The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-11-22
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject Tho Persuasive Word 1T Calls
All People 70 Giadness - what We
Most Need-The Star ~ Faith-Thero
is Pardon For All


All People 70 Gladness what Vo
Most Need-The Star ~ Faith-Thoro
r. Pardon For All.
Copyright, ian.i
WASHINGTON. ID. C.-In this discourse
DIR. Talmage calls all people to gladness
and opens MI the doors Of expectancy;
texts, Genesis VI, IS, Come" Revelation
xxi, II, Come"
Imperial. tender and all persuasive is
the word come" Six hundred and sew
enty-eight times is it found in the Scrip
lures. II stands al the front gate of the
Bible as in my first text inviting ante
diluvians into Noah's ark. and IL stands
at the other gate Of the Bible. as i'm my
second text, inviting the postdiluvians Of
all later ages into the ark of a Saviour's
mercy. Come" is only a word Of four
letters, but it is the queen Of words, and
nearly the entire nation Of English vo-
cabulary bows to its sceptre. 1t is an
ocean into which emDties ten thousand
rivers of meaning. Other words drive
but this beckons. All moods Of feeling
hath that word Come" Sometimes It
weeps and sometimes it laughs Some
times it prays, sometimes it tennis and
sometimes it destroys It sounds from
the door of the church and from the Sc
raglios Of sin, from the gates of heaven
and the gates OF hell It is continent
and accrescent Of all power. IL is the
heiress of most of the future. "Come!"
You may pronounce it so that all the
heavens will be heard in its cadences or
pronounce it so chat all the woes of time
and eternity shall reverberate in its one
syllable. 1t is on the lip of saint and
prohigate. 1t is the mightiest Of all So
licitapts either for good or bad.
To-day / weigh anchor and haul in the
planks and set sail on that great word,
although l am sure I will not be able to
reach the farther shore I will let down
the fathoming line into this sea and try
to measure its depths, and, though | tie
together all the cables and cordage I have
on board | will not be able to touch bot
tom. All the power of the Christian reli-
gion is in that word Come" The dicta-
torial and commendatory in religion are
of no avail. The imperative mood is not
| the appropriate mood when we would
have people savingly impressed. They
! may be coaxed, but they cannot be driv-
en-. Our hearts are like our homes-at a
| friendly knock the door will be opened,
but an attempt to force open our door
would land the assailant in prison. Our
| theological seminaries. which keep young
men three years in their curriculum be-
! fore launching them into the ministry,
will do well If in so short a time they can
teach the candidates for the holy office
how to say with great emphasis and into
nation and power that one word come"
! That man who has such efficiency in
| Christian work, and that woman who has
such power to persuade people to quit
| the wrong and begin the right went
| through a series of losses, bereavements,
| prosecutions and the trials of twenty or
/ thirty years before they could make it
! triumph of grace every time they uttered
| the word "come."
You must remember that in many cases
| our come has a mightier come" to
conquer before it has any effect at all.
! just give me the accurate census, the sta
tistics of how many are down in fraud, in
drunkenness, in gambling, in impurity or
IN vice of any sort, and | will give you
the accurate census or statistics of how
many have been slain by the word
come" Come and click wine glasses
with me at this ivory bar" Come and
see what we can win at this gaming ia
! BILE" Come, enter with me this doubt
! full speculation" Come with me and
read those infdel tracts on Christianity"
Come with me to place of bad amuse-
ment." Come with me in a gay bout
! through the underground life of the
are down in moral character, then 10000
fell under the power of the word "come"
/ was reading of a wife whose husband
had been overthrow by strong drink,
and she went to the saloon where he was
ruined, and she said, GIVE me back my
husband" And the bartender, pointing
to a maudlin and battered man browsing
in the corner of the barroom, said:
''There he is. jim, wake up. Here's
your wife come for YOU" And the wom-
l an said: do you call that my husband?
| What have you been doing with him? Is
that the manly brow, is that the clear
eye, is that the noble heart that I mar
ried? What vile drug have you given
him that has turned him into a fend?
Take your tiger claws off of him. Unco,l
those serpent folds of evil habit that are
crushing him. Give me hack my hus-
band, the one with whom / stood at the
| me-" Victim was he, as millions of 9th
ers have been, of the word come"
Now, we want all the world over to
harness this word for good as others
have harnessed it for evil, and it vii
draw the FIVE continents and the seas be-
tween them-yes, it will draw the whole
earth back to the God from whom it has
wandered. 1t is that wooing and persua-
sive word that will lead men to give no
their sins. Was skepticism ever brought
into love of the truth by an ebullition of
hot words against infdelity? Was ever
the blasphemer stopped in his oaths by
denunciation of blasphemy? Was ever a
drunkard weaned from his cups by the
temperance lecturers mimicry of stag
gering step and hiccough? No. 1t was,
Come with me to church to-day and
hear our singing" Come and let me in.
troduce you to a Christian man whom
you will be sure to adrlire;" Come with
me into associations that are cheerful and
good and inspiring;" Come with me into
Joy such as you never before expe'
rienced"
With that word which has done SC
much for others I approach you to-day
Are you all right with God? NO" you
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