The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-04-13
ACTS OF SUBSTITUTION.
Men and Women Are Performing
Them Daily.
Dominated Mankind-Many Remark
able Instances NOted-Christ, the
Celestial Hero, the One
Great Substitute.

Rev. DR.. Talmage, in the following
sermon, calls attention to many re-
markable instances of substitution re-
corded in the Bible and compares
them with the great sacrifice of Christ
for the world. His text is Hebrews
0: %: Without shedding of blood is
no remission" i
John G. Whittier, the last of the
great school of American poets that
made the last quarter of this century
brilliant, asked me in the White noun
tains one morning after prayers, in
which l had given out Cowper's IA
nous hymn about "The fountain filled
with blood" 'Do you really believe
there is a literal application of the
blood of Christ to the soul?" Ny neg
ative reply then is my negative reply
now. The Bible statement agrees
with all physicians, and all physiolo-
gists, and all scientists, in saying that
the blood is the life, and in the Christ
ian religion it means simply that
Christ's life was given for our life.
Hence all this talk of men who say
the Dible story of blood is disgusting,
and that they don't want what they
call a "slaughterhouse religion" only
shows their incapacity or unwilling
ness to look through the figure of
speech toward the thing signified.
The blood that, on the darkest Fri
day the world ever saw, oozed, or
poured from the brow, and the side, and
the hands, and the feet of the illus
trious sufferer, back of Jerusalem, in
few hours coagulated and dried up,
and forever disappeared; and if man
had depended on the application of
the literal blood of Christ, there
would not have been soul saved for
the last Is centuries.
In order to understand this red
word of my text, we only have to eX-
exercise as much common sense in re-
ligion as we do in everything else.
: Pang for pang, hunger for hunger,
fatigue for fatigue, tear for tear,
blood for blood, life for life, we see
everyday illustrated. The act of sub
stitution is no novelty, although the
idea of Christ's suffering substituted
for our suffering were something alb
normal, something destressingly odd,
something wildly eccentric, a solitary
episode in the worlds history; when
/ could take you out into this city
and before sundown point you to 500
cases of substitution and voluntary
suffering Of one in behalf of another.
At 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon
go among the places of business or
toll. 1t will be no difficult thing for
you to find men, by their looks, show
you that they are overworked. They
are prematurely old. They are has
tening toward their decease. They
have gone through crises in business
that shattered their nervous system
and pulled on the brain. They have
a shortness of breath, and a pain in
the back of the head, and at night an
insomnia that alarms them. Why
are they drudging at business early
and late? For fun? No; it would
be difficult to extract any amusement
out of that exhaustion. Because they
are avaricious? In many cases no
Because their own personal expenses
are lavish? No; few hundred dol
lars would meet all their wants. The
simple fact is, the man is enduring
all that fatigue and evaporation, anC
wear and tear, to keep his home pros
porous. There is an invisible lin,
reaching from that store, from tina
bank, from that shop, from that scaf
folding, to quiet scene few blocks
few miles away, and there is the Sc
cret of that business endurance. II,
is simply the champion of a home
stead, for which he wins bread, ant
wardrobe, and education, and prosper
ity, and in such battle 10000 mel
fall. Of 10 business men whom
bury, nine die of overwork for Others
Some sudden disease finds them witt
no power of resistance, and they ar
gone. Life for life. Blood for blood
Substitution!
At / o'clock tomorrow morning
the hour when slumber is most un
interrupted and profound, walk ami
the dwelling houses of the city. Her
and there you will find dim light
because it is the household custom
to keep subdued light burning; bu
most of the houses from base to TO
are as dark as though uninhabited.
merciful God has sent forth the arch
angel of sleep, and he puts his wing
over the city. But yonder is a clea
light burning, and outside on wiz
dow easement glass or pitcher cor
tanning food for sick child; the foo
is set in the fresh air This is tn
sixth night that mother has sat u
with that sufferer. She has to tn
last point obeyed the physicians pre-
scription, not giving a drop too muc
or too little, or moment too 500
or too late. She is very anxious, fo
she has buried three children with tn
same disease and she prays and weep
each prayer and sob ending with
kiss of the pale cheek. By dint {
kindness she gets the little on
Through the ordeal. After it is a
over the mother is taken down. Brai
or nervous fever sets in, and one da
she leaves the convalescent chill
with mothers blessing, and goes u
to Join the three departed ones j
the kingdom of Heaven. Life for lif
Substitution! The fact is that thel
are an uncounted number of mother
who, after they have navigated
large family of children through a
the diseases of infancy, and got the
fairly started up the Towering sloI
of boyhood and girlhood, have onl
strength enough left to die.
They fade away. Some call it col
sumption; some call it nervous pro
tration; some call it intermittent {
malarial indisposition; but l call
martyrdom of the domestic circle. Ii
for life. Blood for blood. Substit
tionl
Or perhaps mother fingers loI
enough to see son get on the wroI
road, and his former kindness b
comes rough reply when she e