Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 December 1896 — QUICK BOUT OF SIN. [ARTICLE]

QUICK BOUT OF SIN.

REV. OR. TALMAGE FAVORS A SUDDEN ASSAULT. He Thinks -the Earth Cap Be Captured for Righteousness by the Cavalry Of the Christian Hosts vAn Eloquent Exhortation for a Revival. Our Weekly Pcribpn. This sermon of Dr. TAltnpge in behalf of a movement to' capture ttje * world for righteousness strikes a chord that will vibrate through Christendom. The text is 11. Kings xviii., 23, “I will deliver thee 2,000 horses if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them,”. Up. by the waterworks, the , .ripper reservoir of Jerusalem, the general of the besieging- army and the generals of besieged Jerusalem are in consultation. Tir&ugh General Itab-shakeh had been largely paid to stop the siege, he kept the money and continued the siege—the military miscreant! Itab-shakeh derides the capacity of the city to defend itself i V and practically hays: “You have not 2,OCX} men who can manage horses. Produce 2,000 cavalrymen, and I will give yon & present of 2,000 cavalry horses. VYou have not in all your besiegeji, city )of -Jerusalem 2000 men who can innnrff' them, and by bit and bridle control a horse.” Rab-shakeh realized that it is easier to find horses than skillful riders, and hence he makes the challenge of the text, “I will deliver thee 2,000 horses if thou be able to set riders upon them.” Rab-shakeh, like many another bad man, said a very suggestive thing. The world is full of great energies and great opportunities, hut few know how to bridle them and mount them and manage them. More spirited horses than competent riders! The fact is that in the church of God we have plenty of fortresses well manned and plenty of heavy artillery and plenty of solid columns of' brave Christian soldiery, but what we most need is cavalry—mounted troops of God—for sudden charge that seems almost desperate. If Washington, if New York, if London, are ever taken for God, it will not be by* slow bombardment of argumentation or by regular unlimbering of great theological gunS from the portholes of the church, bat by gallop of sudden assault and rush of holy energy that will astound and throw into panic the long lines of drilled opposition armed tothe teeth. Nothing so scarps the-forces of sin as a .revival that copies they know, not whence, to do that which they cannot tell, to work in a way that they cannot understand. They will be.overcome by flank movement. The church of God must double up their right or left wing. If they expect us from the north, we will take them from the south. If they expect us at 12 o’clock at noon, we will come upon them at 12 o’clock at night. The —opportunities for this assault are great and numerous, but where are the men? “I will deliver thee 2,0(K) horses if thou be able to set riders upon them.” Praise for the Press. The opportunities of saving America and saving tjie entire planet were never so many, never so urgent, never so tremendous as now. Have you not noticed the willingness of the printing press of the country to give the subject of evangelism full swing in column after column? Such work was formerly confined to tract distribution, .and...religions journalism. Now the morning and evening newspapers, by hundreds and thousands of copies, print all religious intelligence and print most a\v a ken i ng" - * d iscou roes. Never since the world lias stood has such a .force been offered to all engaged in the world’s evangelization. *Of the more than 15,000 newspapers on this continent

I do not know one that is not alert to catch and distribute all matters of religious information. The newspaper press will yet announce nations burn Itrir day: The newspaper press will report Christ’s sermons yjy, to be delivered and describe his jiersonalappearance, if, as some .think, he shall, come again to reign on earth.- The newspaper press may 1 ' yer publish Ohrist’s procllamntion of tile world’s Emancipation from sin and sorrow and death. Tens of thousands of good men in this and other lands have been ordained by the laying on of hands to preach the gospel, but it seems to me that just now, by the laying on of tlie hands of the Lord God Almighty, the newspaper presses are being ordained for preaching tire—gospel —with wider sweep and mightier resound than we have yet imagined. The iron horses —of-t-he printing-peess'm-uull-rc-ady for tim... battle, but where art? the] men good enough and strong enough to mount them and guide them? “I will deliver time 2,000 horses "If thou be able to set riders upon them.” Useful in Buttle. Go gut to tile Soldiers’ Home, and talk with the men who have been in the wars, and they will give you right appreciation . of what is tlie importance of the cavalry servige in battle. You bear the clutter of the hoofs and the whir of the arrows and the clash of the shields and the hang of the carbines ns they ride up and down the centuries. Clear back in time O'syninndyas led 20,000 mounted troops in Baetriana. Josephus says that when the Israelites escaped-from Egypt 50.000 cavalrymen rode'through tlie parted Red Sen. i. Three hundred and seventy-one years b'efore*Christ Epnminondas headed his troops at full gallop. Alexander, on a horse that no other man oould ride, led bis mounted troops. Seven thousand horsemen decided the'struggle at Arbeln. Although saddles were not invented until tlie tpne of Constantine, and stir- . rtjps were unknown until about 450 years after Christ, you hear the neighing and snorting of ‘war chargers in the greatest battles of the ages. Austerlitz and Mar--engo 'niitL Solferino were tfeeHled by tlie —cavalry-. -The-mmurted—Eestiaeks—r-e-ew-forced the Russian snow-storms in the obliteration of the French army. Napoleon said if he had.only had sufficient cavalry at Bautzen and Lutzen His wars would have triumphantly ended. I do not wonder that the Duke 'of Wellington had his old war horse Copenhagen turned out in best pasture, and that the Duchess of Wellington wore a bracelet of Copenhagen's hair. Not one drop of roy bloiid but tingles ns 1 look at the nrehed neck and pawing hoof and panting nostril of Job’s cavalry horsb. (“Hast thou clothe!] his neck with thutider? "He paweth in the valley; he goeth on to meet the armed men. The quiver rattleth against hion, the glittering spear and the shield. Ho saifrh among the trumpets; Ha, ha! u’nd he smelleth the battle afar <Jff, the thuudef of the captains and the shouting.” The Bold Pnsfi. 5 ■*- ‘■l'titfiHrif'W'tfctr cpfttfr? • vmtarem*: tian hosts, the gfnijd men and women who, with bold dash and holy recklessness and spurred on energies, are to tuk» tha world for God. To this pray of Christian service belong the evangelists. ~ It ought to be the business of the regular churches to tnhltlply them, to support them, to cheer them, to clear the way for them. Some of them you like; some of them you do not like. You say some are tyo sensational, and some of them are not «uough learned, and some of them are ♦rratic, and some of them'are too vehement, and some of-them pray too loud. Oh, fold Up your criticism and let them do fhnt which we, the pastors, cannever do. 1 like all the evangelists I Have ever Haaa ar heard. They are busy now; they

are busy every day of the week. While we, the pastors, serve God by holding the fortress of righteousness and drilling the Christian soldiery and by marshaling anthems and sermons and ordinances on the tight side, they are out fightjng the forces of darkness “hip and thigh, with great -slaughter.” All success to them! The faster they gallop the better I like it. The keener the lances they fling the more I admire them. We care not what conventionality they infract if they only gain the victory. Moody and Chapmanand Mills and Jones and Harrison and Munhall and Major Cole and Crittenden and a hundred otherg are now making the cavalry charge, and they are this moment taking New York and Philadelphia andiCiucinnati for God, and I wish they might take our nation’s capital. Hear the tremendous facts: There are now in this country nearly 1(50,000 church congregations, with Aiea,riy 21,000,000 communicants and seating capacity in clyireh for more than 43.Q0p,000 people—in other words, room in tlie churches for three-fourths of the population of this country, and about one-third of the population of this couutry already Christian. In other words, we will have only to average bringing two souls to God during the next three years and our Country is redeemed. Who cannot, under the power of the Holy Ghost, bring two souls to God in three years? Take out of your prayers and preaching some of your stuffing of groans ap4put in something pf acclamation and triumph, and the United States will be gospelized, and if the United States be gospelized America will be gospelized. and, Atnerjca gospelized, we will take Asia from the Pacific beach and Europe from the Atlantic beach, and not far front now. the lost star we live on will take its place among the constellations that never fell. Let the more than 21,000,000 communicants, as they lift the sacrameqjal cup to their lips, take oath that they will not rest until the other 40,000,000 are saved. The opportunities are all saddled and bridled. Where are the men and women to guide them? Pull Up the Blinds. Get out of the way with j-our dolorous foreboding and change your dirges for what we have not done for the grand march of what we may do and will do. Tlie woman at Sedan, in whose house Napoleon the last was ivaiting to make surrender of himself and his army, said to the ..overthrown French emperor, “What can I do for you?” And the despairing ex-monarch replied, “Nothing hilt draw down the blind so that*!, cannot he stared at,” In this gospel campaign we have plenty to draw down the blinds. In God’s name, I say, pull up the blinds .and let the morning sun of the coming victory shine upon -us. What we' want in this campaign for God is the self-abiregration and courage o£ the ipen of Sir Colin Campbell, who, as uord Bishop Cowie of New Zealand, one chaplain of -Mis army, told me, said to * the troops: “Men, no retreat from this place. Die right here.” And they shouted: “Yes,. Sir Colin. We Will do it.” And they did! Temporary defeats ought not to dishearten. What is Bunker Hill monument? Monument of defeat. But from that bloody mount American independence started for its grandest achievement, and all the defeats of the cause of God are incipient victory. Tliy saints in all this glorious war ■ Shall conquer, though they die. the triumph from afar And -seize it with their eve.

And now, standing ns I do in this national capital, let me say that what we Want in the Senate and House of Represeirtatfves and the Supremo' Court is a Pentecostal blessing that will shake the continent with divine mercy. There recently came into my hands the records of two Congressional prayer meetings, on the rolls of which were the names of the most eminent Senators and'Representatives who then controlled the destinies of this republic—the one Congressional 18(5(5. The record is in the handwriting of tire philanthropist, William E. Dodge, then a member of Congress. There are now more Christian men in the National Legislature than ever imfore. Why will thgy not band --together in a religious movement which' before the inifitgnration of the next President shall enthrone Christ in the hearts of this nation? They have the brain, they have the eloquence,they have jjie influence. God grant them the grace sufficient! Who in Congressional circles will establish the capitoline prayer-meeting in 181)7? Let -the evening of the last decade of this century Joe irradiated with such a religious splendor. _Xkero_ara ..the.-opporl u.uities. -for..,a —iwu. tional and international" charge, all bridled and saddled. Where are the riders to mount them? A Quick Fight. The cavalry suggests speed. When once the reins are gathered into tlie hands' of. the soldlerlyhorsepTiin, and the spurs are struck into the flanks, yon hear the rataplan of the hoofs. “Velocity” is -the word-that-describes the movement,- ■ acceleration, momentum, ami what we want in getting into the kingdom of God is celerity. You see the years are so swift, and the weeks are so swift, and the days are so swift, and the hours are so swift, and the minutes are so swift, weneed to lie swift. For lack of this appropriate speed many do not get into heavdit at all. Here we are in tlie last Sabbath of the year. Did you ever know a twelvemouth quicker to be gone? The goldenrod of one"autumn speaks to the goldenrod of the next autumn, ami the crocus of one springtime to tlie crocus of another springtime, and tlie snowbanks of adjoining years almost reach each other in unbroken curve. lYe are in too much hurry about most things. Business men in too much hurry rush into speculations that ruin them and ruki others. People move from place, ter place in too great liasto, and they wear out their nerves and tiling in which they nre afraid of being too hasty is the matter of the soul’s salvo tinn. Yet did anyone ever get ilamnged by too quick repentanfce or too quick pardon or too-quick emancipation"? The Bible recommends tard-inest; deliberation and snail-like movement in some things, ins when it enjoins us to be slow to speak and slow td and slow, to do evil, but it tells us, "The king’s'business re(jpureth haste,” aniL that our' days are as the flight of a leaver’s shuttle and ejaculates: “Escape Tor thy fife. - Look not behind thee.. thou in all the plain.” Other cavalry troops may fall back, but mounted years never retrent. They are always going ahead, hot on an easy canter, but 'nt full'run. Other regiments hear the command of “Halt!” and pitch their tents for the night. The regiments' of the years never TVenF'the cfiinrfliftfd'Wf “Halt!” aud never pitch tent for the night. The century lends on its troQp of 100 years, and the year lends on its troop of .3(55 days, and the day Mends.um its trqop of twenty-four hours, and the hour leads' on its troop of sixty minutes, and. nil are dashing out of sight. Perhaps therd are two years ih which we nre most Interested—our first aud onr last. Held up In our mother’s arms,' w*e watched the flight of the first. With wondering eyes \ye all watch, the coming of the last. JEhe name of that advancing year- we cannot call, ltniay be In the nineties of .this century, it may be in tlie tens or twenties or thirties of the next century, but-U is coming at full gallop. With what mood will we meet it? In . m • ' r*, It,'* ■ ; f>

jocosity, as did Thomas Hood in his last moment, saying, “I am dying out of charity to the undertaker, who wishes ; to earn a' lively Hood.” Or in fear, as did Thomas Paine, saying in his last moment, “Oh, how I dread this mysterious leap in the dark!” Or in boastfulness, as did Vespasian, saying in his last moment,, “Ah, methinks I am' becoming a gocN” Or in frivolity, as did Demonax, the infidel philosopher, saying in his last moment, “You may*go home; the show is over.” Or conscience stricken, as did Charles IX. of France, saying in his last moment: “Nurse, nurse! What murder! What blood!” Or shall we meet it in gladness of Christian hope, like that of Julius Charles Hare, who. said in his last -moment, “Lipward, - upward!” Or like that of Richard “Baxter, in his last moment saying. “Almost well.” Or liko that of Martin of Tours, saying in his last moment, “I go to Abraham’s bosom„” Or like that of polished Addison, who said in his last moment, “See with what ease n Christian can die.” - Or like that ofj George Whitefield, who felt that he had said all that he could of Christ, declaring!in his last moment, “I shall die silent.”' Or like that of Mrs. -Schimmelpennich, who said in her last moment: “Do you not hear the voices? And the children’s are the’lopdest.” Or like that of Dragonnatti, saying in his last moment: “Stand aside! I see my father and my mother coming to kiss me.”

Or as did the dying girl who, having it few evemlgg~lsefSffr^SU@!r5 == f>enclrTif = a London mission, was seen to have tears of contrition roiling down her cheek, and who, departing from the room, had put in her hand by a Christian woman a Bible, with ?the passage marked, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.” Though having promised to be at the next meeting, she did not come. The Christian woman who gave her the Bible was visiting the hospital, and the nurse said to her: “I wish you had been here a little while ago. We had a young woman who had been run over by a wagon. Poor thing, she was fearfully crushed and died almost-at once. She had a Bible in her hand, with your name in it, and she said when she- Was-brought- in: ‘Thank God, I found Christ as my Savior-dast night! The blood of Jesus Christ, his® sop, cleanseth us from all sin.’ ” Oh, my friends, if all right for the next world, the years cannot gallop past too rapidly. If it were possible for the centuries to take the speed of the years, and the years the speed of the da'ys, and the days the speed of the hours, they could do us no harm. The shorter our life the longer our, heaven. The sooner we get out of the’ perils of this life, if our *£prk be done, the better. Then, let the creaking door of the closing year go shut. When that closes, better doors will open. The world’s brightest and happiest years are yet to come. ; __