The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-02-20
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Place In Which the Christian
Should Always be Safe.
The Home ~ . Test of Character, - 9
Refuge, ~ . Political s.fog aArds
~ n school. and ~
.... Type OF Heaven.

OF Home, Daslng IL on inc text'
go home to thy friends. and tell them ho'
great things the Lord hath done for thee. -
Mark ", 10
There are great many people long
ing for some grand sphere in which T.
serve God. They admire Luther at tn
diet Of Worms, and only wish tina
they had some such great opportunity
In which to display their Christian
prowoss. They admire Paul t. makin6
Felix tremble, and they only wisf
that they had some such grand occa-
sion in which to preach Righteousness
temperance and judgment to come
All they want Is an opportunity to OK
hibit their Christian heroism. Now
the apostle comes to us and he prac'
tically SAYS: II will show you place
where you can exhibit all that Is
grand and beautiful and glorious in
Christian character, and that Is the
pomestic circle"
IL one is not faithful in an insignifi.
cant sphere he will not be faithful in
q resounding sphere. II Peter will
not help the cripple ut the gate of the
temple, he will not be able TO preach
5000 souls into the kingdom at the
Pentecost. II Paul will not take
pains to instruct in the way of saliva
ton the sheriff Of the Philippian dun
geon, he will never make Felix trem-
BILE. He who is not faithful in a Skin
mish would not be faithful in al Ar
mageddon. The fact is. we arc all
placed in just the position in which
we can most faithfully serve God, and
we ought not TO be chiefly thoughtful
about some sphere of usefulness which
we may after awhile gain, but the all
absorbing question with you and with
me ought to be: Lord, what wilt
Thou have me (now and here) to do?'
There is one word In my text around
which the most OF our thoughts will
to-day revolve. That word is home.
Ask ten different men the meaning of
that word aud they will give you ten
different definitions To one it means
love at the hearth, il means plenty at
the table, industry at the workstand,
intelligence at the books, devotion at
the altar. To him it means greeting
AT the door and smile at the chair.
Peace lowering like wings. Joy clap
ping its hands with laughter Life a
tranquil lake. Pillowed on the ripples
sleep the shadows.
Ask another man what home Is, and
he will tell v ou il is want, looking out
of cherries fire CRATE and kneading
hunger in an empty bread tray. The
damp air shivering with curses. No
Bible on the shelf Children, robbers
aud murderers in embryo. Vile songs
their lullaby. Every face a picture OF
ruin. Want in the background and
sin staring from the front. No Sab
bath wave rolling over that doorsill.
VcstiDule Of the pit. Shadow of in
fernal walls. Furnace for forging
everlasting chains. Faggots for an
unending funeral pile. Awful wordl
1t is spelled with curses, It weeps with
rum. it chokes with woe, it swcats
with the death agony of despair.
The word home" in the one case
means everything bright The word
"home" in the other case means every
thing terrific.
shall speak to you of honM as a test
of character, home as II refine, home
school and home as type of Heaven.
And IN the first place I remark that
home IS powerful test Of character.
The disposition in public may be in
gay costume, while in private 1t is in
deshabille. AS play actors may ap-
pear In one way on the stage and may
appear in another way behind the
scenes, SO private character may be
very different from pu bic character.
Private character is often public char
ucIer turned wrong side out A man
may receive you into his parlor as |
though lie were u distillation of smiles, |
and yet his heart may be q swamp of |
nettles. There are business men who |
all day long are mild and courteous |
and genial and good natured to com
mercial life, keeping back their irrita-
bility and their petulance and their
but at nightfall the dam
breaks, and scolding pours forth in
floods and freshets.
Reputation Is the only shadow of
and very small house
sometimes will cast very long shadow. |
The lips may seem To drop myrrh and |
cassia, and the disposition to be as
bri ght and warm as a sheaf of sun
beams, and yet they may only be q
show window to wretch
ed stock Of goods. There is many a
man who Is affable in public Life and
amid Commercial spheres, who. in a
cowardly way, takes his anger and
petulance home and drops them in the
d omestic circle.
The reason men do not display their
bad TENDER in public Is because they
do not want to be knocked down.
There are men who hide their petu-
lance and their irritn bility just for
the same reason that they do not let
their notes go to protest; it does not
pay. Or for the same reaAon that they
do not want man in their stock COM
pany to sell his stock at less than the
rig hit price, lest 1t depreciate the value.
As at sunset the wind rises, SO after
a sunshiny day there may be tenn
pestuous night There are people
who in public act the philanthropist,
who at home act the Nero, with re-
spect TO their slippers and their gown.
Audobor, the great ornithologist,
with gun and pencil, went through
the forests of America to bring down
nd 70 kat ,.h h. f,,l H..