The Penn's Grove record., 1901-02-15
DR.. TALMAGPS SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE,
Subject Speak For the Right-DiaboIicaI
Agencies Active-silenee is Not Cold
en- While There Are Evils Be Ready
When Christianity is Assailed.

en- WINE mere are EHils Be Read,
when Christianity is AssaiIed.
copyright 1aol.l
WASHINGTON, d. Gin this discourse
DR.. Talmage calls for a more demonstra
tive rel glon and a hearty speaking out
on the right side of everything; text
Mar, tx, %, Thou dumb and deaf spirit.
] charge thee come out of him"
Here was a case OF great domestic an.
glish. The son of the household was nos
sessed Of an evil spirit. which among other
Il iugs paralvzed his tongue and made him
the patient he could not say a word-ar.
ticulation was impossible. The spirit that
captured tins member of the household
wa q dumb splrlt-su called by Christ-a
spirit abroad to-day and as lively and DO
tent as in New Testament times. Yet, in
all the realms OF s~ermonology | cannot
find a discourse concerning This devil
which Christ charged upon in my text,
saying, Come out of him"
There has been much destructive super
stitiOn abroad in the world concerning
possession OF evil spirits. Under the form
Of belief in witchcratt this delusion swept
the continents. Persons we're supposed to
be possessed with some evil spirit which
made them able to destroy others. In the
sixteenth century in Geneva 1860 persons
were burned to death as witches. Under
enc Judge. in Lorraine, 900 persons were
burned to death RS witches. In one neigh
borhoOd of France 1000 persons were
burned In two centuries 100000 persons
were slam as witches. So mighty was the
delusion that it included among its vic.
Tins some OF the greatest intellects of all
time such as Chief Justice Matthew Hale
and Sir Edward Coke, and such renowned
ministers of religion as Cotton Mather.
one OF whose books Benjamin Franklin
said shaped his life-and Richard Baxter
III Ar1LhTehnp rpnny,, - NJ.
Luther, and among writers and philoso-
pliers Lord Bacon. That belief which has
become the laughing stock of all sensible
people counted its disciples among the
wjsest and best people of Sweden, Ger
many, England, France, Spain and New
England, But while We reject witchcraft,
any man who believes the Bible must be
lieve that there are diabolical agencies
abroad in the world. While there are
ministering spirits to bless there are in
fernal spirits to hinder, to poison and to
destroy. Christ was speaking to a spirit
ual existence when standing before the
afflicted one of the text He said, Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, come out of him"
Against this dumb deTil of the tex l
put you on your guard. Do not think that
this agent OF evil has put his blight OF
those who by omission of the vocal or
cans have had the golden gates OF speech
bolted and barred. Among those who
have never spoken a word are the most
precious and Lovely and talented souls
that were ever incarnated. The chaplains
Of the asylums for the dumb can tell you
enchanting stories of those who never.
called the name OF father or mother or
child. and many Of the most devout and
prayerful souls will never in this world
speak the name of God or Christ.
Many a deaf mute have | seen with the
angel of intelligence seated at the window
~ tho ayra ,+Ia ave. f0rEl, Eaor, +lu |
door of the mouth. What a miracle of
loveliness and knowledge was Laura Bridg-
man, OF New Hampshire, not only without
fac lty Of speech, but without hearing
aud without sight, all these faculties re.
moved by sickness when two years of age,
yet becoming a wonder at needlevork, at
the piano. at the sewing Machine and al
intelligent student Of the Scriptures and
confounding philosophers vino cane from
nj parts Of the world to st-dv the phe-
nomenon. Thanks to CHI" l~tianity for
what it has ION for the amehoration of
the condition of the deaf and the dumb,
Back in the ages they were put to death
IS having no right. with such paucitv of
equipment, to live, and for centuries they
were classed among the idiotic and unsafe.
But in the sixteenth century came Pedro
Ponce, the Spanish monk, and in the sew
enteenth century came Juan Pablo Bor It.
another Spanish monE, with dactylology,
or the finger alphabet, and in our own
century we have had John Braidwood and
Drs. Mitchell and Ackerly and Peet and
Gallaudet, who have given to uncounted
thousands of those whose tongues were
forever silent the power to spell out on
the air by a manual alphabet their
thoughts about this world and their hopes
for the next, We rejoice in the brilliant
inventions in behalf of those who were
born dumb.
Ono of tho nost innreasiya audiences I
ever addressed was in the Far West, an
audience Of about 600 persons, who had
never heard a sound or spoken a word, an
interpreter standing beside me while l
addressed them. l congratulated that au-
dience on two advantages they had over
the most Of us-the one that they escaped
hearing a great many disagreeable things
and on the other fact that they escaped
SAYING things they were sorry for after
ward,
Yet after all the alterations OF a
shackled tongue is an appalling limitation,
But we are not this morning speaking of
congenial mutes. We mean those who are
born with all the faculties of vocalization
and vet have been struck by the evil one
mentioned in the text-the dumb devil
to whom Christ called when He said,
Thou dumb and deaf spirit, l charge
thee, come out OF him"
There has been apotheosization of 81
lence. Some one has said silence is gold
en-, and sometimes the greatest triumph
is to keep your mouth shut. But some
times silence is q crime, and the direct
result of the baleful influence of the dumb
devil OF our text. There is hardly a man
or woman who has not been present on
some occasion when the Christian religion
became a target for raillery. Perhaps 1t
was over in the store some day when there
was not much going on and the clerks
I psara II, q rra,, ~. ~ u-aa IN thn tantnrE
at the noon spell, or it was out on the
farm under the trees while you were rest
ing, or it was in the clubroom. or 1t was
IN a social circle, or it was IN the street on
the way home from business, or 1t was on
some occasion which you remember WITH
out my describing it. Some one got the
laugh on the Bible and caricatured the
profession of religion as hypocrisy or
made a pun out o something that CHRIST
said. The laugh started, and you Joined
IN, and not one word OF protest did you
utter. What kept you SILENT? Modes-y?
No. lncapacIty to answer! No. Lack OF
opportunity! No. 1t was a blow on both
your lips by the wing VI the dumb devil.
II some one SHOULD ma. ign your iatner OF
mot'er or wife or husband or child, you
would flush up quicl- md either with an
indignant word or C1ubled up fist make
response. And vet f7n is our Christian
religion, which has done so much for you
dAlu 50 mucn lot InG WORM lnob ~, VIII
take all eternity to celebrate it, and vet
when it was attacked you did not so much
rs say: Il differ. / object. | am sorry TO
hear YOU say that. There is another, side
to this You Christian people ought in
such times as these go armed, not witt.
earthly weapons, but with the sword OF
the Spirit, You ought to hav" four OF five
questions with which you could eo1found
any man who attacks Christianity, A man
ninety ,ears old was telling me how he
put to fight a seoffer. My aged friend
said to the skeptic, 'Did you ever read
the history of Joseph in the Bible
Yes said the man, cit is a fine story,
We'll, now said my old friend, sup,
pose that account OF Joseph stopped halt
way Oh said the man; then .
would not be entertaining. Well now; :,
said my friend, I'VE have IN this world
only half Of everything, and do you not
think that when we hear the last halt
things may be consistent and that then
We may find that God was right
Oh, friends, better load up with a few
Interrogation points. You cannot afford to
be silent when God and the Bible and the