Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-03-06
REV. DR. .TALMAGE
EHB BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ''The Glorious Gospel"

text: "According to the glorious gospe
Of the blessed God, which was Committed
my trust."-I Timothy l.. II.
The greatest novelty Of our timo is the COS
pei. 1t is 80 old that it Is new. As potter
and artists are now attempting to fashio
pitchers and cups and curious ware Hk
| those OF 1900 years ago recently brought VI
from buried Pompeii, and such cups AM
| admired, 80 anyone who can unshovel tn
| real gospel from the mountains Of stuff un
| der which 1t has been buried will be able t,
present something that will attract the gaz
and admiration and adoption OF all the .peo
pie. 1t ts amazing what substitutes h8v
been presented for what my text calls 9Th
glorious gospel" There has been heni
spherfc apostasy.
| There are many people in this and all otde
! large assemblages who have no more idea O
what Is contained In the fourteenth chapter
OF Zend-Avesta, the Bible of the Hindoo, the
first copy of which ever saw purchased in
Calcutta last September. The old gospel
is dfty feet under, and the work has been
done by the shovels of those who have been
There Is no philosophy about It. It is plain
matter OF Bible statement and Of childlike
faith! Some Of the theological seminaries
have been hotbeds Of fnfldelity because they
have tried to teach the PHILOSOPHY of reli-
eion." By the time that many a young
theological student gets halt through hts
preparatory course he Is so filled with
doubts about plenary inspection. and
the divinity OF Christ, and the questions
Of eternal destiny, that he Is more tit
for the lowest bench in the infant class
Of a Sunday-school than to become teacher
and leader Of tho people. The ablest tneo-
logical professor is a Christian mother, who
out OF her own experience can tell the four
year-old how beautiful Christ was on earth,
and how beautiful He now Is In heaven, and
how dearly He loves little folks, and then she
kneels down and puts one arm around the
boy, and with her somewhat faded cheek
against the roseate cheek Of the little one
consecrates him for time and eternity to Him
who said, "Suffer them to como unto Me-"
What an awful work Paul made with the D.
DIS, and the LIDS, and the F; R. SIS,
when he cleared the decks of the old gospel
ship by saying, "Not many wise men, not
many noble, are called, but God hath chosen
tho weak things Of the world to confound the
mighty"
There sits the dear old theolosian with his
table piled up with all the great books on in
spiration and exegesis and apologetics for
the Almighty and writing out his own elab-
crate work on the philosophy Of religion, and
his little grandchild coming up to him for q
good night kiss he accidentally knocks Off
the biggest book from the table, and it falls
self said, "Out Of the mouths of babes and
sucklings thou hast perfected praise" All,
my friends, the Bible wants no apologetics.
The throne Of the last Judgment wants no
apologetics. Eternity wants no .apologetics.
Scientists may tell us that natural light is
the propagation of undulations in an elastic
medium, and thus set in vibratory motion by
the action Of luminous bodies" but
no one knows what gospel light is
until his own blind eyes by the touch
Of the Divine Spirit have opened to
SEQ the MONDAY of pardon and peace. Scien-
lists may tellus that natural sound ia "the
effect OF an impression made on the organs
Of hearing by an impulse OF the air, caused
by a collision OF bodies, or by other MEANS"
but those only know what tho gospel sound
is who have heard the voice Of Christ direct-
y, saying: ''Thy sins are forgiven thee
Go In peace" The theological dude unrolld
upon the plush Of the exquisitely carved pull
pit q learned discourse showing that the
garden OF Eden was an alleSory, and Solo
mons Song q rather indelicate love ditty,
and the book OF Job drama in which satan
was the star actor, and that Renan was three.
quarters right about miracles Of Jesus, and
that the Bible was gradually evoluted and
the best thought of the different ages, Moses
and David and Paul doing the best they
could under the circumstances, and therefore
earth. get US out OF the London fog Of higher
criticism!
The night is dark, and the way is rough,
and We have a lantern which God has put in
our hands, but instead OF employing that
lantern to show ourselves and others the
right way we are discussing lanterns, their
shape, their size, their material, and which is
the better light-kerosene, lamp oil or can
while we discuss it We stand all
around the lantern, so that we shut out the
light from the mult!tudeS who ere stumbling
on the dark mountains of sin and death.
- -oIx h,,V I-nI dc, id, a.
morning around Bartholdi's statue IN New
York Harbor. They had dashed their life
out against the lighthouse the night before.
Poor thingsi And the great lighthouse of
he gospel-how many high soaring thinkers
-ave beaten all their religious life out
against it, while It was intended for only one
thing, and that to show all Nations the way
into the harbor OF Gods mercy and to the
crystalline wharves of the heavenly city,
where the immortals are waiting for new
arrivals. Dead skylarks, when they might
have been flying seraphs.
pei, some who think they can by law and e1-
posure Of crimes save the world, and from
Portland, Me-. across to San francisco, end
back again to New Orleans and Savannah,
many Of the ministers have gone into the de-
tective business. Worldly reform by all
1t will be dead failure. In New York Its chief
work has been to give US change OF bosses.
We had Democrtsie boss, and now 1t is to
be Republican boss, but :he quarrel is,
Who shah be the Republican? Politics will
save the cities tho same day that satan evan
gelizes perdition. -.
The glorious gospel Of the blessed God az
spoken Of in my text will have more drawing
power, and when that gospel gets full swing
1t will have q momentum and power
mightier than that Of tho Atlantic Ocean
when under the force Of the September equi-
0tr ~ ho tnh1 da ~ ho {pIy
The meaning OF the word gospel" Is 'good
news" and my text SAYS It Is glorious good
news, and We must tell It in our churches,
and over our dry goods counters, and In our
factories. and over our threshing machines.
and behind our plows, and ON our ships
decks, and In our parlors, our nurseries and
kitchens, as thought were glorious good news,
and not with dismal drawl in our voice,
and dismal look on our faces, as though re-
lig1on was rheumatic tw1nge, or dyspep-
tic pang, or q malarial chill, or an attack Of
SonPRs cbrst bsean His
the mount-blessed the poor, blessed the
mourner; blessed the meek, blessed the hun
cry; blessed the merciful, blessed tho pure;
blessed the peacemakers; blessed the perse-
cuted; blessed the reviled; blessed, blessed,
ssppS 94 x. ssgRy .gR
they may have their coming years ennobled,
and for lifetime all the angels Of God their
ooadjutors, and all the armies of heaven
their allies. Glorious good news for the
middle aged as through Christ they may
have their perplexities disentangled, and their
courage rallied, and their victory over all
obstacles and hindrances made forever sure.
Glorious good news for the aged a. they may
have the sympathy of Him Of whom st. John
wrote, "His head and His hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow," and the de
Tense Of the everlasting arms. Glorious good
news for the dying as they may have minis
tering spirits to escort them, and opening
gates to receive them, and q sweep Of eternal
glories to encircle them, and the welcome Of a
loving God to embosom them.
Oh, my text Is right when IL speaks Of the
glorious gospel. 1t is an invitation from the
most radiant Being that ever trod the earth
or ascenaed the neavsns, TO you ana mo co
come and be made happy, and then take az
ter that royal castle for everlasting resi-.
dence. tho angels Of God our cup bearers:
The price paid for all Of this on the cliff Of
limestone about as high a. this house, about
seven minutes walk from tho wall of Jerusa-