The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-05

DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
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BY THE REV. FRANK DE WITT TALMAeE, D. D.

flow of words eease2" That was a stupid
addresses to those three singers, merely
because In their obnoxious egotism they
supposed they had outgrown 1t and could
not be benefited by it.
I protest against the reverence of
these modern Eutyehuses In the house of
God I protest against young men and
also young women. for some young wo-
men are as bad as the irreverent young
men. coming into a church and not Civ
ing the same respectful attention to Gods
ambassadors which they would give to
an ordinary guest in their fathers parlor
The house of God is not a playground.
Tt Is not a confectionery establishment.
where young folks come to MUNICH can
dy. 1t Is not place for young people to
whisper and to write notes. It is a place
to worship. And. If our young people do
not come to church to worship, then they
had better stay away. You must heed
the fact that the sleeping auditor of my
text was young man.
Two Birds With One Stone.
But while Eutyehns sits upon the VIM
dow sill of the room In which Paul was
preaching | see him continually glancing
across the street. | approach him today
and say what IS the matter, Euty-
ehus2 Why are you looking so much out
of the window? I should think you would
want to keep your eyes all the time riv-
eted upon Paul. Why he Is the greatest
preacher of all the ages" 81 have heard
that" answers Eutychus. THAT is one
of the reasons I am here. But I can't
neglect my business even for Paul Thus
am trying to kill two birds with one
stone. I am sitting here upon the win
dow ledge, so I can hear Paul with my
ears, and at the same time with my
eyes I can watch my store. lust across
rB4ag
customers gather about my counter, why,
l can Just slip away and attend to them"
Do you wonder, when Eutychus kept one
eye upon his counter at the same time
he was listening to Paul. that the sermon
Of Paul became very stupid and as soon
as the shadows of night fell that Eu-
tychus' eyelids grow heavy and that he
slipped out of the window and broke his
neck?
But" says some one to me. ct do not
see where yon get authority for the
statement that Eutychus was a young
business man. The Bible does not state
this. And furthermore. how do you
know that his bazaar, or shop, was Just
across the street? Are you not taking
too much liberty with the text?"
No, I do not think I am. IT'S true the
Bible does not state this young man,
Eutyehus, WAS a business man. But one
fact l do know. If Eutychus was young
business man and wanted to keep his
eye upon his shop across the street while
he was keeping within hearing of Paul,
the window sill would have been Just the
place where he would have sat And,
furthermore. 7 do know that. Just as
Entychus might have been watching his
bazaar, there are hundreds and thousands
of men who when they come to church
bring along their business with them, and
while the ministers are preaching they
are planning what they will do at the
store the next day, or how they will pur-
chase their fall goods. or how they can
undersell their rivals. Furthermore, l
do know that. whenever a merchant or a
business man tries to carry his bust
ness Into the church pew that moment
even the most brilliant and consecrated
of sermons will fall upon ears as dead
as did the words of Paul when he was
pleading with Eutychus of Troas, who
fell out of the window and broke his
neck on the last night before Paul sailed
away on his famous missionary tour
The Fifteen Minute Sermon.
o ye merchants and manufacturers and
professional men, is there no lesson for
you to learn In this Troas tragedy? You
have often said. IF these ministers
were only brilliant speakers and would
preach interesting sermons we would
come to church and stay awake and lis
ten to their discourses. 3" Is that true?
Was not Eutyehus listening to a brilliant
discourse? Was he not listening to the
most brilliant pulpit orator the world
has ever seen? All, no, Eutychus did not
fall asleep because he was listening to
q stupid preacher. believe he fell
asleep for the same reason SO many bus
mess men become drowsy when they try
to sandwich a sermon In between the
ledgers Of their temporal business. While
the sermon is going some of them
upon the fly leaf of a hymn book or
upon the church leaflet are trying to
estimate how much profit they can make
upon some real estate deal or how much
they can cut down their employees wages
without having them quit for good or go
out on a prolonged strike.
But" some merchant says to me, 'the
reason I get tired in church is not be-
cause our ministers do not talk sense,
but because they preach so everlastingly
long. Now If Paul had only quit at
reasonable Time in all probability Eu-
tychus would never have fallen asleep"
You say: II agree with Emperor VIII
liam of Germany. He never allows any
of his court chaplains to preach over if
teen minutes. fifteen minute sermon
is a good length. A half hour sermon Is
an abomination. A three-quarter of an
hour serman is a horror. An hours SER
>
ministers go on and on, and they never
seem to know when to stop" Oh, yes,
my friends. I know that line OF protest.
But the more you talk the more | am
impressed with the fact that the reason
sermons are long to you is because you
do not pray enough beforehand to pre-
pare yourselves to receive the messages
of God which are delivered to you week
by week from the pulpit.
onn preaehers
You say the modern ministers preach
too long. Open the leaves of your church
history and find the biographies OF our
great preachers. / defy you to find any
of them who made a great impression
for Jesus Christ unless they were long
preachers. And, furthermore, you can
not show me any church today in Amer
lea which is noted as a deeply spiritual
church unless the services of that church
are long services. Not only do the au-
diences of that church sit through long
services but even after the benediction
Is given the members are loath to leave.
They linger in groups in the aisles and
about the doorways, anu at last you find
those church members talking on the
street corners as though they could not
tear themselves apart
Was this not John Wesley's and George
Whitefeld's experience as well as Pauls?
'Oh" but you say II would be willing
to listen for three hours II | could hear
Wesley preach" Would you my
brother? Eutychus fell asleep under
Paul You would fall asleep under Wes-
ley unless you had a change of heart.
The reason the sermons of our modern
ministers are stupid and long to some Of
you is because you do not pray enough
nd xrIa1 Ia