The Monitor-register., 1896-08-07
THE GLOW OF SUNSET
REV DR.. TALMAGE SOUNDS THE Cos
/ PEI OF GOOD CHEER.

observation-disclosures TO borr"" Ai"u
b,e-sweetening the Cup-The Blotting
Ont of a Life-Bereavements Lifted.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2.-Dr Tai
mage,s snbiect today lights up the sor-
VOWS of this life and sounds the gospel
of GOOD cheer for all who will receive
II His text was Luke xiv, 29, ABIDE
with us, for it is toward evening.
Two villagers, having concluded their
errand in Jerusalem, have started out
at the city gate and are on their way TO
Emmaus, the place of their residence
They 90 with a sad heart Jesus, who
had been their admiration and their
ioy, had been basely massaered and en-
tombed. As, with sad face and broken
heart. they pass ON their way stranger
accosts them. They tell him their anX-
ieties and bitterness of soul. He in turn
talks to them, nightly expoundlng the
Scriptures He throws over them the
fascination of intelligent conversation.
They forget the time and notice not the
objects they pass, and before they are
aware have come up III 'front.' Oh ihelf
bouse They pause before the entrance
and attempt to persuade the stranger TO
tarry with them. They press upon nm
their hospitalities. Night is coming ON,
and he may meeta proving wlld beast
or be obliged to lie unsheltered from the
dew. He cannot go much farther now.
Wbv not stop there and continue their
nleasant conversation? They take him
hv tbe arm, and they insist upon his
coming in, addressing him in the words,
"Abide with us, for it is toward even
ing"
Toward Evening.
. The candles are lighted; the table is
snread pleasant socialties are enkindled.
They rejoice in the presence of the
STRANGER guest. He asks blessing upon
the bread they eat, and he hands piece
of If TO each. Suddenly and with over
whelming power the thought flashes
upon the astonished people-it is the
Lordl And as they sit i'll breathless
wonder, looking upon the resurrected
body of Jesus, he vanished. The inter
view ended. He was gone.
With many of us it is bright, sun
shiny day of prosperity. There is not
cloud in the sky; not leaf rustling iii
the forest; no chill in the air. But we
cannot expect all this to last He is not
an intelligent man who expects perpet-
ual daylight of joy. The sun will after
awhile near the horizon. The shadows
will lengthen. While l speak many of
us stand in the very hour described in
the text, ''for it is toward evening" "
The request of the text is appropriate
for some before Inc, for with them it
is toward the evening of old age. They
have passed the meridian of life. They
are sometimes startled to think how old
they are. They do not, however, like to
have others remark upon it. If others
suggest their approximation toward
venerable appearance, they say, why,
I'm not so old, after all. " They do, in
deed, notice that they cannot lift quite
so much as once. They cannot walk
quite so fast. They cannot read quite so
well without spectacles They cannot SO
easily recover from Il cough or any occa-
sional ailmcnt. They have lost their
taste for merriment. They are surprised
at the quick passage of the year. They
say that it only seems little while ago
that they were boys. They are going a
little down hill. There is something in
their health, something in their vision,
something i'll their walk, something in
their changing associations, something
above, something beneath, something
within, to remind them that it is to-
ward evening
The great want of all such is to have
Jesus abide with them. tt is a dismal
thing to be getting old without the re-
juvenating influence of religion. When
we step on the down grade of life and
see that it dips to the verge of the cold
river, we want to behsld some one near
who will help US across it. When the
sight loses its power to glance and
gather up, we need the faith that can
lllumine When we feel the failure of
the ear, we need the clear tones of that
voice which in olden times broke up the
silence of the deaf with cadences of
mercy. When the aXmen of death heW
down whole forests of strength and
beauty around US and we are left in sol
itude, we need the dove of divine mercy
to sing in our branches. When the
shadows begin to fall and we feel that
the day is far spent, we need most OF
all to supplicate the strong, beneficent
Jesus in the prayer of the villagers,
ing"
Temptation.
The request of the text is an appro-
pirate exclamation for all those who are
approached in the gloomy hour of
temptation. There is nothing easier
than to be good natured when every
thing pleases, or to be humble when
there is nothing to oppose us, or forgiv-
ing when we have not been assailed, or
honest when we have no inducement to
fraud. But you have felt the grapple of
some temptation. Your nature at some
time quaked and groaned under the in
fernal force. You felt that the devil was
after you. You saw your Christian
gracas retreating You feared that you
would fall in the awful wrestle with
sln and be thrown into the dust. The
gloom thickened. The first indications
Of the night were seen i'll all the trem-
bling of your soul, in all the Internal
suggestions of Satan, in all the surging
up OF tumultuous passions and excite
ments. You felt with awful emphasis
that 1t was toward evening. In the
tempted hour you need to ask Jesus to
abide with you. You can beat back the
monster that would devour you. You
can unhorse the sin that would ride you
down. You can sharpen the battleax
with which you split the head of he'll
meted abomination. Who helped Paul
shake the brazen gated heart of Felix?
Who acted like a good sailor when all
the crew howled in the Mediterranean
shipwreck? Who helped the martyrs to
be firm when one word of recantation
would have unfastened the withes of
the stake and put out the kindling fire?
When the night of the soul came on and
all the denizens of darkness came riding
upon the winds of perdition, who gave
strength to the soul? Who gave calm
ness to the heart? Who broke the spell
OF internal enchantment? He who heard
the request of the villagers, "Abide
with u.s. for it is toward evening"
One of the forts of France was at
tackled, and the outworks were taken be-
fore night. The besieging army lay
down, thinking there was but little to
do in the morning, and that the sol
diery in the fort could be easily made
to surrender. But during the night,
through a back stairs, they escaped into
the country. In the morning the be-
sieging army sprang upon the battle
ments, but found that their prey was
gone So, when we are assaulted in
temptation, there is always some secret
stair Inv which yc MIGHT ppt off God