Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 January 1896 — TALMAGE’S SERMON. [ARTICLE]

TALMAGE’S SERMON.

*SAY SO” THE SUBJECT OF DR. TALMAGE’S DISCOURSE.

The Eminent Divine Believe« Ont* ■poken Religion—Nothing Can Stand Before Prayer—Let the Redeemed Show Their Colors. A Practical Sarmou, Rev, Dr. Talmage never produced a <uore practical and * suggestive sermon than the one of last Sunday. His subject was “SayßO',” amFffie text selected"was Psalms cvii., 2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” ' . . ■ ‘-"J... ...... An overture, an antiphon, a doxology is this chapter, ans in my text David calls ior an outspoken religion and requests all who have been . rescued and blessed nd longer to hide the splendid facts, but to recite them, publish them and, as far as jpossible, let all the world know about it. ‘‘Let the reedeemed of the Lord say so.” There is a sinful'reticence which has been Almost canonized. The people are quite as outspoken as they ought to be on all subjects of polities and are fluent and vol■uble on the Venezuelan question and bixnetallism and tariffs,«high and .low and Remodeled, and female suffrage, and you have to skillfully watch your chance if .you want to put into the active conversation a modest suggestion of your own, but ■on the subject of divine goodness, religious experience and eternal blessedness they are not only silent, but poastful of their reticence. Now if you have been redeemed of the Lord why do you not say so?'lf you have in your heart the pearl of great price, worth more than -the Kohinoor ’« among'Victorian jewels, why not let others see it? If you got off the wreck in the ■breakers, why not tell of the crew and the ■stout lifeboat that safely Taridedyou? If from the fourth story you are rescued in time of conflagration, why not tell of the fireman and the ladder down Which he •carried you. If you have a mansion in. heaven awaiting you, why not show the •deed to those who may by the same proc•ess get an emerald casye .on the same boulevard? By the last two words of my text David calls upon all of us who have reepived any mercy at the hand of God to «top impersonating the asylums for the ■dumb, and in the presence of men, women, Angels, devils and all worlds, “say so.” Personal Salvation. In these January days thousands of ministers and private Christians are wondering about the best ways of starting a revival of religion. I can tell you a way of starting a revival, continental, hemispheric and worldwide. You say a revival starts in heaven. Well, it starts in heaven just as ’a prosperous harvest starts in heaven. The sun must® shine, and the rains must descend, but unless you plow And sow and cultivate the earth you will not raise a bushel of wheat or a peck of ■corn between now and the end of the world. How, then, shall a universal revival start? By all Christian people telling the story of their own conversion. Let ten men and women get up next week in your prayer meeting, and, not in a conventional or canting or doubtful way, •but in the same tone they employ in the family or place of business, tell how they •crossed the line, and the.revival will begin then apd there if the prayer meeting has not been so duH as to drive out all except those concerning whom it was foreordained from alLeiernity that they should be there. There nre.so many different ways •of being converted that fve want to hear All kinds, so that our own case may be helped. It alwaysT>uts me back to hear only one kind of experience, such as a man 4fives when he dells of his Pauline conversion—how he was knocked senseless, And then had a vision and heard voices, And after a certain number of days of horror got up and shouted for joy. All that discourages me, for I was never knocked senseless, and I never had such a sudden burst of religious rapture that I lost my equilibrium. But after awhile a Christian man got up in some meeting and told us how he was brought up by a devout parentage and had always been thoughtful about religious things, and gradually the peace of the gospel came into his soul like the dawn of the morning —no perceptible difference between moment and moment—but after awhile alt perturbation settled down into a hope that had consoled and strengthened him during all the vicissitudes of a lifetime. I said, “That is exhilarating; that was my experience.” And so I was strengthened.

A Universal Revival. I have but little interest in what people say about religion as an abstraction, tfiit I have illimitable interest in what people say about what they have personally felt of religion. It was an expression of his own gratitude .. for personal salvation which led Charles Wesley, after a season of great despondency about'his soul and Christ had spoken pardon, to write that immortal hymn: Oh, soy a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer’s praise! It was after Abraham Lincoln had been comforted in the loss of Tad, the bright toy of the White House, that he said, “1 now see as never before the preciousness of God’s love in Jesus Christ and l|ow we are brought near to God as our f ather by him." What a thrill went through the meeting in Portland, Ore., when an ex-attorney general of the United States arose and said: "Last night I got up and asked the prayers of God’s people. I feel now perfectly satisfied. The buMen is rolled off and all gone, and I feel that I ctfuld run or fly into the arms of Jesus Christ.” What a record for all time' and eternity was made by Gellacius, the play aetor, in the theater at Heliopolis. A burlesque of ■Christianity was put .upon the stage. In derision of the ordinance of baptism a bathtub, filled with water, was put upon the stage, and another actor, in awful blasphemy, dipped Gellgpius, pronouncing over him the words, “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, of and of the Holy Ghost.” But coming forth from the burlesqued baptism he looked changed ■and was changed, and be cried out to the audience: “I am a Christian. I will die as a Christian.” Though he was dragged out and stoned to death, they could not -drown the testimony made under such awful circumstances. “I am a Christian. I will die' as a Christian.” “Let the re, deemed of the Lord any so.” JWRcacy of Prayer. ‘ What a confirmation would come if all who had answers to prayers would speak out; if all merchants in tight places because of hard times would tell how, in response to supplication.dhey got the money to pay the note; if al! farmers in time of drought would tell how, in answer to

prayer, the rain eame just In time to save the crop; if all parents who prayed for a wandering son to come home would tell how, not long after, they heard the boy’s hand on the latch of the front door. Samuel Hick, an English Methodist preacher, solicited aid for West India missions from a rich miser and failed. Then theminister dropped on his knees, and the miser said, “I will give thee a guinea if thou Wilt give over.” But the minister continued to pray, until the miser said, “I will give thee two guineas if thou wilt give over.” Then the money was taken to the missionary meeting. • Oh, the power of prayer! Melanchthon, utterly discouraged, was passing along a place where ■ Children were heard praying, and he came “back;’ 'Mylng:“Brethren, Take courage. The children are- praying for us.” Nothing can stand before prayer. An infidel came into a Bible class to ask puzzling questions. Many of the neighbors came in to hear the discussion. The infidel arose and said to the leader of the Bible clahs, “I hear you allow questions asked ?” “Oh, yes,” said the leader, “but at the start let us kneel down and ask God to guide us!” “Oh, no,” said the infidel, “I did not come to pray! I came to discuss.” “But,” said the leader, “you will of course submit to our rule, and that is always to begin with prayer.” The leader knelt in prayer, and then arose and’said to the infidel, “Now you pray.” The infidel replied: “I cannot pray. I have no God to pray to. Let me go! Let me go!” The spectators, who expected fun, found nothing but overpowering solemnity, and a revival started; and among the first who were brought in was the infidel. That prayer did it. In all our lives there have been times when we felt that prayer was answered. Then let us say so." The Value of Kind Words. U Let the same outspokenness-be employed toward those by whom we have been personally advantaged. We. Wait until they are dead before we say so<Your parents have planned for your best interests all these years. They may sometimes, their nervous system used up by the cares, the losses, the disappointments, the worriments of life, be more irritable than they ought to be, and they probably have faults which have become oppressive as the years go Uy. But those eyes, long before they took on spectacles, were watching for your welfare, and their hands, not as smooth and much more deeply lined than once, have done for you toaiiy a good day’s work. Life has been to them more of a struggle than you will ever know about, and much of the struggle has been for you, and how much they are wrapped up in your welfare you will never appreciate. Have you by word or gift or behavior expressed your thanks? Or if you cannot quite get up to say it face to face,—ha you written it in some holiday salutation? The time will soon pass and they will be gone out of your sight, and their ears will not hear, and their eyes will not see. If you owe them any kindness of deed er any words of appreciation, why do you not say so? How much we might all of us save ourselves in the matter of regrets if we did not delay until too late an expression of obligation that would have made the last years of earthly life more attractive. The grave is deaf, and epitaphs on cold marble cannot make reparation.

In conjugal life the honeymoon is soon past, and the twain take it fcr granted that each is thoroughly understood. Howdependent on each other they become, and the years go by, and perhaps nothing is said to make the other fully understand taat sense of dependence. Impatient words sometimes come forth, and motives are misinterpreted, and it is taken as a matter of course that the two will walk the path of life side by side until about the same time their journey shall be ended, but some sudden and appalling illness unloosens the right hands that were clasped years before at the altar of orange blossoms, the parting takes place, and among the worst of all the sorrow is that you did not oftener, if you ever did at all, tell her or tell him how indispensable she was, or how indispensable he was to your happiness, and that in some plain, square talk long ago you did not ask for forgiveness for infirmities and neglects, and by some unlimited utterance make it understood that yon fully appreciated the fidelity and re-enforc<;ment of many „ years. Alas, how many such have to lament the rest of their lives, “Oh, if I had only said so!” The Christian Ideal. My subject takes a wider range. The Lord has hundreds of thousands of people among those who have never joined his army because of some high ideal of what a Christian should bo, or because of a fear that they may not hold out, pr because of a spirit of procrastination. They have never publicly professed Christ. They have as much right to the sacraments and as much right to all the privileges of the church as thousands who have for years been epj;oJJs»d As -church yet they have made no positive utterance by which the world may know they love God and are on the rood to heaven. They are redeemed of the Lord, and yet do not say so. Oh, what an augmentation it would be if by some divine impulse all those outsiders should become insiders! I tell you what would bring them to their right places, and perhaps notaing else will. Days of persecution! If they were compelled to take sides as between Christ and his enemies, they would take the side of Christ, and the faggots, and the instruments of torture, and the anathemas of all earth and hell would not make them blanch. Martyrs are made otlt of such stuff as they are. But let them not wait for such days, as I pray to God may never come. Drawn by the sense of fairness and justice and obligation, let them show their colors. Let the redeemed of the Lord sav so!

This chapter front which I take my text mentions several classes of persons wtfß ought to be outspoken. Among them all those who go on a journey. What an opportunity you have, you who spend so much of your time on rail trains or on shipboard, whether on lake or river dr sea! Spread the story of God jj gpodness and your own redemption wherever you go. You will have many a long ride beside some one Whom you will never see again, some one who is Waiting for one word of rescue or consolation: Make every rail train and steamer a moving palace of souls. Casual conversations have harvested a great host for God. There are many Christian workers in pulpits, in mission stations, in Sabbath schools, in unheard of places who are doing their best for God, and without any recognition. They go and come, and no one cheers them. Perhaps all the reward they get is harsh criticism or repulse, or their own fatigue. If you have ever heard of any good they have done, let them know about it. If you find tome one benefited by their alma, or their prayers, or their cheering word, go and tell them.

They may be almost ready to give up theii mission. ** They may be almost in despair because of the seeming lack of results. One word from you. may bei an ordination that will start them on the chief work of their lifetime. A Christian woman said to her pastor: “My usefulness is done. I do not know why my life is spared any longer, because I can do no good.” Then the pastor replied, “You do me great good every Sabbath.” She asked, “How do I do you any good?” and he replied, “In the first place you are always in your seat in the church, and that helps me, and in the second place you are always wide awake and alert, looking right up into my face, and that helps me; and in the third place I of ten see tears running down your cheeks, and that helps me.” What a good tiling he did not wait until she was dead before he said so! Helpfulness of Appreciation. There are hundreds of ministers who have hard work to make sermons because no one expresses any appreciation. They are afraid of making him vain. The moment the benediction is pronounced they turn on their heels and go out. Perhaps it was a subject on which he had put especial pains. He sought for. the right text, and then did his best to put the old thought into some new shape. He had prayed that it might go to the hearts of the people, lie had added to the argument the most vivid illustrations he could think of. He had delivered all with a power that left him nervously exhausted. Five hundred people may have been blessed by it, and resolved upon a higher life and nobler purposes. Yet all he hears is the clank of tne pew door, or the shuffling of feet in the aisle, or some remark about the weather, the last resort of inanity. Why did not that man come up and say frankly. “ion have done me good?” Why did not some woman comeup and say,“l shall go home to take up the burden of life more cheerfully?” Why did not some professional man come up and say: “Thank yoh, dominie, for that good advice. I will take it. God bless you.” Why did they not tell him so? I have known ministers, in the nervous reaction that comes to some after the delivery of a sermon with no seeming result, to go home and roll on the floor in agony. But to make up for this lack of outspoken religion there needs to be and will be a great day when, amid the solemnities and grandeurs of a listening universe, God will “say so.” No statistics can state how many mothers have rocked cradles and hovered over infantile sick-' nesses and brought up their families to manhood and womanhood and launched them upon useful and successful lives and yet never received one “Thunk youl” that amounted to anything. The daughters became queens in social life or were affianced in highest realms of prosperity; the sons took the first, honors of the university and became radiant in monetary or professional spheres. Now the secret of all that uplifted maternal influence must come .out. Society did not say so. the church did not say so, the world did not say so, but on that day of all other days, the last day, God will say so. There are men to whom life is a grind and a conflict, hereditary tendencies to be overcome, accidental environments to be endured, appalling opposition to be met and conquered, and they never so much as had a rose pinned to their coat lapel hi,, affmifatidn. They never had a song dedicated to their name. They never had a book presented to them with a complimentary word on the fly leaf. All they have to. show for their lifetime battle is scars. But in the last day the story will come out, and that life will he put in holy and transcendent rhythm, and their courage and persistence and faith and victory will not only be announced, but rewarded. “These are they that came out of great tribulation and had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.”" God will say so!

Last Judgment. We miss one of the chief ideas of a last judgment. We put into the picture the fire, and the smoke, and the earthquake, and the descending angels, and the uprising dead, but we omit to put into the picture that which makes the last judgment a magnificent opportunity. We omit the fact that it is to be a day of glorious explanation and commendation. The first justice that millions of unrewarded and unrecognized and unappreciated men and women get will be on that day when services that never called forth so much as a newspaper line of finest pearl or diamond type, as the printers term it, shall be called up for coronation. That will be the day of enthronement for those whom tho world calls “nobodies.” .Joshua, who commanded the sun and moon to stand still, needs no last judgment to get justice done him, but those men do need a last judgment who at times, in all armies, under the most violent assault, in obedience to command, themselves stood still. Deborah, who encouraged Barak to bravery ip battle t,he.oppressors at .Israel needs no last judgment to get justice done her, for thousands pf yearj h-v e clapped her applause. But the wfres who in all ages have encouraged tileir husbands in the battles of life, women whose names were hardly known beyond the next street or the next farmhouse, must have God say to them: “You did well! You did gloriously! I saw you down in that dairy. 1 watched you in the old farmhouse mending those children’s clothes. I heard what you said in the way of cheer when the breadwinner of the household was in despair. I remember all the sick cradles you have sung to. I remember the backaches, the headaches, tho heartaches. I know the story of your knitting needle as well as I know the story of a queen’s scepter. Your castle on the heavenly hill is all ready for you. Go up and take it!” And turning to the surprised multitudes of heaven be will say, “She did what she could.” God will say so.