Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-07-13
GODS SAVING GRACE.
LIKE SALT IN ITS PRESsRvATNE
QUALITY.


Its influence.
WASHINGTON. July S.-Dr. Talmage
is now travelling i'm Norway, where he
has been deeply interested in the nat
ural phenomena and the quaint social
life OF that wonderful land. In his dis
course this week he argues. contrary
TO the opinion of many. that religion is
an active principle which works con
stantly for the welfare OF body and
mind and soul His text is Luke xiv,
"a. ''Salt is good"
The Bible is dictionary OF the fin
est SMILES 1t employs. among liv-
ing creatures. storks and eagles and
doves and uniforms and sheep and cat
tie; among trees, sycam0res and tere-
binths and pomegranateS and almonds
and apples; among jewels. pearls and
amethysts and jacinths and chryso-
prases. Christ uses no stale illuSra-
tons. The lilies that lie plucks in his
discourse are dewy fresh; the ravens in
his 6iscourSeS are not stuffed speci-
mems OF birds. but warm with life
from wing tip to wing tip; the fish he
points to are not duh about the gills, as
though long captured. but a-squirm i'm
the wet net just brought UP on the
beach Of Liberals. In my text which
is the peroration Of one of his sermons,
he picks up n crystal and holds it be-
fore his congregation as an illustration
OF divine grace in the heart when he
says what we all know by experiment,
Salt is good
Beauties of Salt.
/ shall try to carry out the Saviour's
idea In this text and i'm the first place
say to you that grace is like salt in it's
beauty. In Galicia there are mines of
salt with excavations and underground
passages reaching. am told. $50 miles.
Far underground there are chapels and
halls Of reception, the columns. the al
tars and the pulpits of salt. When the
king and the princes come to visit
these mines, the whole place is illumi-
mated, and the glory of crystal walls
and crystal ceilings and crystal floors
and crystal columns. under the glare
of the torches and the lamps. needs
words OF crystal to describe It. But
you need not go so far as that to find
the beauty Of salt. You live in land
which produces millions of bushels Of
morning rail train and in a few hours
get to the salt mines and salt springs,
and you have this article morning.
noon and night on your table. Salt
has all the beauty of the snowflake
and water foam. with durability added.
1t Is beautiful TO the naked eye, but
under the glass you see the stars, and
the diamonds. and the white tree
branches. and the splinters. and the
bridges of fire rs the sun glnts them.
There Is more architectural skill in one
OF these crystals of salt than human
ingenuity has ever demonstrated in an
Alhambra or St Peters
1t would take all time. with an in
fringement upon eternity. for an angel
or God to tell one-half the glories i'm n
salt crystal. So with the grace Of God:
1t is perfectly beautiful. have seen
Ii smooth out wrinkles Of care from the
brow; 1 have seen It make an aged
man feel almost young again: have
seen IL lift the STOPPING shoulders and
put sparkle into the dull eye. Solomon
discovered its therapeutic qualities
when he said, 1T is marrow to the
bones" 1t helps TO digest the food and
TO purify the blood and to calm the
pulses and quiet the spleen, and in
stead OF Tyndalrs prayer test OF 20
years ago, putting man in n philo-
sophical hospital TO be experimental
upon by prayer, IL keeps him so well
that be docs not need TO be prayed for
as an Invalid. am speaking now OF n
healthy religton-not OF that morbid
religion that sits for three hours on a
gravestone reading Hervcy's "Medta-
lions Among the Tombs"-a religion |
that prospers best I'm bad state OF the |
liver! speak OF the religion that |
Christ preached. suppose. when that |
religion has conquered the world, that |
disease will be baniShed and that a |
man 100 years OF age will come I'm |
from business and say, Il am tired: | |
think 1t must be time for me TO 60" |
and without one physical pang heaven |
will have him.
But the chief beauty OF grace Is in |
the soul. 1t takes that which was hard !
and cold and repulslve and makes IL |
al over again. Ii pourS upon ones ma |
ture what David calls 1.-THE beauty OF |
holiness" Ii extirpates everything
that Is hateful and unclcan. II teal-
ousy and pride and lust and worldli- |
ness Turk about. they are chained and |
nave very small sweep. Jesus throws |
upon the soul the fragrance or sum-
ner garden as he comes in. saying. II |
am the Rose OF Sharon" and he sub
merges 1t with the glory OF spring
morning as he says, II am the light"
Oh. how much that grace did for the |
IL
the foul mouthed. and made him John
bunyan, the immortal dreamer: it took |
John Newton. the intidel sailor. and In
the midst OF the hurricane made him
cry out. MY mothers God. have mer-
cy upon mc!'. II took John Summer.
held from life OF sin and by the hand
or a Christian maker or edge tools led
him into the pulpit that burns stiu
with the light Of that Christian elo-
quence which charmed thousands TO
the Jesus whom lie once despised. All.
you may search all the earth over for
anything SO beautiful or beautifying
ms the grace or Godi Go all through
the deep mine passages of Wieliczka
and anil the underground Kingdoms
OF salt in Iai,stadt and show me any
thing - exquisite. so transcendently
Beautiful as this grace OF God fash.
1oned ard hung In eternal crystals.
Power OF Grace.
Again. grace is like salt in the fact
that II Is necessity of life Man and
beast perish without salt. What are
those paths across the western praj
ries! Why, they were made there by
deer md huffoIo ooin,, e. -,
away from the salt ticks" Chemists
ana physicians all the world over tell
us that salt Is necessity of life. And
so with the grace of God; you must
nave II or die. l know a great many
speak OF 1t as mere adornment. q sort
or shoulder strap adjoining Il soldier. or