Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-09-07
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE By THE NOTED
DIVINE.

Subject: The Gospels Triumph-vIctories
Of tho Christian Religion Depicted-
Transformations Wrought by Christ's
Observation-Disclosures Reclaimed.
Copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON. D. C.-The antagonists OF
the Christian religion are In this sermon of
DR.. Talmage met in a very unusual way,
and the triu mphs OF the Gospel are depict
ed. The text Is Ezekiel xxi. 81, HE made
his arrows bright, he consulted with I'M
ages, he looked In the liver"
king of Babylon proposed to find out the
will Of God. He took bundle Of arrows.
put them together, mixed them up, then
pulled forth one, and by the inscription on
It decided what city he should first as
sault. Then an animal was slain, and by
the lighter or darker color Of the liver the
brighter or darker prospect Of success was
inferred. That Is the meaning of the text.
HE made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, he looked In the liver" Stupid
delusionl And yet all the ages have been
filed with delusions. 1t seems as IL the
world loves to be hood winked, the delusion
Of the text only specimen OF vast number
OF deceits practiced upon the human race.
In the Inter Fart Of the last century Jo-
hanna Southcote came forth pretending to
have divine power, made prophecies, had
chapels built in her honor, and 100, 900 dis
ciples came forward to follow her. About
five years before the birth OF Christ Apol-
lonius was born, and he came forth, and
after five years being speechless, according
to the tradition, he healed the sick, and
raised the dead, and preached virtue, and,
according to the myth, having deceased,
was brought to resurrection.
The Delphic oracle deceived vast multi
tudes OF people; the Pythoness seated In
the temple OF Apollo uttering a crazy jar
gon from which the people guessed their
fortunes. The utterances were of such
nature that you could read them any way
you wanted to read them.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing COM
pared with the delusion now abroad In the
world-the. .delusion of the Christian relig-
ion. That delusion has to-day 400, 900 900
dupes. 1t proposes to encircle the earth
with its girdle. That which has been called
delusion has already overshadowed the
Appalachian range on this side of the sea-
and 1t has overshadowed the Balkan and
Caucasian ranges on the other side OF the
sea. 1t has conquered England and the
United States. This champion delusion,
this hoax. this swindle of the ages, as it
haE been called, has gone forth to conquer
the islands Of the Pacific, and Melanesia
and Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia
have already surrendered to the delusIon.
Yea, 1t has conquered the Indian arohi-
pelago, and Borneo and 6umntra and Gel
ebes and Java have fallen under its wiles.
In the Fiji Islands, where there are 100, 900
people, 102, 600 have already become the
dupes of this Christian religion, and II
things go on as they are now going on and
IL the influence of this great hallucinalion
Of the ages cannot be stopped it will swal-
low the globe. Supposing, then, that
Christianity Is the delusion of the CEN
turies, as some,have pronounced it, pro-
pose to show you what has been accom-
rlt hu oh falt
hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And, in the first place. remark that this
delusion of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations OF human char
acter. I will go down the aisle of any
church IN Christendom, and I will find on
either side that aisle those who were once
profligate, profane, unelean OF speech and
unclean Of action, drunken and lost. But
by the power OF this delusion Of the Chris
tain religion they have been comT letely
transformed, and now they are kind and
amiable and loving and useful. Everybody
sees the change. Under the power Of this
great hallucination they have quit their
former associates, and. whereas they once
found their chief delight among those who
gambled and swore and raced horses, now
they find their chief Joy among those who
go to prayer meetings and churches, SO
complete is the delusion. Yea, their own
families have noticed 1.-THE wife has no.
ticed it, the children have noticed It. The
money that went for rum now goes for
books and for clothes and for education.
He is q new man. All who know him say
there has been wonderful change.
What is the cause OF this changer This
great hallucination of the Christian relig.
ION. There is as much difference between
what he is now and what he once was rs
between rose and a nettle, as between II
dove and vulture. us between day and
night. Tremendous delusion!
TINT mi MT ~ ha
mired men of the American navy, early be-
came a victim of this Christian delusion,
and, seated not long before his death at
Long Branch, he was giving some friends
an account of his early life. He said:
"My father went down In behalf OF the
United States Government to put an end
to Aaron Burr's rebellion. was cabin
boy and went along with him. could
swear like an old salt. ! could gamblei in
every style OF gambling. I kney all the
wickedness there was at that time
aboard. One day my father cleared every.
body out Of the cabin except myself and
locked the door. He said: David. what
are you going to do? What are you going
to be?' Well said. father, am going
to follow the sea- Follow the sea and be
poor, miserable, drunken sailor, kicked
and cuffed about the world, and die OF n
said. Father, 1 will not be that; will
tread the quarter deck and command as
you do NO, David my father said;
mo, David, a person that has your prin-
ciples and your bad habits will never
tread the quarter deck or command My
father went out and shut the door after
him, and said then, Il will change, will
never swear again, will never drink
again, I will never gamble again. and,
gentlemen, by the help of God, I have
kept those three VOWS to this time. soon
after that became Christian, and that
decided my fate for time and for eternity
Another captive of this great Christian
delusion. There goes Saul of Tarsus on
horseback at full gallop. Where is he 60
ing? To destroy Christians. He wants no
better play spell than to stand and watch
the hats and coats of the murderers who
are massacring Gods children. There
goes the same man. This time he is afoot.
Where is he going now? Going on the road
to Ostia to die for Christ. They tried to
whip 1t out Of him, they tried to scare it
out Of bin. they thought they would give
him enough Of it by putting him on small
diet, and denying him cloak. and con-
demning him as criminal, and bowling at
him through the streets; but they could
not freeze It out OF him. and they could not