'
Prayer Unanswered.

The following discourse by Rev. r.
Dewitt Talmage, on 1.-THE ifs of the
Bible" was delivered In the Brooklyn
tabernacle, being based on the text:
II Thou wilt forgive their sin; and IL not,
blot me. pray Thee, out Of Thy book.-Exodus
Gxyt., -.
There is in our English language a
small conjunction, which propose, by
Gods help, to haul out of it's present
insignificance and set upon the throne
where it belongs, and that is the con-
junction "if." Though made of only
two letters, it is the pivot on which
everything turns. All time and all
eternity are at its disposal. We slur it
IN our utterancc, we ignore it in our
appreciation, and none of us recognize
1T as the most tremendous word in the
vocabulary outside of those words
which describe deity. If! Why that
word we take as tramp among words,
now appearing here, now appearing
there, but having no value of its own.
when it really has millionaircdom of
worlds, and in its train walk all planeta-
ny. stellar, lunar, solar destinies. If
the boat of leaves, made water-tight in
which infant Moses sailed the Nile,
had sunk, who would have led Israel
out of Egypt? If the Red sea had not
parted for the escape of one host, and
then come together for the submer
gence of another host, would the Book
of Exodus ever have been written? If
the ship on which Columbus sailed for
America had gone down in an Allan
tic cyclone, how much longer would it
have taken for the discovery of this
continent? If Grouchy had come up
with rc-enforcements in time to give
the French the victory at Waterloo,
what would have been the fate of Eu-
rope? If the Spanish Armada had not
been wrecked off the coast, how differ
cnt would have been many chapters in
English history. If the battle of Hast
ings, or the battle of Pultowa, or the
battle of Valmy, or the battle of Ma
taurus. or the battle of Arbela, or the
battle of Chalons, each one of which
turned the worlds destiny. had been
decided the other way. If Shakespeare
had never been born for the drama, or
Handel had never been born for music,
or Titan had never been born for
painting orThorwaldsenhadn been
born for sculpture, or Edmund Burke
had never been born for eloquence, or
Socrates had never been born for
philosophy, or blackstone had never
been born for the law, or Copernicus
had never been born for astronomy, or
Luther had never been born for re
reformation Oh, that conjunction
'.if." How much has depended on it.
The height of it. the depth of it, the
length of it, the breadth of it, the inn
mensity of, the infnity of it, who can
measure? 1t would swamp anything
but Omnipotence. But / must confine
myself to-day to the Ifs of the Bible,
and in doing so / shall speak of the
ssif'' of overpowcring earnestness, the
'sif'' of incredulity, the IF" of threat,
the ''if'' of augmentation, the if" of
eternal significance, or SO many OF
these Ifs as / can compass in the time
that may be reasonably allotted to
pulpit discourse.
First, the eff of overpowering earn
estness. Ny text gives it. The Israel
ties have been worshiping an idol,
Notwithstanding all that God had done
for them, and now Moses offers the
most vehement prayer of all history,
and it turns upon an IF" IF Thou
wilt forgive their sin; and ii not,
blot me, l pray Thee, out of Thy book. +"
Oh, what an Overwhelming ''if!' twas
as much as to say: IF Thou wilt not
pardon them. do not pardon me; if
Thou wilt not bring them to the prom
ised land, let me never see the prom
ised land; If they must perish. let me
perish with tn EN-; in that book where
Thou recordest their doom, record my
doom; if they are shut out of Heaven,
let me be shut out of Heaven; If they
go down into darkness, let me GO
down into darkness" What vehe-
mence and holy recklcssness of pray
ers! Yet there are those here who,
have no doubt, have, in their
all-absorbing desire to have others
saved, rislSed the same prayer,
for il is risk You must not make it,
unless you are willing to balance your
eternal salvation ON such an If" Yet
there have been cases where mother
has been so anxious for the recovery
of a hayward son than her pray er has
swung and trembled and poised on an
..if' like that of the text IF not, blot
me, pray Thee, out of Thy book
Write his name in the Lambs Book OF
Life, or turn to the page where my
name was written ten or twenty OF
forty or sixty years ago, and with thu