Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1902-05-01
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
subject: Danger in Delay-Tlie Folly of
Postponing the Acceptance of the
Gospel Invitation-Sy mpathy For the
Skeptics-T4me to Be Religious.

WASHINGTON, -. I'm TUE ioiioWihs
discourse, prepared by DR.. Talmage before
his illness, the folly and danger of post
poring the acceptance Of the gospel invi-
tation are exposed on the text, Luke xiv,
Is, And they all with one consent began
to make excuse.
After the invitations to a levee are
sent out the regrets come in. One man
ipologizes for nonattendance on one
yround, another on another ground. The
cost of the regrets are founded on prior
engagements. So in my text great ban
luet was spread, the invitations were cir
,ulated, and now the regrets come in.
The one gives an agricultural reason, the
other a stock dealers reason, the other
domestic reason All poor reasons. The
TACT was, they did not want to go. "And
they all with one consent began to make
excuse"
So now God spreads great banquet.
It is the gospel feast, and the table reaches
across the hemispheres, and the invita-
lions go out, and multitudes come and
sit down and drink out of the chalices of
Gods love, while other multitudes decline
coming. the one giving this apology, and
al 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
ligion. 1t is pleaded that there are so
many impositions in this day; SO many
things that seem to be real are sham. A
yilded outside may have a hollow inside.
There is so much quackery in physics, in
ethics, in politics, that men come to the
aabit Of incredulity, and after awhile they
allow that incredulity to collide with our
holy religion. But, my friends, l think
religion has made pretty good record in
the world. How many wounds it has
salved! How many pillars of fire it has
lifted in the midnight wilderness! How
many ssimoom struck deserts it hath turned
into the gardens of the Lord! How it
nath stilled the chopped seal What rosy
light it hath sent streaming through the
rift of the storm-eloud!, What pools of
cool water it hath gathered for thirsty
than coriander seed it hath dropped all
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
If resurrection morn!
Besides that, this religion has made so
many heroes. 1t brought Summerfield, the
Methodist, across the Atlantic ocean with
his silver trumpet to blow the acceptable
year of the Lord until it seemed as if all
our American cities would take the king
dom of heaven by. violence. 1t sent Jehndi
Ashman into Africa alone, in a continent
of naked barbarians, to lift the standard
ii civilization and Christianity. 1t made
John Milton among poets, Raphael among
painters, Christopher Wren among archi
tects, Thorwaldsen among sculptors, Han
lei among musicians, Dupont among mill
tary commanders, and to give new wings
to the imagination and better balance to
me judgment and more determination to
the will and greater usefulness to the life
and grander nobility to the soul there is
nothing in all the earth like our Christian
religion. Nothing in religion? Why, then,
Ill those Christians were deceived when
n their dying moment they thought they
saw the castles of the blessed, and your
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
WI come upon you. Roll and turn on
gour pillow; no relief The medicine may
De bitter, the night may be dark, the pain
may be sharp; no relief. Christ never
zones to the sick-room. Let the pain
,ntab; let the fever burn; curse. it and die.
There is nothing in religion? After awhile
death will come. You will hear the paw
ing of the pale horse on the threshold
The spirit will be breaking away from the
body, and it will take flight-whither,
whittier? There is no God, no minister
ing angels to conduct, no Christ, no
heaven, no home. Nothing in religion?
Oh, you. are not willing to adopt such "a
1.5mal theory!
And yet The world is full of skeptics
And let me say there is no class of peo
ole for whom | have a warmer sympathy
than for skepties: We do not know how
10 treat them: We deride them, we carica-
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
aad fallen away from Christianity and be-
-ome skeptics you would not be so rough
OF them Some were brought up in homes
wretched day in the week was Sunday.
Religion was driven into them with trip
hammer. They had surfeit Of prayer
meetings. They were stuffed and choked
with catechsms. They were told by their
parents that they were the worst children
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
Of the mouth drawn down and the eyes
rolled up. Others went into skepticism
who professed religion. ~ There rs'n is "a man man
who says: My partner in business was
conspicuous in prayer meeting, and he
was .officious in all religious circles, but
he cheated me out of $4,000, and l don't
want any of that religion" Then there
are ot1 Others ;t who get get into skepticism by
why or how? How can God be one being
in three persons? They cannot understand
it. Neither can /. How can God be a
complete sovereign and yet man a free
agent? They cannot understand it.
Neither can |. They cannot understand
swhy a holy God lets sin come into the
world. Neither can |. They say: Here
is great mystery; here is disciple OF
fashion, frivolous and goddess all her days !.
she lives on to be an octogenarian. Here
Is Christian mother; training her chill
dren for God and for heaven, self-sacrific-
ing, Christlike, indispensable seemingly to
that household; she gets a cancer and
dies. The skeptic says, 81 can't explain
that" Neither can I.
l can see how men reason themselves
into skepticsm. With burning feet |
have trodden that blstering way l know
what it is to have hundred nights
poured into one hour. There are men in
the arid desert of doubt who would give
their, thousands of dollars if they could
get back to the old religion of their
fathers. Such men are not to be carica-
tured, but helped, and not through their
heads, but through their hearts When
these men really do come into the kng-