Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-04-24
A Voice FROM TIE DEAD.
THO STILL FOREVER, lie SPEAKS.

Washington, D. C, [speciall. The follow
ing vigorous and truly helpful sermon was
prepared by the late Rev. Dr.. Talmage rrior
TO his illness which terminated In his demise. |
and under these sad circumstances this
sermon will be read with more than usual
interest. His text was: "And they all with
one consent began to make excuses. Luke
xiv, 1a
After the Invitations to. a levee are
skant out the regrets come in. One man
apologies for non-attendance on one
ground, another another ground. The
most of the regrets are founded on prior
engagements. So in my text great ban
quet was spread, the invitations were cir
culated, and now the regrets come in.
The one gives an agricultural reason, the
domestic reason. All poor reasons. The
fact was, they did not want to go. "And
excuse"
So now God spreads great banquet.
1t is the gospel feast, and the table reaches
across the hemispheres, and the invita-
tions 60 out, and multitudes come and
sit down and drink out of the chalices of
Gods love, while otker multitudes decline
coming, the one giving this apology, and
all with one consent begin to make ex-
cuse." [ propose, SO far as God may help
me, to examine the apologies which men
make for not entering the Christian life.
Apology the first; [ am not sure there
is anything valuable in the Christian re-
many impositions in this day; SO many
things that seem to be real are sham. A
gllded outside may have hollow inside.
There is SO much quackery in physics, in
ethics, in politics, that men come to the
habit Of incredulityz. and after awhile they
| hat. H11I1f nv To
holy religion. But, my friends, I think
religion has made pretty good record in
the world: Flow many wounds it has
saived! How many pillars of fire it has
lifted in the midnight wilderness! How
many simoom struck deserts it hath turned
into the gardens of the Lord! How it
hath s.tilled the chopped sea! What rosy
light it hath sent streaming through the
rift of the storm-cloud! What pools of
cool water it hath gathered for thirsty
Hagar and Ishmael! What mamma whittier
around the camp of hardy bested pilgrims!
What promises it hath sent out like holy
watchers to keep the lamps burning around
deathbeds, through the darkness that
lowers into the sepulcher! What flashes
of resurrection morn!
Besides that, this religion has made so
many heroes. 1t brought Summerield, the
| Methodist, across the Atlantic ocean with
his silver trumpet to blow the acceptable
year of the Lord until it seemed as if all
dom Of haasen aver as by ~ioienoe. ] 4 N sent TT Johndi
Ashman into Africa alone, in continent
of naked barbarians, to lift the standard
Of civilization and Christianity. It made
John Milton among poets, Raphael among
painters, Christopher Wren among archi-
tects, Thorwaldsen among sculptors, Han
del among musicians, Dupont among mill
tary commanders, and to give new wings
to the imagination and better balance to
the judgment and more determination to
the, will and greater usefulness to the life
nothing in all the earth like our Christian
religion. Nothing in religion? Why, then,
all those Christians were deceived when
in their dying moment they thought they
child that with unutterable agony you
put away into the grave. you will never
see him again or hear his sweet voice
nor feel the throb of his young heart.
There is nothing in religion? Sickness
will nev upon no rye FG Se medne nnd tuen
be bitter, the night may be dark, the pain
may be sharp; no relief. Christ never
comes to the sick-room. Let the pain
, ssab; let the fever burn: curse it and die.
There is nothing in religion?, After awhile
death will come. You will hear the paw
The spirit will be breaking away from the
body, and it will take fight-whither
whittier? There is no God, no minister
ing angels to conduct. no Christ, no
: Oh, you are not willing to adopt such a
, dismal theory!
And yet the world is full of skeptics
And let me say there is no class of peo-
pie for whom I have warmer sympathy
t than for sskeptiea we do not know how how
ture them We instead of taking them
+ by the soft hand of Christian love, clutch
> them with the iron pinchers of ecclesias
ticism. Oh, if you knew how those men
had fallen away from Christianity and be
;. come skeptics you would not be so rough
!, where religion was overdone. The most
wretched day in the week was Sunday
7 Religion was driven into them with trip
! hammer. They had surfeit Of prayer
e with catechisms. They were told by thei1
: parents that they were the worst children
a that ever lived because they liked to ride
down hill better than to read Pilgrim
: Progress" They never heard their pa
/ rents talk Of religion but with the corners
e of the mouth drawn down and the eye
o rolled up. Others went into skepticisn
= through maltreatment on the part Of SOM
who professed religion. There is ma,
who says: MY partner in business wa
e conspicuous in prayer meeting, and b
+ was oficieus in all religious circles, bu
y want any of that religion" Then ther
It are others who get into skepticism by
natural persistence in asking questions
9 why or how? How can God be one bein
e in three persons? They cannot understand
r it.. Neither can I. How can God be
y complete sovereign and yet man fre
y agent? They cannot understand it
z Neither can T. They cannot understan,
Y why a holy God lets sin come into th
J. world. Neither can I. They say: Her
is a great mystery; here is disciple Q
e fashion, frivolous and goddess all her days
l. she lives on to be an octogenarian. Her
is a Christian mother, training her chi
dren for God and for heaven, self-sacrine
ing, Christlike,, indispensable seemingly t
j, that ;, household; she gets a cancer an
;. dies. The skeptic Gays, II can't e1plai
IS that" Neither can I.
: can see how men reason themselve
:. into skcpticism. With burning feet
g have trodden that blistering way. kno,
is what it is to have hundred night
h poured into one hour. There are men
- the arid desert Of doubt who would Civ
g their thousands of dollars If they coul