The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-01-06
AT THE TABERNACLE.
REV. Or. TALMAGE ON THE IFS" OF
THE BIBLE.


BRooKLYN, Nov. lQ.-ln the Tabernacle
this morning Rev. DIR. Talmage delivered
one of his most unique and useful sermons
from text never before preached from.
Subject, The "lfs' Of the Bible The text
chosen was Exodus xxi, 30, "lf thou
wilt forgive their sin-and If not, blot me-
pray thee, out of thy book"
There is in our English language a small
conjunction which | propose, by Gods
help, to haul out gifts present insigniicancy
and set upon the throne where it belongs,
and that is the conjunction wf" 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 1t in
our 1tterance. we ignore It in our apprecia-
ton, and none of us recognizes it rs the
most tremendous word in all the vocabu-
larry outside of those words which describe
deity.
"Ifl" Why, that word we take as n tramp
among words, now appearing here, now APP
pearing there, but having no value of its
own, when it really has millionairedom of
worlds, and in its train walk all planetary,
stellar, lunar, solar destinies. If the boat of
leaves made watertight, In which the infant
Moses sailed the Nile, had sunk, who would
kave led Israel out of Egypt II the Red
sea had not parted for the escape of one
host and then come together for the sab
mergence of another, would the book of
Exodus ever have been writtenS II the
ship on which Columbus sailed for America
had gone down In an Atlantic cyclone,
how much longer would it have taken for
the discovery of this continent?
If Grouchy had come up with reinforce
ments in time to give the French the vic
hot hat
the fate of EuropeY If the Spanish armada
had not been wrecked off the coast, how
different would have been many chapters
in English historyl If the battle Of Hast
ings, or the battle of Pultowa, or the battle
of Valmy, or the battle of Mataurus, or the
battle of Arbela. OF the battle Of Chalons,
each one of which turned the worlds des-
tiny, had been decided the other way!
THE TNFINITY OF IF"
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. or Thorwaldsen had never
been born for sculpture, or Edmund Burke
had never been born for eloquence, or Soc
rates 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 the reformation
Oh, that conjunction ''ifp' How much
has depended on i'll The height of it., the
depth of it, the length of it. the breadth of
it, the immensely of it, the infinity of IL
who can measure? 1t would swamp any
thing but omnipotence. But must con-
fine myself today to the ifs" of the Bible,
and in doing so | shall speak of the "if' of
overpowering earnestness the "if' of in
credulity, the ''if'' of threat, the 'if" of ar
gumentation, the "if'' of eternal signih-
canoe, or so many of these 'ifs" as | can
compass in the time that may be reasonably
allotted to pulpit discourse.
First, the ''if'' of overpowering earnest
ness. My text gives it. The Israeltes
have been worshiping an idol, notwith-
standing 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 sins-and
if not, blot me, pray thee, out Of thy book {"
Oh, what an overwhelming 'ifr' 1t was as
much as to say: "If thou wilt not pardon
them, do not pardon me. If thou wilt not
bring them to the promised land let me
never see the promised land. If they must
perish, let me perish with them In that
book where thou recordest their doom re
cord my doom. If they are shut out Of
heaven, let me be shut out of heaven. II
they 90 down into darkness, let me 90 down
into darkness" What vehemence and holy
recklessness of prayer!
MOTHERS TEARS.
Yet there are those here who, have nc
doubt, have, in their all absorbing desir,
to have others saved, risked the same prayer
for it is a risk. You must not make it un
less you are willing to balance your eterna
salvation on such an 'if" Yet there hayl
been cases where n mother has been so anx
ious for the recovery of hayward sol
that her prayer has swung and trembleC
and poised on an ''if'' like that of the text
"If not, blot me, | pray thee, out of tn.
book. Write his name in the Lamb
Book of Life, or turn to the page wher
my name was written 10 or 20 or 40 or 6
years ago, and with the black ink of ever
lasting midnight erase my first name, ant
my last name, and all my name If h
is to go into shpwreck let me be tosse,
amid the same breakers. If he cannot b
a partner in my bliss, let me be "A partne
in his woe. have for many years loved thee
o God, and it has been my expectation 4
sit with Christ and all the redeemed ut tn
banquet of the skies, but now give up m
promised place at the feast, and my prom
ised robe, and my promised crown, and IN
promised throne unless John, unles
George, unless Heary, unless my darlin
son can share them with me. Heaven viii
be no heaven without him. o God, saw
my boy, or count me among the lostp'
That is a terrific prayer, and yet there
young man sitting in the pew on the mai
floor or in the lower gallery, or in the to
gallery, who has already crushed such
prayer from his mothers heart He hardl
ever writes home, or, living at home, VIVA
does he care how much trouble he gives her
Her tears are no more to him than the raj
that drops from the caves of IA house on
dark night. The fact that she does nc
sleep because of watching for his return lat
at night does not choke his laughter {
hasten his step forward,
She has tried coaXng and kindness an
self sacrifice and all the ordinary prayer
that mothers make for their children, an
all have failed. She is coming toward tn
vivid and venturesome and terrific praye
of my text, She is going to lift her ow
eternity and set it upon that one If" b
which she expects to decide whether yo
will go up with her or she down with you
She may be this moment looking heaven
ward and saying, 80 Lord, reclaim hin
by thy grace and then adding that hear
rending ''if'' of my text, "If not, blot me
pray thee out of thy book"
After three years of absence son wrot
his mother in one Of the New Englan
whaling villages that he was coming HON
IN a certain ship Motherlike, she stoO
watching, and the ship was in the offinl
but a fearful storm struck IL and dashe
the ship on the rocks that night. All tina
night the mother prayed for the safety {
the son, and Just at dawn there was
knock at the cottage door, and the son Ell
tered, crying out, Mother, knew 20
would pray me homew If | would ask q,
those in this asSemblage who have bee
pravrl home to God by pious mothers I
ST mp there would be scores that woul
s. and II should ask them to give tel
tiuluuy it would be the testimony OF tina
New England son coming ashore from tn
split timbers of the whaling ship, M
mother prayed me homel"
TIN .aIEii ~. lA.nnrr,rLr I1r.