Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-09-16
REV. DR. TALMAGE
The Eminent l,iv.ne's Sunjay
DISCOURSE.
subject "rhe Soft Tongues
TEXT; ga soft tongue breake,h the bone. :"

TEXT: "A soft tongue breake,h the bone
Proverbs XIV, Is.
When Solomon said this he drove Who'll,
volume into one phrase. You, of course, will
rot be- SO silly "a TO take the words Of tn,
text 10 a literal sense. They simply NEAR
10 set forth the fact there is n tremendous
power In a kind wori. Although 1t maj
seem to be v ry insignificant, its force is in
descrtbable and illimitable. Pungent ani
ail-conquering utterance: IA soft tongu.
breaketh the bons''
II had time l would show you klndnes.
as means of defense. as a means of useful
ness. Kindness rs n means of dome-tio har
mony, k'ndness as best en- piOyed by govern
ments for the tanning and curing of criminals
and kindness as BEST adapted for the settling
and adjusting OF internationa, quarrel; bul
l shalt call your attention only to two o
these thoughts.
meane OF defense. Almost every man, in tht
course OF his life, Is set upon and assaulted
Your motives are misnterpretsd or your re-
ligious or political principles are bombarded
What TO do under such circumstances is the
question. Tb" first Impulse OF the natura
heat 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 your
soul. Shot for shot. Sarcasm for sarcasm
An eye for An eye. A tooth for a iootb." But
the better spirit In the mans soul rises ut
and says: ''You ought to consider the mat
ter" You look up into the face of Chris,
and say: "My Master, how ought 1 tc
act under these difficult circumstances?'
and Christ instantly answers: "Bles:
them that curse you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you" Then the old
nature rises up again and says: "You had
better not forgive him until first you have
chastised him. You will never get him in SO
tight a corner again. You will never have
such an opportunity OF infiicting the right
kind OF punishment upon him again. Firs,
chastise him and then let him CO." "No,"
says the better nature, Crush. thou fou
heart. Try the soft tongue that breakett
the bone
Have you ever in all your life known
acerbity and acrimonious dispute to settle a
quarrel? Did they not always make matters
worse and worse and worse? About fifty
five years ago there was 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. Til. most out.
rageou, personalities were abroad As, in
the autumn, hunter comes home with n
string of game. partridyes and wild ducks,
s'ung over his shoulder, so there were many
ministers who came back from the ecclesias-
tical 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 resolved upon another tack. They be-
gan to explain away the difficulties; they be.
gan to forgive each others faults; ant lol
the great Church quarrel was settled; and
the new school Presbyterian Church aud the
old school Presbyterian Church became one
The different pats of the Presby, erian order,
welded by hammer. a little hammer, n
hrIa ar ha fhat has ri
ga soft tongue"
But, you say, what are We to do when
ISLANDERS assault us. aud there come acrim-
onious sayings AL around about Us, aud We
are abused and spit upon?' My reply is:
Do not go AN 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. You might as 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 thundered over Charleston, and try
to shoot them down. The game is too small
Tor the gun. But what, then, are you to do
with the abuses thar come upon you in life?
You are to live them down!
l pass now to the other thought that de-
sire to present, ana that is, kindness as a
means OF usefulness In all communities
ucaiion, or through the maltreatment OF
professed eChrstian people, or through
prying curiosity about the future word,
there are great many people who become
skepticai in religious things. How shall
you capture them for God! Sharp argument
a nd sarcastic retort never Won single soul
from skepticism TO the Christian religion.
While powerful books on evidences of
have their mission in confirm
ing Christian people in the faith they have
already adopted, l have noticai that when
people are brought into the king
dom Of Christ. it is through the charm OF
some genial soul and not by argument at all.
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
great bluster, but it does not succee,. Part
Of the sea Is rot sed up-pernaps half Of
It or ona-fourth of it. After awhile the
calm moon, placid and beautiful, looks
down, and the ocean begins to rise. Ii
comes up to high-water mark, it en-
braces the great headlands. II sub
merges the beach Of all the continents. 1t
s the heart-thrOb OF one world against
the heart-throb OF another world. Aud
have to tell you that while all your
storms Of ridicule and storms of sar-
mortal nature, nothing less thsn the attrac-
tive power OF Christian kindness can ever
raise the deathless spirit to happiness and to
God. l have more faith in the PRAYER OF
child five years old, in the way of bringing
an infldel back to Christ and to 'avcn than
have in all the Kissing tbunderb olts of
controversy. You cannot over
come IN III with religious augmentation. If
you c,-ns at a sc.pticai IN III with al argu-
ment on behalf of the Christian religion.
you put the man on his mettle. He snys: II
see that man has rarbine. I'll use my
.arbine- III answer his argument with III,
argument" But IL you come te that mao,
persuadine him that You desire his happj-
ness on earth and his ei ernal welfare in the
world to come. he cannot nswer it.
What l have said Is just as true in the
of the openly vicious. Did you
ever know a dIunkard 10 be- saved through
he caricature Of n drunkard? Your min cry
of the staggering step ami the thick tongue,
and the disgusting hiccoughs, only wore
naddrns his brain. BItif you come to him
With kindness and sympathy; il you show
him that you appreciate the awful grip OF
appetite; If you persuade him OF
ne fact that thousands who hal the grap-
ling hooks OF evil INCLINATION ciutched In
heir soul as firmly as they now are in his
nave been rescued, then ray of light will
lash across his vision, and it will ssem as il
l supernai ural hand we're steadying his stag
,ering gait. A good many years ago there
ay in the streets of Richmond, Va, a man
lead drunk, his face exposed to the blister
ng MONDAY sun. A Christian woman passed
IlonR, looked ut him and saic Poor fe-
owl" She took her handkerchief and spread
over his face and passed on. The man
ouset himself from his debauch and began
o look at the handkerchief, and, lol on il
vas the name Of a highly Respectable Chris
ian woman Of the city OF Richmond He
vent to her, he than ked her for her kindness:
Ini that one little deed saved him for this
ife, and saved him for the life that is to
ome. He WIS afterwarl Aitorney-G cnera.
# the United States; but, higher than all, H.,
rcarne ths copsecrated discipl. of Jesus
,hrist. Kind wor''s are so cheap IL is a won
er we do not use them ofteBer. There are
ems OF thousands of people in these cities
rho are diving for the lack OF one kind word.
here is a business man who has tough.
g'iinst trouble until he is perfectly exhaust.
a. He has beAn thinking about forgery
Ihnut r. 'bbery. about suicide.
Go TO the business man. Tel, him that
,etter times are coming. and tell him that
'ou Yourself were in tight bus par,
md the Lord delivered you. Tell him to put