The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-11
sc-c"t, } DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON c.o-c.0.o.c.o.o.o-ooo.o.o-
 TALMAGE. D.. D.

'
 l he was always by our side. Then we be-
 gan to realize how good and kind and low l Ing He is As WIG grow in grace we are never happy unless we feel His presence ] near. He talk to Him as we do to dear friend. We find ourselves saying; Jesus,
 thou knowest best. Thou art leading me. l o Master thy love passeth all under
 standing Keep me close to thy heart. Let me never stray away from thy touch i Church members, are you strangers to the rapturous joy of the close companion ship of this divine association? Then you have never reached the higher develop
 ment of the Christian life Believe me,
 there Is something yet for you to pray for and struggle for in your Christian experi- enee. Ro not think today of Christ as an enemy. hhink of Jesus as an ever pres ent persorNl tender, loving friend. That can be ono of your greatest joys Of the Christian life. He can be friend who
 will never leave your side.
 But the true Christian finds in the high CT spiritual life more than this divine com panionship. No sooner do we truly be- ! come one with Christ than we enter into
 the elevatlng associations of the best and
 purest men and women living upon the face of the earth today We enter into holy association with those who have been recreated and made over and been stamped with the divine image. These children of God are different from all oth-
 CT men and women, for they are radiating with the power of the spirit filled life.
 Fun and Religion.
 "But." says some church member, T do not want to live in prayer meeting all the time. 1 do not want to be sing I ing psalm tunes morning, noon and
 night. Sanctfed people may be all right in their places, but a steady diet Of 'an-als food nauseates the stomach. 1 l like to frolic and play other kinds of
 games. l like to fish. like to hunt. In deed, 1 like fun just as much as l did twenty years ago. Tn other words l
 like tc do something besides going to church and talking about the Bible and foreign and home missions" So do good
 people like fun. So do the purest and
 best of Gods disciples like recreation. There Is no class of men and women that have a better time than Christian people. But, my friends 1t makes a great deal of difference what you call fun. If
 you cannot find your best enjoyment In
 life as well as your best spiritual life,
 and you had better get down on your
 knees and ask God to place you In one
 of his spiritual klns to refine your na-
 ture so that you will be able to find your
 joys in holy companionship.
 An old proverb goes thus: What Is
 meat for thy neighbor may be poison
 for thee" That means the food upon which your brothers physical organism
 thrives may be that which will not nour- ish your body. This proverb is emphat- ically true in reference to the enjoy ments of the spiritual and the worldly life The pleasures that fascinate the ungodly are generally pleasures that ara repugnant to the spiritual man. I was never more impressed with this fact than when visiting San Francisco some weeks ago.
 I have seen San Francisco under all conditions. visited 1t twice In my youth. l visited 1t in It's strength and power a year before the earthquake. l saw it burning and In ruins. A year later I also visited It, when its walls were about han rebuilt. I never enter this city of San Francisco but my mind runs back to the old mining camp of 1849, which was established when California gold was first discovered. The mining camp had some good people in it. But the adventurers of the east, the lbertines, the gamblers, the lost women and absolute characters from all over the United States, foeked there by the thousands and the tens of thousands Now, what was the result? Just as the stature of the Frenchman has been shortened because the Napol- eonio wars killed of large percentage Of the strongest and brawniest of the French youth, so the sins of the old min Ing camp of 1S49 are today bringing forth their evil harvest in sinful San Francisco In my time I have been almost every where. l have travelled around the world l have been In nearly all the cities of America and have been three times to Europe and am stating what ninety-nine men out Of hundred who live on the Pacific coast are willing to state-name- ly that San Francisco Is the vilest and the most sinful city upon the face of the earth. It always was a wicked place. and
 
 ever before.
 Worse Than Before.
 Troubles either drive men closer to God or farther away from God The troubles of San Francisco have made US good men better, but those troubles have made its bad men worse There you find the most corrupt of all politi- cal intriguers. There you find the places of sin crowded to the doors and the churches of Jesus almost empty There you find the places of infamy doubled and quadrupled year by year and the churches going back. Presby- terianism in San Francisco Is not as strong today as it was ten years ago. There you find the people for the most part living in rooms and dining in restaurants and turning the Sabbath day into gala day, Do you believe that the majoriey of the people living l in San Francisco would find the sweeter influences of home life a pleas ure as you and I look upon an evening spent in the society of our children al 1 a pleasure? No. To a great extent their lives crave the. unhealthy and vitiating and blasting stimulant of sin.
 It is an alarming symptom of a mans | spiritual condition if the wholesome | influences of home life are repugnant | to him. My brother, although you may i be church member your appetite for pleasure is sinful craving if you can not enjoy the pure, clean, refreshing | joy of Christian association. If that is | so. for Gods sake get down on your | knees and pray to your heavenly Father | that He will purify you so that you | may find your greatest enjoyments | among his people and among his true, | consecrated followers.
 But there Is another joy which comes | to the higher spiritual life, and that is | the joy of Christian service; that Is | the Joy of the noble hearted men who | always want to share their blessings | with every one else; that Is the joy | of the true man who, when he has | plenty of bread, wants to share 1t with | the hungry. When he has a cure for | the blinded eyes, he wants to give it to ! those groping about In darkness. When ! he can unstop the deaf ears. he wants 1 to make the deaf to hear and the dumb | to speak. No man is true man who, | when he has an abundance. Is not ! ready to share his plenty with those | who are in want. The poet well de- 1 fined this thought when he wrote: