Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-11-09
THE OUTCRY OF PAUL
REV. DR.. TALMAGE breaches AN
OTTER UNIQUE DISCOURSE.

WASHINGTON, Nov. S.-Clear out of
the ordinary style Of sermonizing is this
remarkable discourse Of Dr.. Talmage
which we send out today. His text is
Romans tx, 3, IT could wish that myself
Were accursed from Christ for my breth-
rem, my kinsmen according to the flesh. -
A tough passage, indeed, for those
who take Paul literally When some of
the old theologians declared that they
were willing to be damned for the glory
of God, they said what no one believed.
Paul did not in the text mean he was
willing to die forever to save his rela-
tives. He used hyperbole, and when he
declared, 81 could wish that myself
We're accursed from Christ for my breth-
rem, my kinsInen according to the flesh, -
he meant in the most vehement Of all
possible ways to declare his anxiety for
the salvation Of his relatives and friends.
1t was q passion for souls. Not more
than one Christian out of thousands Of
Christians feels it. All absorbing de-
sire for the betterment Of the physical
and mental condition is very common.
1t would take more Of a mathematician
than ! ever can be to calculate how
many are, up to an anxiety that some
times Will not let them sleep nights,
planning for the efficiency of hospitals
where the sick and wounded Of body are
treated and for eye and ear infrmaries
and for Gispensaries and retreats where
the poorest may have most skillful sur
gerry and helpful treatment Oh, it is
beautiful and glorious, this widespread
and ever intensifying movement to allie
viate and cure physical misfortunes.
May God encourage and help the thou
sands Of splendid men and women en-
gagged in that work.
But all that is outside Of my subject
today. In behalf of the Immortality of
a man, the inner eye, the inner ear, the
inner capacity for gladness or distress,
how few feel anything like the over
whelming concentration expressed in
my text. Rarer than four leaved clo-
yers, rarer than century plants, rarer
than prima donnas, have been those Of
whom it may be said, "They had a
passion for souls. You could count on
the fingers and thumb of your left hand
all the names of those you can recall
who in the last-the ighteenth-cen-
fury were SO characterized. All the
names Of those you could recall in our
time as having this passion for souls
you can count on the fingers and thumbs
of your right and left hands. There are
many more such consecrated souls but
they are scattered SO widely you do not
know them. Thoroughly Christian PEG
pie by the hundreds OF millions there
are today, but how few people do you
know who are utterly oblivious to ev-
erything in this world except the re-
demption Of souls? Paul had it when
he wrotemy text, and the time will come
when the majority of Christians Will
have it if this world is ever to be lifted
out Of the slough in which it has been
sinking and fOundering for near 10
centuries And the betterment had bet
ter begin with myself and yourself
When a committee Of the Society OF
Friends called upon member to repri-
mand him for breaking some small rule
of the society, the member replied, 81
had a dream III which all the Friends
had assembled to plan some way to have
our meeting house cleaned, for it was
very filthy. Many propositions were
made, but no conclusion was reached
until enc Of the members rose and said,
Friends, I think if each one would
take q broom and sweep Immediately
around his own seat, the meeting house
would be clean. -
Religious Zeal.
So let the work Of spiritual improve
ment begin around cur own soul. Some
one whispers up from the right hand
side Of the pulpit and says, "Will you
please name some Of the persons in our
times who have this passion for souls?"
Oh, mol 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 10 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
souls?'' Oh, yes! Samuel Rutherford,
the Scotchman of 500 years ago--his I'M
prisonment at Aberdeen for his religious
zeal and the public burning of his book,
t'Lex Rex III Edinburgh, and his un--
Just arraignment for high treason. and
other prosecutions purifying and sancti-
flying him so that his works, entitled
''Trial and Triumph of Faith and
"Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to
Himself, - and above all, his 215 unpar-
alleled letters, showed that he had the
passion for souls; Richard Baxter, whose
<tParaphrase Of the New Testament
caused him to be dragged before Lord
Jeffreys, who howled at him as "a ras-
cal'' and s'sniveling Presbyterian and
imprisoned him for two years-Ba1ter,
writing 16S religious books, his Call
to the Unconverted' bringing uncount-
ed thousands into the pardon of the COS
pei, and his Saints Everlasting Rest
opening heaven to a host innumerable;
Richard Cecil. Thomas kempis, writ
ing his limitation Of Christ" for all
- nf-Lr IL