The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-07-12
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
rbs Weekly Disoourses of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject, "The Consultations
OfIhe Nedecmed.s preached
at Winfield, kansas.)

TEXT, "Iney that turn many to ffghA
sousness shall shine as the stars forever and
erer."-Daniel xii, s.
Every man has thousand roots and
thousand branches. His roofs reach down
through all the earth; his branches spread
through all the heavens. He speaks with
voice, with eye, with hand, with foot. His
silence often is thunder, and his life is an an.
them or doxology. There is no such thing as
negative influence. We are all positive in
the place we occupy. making the world better
or making it worse on the Lords side or the
devils, making up reasons for our blessedness
or Punishment: and we have already done a
mighty work In peopling heaven or hell !
be Ir people tell of what they are going to do.
A man who has burned down city might as
well talk of some good that he expects to do.
or man who has saved an empire might as
we.' talk of some good that he expects to do
BY the force of your evil influence you have
already consumed infinite values, or YOU
have, by the power of a right influence won
whole Kingdoms for God.
1t would be ab,urd for me to stand here
and, by elaborate argument, prove that the
world is off the track. You might as well
stand at the foot of an embankment, amid the
wreck of a capsized rail tram. proving bv
elaborate areum mt that something is out Of
order Ad an tumbled over the embankment
sixty centuries ago, end the whole race in one
long train, has gone on tumbipg in the
same direction. Crash Crash The only
question now is, By what leverage can the
crushed thing be ift1ds By what hammer
may the fragments be reconstructed'
want to show you how we may turp many
to righteousness, and what will be our future
paw for so doing.
First-We NAV turn them by the charm
OF right example. A child, coming from a
filthy home, was taught at school to wash its
hNty, IL,
pearance that its mother washed her face.
And when the father of the household came
nome, and saw the i'm orovement in domestic
appearance, he washed his face The neigh
bors happening in, saw the change, and
tried the same experiment until all that
street was purified and the next street
copied Its example, and the whole city felt
the result OF one schoolboy washing his
face. That is fable, by which we
Set forth that the best way to get the world
washed Of its sins and pollution is to have
our own heart and life cleansed and purified.
a man with grace in his heart and Christian
cheerfulness in his face, and holy consistency
IN his behavior, is perpetual sermon; and
the sermon differs from others in that it has
but one head, and the longer it RUNS the bet
ter There are honest men who walk down
wall street. making the teeth of iniquity
ehatter. There are happy men who
90 into sick room, and, by a look,
help the broken bono to knit, and
the excited nerves drop to calm beating
Ihere are pure men whose presence silences
the tongue of uncleanness. The mightiest
agent OF good on earth is a consistent Chris.
tian. l like the Bible folded between lids of
cloth, OF calfskin or morocco, but like il
better when, in the shape of man, it goes
out into the world-a Bible illustrated.
Courage is beautiful to read about: but
rather would see man with all the world |
against him confident as though all the world
OF ru .c..1A
about; but rather would see buffeted soul
calmly waiting for the time OF deliverance.
Faith is beautiful to read about; but rather
would find man in the midnight walking
straight on as though he saw everything.
Oh. now many souls have been turned to God
by the charm of a bright example!
When, in the Mexi an war, the troops were
wavering, General rose in his stirrups and
dashed into the enemys lines, shouting. |
Men, follow" They, seeing his courage |
and disposition, dashed on after him and |
gained the victory. What men want to rally |
All your commands to others to advance |
amount to nothing so long as you stay be- |
blnd. 10 affect them Alright you need to |
start for heaven yourself, looking back only |
to give the stirring cry of "Men, follow"
Again: We may turn many to righteous
moss by prayer. There is no such detective |
as prayer, for no one can hide away from it.
1t puts its hand on the shoulder of a man ten
thousand miles off. 1t alights on ship mid
Atlantic. The little child cannot understand
The law OF electricity or how the telegraphic
operator, by touching the instrument here.
may dart message under the sea to anot her
continent; nor can we with our small in tel
!ect, understand how the touch OF a Chris.
tians prayer shall instantly strike soul on
tne other side of the earth. You take
snip and go to some other country,
and get there at II o'clock in the morn.
tall av~h q
message gets here at 6 o'clock in the same
morning, In other words, it seems to arrive
here five hours before it started Like that
is prayer. God says: Before they call will
hear" 10 overtake loved one on the road
you may spur up lathered steed until he
snall OUTRAGE the one that brought the news
TO Ghent; but prayer shall catch it at one
galiop. boy running away from home
may take the midnight train from the coun-
try village and reach the seaport in time to
gain the ship that sails on the morrow; but
mothers prayer will be on the deck to meet
him. and in the hammock before he swings
into 1t, and at the capstan before he winds
the rope around It, and on the sea, against
the sky, as the vessel plows on toward it.
There is q mightiness in prayer. George
Muller prayed company Of poor
boys together, and then he prayed
up an asylum in which they might be shell.
tered he turned his face toward Edinburgh
|
pounds. He turned his face toward London
and prayed. and there came thousand
pounds He turned his face toward Dublin
and prayed, and there came a thousand
pounds. the breath of Elijah's prayer blew
all the clouds off the sky, and it was dry
weather. The breath of Elijah prayer blew
all the clouds together, and it was wet
weather. Prayer, in Daniels time, walked
the cave as lion tanner. 1t reached up and
took the sun by its golden bit and stopped it.
We have a l yet to try the full power OF
prayer. The time will come when the
American church will pray with its face
toward the west, and all the prairies and in
land cities will surrender to God; and will
pray with face toward the sea, and all the
islands and ships will become Chris. 81.
Parents who have wayward sons will get
down on their knees and say: Lord. send INV
boy home," and the boy in Canton shall get
right up from the gaming table, and 90 down
to the wharf to find out which ship start
first for America.
Not one of us yet knows how to pray All
we have done as vet has only been pottering,
and guessing, and experimenting. A boy
gets hold of his fathers saw and hammer,
and tries to make something. but it is a poor
affair that he makes. The father comes and
takes the same saw and hammer, and builds
the house or the ship In the childhood of our
Christian faith. we make but poor work with
these weapons of prayer, but when we come
!
under these implements, the temple Of God
will rise and the worlds redemption will be
launched. God cares not for the length
Of our prayers, or the number of our pray
ers. or the beauty of our prayers or the
place of our prayers: but it is the faith in
them that tells. Believing prayer scars
higher than the lark ever sang; plunges
deeper than diving bell ever sank; darts
quicker than lightning ever flashed. Though
We have used only the back of this weapon
instead of the edge, what marves have been
wrought If saved we are all the captives Of
some earnest prayer. Would God that in
the desire for the rescue of souls, we might
in prayer lay hold of the resources of the
Lori Oninipotent
We may turn many to Righteousness BY
Christian admonition- Do not wait until
you can make formal speech. Address the
one next to YOU. You will not go home alone
to-day. Between this and your place of stop
ping you may decide the eternal destiny Of
an immortal spirit Just one sentence NAV
do the work. Just one question. Just one
look. The formal talk that Legins with a
sigh, and ends with canting snuffie. is not
what is wanted. but the heartthrob of a man
IN dead earnest. There is not soul
On earth that YOU may not bring
10 fyod n vou riobf1v ,t .,sI ,