The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-07-07
RENEWAL OF LIFE.
Rev. Or. Talmage breaches on
a Timely Theme.
4 Plea For Revival of spiritual
Life and Rekindling of Rcii-
giOus ActiVlty-David's
Prayer.

Indifferent, and especially TO the back
slider who has gone back to the world
and its pleasures, this sermon makes a
powerful appeal for renewal Of spir-
itual ties and a rekindlIng Of spiritual
activities. The text is Psalm ii, y,
Restore unto me the Joy Of thy saliva
ton"
Oh, how quickly the wheel of for
tune may whirl aroundl What we are
today is no earnest of what we may DE
tomorrow. Rich and aflluont prosper
Gus and happy now, that does not
prove that we shall be rich and happy
and prosperous. with a multitude of
friends hanging around us. next week
OF next month or next year. The night
follows the day as well as the day the
night The people living I'm the South
American republic of Chile reckon his
tory by this or that or the other earth
quake, which has made the heaying
earth rock down homes and destroy
whole cities and towns and villages.
Some Of US may reckon the passing
away Of our lives by the epitaphs
which are chiseled upon the tomb
stones Of our buried hopes.
"Year Of 1872" we say. "Oh, that
was the year Of Americas awful black
Friday, when my fortune like snow
flake melted away I'm an hour. Year Of
1881. That was the year l lost my
brother or wife or mother Year Of
1905. That was the year l was injured
in railroad accident ON account Of
that broken hip lost my position at
the store and had to give up my life i'm
surance policy and become a poor
helpless invalid, a burden on my
friends. All, am not as l used TO be-
Once l had enough for myself and for
others. Now I have less than nothing
l am dependent upon those around
me-"
Better days! Oh, yes, scores Of you
have seen better days In your body.
your property and your familiesl But
alas, many of us, like the writer Of the
words Of my text, have seen better days
IN our spiritual condition. l do not
know whether this author held, as do
the Methodists Of our day, that good
man might lose his hold on salvation,
but one thing is sure-he knew that he
had fallen from grace. lie had once
tasted the Joys Of divine sonshlp. He
had once waded ankle deep, knee deep,
waist deep, chin deep, into the great
depths Of Gods love and had drunk Of
those living waters. But now he has
climbed out Of those depths and stands
shiverlng upon the jagged rocks Of evil
in the cold, biting winds of sin. Thus
we find him crying ont In the words Of
entreaty: 30 God. bring back TO me
the happiness and the eXhilaration and
peace Of my past gospel life! Restore
unto me the Joy Of thy salvatiOn!
Have not some Of us need to offer
the prayer Of the psalmlstf know
that there are many who are in the po-
sition Of this psalmlst. know, fur
thermore, that If you will only return
you may taste again the gospel joys,
and they will be sweeter to you than
they ever were before. An eminent
minister Of the cross a short time ago
told me that the greatest blessing OF
a revival of religion was not found In
introducing strangers TO Jesus, but In
bringing back TO his service those who
had once been found at the foot Of the
cross. "And," said be, "when these
wanderers return they make the very
best workers In our Christian church
es." May God help me to prevail on
some of you backsliders again TO taste
the gospel joys!
But / never did like praying for
Everything in general and for the uni
verse in particular" In order to be
more explicit we would divide the
psalmist's prayer under three or four
distinct headings. In the first place,
would have you make the prayer: RE
turn unto me- o Lord, the Joy which l
experienced when l first began TO re-
alize the heights and the depths and
the lengths and the breadths Of thy
sacrifices for me. Restore unto me the
10Y which came to my soul when years
ago / first approached the communion
table and said. Lord. / believe; help
thou mine unbelief.'" Then the tidal
wave Of happiness rolled over us in
surges. Then we said TO ourselves:
Saved by gracel Saved by gracel
o God, thank thee that I have been
saved by grace"
Was II a marvellous fact that at that
time we should have been happy and
have thanked God that we were saved
by gracs7 Surely we would not treat
God less gratefully than we would
have treated any human being who had
rescued us from a threatening danger.
When al the battle Of Brienne General
Gourgaud flung himself before his
chief and killed the COssack who was
about to bury his lance In the heart Of
his emperor NapoleOn's gratitude knew
no bounds. Thus we feel grateful to-
NtIQ OUT uuuldu AfNNutlhs VIC ANth
with loving eyes toward the skilled sur
geon who drove the knife within a
hairs breadth Of the fatal artery and
say: "Ho saved mel He saved mew
We throw our arms with a grateful,
clasp about the neck Of the
strong swimmer who breasted the
waves and swan out to bring us to
shore when we were sinking in the
surf. We sound forth the praises Of
the man who leaps forward at the risk
OF his life and clutches the bride Of
our runaway horse and hangs on until
the maddenod brute stops his Wild ca
reer even though his own body is
bruised by the plunglng hOofs. Shall
we not be thankful. sincerely and
transcendently thankful, to God for
saving us from the results Of our evil
deeds and sins? But strange to say,
after the divine rescue has been accom-.
plished our gratitude may cool. II
may after awhile change into indiffer-
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