Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1896-02-15
THE PLAIN ROAD.
DIR. TALMAGE,S SUNDAY THEME,
The Wayfaring Man, Though a Fool
Need Not Err Therein.

1Kxr; And an highway shall be there.
ana way, and it shall be called, the way 81
noiinesS: the unclean shall not pass over II.
out u shall be for those; the wayfaring men.
tnsug fools. shall not err therein. 20 lion
eAaiI Do there, nor any %ravenous beast shall
20 up thereon, it shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there. and the
ransomed OF the Lord shall return and come
20 Zion with songs and everlasting JOY upon
their heads They shall obtain 10y and glad
ness and sorrow and sisbing shall fee away.
isaiah xxxv., g., 9, 10.
mere are hundreds Of people in this house
VINO want to find the right road. You some
unes see a person hating at crossroads. and
you can tell by his looks that he wishes 10
ask a question a. 10 what direction he he'd
better take, And | stand In your presence
conscious OF the fact that there are many OF
you here that realize That there are a thou
SAND wrong roads, but only one right one,
and take it for granted that you have come
IN to ask which one it Is. Here is one road
that opens widely, but I have not much faith
MI mere arc a great many expensive
toi<ates scattered all along that way. In
iced at every rod you must pay in tears. or
Fay n genu1exions, or pay in fiagellations.
On that road, II you get through it at all.
you will have to pay your W way, and
since this differs SO much from what I have
neafd In regard to the right way, I believe it
Is the wrong way.
Hero is another road. On either side OF 1t
are houses of sinful entertainment and invi-
tations to come in and dine and rest. but
from the looks OF the people who stand or
the piazza. l am certain it is the wrong
house and the wong way. Here is another
road. 1t is very beautiful and macadamized.
Tbe horses hoofs c,atter and ring. and they
who ride over it spin along the highway un-
til suddenly they find that the road breaks
over an embankment, and they try to halt,
and they see the bit in the mouth OF the fiery
steed and cry: "Ho! HoI' But it is too late,
and. crash! they go over the embankment.
we shall turn and see if We cannot find @ diff
ferent kind 0: road. You have heard of the
Appian way. 1t was $50 miles long. 1t was
tWenty-fOur feet wide, and On either side of
the road was a path for foot passengers. It
was made out Of rocks cut in hexagonal shape
and fitted together. What a road it must
have been. Made of smooth. hard rock. $50
miles long! No wonder that in tho con-
struction of it the treasures Of a whole en-
pire were exhausted. Because of invaders
and the elements and time-the old con-
queror who tears up a road as he goes over
it-there is nothing left Of that structure but
a ruin. But | AVE to tell you of a road
built before the Appian way, and yet it is as
good as when first constructed. Millions OF
souls have gone over it. Millions more will
come.
The prophets and apostles, too,
Pursued this road while here below.
We therefore will. without dismav,
Still walk in Christ, the good old way.
J First, this road of the text is the King ;
highway. In the diligence you dash on over
the Bernard pass of the Alps, mile after
mile, and there is not SO much as q pebble to
jar the wheels. You go over bridges which
cross chasms that make you nod your
breath, under projecting rock. along by
dangerous precipice. through tunnels a-drip
with the MEETINGS Of the glaciers aud per-
road built and supported by Governmental
authority. Well, my Lord the King decided
to build a highway from earth to heaven. 1t
should span all the chasms OF human
wretchedness; it should tunnel all the
mountains of earthly difficulty; it should be
wide enough and strong enough to hold
Atty thousand millions of the human race,
if so many of them should ever be born; it
should be blasted out Of the crock of ages
and cemented with the blood of the
cross and be lifted amid the shout
ing of angels and the execration of devils.
The King sent His Son to buildthat road. He
put head and hand and heart to it, and after
the o was completed waved His blistered
hand over the way, crying, SIT is finished.'
Napoleon paid Il. O00, 600 francs for the build.
ing of the Simplon road that his cannon
might go over for the devastation of Italy
but our King at a great expense has built s
road for a different purpose, that the ban.
ners of heavenly dominion might comedowr
over it. Being a Kings highway, Of courst
it is we'll built. Bridges splendidly archie
and buttressed have given way and crushed
the passengers who attempted to cross them
But Christ the King would build no suct
thing as that. The work done. He mount
&ha ahn~,of Of H. f0-n on9 -
mount with Him, and He drives on and "
the steep Of heaven amid the plaudits Of gaz
ing worlds. The work is done-well done
gloriously done-magnificently done.
Still further. this road spoken Of is a clean
road. Many a fine road has become miry
and foul because it has not been properly
cared for. but nv text saws the uncIean shall
not walk on this one. Room on either sid,
to throw away your sins. Indeed. if 70,
want to carry them along you are not on the
right road. That bridge will break, thos,
overhanging rocks will fall. the night vii
come down leaving you at the mercy OF tb'
mountain bandits, and at the very next tur,
of the road you will perish. But if you ar,
really on this clean road Of which l hav'
been speaking, then you will stop ever anC
anon to wash in the water that stands in tn
basin of the eternal rock.
Ave, at almost every step of the journe,
you will be crying out: ''Create within IA
a clean heart" If you have no such aspira
a~tionsas that. it proves that you have mis-
taken your way. and if you will only loo
up and see the fingerboard above your head
you may read upon it the words. There is
Way that seemeth right unto a man. but til
end thereof is DEATH" Without holiness n
man shall see the Lord. and if you have an
idea that you can carry along your sin.
your lusts, your worldliness, and vet get q
the end of the Christian race, you are so Az
fully mistaken. that, in the name of God.
shatter the delusion.
Still further, the road spoken Of is a plai
road. "The wayfaring men. though fool
shall not err therein" That is. ii a man
three-fourths an idiot, he can find tn
road just as we'll as if he We're a philosophe
The imbecile boy, the laughing stock Of IL
street, and followed by q mob hootinc at hin
has only just to knock once at the gate
heaven. and 1t swings OPEN while,there h
been many a man who.can lecture abo,
pneumatics. and chemistry. and tell III
story of Faraday's theory ofse!ectrical pola
ization and yet has been shut out OF hearel
TLA~o hac bean w n u u ~ y tx-hA Sfalf ~