Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-10-25
THE PERSUASIVE WORD.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Says 1t Calls All
People TO Gladness.
What We Most Need-Ihe Star of Faith
There Is Pardon For All.
copyright, 1901.

copyright, 1901
WASHINGTON, d. C.-In this discourse
DR.: Talmage calls all people to gladness
and opens all the doors Of expectancy;
texts, Genesis vi, IS, Come" Revelation
the word ''come." Six hundred and sew
enty-eight times is it found in the Scrip
lures. 1t stands at the front gate of tne
Bible. as in my first text, inviting ante
diluvians into Noah's ark. and it stands
at the other gate of the Bible as in my
second text, inviting the postdiluvians of
all later ages into the ark of a Saviour's
mercy. Come is only 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 empties 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 tempts and
sometimes it destroys. 1t sounds from
raglios of sin, from the gates of heaven
and the gates of hell. 1t is continent
and accrescent of all power. 1t is the
heiress of most of the future. "Come!"
You may pronounce it so that al the
heavens will be heard in its cadences or
pronounce it so that all the woes of time
and eternity shall reverberate in its one
syllable 1t is on the lip of saint and
profigate. Il is the mightiest of all So
lcitants either for good or bad.
To-day | weigh anchor and haul in the
planks and set sail on that great word
although | am sure I will not be able to
reach the farther shore. I viii let down
the fathoming line into this sea and try
to measure its depths, and, though I tie
together all the cables and cordage ! have
on board will not be able to touch bot
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,
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
bic" 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
CITY," If in this city there are 10000 who
are down in moral character, then 10000
fell under the power Of the word come,
| was reading OF wife whose husband
had been overthrown 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 womo
an said: "Do you call that my husband?
What have you been doing with him? Is
that the manly brow, is that the clear
eve. is that the noble heart that I mar
ried? What vile drug have you given
him that has turned him into fend?
Take your tiger claws off of him. Uncoil
those serpent folds of evil habit that are
crushing him. Give me back my hus-
band, the one with whom l stood at the
altar ten years ago. Give him back to
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 will
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 up
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 ADMIRE" 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 so
much for others I approach you to-day
Are You all right with God? NO." you
say, 81 think not. am sometimes
alarmed when I think of Him. 1 fear
will not be ready to meet Him in the last
day. Ny heart is not right with God"
Come, then, and have it made right.
Through the Christ who died to save you,
come! What is the use in waiting? The
longer you wait the farther off you are
and the deeper YOU are down. Strike out
for heaven! You remember that few
years ago a steamer called the Princess
Alice, with a crowd of excursionists
aboard, sank in the Thames, and there
was an awful sacrifice of life. A boatman
from the shore put out for the rescue, and
he had big boat, and he got it so full it
would not hold another person, and as he
laid hold of the oars to pull for the shore,
leaving hundreds helpless and drowning,
he cried out: "Oh. that l had bigger
boat" Thank God / am not thus lin
tied. and that | can promise room for all
in this gospel boat. Get in, get in! And
yet there is room. Room in the heart of
a pardoning God. Room in heaven.
/ also apply the word of my text to
those who would like practical comfort.
If any ever escape the struggle of life, I |
have not found them. They are not GER
II. Il T