The Penn's Grove record., 1900-10-12
DR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: Thickening Gloom Growing
Old without Religion a Dismal Pros
pect-Consoling Suggestions TO Those
Who Have Passed Life's Meridian.
lcopyright 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 Luke
xiv, %. abide with us, for it is toward
evening"
Two villagers, having concluded their
errand in Jerusalem, have started out at
the city gate and are on their way to
Emmaus, the place of their residence.
They go with a sad heart. Jesus, who
had been their admiration and their JOY,
had been basely mastered and entombed.
As, with sad face and broken heart, they
pass on their wav a stranger accosts
them. Thew tell Him their anxieties and
bitterness of soul. He in turn talks to
them, nightly ~expounding the Scriptures.
He throws over them the fascination of
intelligent conversation. They forget the
time and notice not the objects they pass
and before they 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 a providing
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 hv 4ha orr, cd Ill., 5000 - H.
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-
loice in the presence of this stranger guest.
He asks a blessing Upon the bread they eat,
and He hands a 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 resnr-
rected body of Jesus, He vanished. The
interview ended. He was gone.
With many of us it is a bright sunshiny
day of prosperity. There is not a cloud
in the sky. not a leaf r~ustling 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
joy. The sun will after awhile near the
horizon: the shadows will lengthen.
While l speak many 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 commu-
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,
"sWhy, / 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 wear: they saw that it
only seams but a little while ago that they
Were boys; they are going a 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
venating influence of religion. When we
stop on the down grade of life and see
l lat it dps to the verge of the cold river,
we want to behold some one near who
will help lis across it. When the sight
loses its power to glance and gather up,
we need the faith that can illumine. 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
When the shadows begin to fall and we
feel that the day is far spent, we need
most of all to supplicate 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 p~leases, or to be
humble when there is nothing to puff us
or %forgiving when we have not been
a,ssalled, or honest when we have no in
ducement to fraud. But you have felt the
grapple Of some temptation. Your nature
at some time cuaked and groaned under
the internal power. You feel that the devil |
was after You; you saw your Christian
graces retreating; you fea ed that you
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
in all the surging ND of t%umultuous
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 |
the monster that would devour you;
you can unliorse the sin that would ride
you down; You can sharpen the battleay
with which you split the head of helmeted |
abomination. Who helped Paul shake the
brazen gated heart of Felix? Who acted
ike a good sailor when all the crew howled
m the Mediterranean shipwreck? Who
helped the martyrs to be firm when one
word OF recantation would have unfastened
The withcs of the stake and put out the
fire? I
When the night of the soul came on
all the denizens of darkness came rid
ing upon the winds of perdition, who
gave strength to the soul? Who gave
to the heart? Who broke the
spell OF internal enohantment? He who
heard the request of the villagers, Abide |
us, for it is toward evening" One
the forts of France was attacked. and
tie outworks were taken before night.
pesieSHlg 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 che besieging army sprang upon
The battlements, but found that their prey
was gon . So when we are assaulted by
temptation there is always some secret
stair by which we might get off. God
will not allow lis to be tempted above
what we are able, but with every tempta-
ton will bring a way Of escape that we
may be able to ,ear it.
The prayer Of the text is appropriate
Tor all who are anticipating sorrow. The
folly that ever grew on This
planet is the tendency to borrow trouble. |
but there are times when approaching
sorrow is SO evident that we need to be
making especial preparations for its COM
ing. One OF your children has lately be-
a ~favorite. The cry of that child
strikes deeper into the heart than the cry
all the others. You think more about
It; you 81 G it more attention, not because |
it is any more of a treasure than the 9th
,rs, but because it is becoming frail. There
is something in the cheek, in the eve and
the walk that makes you quite sure
the leaves of the flower are going to
be scattered. The utmost nursing and
attendance are Intellectual. The
pulse becomes feeble. the complexion iioht- |