REV. DK TALliAGR The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's San- day Sermon. Subject: "Siw Crind." Text: "Ltst I should build upon another raan'B foundation." Romans xv., 23. After, -with the help of others, I had built three churches in the same city, and not feeling called upon to undertake the su par human toil of building a fourth church, Providenoe seemed to point to this place as the field in which I aould enlarge my wori, and I feel a sense of relief amounting to ex ultation. Whereuntp this work will grow I cannot prophesy. It is inviting and promis- . ing beyond anything I have ever touched. , The churches are the grandest institutions this world ever saw. and their pastora have no superiors this side of heav3Q, but there is a work which must be done outside of the churches, and to that work I join; myself for awhile, "Lest I build on another man'a foundation." The church is a fortre33 divinely built. Now, a fortress is for defense ani for 'drill, and for storing ammunition, but an army taust sometimes be on the march far outside the fortre33. In the campaign of conquering this world for Christ thVtime has coma for an advance movement, for a "general en gagement' for massing the troop3, for an " invasion of the enemies country. Confident that the forts are well manned by the ablest ministry that ever blessad the church, I pro pose, with others, for awhile, to join the cavalry and move out and on for service in the open field. In laying out the plan for his missionary tour Paul, with mare brain than any of hi3 contemporaries or predecessors or succes sors, saught out towns an 1 cities which had not yet beau preaaae.l to. Ha goes to. Cor nith, a city mentioned for splendor and vica, and Jerusalem, where the priesthood and sanhedrin were ready to leap with; bath feet upon the Christian religion." He feals he has a special work to do, and he means to do it. What was the re3alt? Tile grandest life ol usefulness that mm ever ivad. We modern Christian workers are qot apt jto imitate Paul. We build on other people's founda tions. If wa erect a church, w prefer to have it filled with families all of whom have been pious. Do we gather a Sunday-school clas3, wa want good boys and! girls, hair ' combed, faces washed, manners ! attractive. So a church in this city is apt to be built out of other chtirches. Same ministers spend all their time in fishing in other people's ponds, and they throw the line inta that church pond and jerk out a Methodistj and throw the line into another church pond ani bring out a Preshyterian, or there is ;a religions row in some neighboring church, and the whole school of fish swim off from that pond, and we take tham. all in with one sweep of the net. What is gained? Absolutely noth ing for tha general causa of Christ. It is only as in . an army, when a regiment i3 trans-j ferred from one division to anatiar, or from the Fourteenth Regiment to tin Sixty-ninth Regiment. What strengthen? the army is new recruits. .The fact is, this is a big warldJ Whan in our sehoalbay days wa le irna l taa dianater and circumference of this plana!;, wa did not learn half. It is the latitude ai 1 lonsrituds and diameter an 1 circumferaaae ol want ani woe-and sin that na flgu:a3 can calculate. This one spiritual continent of wretaheinas? reaches across all zones, an 1 if I wara called to give its geographical bouuiry I would say it is bouniedon tha north aid south an I fa3t and west by the graat heict of Ga l's sympathy and lave. 0 1, it is a grai w ri 1. Sn?e 6 o'clock this morning at iaist 8J,O03 have baea born, aal ..'1- tins) miitioiiel pop llati oas are to b j r3 1 ;ha 1 ol t ia go? 5a' It EaUnd or in Eisiaa AmarLai i cltie? we are b3ing marx crow la 1, an I a i aare of groan 1 is of graa: valua, bu: out West 50) a-ra? is a su ill farm, an I 23, 003 aaras is no un.nuil rmvioa. There is a vast field here aal evary arhere unoc cupied, plenty of room more, not building on another man's foundation. We. need as churches to stop bombarding tha Id iron cladsinuars that have been proof against thirty yaars of Christian as3.y.ilt, and aim for the salvation o-' tho?a wao nava never yet ha t one warm haartel and point blank invitation. There are churches whose buildings might ba worth 203,033, who are not averaging five new convarc? a year an I doing les? good than many a log cabin meet ing house with tallow caa lie 3tuak iu wooden socket and a minister who ha? neversaaaa college or known the difference batween Greek and Choctaw. We nead churches to get into sympathy with tha great outside world, and let them know that nana are so broken hearte I or hardly bestead that thej will not be welcomed. 'No!" says soma fas tidious Christian: "I don't like to be crowd ed in church. Don't put any one in my Eew." My brother, what will you do in eaven? When, a great multitude that no man can number assembles, they will put fifty in your pew. What are tha select few to-day assembled in the Christian churches compared with the mightier millions outside of them? At least 3.003,033 paopla in th't3 cluster of seaboard cities, and not more than 203,033 In the churchas. Many of tha churchas aro like a hospital that should a ivartisa thitit? patients must have nothing worsa than tooth ache or "run aroanls," but no broken head. no crushed ankles, no fractured thighs. Give us for treatment moderate sinners, vel vet coated sinners and sinnars with a glois on. It is as though a man had a farm of 3000 acres and put all his work on one acre. He may raise never so large ears of corn, never so big heads of wheat, he would re j&ain poor. The church of God has bestowed Its chief care on one acra ani . has raised splendid men and women in that small in closure, but the field is the world. That means North and South; America. Europe, Asia and Africa an 1 all tha islands of tha sea. I . . It is as though after a great battle there were left 50,033 wiunded and dying on the field and three surgeons gave all their time to three patients juoder their charge. The major-general comas in and says to the doc tors, "Come out here and look at the nearly 50.000 dying for labkof surgical attendance." "No," say tha three doctors, standing there and fanning their! patients; "wa h3ve three important cases here, and we are attending them, and when we are not positively busy with their wounds it takes all our time to keep the flie3 offr" In this awful battle of sin and sorrow, Where millions have fallen on millions, do nic iet usi spaa 1 all our time 111 IUB.1UV. CltlO UL Sk lew U3Ji;ic, am. nu-u iuu . . ' , Z IL. 1.1 I commana comes.; "uo into me worm, saj practically: "No;! I cannot go. I have here a few choice cases, and I am busy keeping off the flies." There) are multitudes to-day who have never had any Christian worker look them in the eye, and with earnestness in the accentuation say "Come!" or they would long ago have bean in the kingdom. My friends, religion is either a sham or a tre mendous reality. If it be 3 sham, let us cease to have anything to do with Christian as sociation. If itjba a reality, then great populations are jon their way to the bar of God unfitted for the ordeal, and what are we doing? j In order to teach tho multitude of outsid ers we must dropjall technicalities out of our religion. When yre talk to people about the hypostatic . union jand Franch encyclopadian- ism and erastian'ism and complaten3ianism, . we are as impolitic and little understood aa , if a physician should talk to an ordinary pa tient about the pericardium and intercostal muscle and scorbutic symptoms. Maay of us come out of the theological -seminaries so loaded up that we take tha first ten years to show our people how much wa know, and the next ten year$ to get our people to know . as much as we kEow, and v at tha end find that neither of U3 knows anything as wa ought to know. (Here are thousands of sin ning, straggling and dying people who need to realize just onb thing that Jesus Christ came to save them, and will save them now. But we go into a profound and elaborate definition of what justification is, and after all the work theire are not outside of the learned professions o'OOO people in the United States who can tell what justification is. I will read you the definition: "Justification is purely a forensic act, the act of a judge sitting in the forum, in which the Supreme Ruler and Judge who is ac countable to none, and who alone knows the manner in which the ends of His universal government can1 b33t ba attained, reckons that which was done by tha substitute, and not on account Of anything dona' by them, but purely upon1 account ol this gracious method of reckoning, grants thaai tha full remission of tha;r sins." Now, what is justification? I will tall yoi what justification is. Whan a slnnar ba lieyes, God lets him) off. Ona summar in Connecticut I went to a large factory, and I saw over the door written the words, "No al mittance." I entered and saw ovar the nexi door, "No admittance." Of coarsa I enteral. I got inside and ! found it a pin factory, and . thav were making pfns, vary serviceable, fine and usetul pins.i So tha spirit of exclu?iva ness ha3 practically written ovar the outside doo- of many a church, "No admittance." And if the stranger enter ha finds practically written ovar the sacond door, "No udmit tauca," and if ha goas in ovar all the paw doors seems written, "No admittance," while tha minister stands in the pulpit, hammering out his little niceties of balief, pounding out tha technicalities of religion, making pins. Inthamo?t practical, common sen3a way, ai l laying asida tha nona33antiaLs and the hard definition? iof religion, go out on tha 'G o I given mission, tailing tha people what ' they need and whan and how they can gat it. Comparatively little effort a3 yet has been made, to save that large class of persons in our midst called skeptics, and he who goe3 to work hera jwill not ba building upon another man's foundation. Thare is a great mu'titude of thm. Thay are afraid of u? an I our churchas, for the raa30n wa do not kn)w how. to treat them. Ona of this cla?3 met Chri3t, and j hear with what tenderness ail pathos anlj bamty fan I succas? Christ daalt with him: i "Thou shalt love tha Lord thy God with all th3r haart, an iwith all thy soul, and with 'all thy mind, ani with all thy strength. This is tha firs: commandment, and the saconi is like to this namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor a? thysalf. Thara is ' no other commandmant greater than this." Ani taa scriba jsald to Htm, "JVelf, Ma?ter, Taou has; said! tha truth, fez thare i3 one Gol, aad to love Him with all tha heart, and all tha understanding, and all tha soul, and all the strength, is mora than whole burnt offerings jaad sacrifices." And when Jasa? saw that! he an3warad discreetly He said unto him, j"Taou art not far from tha kinlon of God." So a skaotic was saved in ona Intarvievy. Bat few Ciristian paople traa: tha skaptid in that way. In?tead of tak ing hold of him' with tha gaatlehaadof love, wa are apt to taka him with tha iron pihclhars of ecclesiasticisii. j You would not ba so rough on thai man if yoa kn-iwbywhat procjH ha hai-lost his faith in Christianity. I have known man skeptical from the fact that thay grawjoo in housa? where religion was overdona,' Sun day wa? the mo3t awful day of the week. Thay hai religion driven into them with a triphammer. They were surfeited with prayer meetings. They ware stuffed and ehokai with catechism?. Thay ware often t old thay werej the worst boys the parents evar kaaw. becshi?a they likai to ride dowa hilt better thatoread Banyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." Whenever father and mother talke i of religion, they drew dowa the cor ners of their mouth ani rolled up their eyes. ff anronethinz will seal a bor or gird to rain sooner than another, that is it. It I had such a father and mother, I fear I should hava baan an infidel. When I wa? a boy in Sunlay-3chool. at one tima we had a teacher who, when we ware not attentive, straak u over the head with a New Testament, ani there is a way of using even the Bible so as to make it offensive. Others were tripped u? of skepticism from - being grievously wrongai oy soma man wn? professed to be a Christian. Tney had a partner in bu3lne?3 who turned out to b3 a first-class scoundrel, though a profe3sai Christian.' Many yaars ago they l03t ail faith by what happened in an oil company which wa? formed amid the patrolaum excitement. The comoany ownad no land, or if they did there wa3 no sign of oil produced, but the President of the comoany was a Presbyterian elder, ani tha treasurer wa? an Episcopal vestryman, an I one diractor was a Methodist cla?? leader, and tha other directors promi nent members of Baptist and Congregational churches. Circulars were gotten out telling what fabulous prospacts opened before this eompany. Innocaat men and women who' had a little monay to invast, and that little their all, said, "I don't know anything about this company, but " so many good men are at the head of it that it miist ba excellent, and taking stock in it mu3t bealmo3t as good a3 joining th9 church." So thay bought tha stock and parhap3 re ceived ona dividend so as to keep them still, but after awhile they found that the com pany had reorganized aad . had a different president and diff arent treasurer and differ ent directors. Other engagements or ill health had cai3ad tha former officers of the company, with - many - regrets, to resign. -And'all that tha subscribers of that stock had . to show for their, investm ant wa3 a beauti fully ornaminted - certificate. Sometimes nhat man looking over his old papers comas across that certificate, .and it is so suggastiv3 that he vois ha wants nana of the religion that tha presidents aad irustaas and dirac . tors of that oil company professed. Of course their , rejection of religion on such, grounds was unphilosophical and unwise. ; I am told that many ol ths United States army desert every year, and thare are thousands of court martial? every year. 13 that anything against tha United States Gov ernment that swore them in? And if a soldier of Je3us Christ desert, is that anything against the Christianity which he swore to support and defend? How do you judge of the currency of a country? By a counterfeit bill? Oh, you must have pa tienca with those who have been swindled by religious pretenders.' Live in the presence of others a frank, honest, earnest Christian life, that they may be attracted to the same Sav iour upon whom your hope3 depend. Remember skepticism always has some reason, good or bad, for existing. Goethe's irreligion . started whan the news came to Germany of the earthquake at Lisbon, Nov. 1, 1775. Tnat 60,00) people should have perisfeed in tha; earthquake and in the after rising of tha Tagus so stirred his sympathies that he threw uo his belie: in the gooines3of God. - . Others have gono into skepticism from a natural persistence in asiing taa reason wnv. They have been fearfully stabbed of the in terrogation point. There are so many things' they cannot get explained. They cannot un derstand tha" Trinity or how God can ba sov ereign and yet a man a free agent. Neither . can I. They say: ''1 don't understand why a good God should have letsin come into the world. ; Neither do I. You say: "Way was that child started in life with such disadvan tages, while others have all physical and rhantal equipment?" I cannot tell. They go out of church on Easter morning and say: "That doctrine of the resurrection con founded ma." So it is to ma a mystery be yond uuravslment. I understand all the pro cesses by which men get into the dark. I know them all. I have traveled with burning feet that blistered way. The first word which most children learn to utter is: "Papa," or "Mamma," but I think'the firsi word I ever uttered wa3: "Why?" 1 know wnat it is to have a hundred midnights pour thair darkness into one hour. Such men are not to be scoffed, but helped. Tarn your back upon a drowning man when you have the rope with which to pull him ashore, and let that woman in the third story of a house perish in the flames when you have a ladder with which to heip her out and help her down, rather than turn your back scoffingly on a skeptic whose soul is in more peril than the bodies of thosn other endangered ones possibly can be. Oh, skepticism is a dark land. Thare are men in this house who would give a thousand worlds if they pos sessed them to get back to the placid faith of their fathers and mothers, and it is our place to help them, and we may help them, never through their heads, but always through their hearts. These skeptics, when brought to Jesus, will ba mightily effective, far more 1&0 than those who naver examinad the evi-' dences of Christianity. Thomas Chalmar? wa? oaca a skeotis Robert Hill a skeptic, Rob art Newcon a skep tic, Christmas Evans a skeptic. But when once with strong hand thay took hold of the chariot of the gospel they rolled it on with what momentum! If I address such men and women to-day, I throw out no scoff. I implead them by the memory of the good old days, whan at thair mother's knaa they said, "Now I lay me down te sleep," and by tho3a days and nights scarlet fever in which sha watched you, giving you the medicin9t just the right tima ani turning your pillow when it wa? hot, and with hands that many years ago turned to du?t soothed away your pain, and with voica that yoa will never hear again, unless you join ha-in the batter country, tol i you to never mini, for you would feal battar by an I by, and by that dying coach, wherashe lookel so paia and talked so slowly, catching her breath batween tne words, and you felt an awful loneliness coming over your sou! by all that I bag you to come back and take tha same religion. It wa3 good enough for her. It is good enough Deafheaa Caant b Cmred by local application as they cannot reach the diseased nnrtinn nf f Ho TV...- i -.-i - way to cure Deafness, and that is by constitu tional remedies. Deafness is caused br ania flamed condition of the mucous iinin of the, Eustachian Tube.: When this tube rets in Camed you have a Tumbling sound or imper fect hearing and whea It is entirely closed. Deafness Is the result, and unless the inflam mation can be taken out and this tube re stored to its normal condition, hearing will be destroyed forever; nine cases out ten are caused by catarrh, which is nothing but an in flamed condition of the mucous surfaces. We will give One Hundred Dollars for any case of Deafness iCcaused by catarrh) that can not be cured by Hall's Catarrh Care. Send far circulars, free. -ouv tF j-chkket& Co.. Toledo, O 53T"Sold by Druggists, 75c; The friendship between two girl3 ns- naiiy ceases as soon as they have told trery thing they knowj Notice; - I want every man and woman in the TJnitefl States interested in the Opium and Whisky habits to have one otAij hooks on these die eases. Address B. MyWoolley, Atlanta, Qa Box 881. and one will be sent you free. Five billion Jane bugs; were destroyed in 519 Austrian comiaunities) last year. Dr. Kilmer's Ew amp-Boor cure? ail Kidney 'and Bladder troubles. Pamphlet and Consultation free. Laboratory Binghamton, N. 3C A man can save fuel, light," aad kjj -hemtn;'Dy golftg to bed early. Weak "and Sore- Eyes Hood's Sarsaparllla, Trouht Cure and Built Up System. " Two years ago my little daughter Elsie was afflicted with ulcerated sore eyes. I tried one of j the best doctors in tb& city for about a year but her eyes seemed to grow worse. I had her treated by an oc ulist but his treat ment did not ben efit them. I then commenced to give the little one Hood's Sarsapar llla and after the Elsie Cannedr. I eee that tnere was Arkansas City, Kan. j great improve ment. Elsie is. now nine years old. B?side3 benefiting the special trouble mentioned Hood's Sarsaparilla has made her a strong and sprightly child. I jwill always speak highly of Hood's Sarsaparilla." J. H. Cas szdy, 215 North Fifth Street, Janitor Fourth Ward School Building, Arkansas City, Eaa. .2. . ood's Be Sure to get HOOD. Sarsa parilla 1 flAAfl'o Dill cure habitual coastipa llOOU S fill tlon. lhricicperbo The Greatest fledical Discovery of the Age. KENNEDY'S Medical Discovery, DONALD KENNEDY, OFjROXBURY, MASS., Has discovered in one of our comtnoa "pasture weeds a remedy that cures every kind of Humor, from the worst Scrofula down to a common pimple. Send for Book. Manistee, Mich. Feb. 14, ISOo. Dr. Kennedy, Dear Sir I am the little 60? you sent the Discovery to about six weeks ago I used two bottlts and also the salve. When I began to use the medicine my sores were as large as a quarter of a dollar, and now they are as large as a ten cent piece and I Seel much tetter. Mamma and I feel very thankful to you. J ehall write again and tell you how I ani getting along. J remain your little friend, ! ANDREW POMEJIOW 6S Lake Street.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view