Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-04-03
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
CHRISTIAN DEATH As THE EN-.
TRANCE TO FULLER LIFE.
eloquent Easter Discourse Preached frcrr.
Corinthians, Death Il Swallowed Up
In victory"-why should We Doubt

In victory'-Why Should We Doubt
That God Can Raise Us from Dsath7
Copyright, 1902, Louis Klopsch, N. u
Washington, March SO.-The Chris
tian view OF death as the entrance to
fuller life is presented in this Eas-
ter discourse by DR.. Talmage from the
text Cor. XIV, "a. Death is swallowed
up in victory"
About 1870 Easter mornings have
wakened the earth. The royal court
of the Sabbaths is made up OF fifty
two. Fifty-one are princes in the
royal household, but Easter is queen.
She wears richer diadem, she sways a
more jeweled scepter. and in her
smile nations are irradiated. How
welcome she is when. after harsh
winter and late spring. she seems to
step out of the snow bank rather than
the conservatory, to come out Of the
north instead of the south, out Of the
arctic rather than the tropics, dis
mounting from the Icy equinox, but
welcome this queenly day, holding
high in her right hand the wrenched
off bolt of Christ's sepulcher and hold
Ing high in her left hand the key to
all the cemeteries in Christendom.
My text Is an ejaculation. 1t is spun
out of halleluiahs. Paul wrote on In
his argument about the resurrection
and observed all the laws of logic, but
when he came to write the words CT
the text his fingers and his pen and
the parchment on which he wrote took
fire. and he cried out. Death Is swal-
lowed up in victory!" 1t is an excit-
ing thing to see an army routed and
flying. You have read of the French
falling back from Sedan, Of Napoleon's
track of 10000 corpses in the snow
banks Of Russia, of the retreat OF our
armies from Manassas or OF the five
kings tumbling over the rocks Of Beth
horan with their armies while the hall
storms OF heaven and the swords of
Joshua's host struck them with their
fury.
In my text Is worse discontinue.
1t seems that black giant proposed
to conquer the earth. He gathered for
his hosts all the aches and pains and
malarias and cancers and distempers
and epidemics Of the ages. He march
ed them down, drilling them In the
northwest wind and amid the slush of
tempests. He threw up barbados of
grave mound. He pitched tent OF char
nal house. Some of the troops march
ed with slow tread commanded by
consumptions, some in double quick
command of pneumonias. Some he
took by long besiegement Of evil habit
and some by one stroke of the battleax
of casualty. With bony hand he
pounded at the door OF hospitals and
sickrooms. and won all the victories In
all the great battlefields of all OF the
FIVE continents. Forward. march!
ordered the conqueror Of conquerors.
and all the generals and commanders
In chief and all the presidents and
kings and sultans and czars dropped
under the feet of his war charger. But
one Christmas night his antagonist
was born.
AS most Of the plaques and sick
nesses and despotisms come out OF the
east, 4. was appropriate that the new
conqueror should come out Of the SINE
quarter. Power is given him to awak-
en- all the fallen of all the centuries
and of all lands and marshal them
against the black giant Fields have
already been won. but the last day
of the worlds existence win see the
decisive battle. When Christ shall
lead forth his two brigades. the bril-
gade Of the risen dead and the brigade
Of the celestial host. the black giant
win fall back, and the brigade from
the riven sepulchers will take him
from beneath. and the brigade of des-
cending immortals will take him
from above, and death shall be swal-
lowed up In victory.
The old braggart that threatened
the conquest and demolition of the
planet has lost his throne, has lost
his scepter, has lost his palace. has
lost his prestige, and the one word
written over all the gates of mauso-
leum and catacomb and metropolis, on
cenotaph and sarcophagus, on the
lonely khan of the arctic explorer and
on the catafalque Of great cathedral.
written In capitals of azalia and Gala
lily, written in musical cadence, writ
ten in doxology of great assemblages,
written on the sculptured door OF the
family vault, is Victory" Coronal
word, embannered word. apocalyptic
word. chief word Of triumphal arch
under which conquerors return.
The old antagonist is driven back
into mythology with all the lore about
Stygian ferry and Charon with oar
and boat. Melrose abbey and Kenil-
worth castle are no more in ruins than
is the sepulcher. We shall have no
more to do with death than we have
with the cloakroom at a governors or
presidents levee. We stop at such
cloakroom and leave in charge of
servant our overcoat. our overshoes,
our outward apparel. that we may not
be impeded In the brilliant round OF
the drawing room. Well. my friends,
when we go out of this world we are
going to Kings banquet and to re-
ception OF monarchs. and at the door
of the tomb We leave the cloak OF flesh
and the wrappings with which we
meet the storms OF this world. At the
close of an earthly reception. under
the brush and broom of the porter, the
coat or hat m=y be handed to us bet
ter than when we resigned it, and the
cloak of humanity will finally be re-
turned to US improved and Frightened
and purified and glorifed.
You and do not want our bodies re-
turned as they are now. We want to
get rid Of all their weaknesses and all
chair susnantihilifiae RI fatigue ara -,