The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-11-18
4 PASSION FOR SOULS.
Sal vaTloN THE THEME OF REV. DR.
TALMAGE'S SERMON.

Saws the Preacher. and That Was the
Divine Peasant.
WASHINGTON, Nov. s.-Clear out CT
tbe ordinary style of sermonlzlng is
tbis remarkable discourse of DR.. Tai
rnage which we send out today, H1s H5s
text is Romans *, 5, u could i T1sa
that myself were accused from ChriSs
for INV brethren, my hnsmen acoro-
ing to the flesh.
touch passage, indeed, for those
who taLe Paul literally. When some
OF the old theologians declared that
thew were willing to be damned Tor
the glory Of God, they SAID w9aE nc no
one believed. Paul did not IN tne
text mean he was willing TO ole lol,
ever to save his relatives: He Useq s'l
hvperbole. and when he declared, !
coSId wish that myself were accgrsea
from Christ for my brethren, my klns.
looa 1Iom sooorJ;ng 0n,-T to The Aesh," he meant
nj - +hs sU nost Vehement OF all possible
we.s - ~ declare his anxiety Tor the
salvation of his relatives ana t~f1enos. ~
It wss passion for souls. NOT more
than one Christian out OF tnousanos
~ fChr;stians feels it. All absorbing
Sss;re for the betterment OF the physl-
csi and mental condition IS very com
mon It would take more OF maine
natician than I ever can be to ca!cu'
Iafe how many are up to an anxiety
that sometimes will not let them sleep
night and morning for the e1hclency
of hospitals where the sick and wound
ed of BODY are treated, and for eye
and ear infrmaries, and for dlspensa-
~ -;aS en6 retreats where the poorest
nav hsve most skillful surgery and
beInful treatment. On, it is beautl.
full and glorious this widespread and
ever intsnsifying movement to alieVl'
ate and cure physical mlsfortunes.
Nav God encourage and help the
thousands of splendid men and Wo;
men engaged in that work! But al
that is outside of my subject today.
In behsls of the immortality OF man,
the inner eve, the inner ear, the inner
cspacity for gladness or distress, now
few feel anything like the oVerwhelm'
mo concentration expressed IN my
text. Rarer than four leaved clovers,
rarer than century plants, rarer than
nrinna donnas, have been those CT
whom it NAV be said. They had q
passion for souls" You cou!o cona! !!
on the fingers and thumb of your LETT
hand all the names OF those you can
recall who in the lsst-the eighteenth
century were so characterized.
All the names of those you could re-
call in our time as having this passion
for souls YOU can count on the fingers
and thumbs of your right and LETT
hsnds. There are many more such
consecrated souls, but they are scat
tered so widely you do not know
them. Thoroughly Christian people
bv the hundreds of millions there are
today, but how few people do you
NOV who are utterly oblivlous to
everything in this world except the re-
6emption of souls2 Paul had it when
he wrote my text, and the time viii
come when the majority OF Chrisuans
viii have it, if this world IS ever to be
lifted out of the slough in which 1t mas
beer sinking and foundering for near
19 centuries, and betterment had bet
ter begin with myself and yourself:
When q committee of the Society OF
Friends called upon memberzse e
prinsnd him for breakings some small
rule of the societY,=tle member re:
piled: 81 hss dream, in which all
theefFazds had assembled to plan
sine wayo to have our meeting house
cleaned. for it was very filthy. Many
propositions were made, but no CON
cl1Ision was reached until one Of the
members rose and said, Friends, |
think if each one would take broom
and sweep Immediately around !soWn
seat. the meeting house would be
clean.'" So let the work Of spirltua!
improvement begin around our own
soul. Some one whispers up from the
rieht hand side Of the pulpit and says,
ssWill YOU please name some OF the
persons in our times who have this
psssion for souls?" Oh, no! That
would be invidious and imprudent,
and the mere mentioning of the names
of such persons might cause in them
spiritual pride, and then the Lord
would have no more use for them.
Some one whispers up from the left
hand side OF the pulpit, will you
NOT. then, mention among the people
Of the past some who had this passion
for soulsa" Oh, yesl Samuel Ruther,
ford. the Scotchman OF 800 years ago
his imprisonment at Aberdeen for
his RELIGIOUS zeal, and the public burn
ine of his book, LEX Rex" in Edin-
burgh, and his unjust arraignment for
hieb reason and other prosecutions,
p,Srifyine and sanctifving him so that
hisworks. entitled Trial and Triumph
of Faith and "Christ Dying and
Drawing Sinners to Himself" and,
shove ali, his 215 unparalleled letters
showed that he had the passion for
souls: Richard Baxter, whose para
phrase of the New Testament" caused
him to be dragged before Lord JET
freys. who howled at him as "a ras-
calh and sssniveling Presbyterian" and
imprisoned him for two years-Baxter,
writing 16S religious books, his Call
to the Unconverted" bringing un-
counted thousands into the pardon of
the gospel, and his Saints Everlast-
ing Rest" opening heaven to a host in
Vulnerable; Dichard Cecil Thomas 4.
Kempis, writing his Limitation OF
Christ" for all ages; Harlan Page,
Robert McCheyne, Nettleton, FInney
and more whom I might mention, the
characteristic of whose lives was an
overtowering passion for souls. a.
B. Earl, the Baptist evangelist, had it.
Is. InsEp, the Methodist ev Evangelist.
Jacob Knapp had it. DIR. Bschus.
president of Hamilton college, had it.
And when told he had only half an
hour to live said: rs that so2 Then
take me out of my bed and place me
upon my knees and let me spend that
time in calling on God for the saliva