Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-06-15
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
WHICH CHURCH? THE SUBJECT
FOR LAST SUNDAY.
From Gen. 1873 as Follows: LET There
BE No Strife, L Pray Thee, Between
Ne and Thee and Between My Herds
men and Thy Uerdsmen."
Copyright 1899 by Louis Klopsch.)

Copyright 1899 by Louis Klopsch)
Uncle and nephew, Abram and Lot,
both pious, both millionaires, and with
such large flocks of bleating sheep and
lowing cattle that their herdsmen got
into a fight, perhaps about the best
pasture, or about the best water privi-
lege, or because the COW of one got
hooked by the horns of the other. Not
their poverty of opportunity, but their
versy between these two men. To
Abram, the glorious old Mesopotamian
sheik, such controversy seemed alb
surd. 1t was like two ships quarreling
for sea room in the middle of the At
lantic ocean. There was vast reach
OF country, cornfields, vineyards, har-
vests and plenty of room in illimta Bile
acreage. Now" says Abram, "let us
agree to differ. Here are the noun
tain districts, swept by the tonic sea
breeze, and with wide-reaching pros
pect, and there is the plain of the
Jordan, with tropical luxuriance You
may have either" Lot, who was not
as rich as Abram, and might have
been expected to take the second
choice, made the first selection, and
with a modesty that must have made
Abram smile, said to him:
You may have the rocks and the
fine prospect; l will take the valley of
the Jordan, with all it's luxuriance of
cornffelds, and the river to water the
focks, and the genial climate, and the
wealth unreasonable" So the contro-
versy was forever settled, and the
great-souled Abram carried out the
suggestion of the text: LET there be
no strife, pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdsmen and
thy herdsmen. Is not the whole land
before thee?"
Well, in this, the last decade of the
nineteenth century, and in this beau
tiful land, which was called America,
after Americas Vespucius. but should
have been called Columbia after its
discoverer, Columbus, we have a
wealth of religious privilege and OPP
portunity that IS positively bewilder-
Ing. Churches of all sorts Of creeds
and OF all kinds of government, and
all forms of worship, and all styles of
architecture. What opulence of eccle-
siastical opportunity! Now, while in
desolate regions there may be only one
church. in the opulent districts of this
country there is such a profusion that
there ought to be no difficulty in max
ing a selection. No fight about vest
ments, or between liturgical or nom
liturgical adherents, or as to baptismal
modes, or a handful of wato" as COM
pared with riverful. If Abram pre-
fers to dwell on the heights, where he
can only get a sprinkling from the
clouds, let him consent that Lot have
all the Jordan in which to immense
himself Let there be no strife, I
pray thee, between me and thee, and
between my herdsmen and thy herds
men. Is not the whole land before
thee?"
Especially is it unfortunate when
families allow angry discussion at the
Va VI NALAAiE vi ISCl ldDlS DIS "
which is the best church or denomi-
nation, one at one end of the table
saying he could never endure the rigid
doctrines of Presbyterianism, one at
the other end responding that she
never could stand the forms of Epis-
copacy, and one at one side of the
table saying he did not understand
how anybody could bear the noise in
the Methodist church, and another de-
claring all the Baptists bigots. There
are hundreds of families hopelessly
split on ecclesiasticism and in the
middle of every discussion on such
subjects there is kindling of indig-
nation, and it needs some old father
Abram to come and put his foot on
the loaded fuse before the explosion
takes place and say: Let there be no
strife, I pray thee. between me and
thee. and between my herdsmen and
thy herdsmen. Is not the whole land
before thee?"
l undertake a subject never under
taken by any other pulpit. for 1t is an
exceedingly delicate subject, and If not
rightly handled might give serious Of
tense; but | approach it without the
slightest trepidation. for I am sure I
have the divine direction in the mat
tiers I propose to present 1t is a ire
mendous question, asked all over
Christendom, often asked with tears
and sobs and heart-breaks, and in
volving the peace of families, the eter-
nal happiness Of many souls. In mat
tiers of church attendance should the
wife go with the husband, or the hus-
band go with the wife?
First, remember that all the evan
gelical churches have enough truth in
them to save the soul and prepare us
for happiness on earth and in heaven.
! will go with you into any we'll
selected theological library, and I will
show you sermons from ministers in
all denominations that set forth man
as a sinner and Christ as deliverer
! from sin and sorrow. That is the
whole gospel. Get that into your soul
and you are fitted for the here and
hereafter. There are differences, we
admit, and some denominations we like
better than others. But suppose three
or four of us make solemn agreement
to meet each other a week from now
in Chicago on important business and
one goes by the New York Central
railroad, another by the Erie railroad,
another by the Pennsylvania railroad,
another by the Baltimore & Ohio rail-
road. One goes this way because the