Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-03-20
REV. DR. TALMAGE
4H1 BROOKLYN DIvINRS SUE.
DAY 0ERMON.
Subject. ssNew Grounds

Subject. rsNew Grounds"
TEXT: "Lest I should build upon anothe,
mans foundation. Romans xv., 20.
After, with the help Of others, had bril-.
three churches in the same city, and not
| feeling called upon to undertake the super
human toll of building a fourth church,
Providence seemed to point to this place as
the field in which could enlarge my work,
and feel q sense Of relief amounting to ex-
| ultation. Whereunto this work will grow !
| cannot prophesy. It Is inviting and promis.
| ing beyond anything I have ever touched.
The churches are the grandest institution.
this world ever saw, and their pastors have
| no superiors this side Of heaven. but there "a
| a work which must be done outside Of the
churches, and to that work join myself for
awhile, 'Lest I build on another mans
| foundation"
The church is fortress divinely built
Now, fortress Is for defense and for drill,
| and for storing ammunition, but an army
| must sometimes be on the march far outside
| the fortress. In the campaign Of conquerin9
| this world for Christ the time has come for
| an advance movement, for general en-
gagement," for masSiny the troops, for an
invasion Of the enemies country. Confident
! that the forts are well manned by the ablest
| ministry that ever blessed the church, pro-
pose, with others, for awhile, to join the
| cavalry and move out and on for service in
the open field.
In laying out the plan for his missionary
tour Paul, with more brain than any Of his
contemporaries or re1ecessors or success
| sors. sought out toTas and cities which had
| not yet been preached to. He goes to Cor
| NTH, city mentioned for splendor and vice,
and Jerusalem, where the priesthood and
| sanhedrin were ready to leap with both feet
| upon the Christian religion. He feels he has
| special work to do, and he means to do 1t.
What was the result? The grandest life Of
usefulness that man ever lived. We modern
Christian workers are not apt to initiate
Paul. We build on other peoples founda-
tions. If we erect a church, we prefer to
| have it filed with families all of whom have
| been pious. Do we gather a Sunday-school
class, we want good boys and girls, hair
combed. faces washed, manners attractive.
| So church In this city is apt to be built out
their time in fishing in other peoples ponds,
| and they throw the line into that church
pond and jerk out Methodist, and throw
| the line into another church pond and bring
out a Presbyterian, or there is a religious
row in some neighboring church. and the
whole school Of fish swim of from that pond,
| and We take them all In with one sweep OF
the net What is gained? Absolutely MOTH
| ing for the general cause OF Christ. 1t Is only
az in an army, when a regiment is trans
| ferred from one division to anoth sr, or from
the Fourteenth Regiment to the Sixty-ninth
Regiment. What strengthens the army ts
| new recruits.
| The fact is. this Is big world. When II.
| ,ur schoolboy days we learned the diameter
| and circumference Of this planet, We did not
| learn half. 1t Is the latitude and longitude
and diameter and circumference OF want and
woe and sin that no figures can calculate.
| This one spiritual continent OF wretchednesS
reaches across all zones, and II were called
| to give its geographical boundary I would
| say it is bounded on the north and south and
| east aud west by the great heart of Gods
sympathy and love. Oh, it IL a great world.
Since 6 o'clock this morning at least &c, ,00J
have been born, and all these multiplied
populations are to be reached of the gospel.
| In England or in Eastern American cities
We are being much crowded, and an
j acre of ground Is OF great value. but out
West 500 acres is small farm, and 2o,-
| 900 acres is no unusual possession. There Is
a vast field here and everywhere unoc-
cupisd, plenty of room more, not building
| on another mans foundation. We need
/ as churches to stop bombardinS the
| old iron clad sinners that have been proof
| against thirty years of Christian assault, and
| aim for the salvation OF those who have
| never yet had one warm hearted and point
blank invitation. There are churches whose
| buildings might be worth s20O, 900, who are
not averaging five new converts year and
doing less good than many log cabin meet
! ing house with tallow candle stuck in wooden
| socket and minister who has never seen a
| college or known the difference between
| Greek and Choctaw. We need churches to
get into sympathy with the great outside
world, and let them know that none are 80
broken hearted or hardly bestead that they
| will not be welcomed. "No!' says some faS-
tidious Christian: 81 don't like to be crowd
ed in church. Don't put any one in my
pew" My brother, what will you do in
4 heaven? When a great multitude that no
| nfty in your pew. What are the select few
| to-day assembled in the Christian churches
mpared with the mightier millions outside
| Of them?
At least 5000, 900 people in this cluster OF
| seaboard cities, and not more than 200, 900 in
the churches. Many Of the churches are
like a hospital that should advertise that its
patients must have nothing worse than tooth
| ache or .'run arounds." but no broken heads.
no crushed ankles no fractured thighs.
| Give US for treatment moderate sinners, vel
| vet coated sinners and sinners with gloss
on. 1t is as though a man had farm OF
| 5000 acres and put all his work on one acre.
| He NAV raise never so largo ears Of corn,
never SO big heads Of wheat, he would re-
main poor. The church Of God has bestowed
its chief care on one acre and has raised
I splendid men and women In that small In
closure. but the field is the world. That
means North and South America. Europe,
Asia and Africa and all the islands Of the
sea.
! It is as though after a great battle there
| were lett 0U,UUU WOuuueu anu Oyln2 on IQo
| field and three surgeons gave all their time
| to three patients under their charge. The
maior-yeneral comes in and says to the doc
| tors, "Come out here and look at the nearly
so 600 dying for lack Of surgical attendance" :"
! '.No," say the three doctors, standing there
| and tanning their patients; 1--WE have three
important cases here, and we are attending
| them, and when We are not positively busy
with their wounds it takes all our time to
keep the flies off," In this awful battle OF
! sin and sorrow, where millions have fallen
on millions, do not let US spend all our time
In taking care Of a few people, and when the
command comes, $50 into the world" say
practically: "No; cannot go. have here
a few choice cases. and am busy keeping of
the flies" There are multitudes to-day who
| have never had any Christian worker look
them in the eye, and with earnestness in the
I accentuation say, "Come!'' or they would
long ago have been in the kingdom. My
! friends, religion Is either . sham or a tre.
to have anything to do with Christian as
| sociation. II 1t be q reality, then great
populations are ON their way to the bar OF
God untitled for the ordeal, and what are we
doing9
In order to teach the multitude OF outsid.
ers we must drop all technicalities out Of our
religion. When We talk to people about the
hypostatic union and French ency y,lopedian.
ism and erastianism and complutensianism,
we are as impolitic and little understood as
If a physician should talk to an ordinary pa
tient about the pericardium and intercostal
muscle and scorbutic symptoms. Many of
us come out Of the theological seminaries so
loaded up that we take the first ten years to
show our people how much we know, and
{ the next ten years to get our people to know
as much as we know, and at the end find
that neither OF US knows anything rs we
. ought to know. Here are thousands Of sim
/ ming, struggling and dying people who need
J to realize just one thing-that Jesus Christ
came to save them, and will save them now.
But we go into a profound and elaborate
definition Of what justification is, and after
ali the work there are not outside of the
earned professions 5000 people in the United
States who can tell what Justification Is
will read you the definition:
Classification is purely forensic act, the
act Of a Judge sitting in the forum, il which
the Supreme Ruler and Judge, who Is ac-
aonn4aI,Ia 70 mana and who alma knn-va tha