The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-07-19
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
ax rAE REv. ERANk pE VII rAlMAeg. Q. 3.

DE WI lAEmAGEp ~ -
Jesus Christ is opposed to this suicidal
epidemic; the whole tendency Of unbelief
is to promote and increase It. To the
atheist life Is a single span, one abut
ment Of which Is the cradle and the other
the grave, at which he meets annihiia-
ton. To such a man there Is no better
principle of life than to eat, drink and
be merry, for tomorrow you may die. He
would make life comedy for all and
death a great finale. His idealism would
do for his fellowmen as that millionaire
capitalist recently did for his friends
He provided by last will and testament
that mo service of a religious character
be held at his grave; that special train
of Pullmans be chartered to take his re-
mains from Louisville 10 Cincinnati to
be cremated that the buffet cars be well
stocked with good things TO eat ana
drink; that while his remains are being
, cremated an orchestra render a pro-
gramme Of popular and select music. and
that when an intermission is reached his
friends ask the members of the orehes-
ira to drink ito the dead mans menu
ory." That is the consistent outcome Of
the total humiliation belief. The earnest
Christian disciple says, Life is not
Joke; death is not a finale" Life is an
opportunity for doing good and struggling
against evil. Because the good as well
as the evil live on for ever and ever we
ought to put ourselves in the hands OF
the Almighty, who arranges our lots for
US, and say, as did Job, "Ail the days of
my appointed time will I wait until my
change come"
The unbeliever in the gospel says: IL
there is a hell it Is to be found this side
and not on the other side of the grave.
When things go wrong the best way to
escape suffering is to snap the silver cord
of human life and silence the beating
heart" The Christian disciple says:
"Sancti1ed troubles are a spiritual
means by the grace of God for raising
an immortal soul on and up. Unsancti-
fed troubles are the memorable means of
| dragging a sinful, defiant soul on and
forever down. He that is unjust let him
be unjust still. and he which is filthy let
him be filthy still, and he that is right
eous let him be righteous still, and he
that is holy let him be holy STILL Such
are the two extremes--the tenets of the
believers In total humiliation at the
brink of the grave and those of the earn
est disciple of Jesus Christ. Do you won
der that / charge the hideous monsters
atheism. agnosticism and infidelity with
/ being the chief causes of this aceursed
/ suicidal epidemic? Do you wonder that
to stay the hand of self immolation2
VIII you not by buckling on the gospel
armor, prepare 10 wage incessant war
against the insidious demons who blight
the lives of your fellow men by robbing
them of peace, joy and faith and leav-
Ing them so despoiled and imbittered that
they prefer death to life?
False Standards of Happiness.
False standards of happiness can be
catalogued among the frequent, prolific
causes of the suicidal sin. They are the
decoying mirages which tempt the weary
llfe's traveller to lose himself in the midst
of Sahara of sand. They are the de-
ceitful stars, twinxling their benedictions
over affairs of silver and OF gold and of
fame, which suddenly go out and leave
the devotees worshiplng in total dark
ness. They are the musical voices of the
sirens singing their sweetest songs when
Turing their victims on to fatal ship
wreck.
In the false standards of happiness can
be found the origin of the disappoint-
ments which so often end in suicide.
Men do not first seek wealth or fame to
possess those treasures, as a miser might
hoard up his gold. They desire the mer-
chant princes palace and the kings
throne because they fooishly think that
happiness is a coy maiden who loves to
robe herself in silks and to have her
throat and fingers a-glitter with precious
jewels, and therefore they can the more
readily find her In the rich mans man
sion than in the poor mans nut. If they
can not have wealth or fame or worldly
honor Is about to be taken away from
them. then they feel they can not have
happiness. Then, with one pull of the
pistols trigger. they fling away their
blghted lives as did the late cotton
king" of Louisiana, who lost his fortune
In Wall street or as did the late Sir Hec-
tor Macdonald of the British army, who
killed himself TO avoid facing the public
ity of court martial and a disgraceful
dismissal from the kings service.
Source of True Happiness.
Now, my friends the human being who
commits suicide merely because the gold
en- breasted orioe of wealth has plumed
her wings and disappeared from sight
or because the iconoclast of trouble has
shattered the idol of fame is doing
FOOLS business Happiness, true happi-
ness, the happiness for which we all long
and for which some of us are seeking
is not dependent upon outside surround
ings, but upon the condition of the heart
Some of the most unhappy human beings
have been the so called worldly success
full men. Did all the unlimited financial
wealth of Nathan Rothschild make him
happy? For many years he was the uni
versally recognized financial king of Eu-
rope. In single day he made over So
| 100000. At the battle of Waterloo he was
an anxious spectator AS soon as that
battle was decided he put spurs to his
horse and rode like the wind toward Lon
don. He had a relay of horses await
ing him and special boat chartered to
take him across the channel. Then, next
morning, he appeared upon the London
Exchange and circulated the report that
Wellington was defeated. Securities tufn-
bled. His brokers bought them up by
the millions of dollars worth The fol-
lowing day dispatches from Wellington