Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-12-23
TALMAGE SERMON.

l E 4
Here we have warrior sick, moo with ple,l-
risics or rheumatisms or consumptions, bit
with disease worse than all these put togeth-
err; red mark has come out on the forehead,
precursor OF complete Disagreement and dis
solution. fhave something awful to tell you.
General Naaman, the COMMANDMENTS chief OF
all the Syrian forces, has the leprosyl 1t Is
! on his hands, on his face, on bis feet, on, his
entire person. The leprosyl Get out OF the
way OF the pestilencel IL his breath strike
you, you are dead man. The commander
in-chef of all the forces of Syriai And yet
he would be glad to exchange conditions with
The boy In his strrup or the hostler that
blankets his charger. The news goes like
wildfre all through the realm, and the people
are sympathetic and they cry out: is 1t
possible that our great hero who shot Ahab
and around whom we came with such vocifer.
alton when he returned from victorious battle
can 1t be possible that our grand and glorious
Naaman has the leprosyi'
Yes. Everybody has something he wishes
| he had not-David, an Absalom to disgrace
him; Paul. thorn to sting him; Job, carbun-
cles to plague him; Sampson. Delilah to
shear him; Ahab, a Naboth to deny him;
Haman, Mordeca TO irritate him; George
Washington, childlessness to afflct him; John
Wesley, a tcrmagant'wife to poster him; Leah,
weak eyes; Pope, crooked back; Byron, a
club foot; John Milton, blind eyes; Charles
Lamb, an insane sister; and you, and you. aud
you, and YOU, something which you never
bargained for, and would like 10 get rid Of
The reason of this is, that God does not want
this world TO be too bright; otherwise, we
would always want TO stay and eat these
! fruits, and lie on these lounges, and shake
hands In this pleasant society We are only
In the vestibule Of a grand temple God does
not want us to stay on the doorstep, and
| therefore he sends ashes, and annOyances, and
| sorrows, and bereavements Of al sorts to push
us up toward ripper fruits, aud brighter society,
ana more radiant prOsperties, God Is only
| whipping us ahead. The reason that Edward
! views of heaven than other people had was
| because, through their aches and pains, God
| pushed them nearer up to it. II God dashes
| out one OF your pictures, il is only TO show you
brighter one III lie sting your foot with
! govt, your brain with neuralgia, your tongue.
with inextnguishablc thirst, 1t Is only because
lie is preparing to substitute better body
| than you ever dreamed of, when the mortal
shall put on Immortality. IL is to push YOU
| on, and push you up toward something grand.
did upon General Naaman, something YOU do
not want. Seated in his Syrian mansOn-all
the walls glittering with the shields which he
had captured in battle; the corridors crowded
with admiring visitors who Just wanted to see
him once; music, and mirth, and banuueting
| filling all the mansion, from tesselated floor to
pictured cciling-Naaman would have forgot
ten that there was anything better, and would
have been glad to stay there ten thousand
years. But, OH how the shields dim and how
the visitors fly from the hall, and how the
music drops dead from the string, and how
the gates Of the mansion slam shut with
sepuchral bang, as YOU read the closing words
of the eulogtum: HE was leper, He was a
leper"
There was one person more sympathetic with
General Naaman than any other person. Ma
aman's wife walks the floor, wringing her
hands and trying to think what she can do to
alleviate her husbands suffering All RENE
uies have failed. The surgeon-genera and
the doctors of the royal staff, have met and
they have shaken their heads as much as to
say: mo cures no cure" | think that the
| Office seekers had all folded up their recon-
mGndatiOns and gone home PROBABLY most
OF the employees of the establishment had
dropped their work and were thinking of look
ing for some other situation. What shall now
become of poor Naaman's wifel She must
have sympathy somewhere. In her despair
she goes to a little Hebrew captive, servant
girl in her house, to whom she tells the whole
story; as sometimes, when overbOrne with the
sorrows OF the world, ana lndng no sympathy
| anywhere else, you have gone out and found
in the sympathy Of some humble domestic
Rose, or Dnah, or Bridget help which the
world could not give you.
What a scene it was One of the grandest
women in all Syria in cabinet council with a
waiting maid over the declining health of the
| mighty General. Il know something saws
the little captive maid II know something"
as she bounds to her bare feet in the land
from which | was stolen there is a certain
prophet known by the name OF Elisha, who
can cure almost everything, and | shouldn't
wonder II he could cure my master. Send for
him right away oh, hush ~ you say. If
the highest medical talent in all the land can
not cure that leper, there is no need of your
listening to any talk of servant girl" But
do not scott, do not sneer. The finger OF that
little captive maid is pointing in the right d.
rectiOn. She might have said: This Is a
Judgment on you for stealing me from my
| native land. Didn't they snatch me off in the
night, breaking my fathers and mothers
heart! AMI many time l have laid and
cried all night because / was go homesck. -
Then flushing up into childish indignation
she might have said: Good for them; Pm
glad Mammals got the leprOsy; | wish all the
Syrians ad the leprosy." No Forgetting her
own personal SORROWS, she sYmpathizes with
the suffering of her master and recommends
him to the famous Hebrew prophet.
And how often Is 1t that the finger of child.
hood has pointed grown persons in the right
direction. o Christian soul, how long is it
since that YOU got rid of the leprosv of sin
You say; Let me see. 1t must be five years
| now Five years. Who was it that point
ed you TO the Divine Physician!" 80" you
! say, at was my little Annie, or Fred, or
Charley, that clambcred up on my knees and
looked in my face, and asked me why didn't
become Christian, and all the time stroking
my cheek 50 couldn't get angry insisted up
on knowing why didn't have family prayers.n
There are grandparents here who have been
brought TO Christ by their little grandchid-
ren. There are many Christian mothers here
who had their attention first called to Jesus
by their little children. How did you get rid
| of the leprosy of sin! How did you find your
way to the Divine Physicianl oh you say,
my child, my dying child, with wan and
| wasted finger pointed that way! Oh, / shall
never forget" you say that scene at the era
! die and the crib that awful night 1t was
| hard, hard, very hard but il that little one
| on It's dying bed had not pointed me to Christ,
| | don't think ! ever would have got rid of my
| leprOsy." Go into the Sabbath school this af.
| ternoon and you will find hundreds Of little
| fingers pointing in the same direction, toward
| Jesus Christ and toward heaven.
| Years ago the astronomer calculated that
| there must be world hanging at certain
| point in the heavens and large prize was Of
| fered for some one who could discover that
| world. The telescopes from the great Observ-
| tuCket, Mass, fashioned a telescope and look.
| ing through it, discovered that star, and won
| the prize and the admiration of all the astro-
! nOmical world, that stood amazed at her
! genius And so 1t is often the case that grown
| people can not see the light, while some little
! child beholds the star OF pardon, the star Of
| hope, the star OF consolation, the star or
| Bethlehem, the morning star OF Jesus. Not
| many mighty men, not many wise men are
| called; but God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the mighty; and
base things and things that arc not to bring
to naught things that are" Oh, do not de-
| sp'se the prattlc of little children when they
are speaking about God aud Christ, and
| heaven! You see the way your child Is point
ing; will you take that pointing or wait until
In the wrench Of some awful bereavement God
| shall lift that child TO another world and then
1t viii beckon YOU upward. Will you take the
pointing or will you wait for the reckoning .
| Blessed be God that the little Hebrew captive
| pointed in the right directioni Blessed be
God for the saving ministry Of Christian chill
dren.
No wonder the advice of this little Hebrew
captive threw all Naaman's mansion and Ben
hadad's palace into excitement. Goodbye,
Naaman! With face scarified, and ridged,
and inflamed by the pestenee, aud aided by
those who supported him ON either side, he
staggers out TO the chariot. Hold fast the
fiery coursers Of the royal stable while the
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