The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-09
SALVATION OF MEMS SOULS.
TALMAGE breaches ON THE RAR-
EST OF PASSIONS.


naries of Church History Who
Have Been Possessed of It-How to
lnoufre the Longing For saved
ImmOrtalities.
Washington, Nov. S.-Clear out of the
ordinary style of sermon.zing is this re-
uakable discourse of DR.. Talmage. His
text is: Rom. 9. s: Il could wish that my
self were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the
flesh"
A tough passage, indeed, for those who
take Paul literally. When some of the
old theolog.ans declared that they were
willing to be damned for the glory Of
COD. they said what no one believed. Paul
did not in the text mean he was wiling
to die forever to save his relatives. He
used hyperbole, and when he declared, Il
could wish that myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my kins-
men according to the fesh," he meant in
the most vehement of all possible ways
to declare his anxiety for the salvation
of his relatives and friends. 1t was pas
sion for souls Not more than one Chris
tan out of thousands of Chris
tians feels it. All-absorbing de-
sire for the betterment of the phys
zeal and mental condition Is very common.
1t would take more of mathematician
than l ever can be to calculate how many
are. I'd to an anxiety that sometimes will
not let them sleep nights, planning for
the efficiency of hospitals where the SICK
and wounded of body are treated, and for
eve and ear infirmaries, and for dispense
ries and retreats where the poorest may
have most skillful surgery and helpful
treatment. OH it is beautiful and gloA
rious, this widespread and ever intensity
ing movement to alleviate and cure phys
zeal misfortunes. May God encourage
and help the thousands of splendid men
and 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 capac-
ity for gladness or distress, now
few feel anything like the over
whelming concentration expressed in my
text. Rarer than four-leaved cloVers,
rarer than century plants, rarer than
prima donnas, have been those OF whom II
may be said: "They had passion for
sous. on COQ4u CuuAN bll tAiN A4i46N
and thumb of your left hand all the names
of those you can recall, who in the last,
the eighteenth century, were so character
lied. 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 LETT nands.
There are many more such consecrated
souls, but they are scattered so widely
YOU do not know them. Thoroughly Chris
81 nv hundreds of millions
there are to-day, but how few people
do YOU know who are utterly oblivious 10
everything in this world except the re-
demption of souls? Paul had it when he
wrote my text, and the time will come
when the majority of Christians will have
il, if this world is ever to be lifted out
of the slough in which 1t has been sink
ing and foundering for near nineteen cen
turtles. And the betterment had better be-
gin with myself and yourself. When
committee of the Society of Friends
called upon a member to reprimand m
for breaking some small rule of the So
ciety, the member replied: Il had dream
in which all the Friends had assembled
10 plan some way to have our meeting
house cleaned, for it was very filthy
Many propositions were made, but no con-
clusion was reached until one of the men,
bers rose and said: Friends, l think If
each one would take a broom and sweep
Immediately around his own seat the
Westinghouse would be clean" So let
the work of spiritual improvement be-
gin around our own soul. Some one
whispers up from the right-hand side of
the pulpit and says: viii you
please name some Of the persons in
our times who have this passion for
souls?' Oh, no! 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 no 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 mad
this passion for souls?" Oh, yes! Samuel
Rutherford, the Scotchman of three hun
dred years ago. his Imprisonment at Aber-
deem for his religious zeal, and the public
burning of his book, Lex Rex" in Edin-
boro, and his unjust aTalgnment for high
treason, and other prosecutions purify
ing and sanct!fying him, so that his works
entitled Trial and Triumph of Faith" and
"Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to
Himself" and above all, his two hundred
and fifteen unparalleled letters, showed
that he had the passion for souls. Rich
ard Baxter, whose "Paraphrase of the
New Testament caused him to be dragg-
ed before Lord Jeffr.es, who howled at
him as "a rascal" and "sniveling Presby-
terrain, and imprisoned him for two years
Baxter, writing one hundred and sixty
eight religious books, his Call to the IN
converted" bringing uncounted thou
sands into the pardon of the Gospel,
and his Saints Everlasting Rest" Open
ing heaven TO host innumerable. Rich
ard Cecil. Thomas writing his
Limitation of Christ" for all ages. Har-
Ian Page Robert McCheyne. Nettleton.
Finney. And more whom l might men,
ton, the characteristic of whose lives was
an overtowering passion for souls. A. ID.
Earl, the Baptist evangelist, had 1t, /. 5.
Inskip, the Methodist evangelist. had ii.
Jacob Knapp had it. DR.. Bachus, pres-
dent of Hamilton College, had it, and
when told he had only half an hour to live,
said us that so? Then take me out OF
my bed and place me upon my knees,
and let me spend that time in calling on
Co. for the salvation of the world" Ana
so he died upon his knees. Then there
have been others whose names have been
known only in their own family or neigh
borhood, and here and there you think OF
one. What JUNCTION they had in prayer
What power they had in eXhortauon! II
they walked into homo every member
OF it felt a holy thrill, and II they walked
into a prayer-meetng the dullness ana
stolidity instantly vanished. One of them
would wake ~ a whole church. One Of