Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-09-07
CHRIST Is THE CHIEF
REV. DR.. TALMAGe ON tbs MOST CON.
sPlcuouS FIGURE IN HISTORY.
A sermon That Must lie Full OF InspIra-
tion to Christians Everywhere Christ
the object Of Faith and Love and Hope.
Treasures In Heaven.

the object of Faith and Love aud Hope.
Treasures In Heaven.
NEW YoRK sept For his sermon for
this forenoon Rev. DR. Talmagc selects
topic which must prove full Of inspiration
io christia,;s everywhere. The title Of his
Discourse J.. The Chicftain," and the
text, The rhiri,~t among ten Thousand.
caniiclcs y, 10
The most conspicuous character Of his
tory steps aut upon the plat form. The fin
ger which. diamnndcd with light. pointed
down Ia him from the Bethlehem sky, was
only "A ratification nf the finger of prOphc.
cy, the finger of ..rncalogy. the finger Of
chronology, the finger OF cycnts-all five
fingers poiIsing In one direction. Christ
il the overlapping figure 81 all time. lie
i the "NoN humane In all music. the
graccfuleSt line In all sculpture, the most
exquisite mingling 81 lights and shades in
all painting. the acme Of all climnxcs. the
dome ~ all caih~iriled grandeur and the
pcrursiion Of all language
The Greek :.lphahci i made mp Of - let
tiers, and when Christ compared himself
10 the first letter and the last letter, the
Alpha and the Omega. he appropriated To
himself all The >plcndorS that Won can
spell on; either with those two letters or
all the letters hciwern Them. Il am the
Alpha and the Omega. the beginning and
the end. D."
The Chicftain.
whnt does that scripture mean which
says ~ Christ lie that cnmcih from
above j. above alls" IL means after YOU
have piled mp AL Alpine and Hmalayan
attitudes tho g.or. ~ Chris, would have
to spread it, wings and ,lsscrnd a Thousand
D..ifnra
high mountain IT ThcSsaly; Ossa. high
mountain. and Olympus, high noun
tain, hut mythology tells us when tho gil
ants warrcd against the gods they piled
up these thrcc mountains. and from the
top ~ them proposed Ia scale the heavens,
but the height WIS not great enough, and
there was "a complete failure. And after
all the gianis-l~.liah and Paul. prophetic
and apostolic giants: Raphael and Michael
Angelo. artistic giants; chcruhim and Sc
raphim and archangcl. celestial giants
have failed 10 climb To the top ~ Christ
glory they might all well unite in the
words Of Paul and cry ont, Above ALL
"Abo'c all" But solomon in my text
pre- Rs 20 call Christ The Chieftain,
and so today hail him.
First. Christ must be chief in our preach
ing. There arr 50 many books on homilct-
ics scattered through the country that all
laymen, as well ~ all clcrgymcn, have
made up their minds what sermons ought
10 be. That sermon i the most cfTeciual
which most pointcdly puts forth Christ rs
the pardon 81 all sin and the correction OF
all cvil-indiyidual, social political ma
tional There Is no reason why we should
ring the endless changes ON few phrases.
There arc those who think that IL an cx-
horfation or "a discourse have frequent
mention of justification. sanctiflcation,
covenant ~ works and covenant OF grace,
therefore IL must he profoundly evangel-
ical while they are suspicious of a discourse
which presents the same truth. but under
different phrtscology Now, | say there is
nothing in all the opulent realm Of Anglo
Saxonism. of all tir word treasures that
We inherited from the Latin and the Greek
and the Indo. European. but we have
right To- marshal IL In religious discussion.
Christ sets the example. His illustrations
were from the grass. the flowers the barn
yard fowl, the crystals " salt. as well as
from the seas and the stars. and we do not
propose in our SUNDAY school teaching and
In our pulpit address To be put on the
limits.
Words and Their Power.
know that there i a great deal said in
our day against words. "a though they
were nothing They may he misuscd. but
they have an imperial power. They arr the
bridge between soul and soul between Al
mighty God and the human race What
did Christ write upon the tables Of stone!
Words. What did Christ utter on Mount
Oliyetg words. Out of what did Christ
strike the spark for the illumination Of
the universe? Out of words Let there
be light and light was. @! course
thought Is the cargo. and words are only
the ship; hut how fast would your cargo
get on without the ship What you need.
my friends, in all your work. in your Sab
bath school class, In your rcfurmatory in
stitutions and what we all need is 10 en-
large our vocabulary when we come to
speak about tod and Christ and heaven.
We ride "a few old words 10 death, when
there is such illmitahlc resource. Shakes
pearc employed $4,000 different words for
dramatic purposes; Milton employed $. 200
different words for poetic purposes; Ru-
fus Choaie employed over ] 900 different
words for legal purposes. hut the most Of
us have less than ! .u00 words that we can
manage, and that makes us 81 stupid.
When we come To set forth the love Of
Christ we are going 10 take the tcndcrcst
phrascology wherever we find H. and IL IL
AhH nfhfE NffH hNtA AiisAi uifttNlffu IT.
fore all the moro shall we Use H. when we
come to speak ~ the glory 81 Christ the
conqucror we are going Ia draw our simi
les from triumphal arch and oratorio and
everything grand and Stupcndous. The
French navy have Is flags hy which they
give signal nut those Is flags they can
put into Sc. 900 different combinations.
And ! have Ia tell you that these standards
Of the cross may bc lifted into combina-
lions infinite and varieties everlasting
And let me say Ia these young men who
como from the Theological scmnaries into
our services and arr after awhile. going
10 preach Jesus Christ: You will have tho
largest liberty and unlimited resource
You only have to present Christ in your
own way.
ChrIst's Power.
Brighter than the light. frcshcr than
the fountains, deeper than the seas. arp
all these gospel themes song has no mel.
Ody, flowers no sweetness, sunset sky no
color compared with these glorious themes
These harvesis Of grace spring mp quicker
than we can sickle them. Kindling pulpits
with their iirc and producing revolutions
with their power Lighting up dying beds
with their glory, they are the sweetest
thought for the poet, and they are the
most thrilling illustration FOR the orator,
and they offer the most intense sccno for
the artist, and they ar Ia the ambassador
IL the sky al enthusiasm. Complete par
don for dircSt guilt sweetest comfort for
ghastiicst agony. Brightest hope for grim
NEST death. Grandcst resurrection for
darkest sepulchcr oh. what gospel TO
preach Christ the chief. Ills birth. his
suffering. Ills miracles. his parallels, his
sweat, his tears. his blood, his atoncmcnt,
his intcrccssion what glorious thcmcsl
Do we exercise faith! Christ Is its object
Do we have Lover II fastcns ON Jesus
Have We fondness for the church. II Il
Because Christ died for IT, Have we a hone
OF heaven II Is because Jesus went there,
the herald and the furerunncr The royal
robe 81 DemeiriuS was costly. 81 beau
tiful, that after hr had put IL OF no one
ever dared tn put Ii on, hut this robe of
Christ, richer than that, the poorest and
the weakest and the worst may wear
Where sin abuundcd grace may much
more abound
oh, my sins. my sins" said Mart tin
Luther TO Staupiiz. my sins. my sins"'
The fact Is that the brawny German stu
dent had found Latin Bible that made
him quake. and nothing else ever did
make him quake, aud when he found how,
through Christ, hc was parloncd and
saved, hc wrote To- "A friend, saying: Come
nver aub faftt al. srrf..,f r,uI n.-f,,l :, a..