The Penn's Grove record., 1900-04-27
DR.. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE or THE NOTED
DIVINE


DIVINE
Subject: Religious Creeds-A Plea For the
Doing Away With the DoYrnatics and
For the Substitutine of . Creed
Founded on Faith In Christ.
lcopyright 1901
WASHINGTON, D. C.-At a time when the
OLD discussion OF creeds is being vigorously
and somewhat bitterly revived this dis
course Of Dr.. Talmage has a special in
terest. The text is John xi., "A, .Loose
him and let him CO."
My Bible Is, at the place oil this text,
written all over with lead pencil marks
made at Bethany on the ruins Of the house
OF Mary and Martha and Lazarus. We dis
mounted from u horses on the way up
from Jordan to The Dead Sea. Bethany
was the summer evening retreat Of Jesus.
After spending the day In the hot city OF
Jerusalem He would come out there almost
every evening to the house OF His three
friends. I think the occupants OF that
house were orphans, for the father and
mother are not mentioned. But the son
M " daughters must have inherited
property, for 1t must have been, judging
from what l saw Of the foundations and
tue size OF the rooms, IN Opulent home.
Lazarus, the brother. was now at the head
OF the household, and his sisters depended
on him and were proud OF him for he was
very popular, and everybod9 liked him,
and these girls were splendidsgirls-Martha
q hrst rate housekeeper and Mary a spir-
ituelle, somewhat dreamy, but affectionate,
and as good a girl as could be found in all
Palestine. But one day Lazarus got sick.
The sisters we're In con~sternatinn. Father
gone and mother gone, they feel very ner-
vous lest they lose their brother also. Dis
case did its quick work. How the girls
hung over his pillowl Mott much sleep
about thai house-no sleep at all.
From the characteristics otherwise de-
veloped I judge that Martha prepared the
medicines and made tempting dishes Of
but Mary prayed and sobbed. Worse and
worse gets Lazarus until the doctor an
nounces that he can do no more. The
shrek that went up from that household
when the last breath had been drawn and
the two sisters were being led by sym
pathizers into tho adjoining room all those
OF us can imagine who have had our own
hearts broken. But why was not Jesus
there, as He so often had been2 Far away
In the country districts. preaching. healing
other sick, how unfortunatefhaf this onni.
potent doctor had not BEE that do
mestic crisis in Bethany. {Nhen at last
Jesus arrived In Bethanyl Lazarus had
been buried four days, and dissolution had
taken place. In that climate the breath
less body d~isintegrates more rapidly than
In ours. II Immediately after decease the
body had been awakened into life. unbe-
levers might have said he was only In a
by some vigorous manipulation or power
ful stimulant vitality Ind been renewed.
MOI Four days dead.
At the door OF the sepulcher Is a crowd
OF people, but the three most memorable
are Jesus, vino was the family friend, and
the two bereft sisters. We zen into the
traditional tomb one December day, and
1t is deep down and dark, and with torches
We explored It. re found ii all quiet that
afternoon of our Visit. but the day spoken
OF In the Bible there was present an ex-
cited multitude. I wonder what Jesus will
do? He orders the door Of the grave re-
moved, and then He begins to descend the
steps, Mary and Martha close after Him
and the crowd after them. Deeper down
into b shadows and deeperi The hot
tears OF Jesus RON over His cheeks and
plash upon the backs Ct His hands. We're
ever SO many SORROWS compresseds hto so
down after Christ, all the Tint ~benfVaning
that He had not come befaE~
Now all the whispering and all the cry
ing n all the sounds of stunning feet are
stopped. It is the silence of expectancy.
Death has conquered, but now the van
Quisher of death confronted the scene.
Amid the awful hush OF the tomb the IA
miliar name which Christ had often had
upon His lips In the Inequalities of the vii
lage home came back to His tongue, and
with a pathos and an almightiness of which
the resurrection of the last day shall only
be an echo He cries, Lazarus come forthi'
The eyes Of the slumberer open, and be
rises and comes to the foot OF the steps and
with great difficulty begins to ascend, for
the cerements Of the tomb are yet on him
and his feet are fast, and his hands are
ments are so great that Jesus commands:
"Take off these cerementsl Remove these
hindrancesl Unf8sten these graveclothes!
Loose him and let him gol'
Oh, I am SO glad that after the Lord
raised Lazarus He went on and commanded
the ~loosening OF the cords that bound his
feet, SO that he could walk, and the break
ing of of the cerement that bound his
hands, so that he could stretch out his
arms in salutation, and the tearing of oil
the bandage from around his jaws, 80 tina
life have been to Lazarus II he had~not
been freed from all those c~ripplements OIL
his body? I am GLAD that Christ com
manded his complete emancipation, say
ing, "Loose him and let him 60"
Tit unfortunate thing now Is that sc
many Christians are only half liberated
They nave been raised from the death and
burial of sin into spiritual life, but they
yet have the graveclotheS on them. They
are like Lazarus, hobbling up the stairs Of
the tomb bound hand and foot. and the
object of this sermon is to help free theil
body and free their soul, and I shall try tC
obey the Masters command that comes tc
me and comes to every minister of re.
ligion, Loose him and let him CO."
Many are bound hand and foot by re.
ligious creeds. Let no man misinterprei
me as a~ntagonizing creeds. have eigb,
or ten of them-a creed about religion, q
creed about art, a creed about social lie
q creed about government. and so on. A
creed Is something that a man believes
whether 1t be written or unwritten. The
Presbyterian Church Is now agltated
about its creed. Some good men In 1t are
for keeping It because It was framed from
the belief OF John Calvin. Other good meI
in It want revision. / am with neither
party. Instead OF revision I want substi.
tuition. was sorry to have the question
disturbed at all. The creed did not hinder
us from Offering the pardon and the com.
fort OF the Gospel to all men, and the West.
minister Confession has not interfered witt
me one minute. But now that the electric
lights have been turned on the 1mporlec.
lions OF that creed-and everything thai
man fashions Is fmperlect-let us put thu
old creed respectfully aside and get q brand
new one.
It Is impossible that people who lived
hundreds OF years e should fashion al
appropriate creed for our times. Johu
Calvin was a great and good man, but III
died 1856 years ago. / could call the names
OF twenty living Presbyterian ministers o
religion who could make o better Greco
than John Calvin. The nineteenth century
ought not to be called to sit at the feet o
the sixteenth.
But you say, sit Is the same old Bible
and John Calvin had that MS we'll as th,
present student of the Scriptures" Yes
SO it is the same old sun In the heavens
but in our time It has gone to making
daguerreotypes and photographs. It !
the same old water, but In our century /
has gone to running steam engines. 1t /
the same old electricity, but In our time /
has become a lightning footed errand boy
So 1t is the old Bible, but new applications
new uses, new Interpretations. You mus
remember that during the last 300 year
words have changed their meaning, an
some OF them now mean more and som
less.
/ do not think that John Calvin believed
as some say he did, In the damnation OF In
L --&& 1k l-A n 4