Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-05-17
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE 81 THE NOTED
DIVINE

Subject: Religious Creeds-A Plea For the
Doing Away With the Dogmatics and
For the Substituting of y Greed
rounded on Faith In Christ.
[Copyright 1901
| WASHINGTON, D. Cat time when the
| old discussion OF creeds Is being vigorously
and somewhat bitterly revived this dis
course Of DR.. Tnlmage has special in
terest. The text is John xi., A, "Loose
him and let him go''
My Bible Is, at the place of 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 our 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
Jeru salem 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 ure not mentioned. But the son
and two daughters must have inherited
| property, for 1t must have been, judging
from what saw of the foundations and
the size Of the rooms, an opulent home.
Lazarus, tho 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 everybody liked him,
and these girls were splendid gtrls-Martha
first rate housekeeper and Mary spir-
ftuelle, somewhat dreamy, but affectionate,
| and RS good a girl as could be found In oil
Palestine. But one day Lazarus got sick.
| The sisters were In CONSERVATION. Father
gone and mother gone, they feel very ner-
vous lest they lose their brother also. Dis
ease did its quick work. How the girls
hung over hts pillow! Not much sleep
| about that house-no sleep ut oil.
| From the characteristics otherwise de-
veloped judge that Martha prepared the
medicines and made tempting dishes of
! food for the poor appetite OF the sufferer,
but Mary prayed and sobbed. Worse and
| worse gets Lazarus until the doctor an
nounces that he can do no more. The
shriek that went up from that household
when the last breath had been drawn and
| the two sisters were being led by sym
pathizers into the 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 been? Far away
in the country districts, preaching. healing
other sick, how unfortunate that this omni-
potent doctor had not been ut thut do
mestic crisis in Bethany. When at last
Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had
been buried four days, and dissolution had
taken place. In that climate the breath
less body disintegrates 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 q
comatose state or In n sort Of trance and
by some vigorous manipulation or power
full stimulant vitality had been renewed.
No! Four days dead.
At the door of the sepulcher is crowd
OF people, but the three most memorable
are Jesus, vino was the family friend, and
the two bereft sisters. We went into the
traditional tomb one December day, and
it is deep down and dark, and with torches
trnn al ra1 N ,tnkt tI~oS
afternoon of our VISIT but the day spoken
of in the Bible there was present I'm ex-
cited multitude. / 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 the shadows and deeper! The hot
tears of Jesus roll over His cheeks and
plash upon the backs Ct His hands. Were
ever so many sorrows compressed into so
small space ms In that group pressing on
down after Christ, oil the time benz oaning
that He had not come before?
Now all the whispering and all the cry
ing and all the sounds of shufiling feet are
stopped. 1t 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 fa-
miliar hume which Christ had often had
upon His lips in the hospitalities Of the viii
with pathos and an almightiness of which
the resurrection Of the last day shall only
be an echo He cries, Lazarus come forth!'
The eyes Of the slumberer open, and he
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
fast, and the inpediments to all his move
ments are so great that Jesus commands:
Take Off these cerements! Remove these
hindrances! Unfosten these graveclothes!
Loose him and let him go!'
Oh, l am so glad that after the Lord
raised Lazarus He went on and commanded
:he 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 off OF
the bandage from around his jaws, so that
he could speak. What would resurrected
been freed from all those cripplemerts of
his body? l am glad that Christ COM
manded his complete emancipation, say
ing, "Loose him and let him go.'
The unfortunate thing now Is that so
many Christians IRE only half liberated.
They have been raised from the death and
burial of sin into spiritual life, but they
yet have the graveciothes on them. They
are like Lazarus, hobbling up tho stairs OF
the tomb bound hand and foot, and the
object OF this sermon Is to help free their
body and free their soul, and shall try to
obey the Masters command that comes TO
me and comes to every minister of re-
ligion, "Loose him and let him go.''
Many are bound hand and foot by re-
ligious creeds. Let no man misinterpret
me as antagonizng creeds. I have eight
or ten OF them-a creed about religion,
creed about art, creed about social life,
l creed about government, and so on.
creed is something that man believes,
whether it be written or unwritten. The
Presbyterian Church is now agitated
about its creed. Some good men In it are
for keeping 1t because 1t was framed from
the belief OF John Calvin. Other good men
in it want revision. / am with neither
party. Instead OF revision want substi-
tuition. Twas sorry to have the question
disturbed at all. The creed did not hinder
us from offering the pardon and the CON-
fort of the Gospel TO alt men, and the West
minister Confession has not interfered with
me one minute. bur now that the electric
lights have been turned on the Imperfect
tions of that creed-and everything that
man fashions is imperfect-et us put the
Did creed res pectfully aside and get a braid
aew one.