The Globe-republican., 1901-04-18
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE UPLIFTING POWER OF RE-
LIGION' THE THEME.
f'Her Ways are Wsys of Pleasantnes~''
From the Book of Proverbs, Chapter
III. Verse 1.-THE Sunshine of the
Christian Life-SeIf

as an exhilaration and urges all people /
to try its uplifting power; text, Pro
verbs iii, II, Her ways are ways Of
p1easantness-
gotten Son. Have you heard of Gods
daughter? She born in heaven
She came down over the hills OF our
world She had Queenly step On her
brow celestial radiance Her voice
was music. Her name is Religion My
text introduces her Her ways are
ways of p1easantness, and all her paths
are peace But what is religion? The
fact is that theological study has had
a different effect upon me from the ef-
feet sometimes produced Every year
I tear out another leaf from my the
oIogy until 1 have only three or four
leaves 1eft-in other words, a very
brief and plain statement of Christian
belief.
An aged Christian minister said;
When 1 was a young man I knew eV-
erything- When L got to be 30 years
of age, in my creed 1 had only a hum
dred doctrines of religion When got
to be 40 years of age, l had only %
doctrines of religion. When I got TO
be so years of age, 1 had only ten doc
trineS of 1igiOn, and now L am dying
at IS years of age, and there IS only
one thing 1 know and that is that
Christ Jesus came into the world to
save Sinners And I have no
ticed 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 be-
| lief as being non-essential, while
! cling to the one great doctrine that
man is sinner and Christ is his Al
| mighty and Divine Savior
Now, l 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 I go into a room, I have a pas
| sion for throwing open all the shut
ters That is what / want to do TINS
| morning We apt to throw so
| much of the sepulchra1 into our relig-
| ion and to close the shutters and to
| pull down the blinds that it is only
| through here and there a crevice that
| the light streams. The religion of the
| Lord Jesus Christ is a religion of joy
| indescribab1e and unutterable. Wher-
| ever I find a bell 1 mean to ring
| it.
If there are any in this house this
| morning who are disposed to hold on
| to their melancholy and gloom, let
| them now depart this service before
! the fairest and brightest and the most
! radiant being of all the universe
comes in. Gods Son has left the world
| but Gods daughter is here! Give her
room. Hail princess of heaven! Hail
| daughter of the Lord God Almighty.
| Come in and make this house thy
| throneroom.
In setting forth this idea the domi-
nant theory of religion is one of sun
shine. I hardly know where to begin,
for there are so many thoughts that
rush upon my soul. A mother saw her
little child seated on the floor in the
sunshine and with a spoon in her
hand. She said, MY darling, what are
you doing there?'' Oh replied the
child, Il am getting spoonful of this
sunshine" Would God that today
might present you with a cleaning
cha1ice of this glorious, everlasting
gospel sunshinei
Sunshine Christianity.
First of all, L find a great deal o.
sunshine in Christian society. 1 dc
not know of anything more do1eful
than the companionship of the mere
funmakers of the worId-the Thomas
Hoods the Charles Lambs, the Charles
Mathewses of the world-the mer
whose entire business it is to make
sport. They make others laugh, but i
| YOU will examine their autobiography
| or biography, you will find that dowr
in their soul there was a terrific dis
quietude. Laughter is sign of hap
piness. The maniac laughs. The by
ena laughs. The loon among the
Adirondacks laughs. The drunkard
dashing his decanter against the wall
laughs.
There is a terrible reaction from al
sinful amusement and sinful merri
ment. Such men are cross the mex
day. They snap at you on exchange o
| they pass you, not recognizing you
Long ago I quit mere worldly societ,
for the reason it was dull, so imam
| and so stupid. My nature is voraciou
of joy. I must have it,
1 always walk on the sunny side o
| the street. and for that reason hav'
| crossed over into Christian society.
like their mode of repartee better.
| like their style of amusement better
| They live longer. Christian people,
| sometimes notice, live on when by al
natural law they ought to have died
| 1 have known persons who have con
| tinued in their existence when the doc
j. tor said they ought to have been deai
| ten years Every day of their exist
| ence was defiance of the laws o
anatomy and physiology, but they ha'
this supernatural vivacity of the gos
| pei in their soul. and that kept ther
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