The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-04-20
JOY OF RELIGION
ra,mage Urges All to Try Its
Uplifting Power.
,rscterixes Religion ms Gods
,.uabter Sermon from the
u.xt. "Her Ways Are Ways
of PIeasantness."
,oo.rrleht. 1901. by Louis Klopsch, N. VI
Nv" Washington. :

w" Washington,
y. This discourse DR.. Talmage sets
forth religion as an exhllaratlon and
'"res all people to try it's uplifting
srer. text, Proverbs 3, II: Her
r,rs are Ways of pleasantness."
Won have all heard of Gods only
..rotten Son. Have you heard of
Cnd's daughter? She was born in
uo,yen? She came down over the
,nis Of our world. She had queenly
stem. On her brow was celestial
ALLIANCE. Her voice was music. Her
rame is Religion. My text intro
duces her. Her ways are ways of
nloosantness, and all her paths are
reace." But what is religion? The
foct is that theological study has had
different effect upon me from the
eject sometimes produced. Every
rear 7 tear out another leaf from
NV theology, until 1 have only three
ar four leaves left-in other words,
a very brief and plain statement of
Christian belief.
An aged Christian minister said:
aWhen l was a young l knew
everything. When l got to be IS
Years of age, in my creed had only a
hundred doctrines of religion. When
7 rot to be 60 years of age, l had
only 80 doctrines of religion. When
I cot to be 60 years of age l had
only ten doctrines of religion, and
now | am dying at rs years of age,
and there is only one thing L know,
and that is that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners" And
so Ihave noticed in the study of Gods
word and in my contemplation of the
character of God and of the eternal
world that it is necessary for me to
drop this part of my belief and that
part of my belief as being nonessen-
tial. while 1 cling to the n great doc
trine that man is a sinner and Christ
Is his Almighty and Divine Saviour.
Now I take these three or four
leaves of my theology. and find that
in the first place and dominant above
all others is the sunshine of religion,
When | go into a room, l have a pas
sion for throwing open all the shut
tiers. That is what l want to do this
morning. We are apt to throw sc
much of the sepulchral into our re
ligion and to close the shutters and
to pull down the blinds hat it is only
through here and there a ~crevice thai
the light streams. The religion Of
the Lord Jesus Christ is q religion OF
joy indescribable and unutterable
Wherever | can find a bell | mean tc
ring it.
If there are any in this house thi'
morning who are disposed to hold OF
to their melancholy and gloom, lie
them depart this service before tn,
fairest and the brightest and the mos
radiant being of all the universe come.
in. Gods Son has left our world, bu'
Gods daughter is here. Give her room
Hail, princess of Heaven! Hail, daugh
ter of the Lord Almighty! Come il
and make this house thy t~hroneroom
In setting forth this idea the domi
nan theory of religion is one of sun
shine. | hardly know where to begin
for there are so many thoughts tina
rush upon my soul. A mother saw he
little child seated on the floor in tn,
sunshine and with a spoon in her hand
She said: "My darling, what are yo'
doing there?" "Oh," replied the child
Il am getting a spoonful of this sun
shine" Would God hat to-day
might present you with a gleamin
chalice of this glorious, ~everlastin
Gospel sunshine!
First of all, I find a great deal c
sunshine in Christian society. | d
not know of anything more dolefl
than the companionship of the mel
funmakers of the world-the Thoma
Hoods, the Charles Lambs, til
Charles Mathewses of the world-th
men whose entire business it is t
make sport. They make others lang
but if you will examine their aut,
biography or biography you will fin
that down in their soul there was
terrific disquietude. Laughter is +
sign of happiness. The manii
laughs. The hyena laughs. The loo
among the Adirondacks laughs. II
%drunkard, dashing his decant,
against the wall, laughs.
There is a terrible reaction from
sinful amusement and sinful merl
ment. Such men are cross the ne.
day. They snap at you on exchan,
or they pass you, not recognizing yo
Long ago l quit mere worldly socie
Tor the reason it was so dull. so inal
and so stupid. My nature is voracio
of joy. l must have it.
l always walk on the sunny side
the street, and for that reason / ha
crossed over into Chris ian society.
like their mode of repartee better.
like their style of amusement bett,
They live longer. Christian people
sometimes notice, live on when by
natural law they ought to have die
have known persons who have &C
tinued in their existence when t
doctor said they ought to have be
dead ten years. Every day of thu
existence was a defiance of the la
OF anatomy and physiology, but tn
had this supernatural vivacity of
Gospel in their soul, and that Ike
them alive.