Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-10-12
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE EMINENT DIyINE's scNDA
DISCOURSE.
Subject: Thickening Gloom - Growing
Old without Religion Dismal Pros
pect--Consoling Suggestions to THOSE
Who Have Passed Lies Meridian
copyright 1901

pect--Consoling Suggestions to Those
Who Have Passed Life's Meridian
copyright 1901
WASHINGTON, D. c. In this sermon
DR.. Talmage discourses upon the INVITA-
ton given to Christ to stay overnight IN
the Oriental village, and makes some con-
solatory suggestions. The text is Luxe
xiv, %, abide with us, for it IS toward
evening" -.
Two villagers, having concluded their
errand in Jerusalem, have started OUT AZ
the city gate and are on their way to
Emma,is. the place of their residence.
They 90 with a sad heart. Jesus, who
had been their admiration and their Joy,
had been basely massacred and entombed
As. with sad face and broken heart, they
pass on their way a stranger accosts
them. They tell Him their anxieties and
bitterness of soul He in turn talks to
them. nightly expounding the Scriptures:
He throws over them the fascination or
intelligent conversation. They forget the
time and notice not the objects they pass
and before thew are aware have come IN
front of their house. They pause before
the entrance and attempt to persuade the
stranger to tarry with them. They press
upon Him their Inequalities. Night is
coming on, and He may meet proving
wild beast. or be obliged to be unsheltered
from the dew. He cannot go much farther
now. Why not stop there and continue
their pleasant conversation? They take
Him by the arm, and they insist upon His
coming in, addressing Him in the words;
"Abide with us. for it is toward evening"
The lamps are lighted, the table is spread,
pleasant socialties are enkindled They re-
ioice in the presence of this stranger guest.
He asks a blessing upon the bread they eat,
and He hands piece of it to each. Sud
denly and with overwhelming power the
thought flashes upon the astounded .peo-
ple-it is the Lord And as they sit in
breathless wonder, looking upon the resur-
rected body of Jesus, He vanished The
interview ended. He was gone.
With many of us it is bright sunshiny
day of prosperity. There is not cloud
in the sky, not leaf rustlng in the forest,
no chill in the air. But we cannot expect
all this to last. He is not an intelligent
man who expects perpetual daylight OF
10y. The sun will after awhile near the
horizon; the shadows will lengthen.
While / speak manv of us stand in the
very hour described in the text, For it Is
toward evening" The request of the text
is appropriate for some in every commit
nifty, for with them it is toward the even
ing of old age. They have passed the me-
ridian of life. They are sometimes star
tied to tank how old they are. They do
not, however, like others to remark upon
it. If others suggest their approximation
toward venerable appearance, they say,
"Why, am not so old, after all" They
do. indeed, notice that they cannot Lift
quite as much as once; they cannot walk
quite so fast; they cannot read quite so
well without spectacles; they cannot SO
easily recover from a cough or any occa-
sional ailment; they have lost their taste
for merriment; they are surprised at the
quick passage of the year; they say that 1t
only seems but little while ago that they
were boys; they are going little down
hill; there is something in their health,
something in their vision, something in
their walk, something in their changing
associations, something above, something
beneath, something within to remind them
that it is toward evening.
The great want of all such is to. have
Jesus abide with them. 1t is a dismal
thing to be getting old without the reju-
venating influence of religion. When we
stop on the down grade of life and see
at it dips to the verge of the cold river,
we want to behold some one near who
will help us across it. When the sight
loses its power to glance and gather up,
we need the faith that can illunine. When
we feel the failure Of the ear, we need the
clear tones of that voice which in .olden
times broke up the silence of the deaf
with cadences of mercy. When the ak
men of death hew down whole forests of
strength and beauty around us and we
are left in solitude, we need the dove OF
divine mercy to sing in our branches.
When the shadows begin to fall and we
feel that the day is far spent, we need
most of all to supplcate the benefcent
Jesus in the prayer of the villagers;
"Abide with us. for it is toward evening"
The request of the text is an appropriate
exclamation for all those who are ap-
preaching the gloomy hour of temptation:
There is nothing easier than to be good
natured when everything pleases, or to be
humble when there is nothing to puff us
up, or forgiving when we have not been
assailed or honest when we have no in
ducement to fraud. But you have felt the
grapple of some temptation. Your nature
at some time quaked, and groaned under
the internal power. You feel that the devil
was after you; you saw your Christian
graces retreating; you fea ed that yeu
would fail in the awful wrestle with sin
and be thrown into the dust. The gloom
thickened. The first indications of the
night were seen. In all the trembling OF
your soul, in all the internal suggestions OF
Satan, in all the surgng up of tumultuous
passions and excitements, you felt with
awful emphasis that it was toward even
ing. In the tempted hour you need to ask
Jesus to abide with you. You can beat
back the monster that would devour you;
YOU can unhorse the sin that would ride
you down; you can sharpen the battleax
with which you split the head of helmeted
abomination. Who helped Paul shake the
brazen gated heart of Felix! Who acted
like good sailor when all the crew howled
in the Mediterranean shipwreck? Who
helped the martyrs to be firm when one
word of recantation would have unfastened
the withes of the stake and put out the
kindling fire?
When the night of the soul came on
and all the denizens Of darkness came rid
ing upon the winds of perdition, who
calmness to the heart? Who broke the
spell of internal enchantment? He who
heard the request of the villagers, abide
with us, for it is toward evening" One
of the forts of France was attacked, and
the outworks were taken before night.
The besieging army lay down, thinking
that there was but little to do in the
morning, and that the soldiery in the fort
could be easily made to surrender. But
during the night, through a back stairs,
they escaped into the country. In the
morning the besieging army sprang upon
the battements, but found that their prey
was gone. So when we are assaulted by
temptation there is always some secret
stair by which we might get off. God
will not allow us to be tempted above
what we are able, but with every tempta-
ton will bring way of escape that we
may be able to bear it,
The prayer of the text is appropriate
for all who are anticipating sorrow. The