The Iola register., 1901-04-19
THE JOY OF RELIGION
DR.. Talmage Urges All to Try Its
Uplifting Power.
He characteristics Religion as Gods
Daughter - Sermon from the
Text, "Her Ways Are Ways
of PIeasantness."

urges all people to try It's upllttlng
power; text, Proverbs 3, II: "HeT
ways are ways of pleasantness."
You have all heard of Gods only
begotten Son. Have you heard of
Gods daughter? She was born in
Heaven? She came down over the
hills of our world. She had queenly
step. On her brow was celestial
radiance. Her voice was music. Her
name is Religion. My text intro
duces her. Her ways are ways of
pleasantness, 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
effect sometimes produced Every
year l tear out another leaf from
my theology, until 1 have only three
or four leaves left-in other words
a very brief and plain statement of
Christian belief.
An aged Christian minister said:
"When | was a young man, 1 knew
everything. When l got to be 35
years of age, in my creed had only a
hundred doctrines of religion. When
] got to be 60 years of age, l had
only so doctrines of religion. When
j got to be 60 years of age l had
only ten doctrines of religion, and
now I am dying at rs years of age,
and there is only one thing | 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 l cling to the one great doc.
trine that man is sinner and Christ
is his Almighty and Divine Saviour.
Now / 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 l go into room, l have pas
sion for throwing open all the shut
ters. That is what l want to do this
morning. We are apt to throw so
much of the sepulchral into our re-
ligion and to close the shutters and
to pull down the blinds that it is only
tnr"usn mere ana lhere creVlce that
the hght streams. The religion OF
the Lord Jesus Christ is religion of
Joy indescribable and unutterable.
Wherever l can find a bell / mean to
ring It,
II there are any in this house this
morning who are disposed to hold on
to their melancholy and gloom, let
them dpDDrt this caryipa bof,ra ~, a
1alrest and the brightest and the most
radiant being OF all the universe comes
IN G9d's Son has left our world. but
GOD daughter is here. Give her room.
man. princess OF Heaven! Hail. daugh-
Ter OF the Lord Almighty! Come in
ana make this house thy throneroom.
IN setting forth this idea the domi-
hant theory OF religion is one of sun
shIhe. ! hardly know where to begin,
Tor there are so many thoughts that
rush upon my soul. \ mother saw her
niue enid seated on the floor in the
sunshine ana with spoon in her hand.
one SAID; My darling, what are you
uoihS there|' "Oh, replied the child
am getting spoonful of this sun
sh'ne'' Would God that to-day
nlght present you with a cleaning
challce of this glorious, everlasting
gospel sunshine!
FIRST of all, find a great deal of
sunshine in Christian society. | do
not know of anything more doleful
than the companionship of the mere
funmakers of the world-the Thomas
Hoods, the Charles Lambs. the
Charles Mathewses of the world-the
men whose entire business il is to
make sport. They make others laugh.
but if you will examine their auto
biography or biography you will find
that down in their soul there was n
terrific disquietude. Laughter. is no
sign of happiness. The maniac
laughs. The hyena laughs. The loon
among the Adirondacks laughs. The
drunknrd, dashing' his decanter
against the wall, laughs.
There is a terrible reaction from all
sinful amusement and sinful merri-
ment. Such men are cross +be naVt