The Penn's Grove record., 1896-09-11
REV. DR. TALMAGE
The Eminent nivine's Sunday
Discourse.
subject: "rhe Soft Tongue"
TEXT "a soft tongue breake,h the bone"

NoluIlt INTO one HuThsP. lou, Ot GDufSe, VIII
lot be SO silly as to take the words of the
text in q literal sense. They simply mean
to set forth the fact there is II tremendous
power In a kind word. Although it may
seem to be vyry insignificant, its force is in
describable and illimitable. Pungent and
a~ll-cOnquering utterance: "A soft tongue
breaketh the bone"
Ii had time l would show you kindness
as a means Of defense, as a means of useful
ness. kindness rs u means of domestic har-
mony, kindness as best employed by govern
ments for the tanning and curing of criminals,
and kindness as best adapted for the settling
and adjusting Of international quarrel; but
| shall call your attention only to two OF
these thoughts.
And first, l sLeik TO you of Kindness az a
meane of defense. Almost every man in the
course of his life, is set upon and assaulted.
our motives are misi%ntrrpreted or your re-
ligious or political principles are bombarded.
What 10 do under such circumstances is the
question. Tho first impulse of the nGturaI
heart says! 'Strike back. Give as much a.
he sent. "Trip him into the ditch which he
dug for your feet. Cash him with as severe
awound as that which he inflicted on youI
soul. Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm,
An eye for an eye. A tooth for atooth." But
the better spirit in the mans soul rises uE
and says: "You ought to consider the mat
ter" You look up into the face of Christ
and say: my Master, how ought l tG
act under these difficult circumstances?'
and Christ instantly answers 'Bless
them that curse you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you" Then tho old
nature rises up again and says: You had
better not forgive him until first you have
ehastised him. You will never get him in so
tight a corner again. You VII never have
such an opportunity Of INJECTING the right
kind OF punishment upon him again. FRS.
chastise him and then let him CO." s'No,'
says the better nature, 'hush. thou fou
heart. Try the soft tongue that breakett
the b0ne
Have you ever in all your life known
acerbity and acrimonious dispute to settle II
quarrel Did they not always make matters
worse and worse and worse? About fifty
five years ago there was ii great quarrel in
the Presbyterian family. Ministers of Christ
were thought orthodox in proportion as they
had measured lances with other clergyman
of the same denomination. The most out
rageous personalities were abroad. AS, in
the autumn, Il hunter comes home with a
string Of game. partridSes and wild ducks,
slung over his shoulder, so there were many
ministers who came back from the eccleSias.
teal courts with long strings of doctors OF
divinity whom they had shot with their own
rifle. The division became wider, the ami
mostly greater, until after awhile some good
men TtSJiNtu upDH huOtubl ltCh. lucy Db-
gan to explain away the difficulties; they be-
gan to forgive each others faults; an lol
the great Church quarrel was settled; and
the new school Presbyterian Church and the
old school Presbyterian Church became one
The different puts Of the Presbyterian order,
welded by a hammer, a little hammer, a
Christian hammer that the Scripture calls
ga soft tongue"
But you say, ''what are we to do when
GtpnIpFz aEganlt ma ami thHre pnma apFIm-
onious sayings all around about us, and we
are abused and spit upon2" My reply IS:
Do not go and attempt to chase down the
ISLANDERS. Lies are prolific, and while you
are killing one, fifty are born. All your
demonstrations of indignation only exhaust
yourself. Yon might rs well on some sum
mer night When the swarms of insects are
coming up from the meadows and disturb
ing you and disturbing your family, bring
up some great ''swamp angel" like that
which Numbered over Charleston. and try
TO shoot them down. The game is too small
for the gun. But what, then, are you to do
with the abuses that come upon you in life?
You are to live them down!
pass now to the other thought that | de-
sire to present, ana that is, kindness as a
means OF usefulness. In all communities
you lind skeptical men. Through early ed
location, or through tue maltreatment OF
profe5sed tChriStiRu people, or through
pryiDg curiosity about the future world,
there are "a great many people who become
skeptical in religious things. How shall
you capture them for God2 Sharp argument
and sarcastic retort never won a single soul
IRON skepticiSm to the Christian religion.
While powerful books on evidences of
Christianity" have their mission in confirm
ing Christian people in the faith they have
already adopted, | have noticed that when
skeptical people are brought into the king
dom of Christ. it is through the charm OF
some genial soul aud not by argument at ali.
Men are not saved through the head; they
are saved through the heart. A storm comes
out of its hiding place. 1t says: Now we'll
just rouse up all this sea-" and it makes II
great buster, but it docs not succee I. Part
of the sea is reused up-pernaps one-half of
1t or one-fourth of II. After awhile the
calm moon, placid and beautiful, looks
down, and the ocean begins to rise. Ii
comes up to h%igh-water mark, it en-
braces the great headlanis. 1t sub
merges the beach of all the continents. 1t
is the heart-throb OF one world against
the heart-throb OF another world. And
/ have to tell you that while all your
storms Of ridicule n storms of sar-
casm may rouse up the passion of an i'm
mortal nature, nothing less than The attrac-
tive power of Christian kindness can ever
raise the deathless spirit to happiness and to
bOt. L HuN6 IiOTb lAllu III tut prayer VI u
child five years old, in the way of bringing
an intidei back to Christ and to heaven than
l save in all the Kissing thunderbolts of
ecclesiastical controversy. You cannot over
come m IN with religious augmentation. IL
you 9)ms at a scspticll m IA with an argu-
ment ON behalf OF the Christian religion.
you put the Il on his mettlr. He says: II
SEQ that MAI has Il carbine. I'll usa my
carbiue. III answer his argument with my
AFulmpnf " IBuf If Nnn Pnnn IL that man
persuading him that you desire his happi-
ness on earth and his eternal welfare in the
world to come. lie cannot answsr it.
What | have said Is just rs trus in the
reclamation of The openly vicious. Did You
ever know a drunkard 10 be saved through
the caricaiura Of a drunkard? Your min cry
Of the staggering step and the thick tongue,
and the disgusting ~hiccoughs, only wore
maddrns his brain. Bat II you CONS to him
with kindness u sympathy; if you show
him that you appreciate the awful grip OF "a
depraved appetite; IL you persuade him OF
the fact hat thousands who hal the crap
ping hooks of evil inclination clutehed in
their soul as firmly as they now are in his
have been rescued, then a ray OF light will
fash across his vision, and it will ssrm as if
u Supernatural hand were steadying his stag
gering gait. A good many years ago there
lay in The streets of Richmond, Va, II man
dead drunk, his face exposed TO the blister
ing MONDAY sun. A Christian woman passed
along, looked at him and sail; poor fel-
low" She took her handkerchief and spread
1t over his face aud passed on. The man
rouse himself from his deLauch and begau
to look at the handkerchief. and, lol on it
was the name OF a highly Respectable Chris
tim woman OF the city OF Richmond. He
went to her, he thanked her for her kindness
and thai one little deed saved him for this
life, aud saved him for the life that t. to
come. He was atterwarl Attorney General
OF the United States; but, higher than all, hr
+ rcame the consecrated disciple OF Jesus
Christ. Kind worjs are so cheap il is avon
der We do not usa them o%itener. There are
teus oil thousands OF people in these cities
are dying for the lack of one kind word.
There is Il business man who has fought
against trouble until he is perfectly exhaust,
81. He has been thinking about forgery
about robbery, about suicide.
90 to the business man. Tell him that
better times are coming. and tell him that
You yourself were In a tight business pas,
and the Lord delivered you. Tell him to put
his trust in Christ. Tell him that Jesus
Christ stands beside every business man in
his perplexities. Tell him OF the sweet
promises OF Gods comforting grace. That
man Is dying for the lack OF inst one kind
word. Go Tomorrow and utter thai one
saving. omnipo fnt, kind word. Here is a