Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-11-20
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME ny THE
WASHINGTON PREACEEE.
Subject: "a Passion OF Souls"

Tiki: ~ could wish that myself were
accused from Christ for my brethren. nv
kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans
tx. 3
tough passage, indeed, for those who
take Paul literally. When some Of the ola
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 relatives. He used hyperbo'e. ana
when he declared, Il could wish that myself
were accused from Christ Tor my brethren.
my kinsmen according TO the flesh" he
meant In the most vehement Of al posi- lille
ways to declare his anxiety for the salvation
OF his relatives and friends. II was a passion
Tor souls. Not more than one Christian out
OF thousands of Christians ieels IT, All alb
sorbing desire for the betterment OF the
physical and mental condition j. very CONF
mon. IL would take more OF "A mathema-
ttciau than ever can he to calculate how
many are, up To an anxiety that sometimes
will aot let them sleep nights, planning for
/ the efficiency OF hospitals where the sick
and wounded Of body are treated. and for
Z eve and ear inilrmaries. and for dispensaries
/ and retreats where the poorest may have
most skiiul surgery and helpful treatment.
| Oh. it is beautiful and glorious this wide
| spread and ever intensifying movement to
alleviate and cure physical misiortunes.
/ May God encourage and help the thousands
/ OF splendid men aud women engaged in that
work! But all that is outside of my subject TO.
/ day. In behalf of the immortality of a man.
/ the inner eye, the inner ear the inner ca
/ pacity for gladness or distress, how few feel
anything like the overwhelming concentra-
ton expressed in my text. Rarer than four
/ leaved clOyerS, rarer than century plants
! rarer than prlma donna, have been those of
when 1t may be- said. "rhey have 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
eighteenth-century We're so characterized
All the names Of those you could recall in
| ourtime rs having this passion for souls yos
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 people by the hundreds Of millions
there are to-day, but how few people do YOU
| know who are utterly obliviou- to every
thing in this world except the redemption Of
| souls? Paul had it when he wrote nv text,
and the time will come when the majority Of
Christians will have it, if this world is ever
! to he lifted out of the slough in which it has
! been sinking and tlOunderng for near uine-
teen centuries and the hetterment had bet
ter begin with myself and yourself. When a
| Committee Of the Society of Friends called
| upon member to reprimand him for break
ing some small rule Of the society, the men,
Der replied: II had a dream in 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 unit,
one of the members rose and said Friends
l think if each one would take a broom and
sweep Immediately around his own seat, the
meeting house would be clean So let
ma of nj rit inn aDt
around our own soul. Some one whispers
~ from the right hand side of the pulpit
and saws. "Wili You please name some Of
the persons in our times who have this pas
sion for sous?' Oh, no. That would be in
vidious and imprudent. an the mere mem
tioning OF the names OF such persons might
cause in them spiritual pride, and then the
Lord would have no more use for them.
Some one whispers up from the left hand
side of the pulpit, "Will YOU not. then. men
non among the p .opie of the past some who
had this passion for souls?" Oh yes! Samuel
Rutherford, the ScOtchman OF 800 years ago
his Imprisonment at Aberdeen Tor his re-
ligiouS zeal. and the public burning OF his
book, LEX Rex in Edinburgh and his uu.
just Arrangement for high treason and other
} prosecutions, purifying and sanctifying him
so that his works, entitled Trial and
Triumph OF Faith and Christ Dying and
Drawing Sinners to Himself, and, above
all, his 2l5 Unparalleled letters showed thai
he had the passion Tor souls; Richard Baxter,
whose "Paraphrase OF the New Testament
caused MN 10 ne dragged before LORD Jet-
freys, who howled at him as "a rascal aud
"sniveilng Presbyterian and imprisoned
MN Tor TWO years-BaNter, writing It's r.
hglous BOOKS, MS CAL TO the Uncovered
bringing amounted thousands INTO the par
, don OF the gospel, and his saints Everlast
!, ing Hest opening heaven TO most lnnum
a D. III
} writing his limitation OF Christ for all ages
Harlan rage, robert McCheyne, NettIeton
Flnney and more whom l might mention
the characteristic OF whose lives was an over
towering passion Tor sous. A. Is. Earl th'
Baptlst evangelist, had II. l. >. lhsklp, tht
Methodist evangelist, had 1t. Jacob knapl
had 1t. DR.. Bachus, President OF Hamilton
College, had 1t. And when told he had onl,
! hall an hour TO live said. as that soI Ihel
take me ont OF my bed ana place me upol
my knees and let me spend that time in call
ing on God for the salvation OF the world.
! And so he died upon his knees. Then Their
- have been others whose names have been
known only in their own family or neighbor
hood, and here and there you think OF one
What junction they had in prayer! Wha
power they had in exhortation! II the
walked into a home. every member of il feI
= a holy thrill and ii they walked into
!. prayer meeting the dullness and stoldit,
u instantly vanished, One of them wOulC
(: wake up whole church. One of them woul,
"a sometimes electrify whole city.
- But the most wonderful one of that char
acterization the world ever saw or heard o
:, felt was peasant in the Far East. wearing
}, plain blouse like an inverted wheat sack
l. with three openings one for the neck an
the Other two for the arms. His iather
wheelwright and house builder and given t
various carpentry. His mother at first undo
suspicion because of the circumstances of Hi
nativity. and He chased by Herodic man
T. out of His native land to live awhile unde
the shadows Of the sphinx and pyramid @