The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-07-26
TALMAGE'S. Sc RMON.
ssThe Consultations of the Re.
deemed'' and Their Mission.
Encouragement for Christian Workers to
Pursue with Undiminished Zeal
the Course Marked Out
for Them.

Kas., on recent Sabbath ana TOOK TOT
his subject ''The Consultations OF the Re-
deemed" His text was:
They that turn many to righteousness shall
shine as the stars, forever and ever Daniel
xi,3.
DR.. Talmage said:
Every man has thousand roots and a
thousand branches. His roots 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 anthem or a doxology.
There is no such thing as negative IL
fuence We are all positive in the place
we occupy, making the world better or
making it worse, on the Lords side or on
the DEVILS, making up reasons for our
blessedness or Punishment, and we have
already done a mighty work in peopling
Heaven or hell. 1 hear people tell of what
they are going to do. A man who has
burned down city might as well talk of
some evil that he expects to do, or q man
who has saved an empire might as well
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 right influ-
NACOy Wou hiuSOollo III ooo'
1t would be absurd for me to stand here,
and by elaborate argument prove thatth
world is off the track. You might as we'll
stand at the foot of an embankment, amid
the wreck of capsized ail-train, prov
ing by elaborate argument that something
is out of order. Adam tumbled over the
embankment, sixty centuries ago, and the
whole race, in one long train, has gone on
@,,,, II i,cr s,,f ha WOE \,
crash! The only question now is, by what
leverage can the crushed thing be lifted?
BY what hammer may the fragments be
reconstructed?
want to show you how we may turn
many to righteousness, and what will be
our future pay for so doing.
1. We may turn them by the charm of a
right example. A child, coming from a
filthy home, was taught at school to wash
its face. 1t went home so much improved
in appearance that its mother washed her
face. And when the father of the house,
hold came home and saw the improvement
in domestic appearance, he washed his
face. The neighbors 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 Ipol-
luton 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 be-
havior, is perpetual sermon; and the
sermon differs from others in that it has
but one head, and the longer it runs the
better. There are honest men who walk
down Wall street, making the teeth of in
iquity chatter. There are happy men
who go into a sick-room, and, by look,
help the broken bone to knit, and the ex-
cited nerves drop to calm beating. There
are pure men whose presence silences the
tongue of uncleanness. The mightiest
agent of good on earth is a consistent
Christian. 1 like the Bible folded between
lids of cloth, or calfskin, or morocco, but
like it better when, in the shape of a
man, 1t goes out into the world-a Bible
illustrated. COur age is beautiful to read
about; but rather would see a MAJ with
all the world against him confident as
though all the world were for him. Pa.
thence is beautiful to read 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 walk
ing Straight on as though he saw every
thing. oh, how many souls have beer
turned to God by the charm of bright
example.
Again, we may turn many to righteous
ness by prayer. There is no such dete ct.
i've as prayer, for no one can hide away
from it, 1t puts its hand on the shoulder
OF man ten thousand miles off. 1t alights
on ship mid Atlantic. The little chile
can not understand the law of electricity
or how the telegraphic operator, by touch
Ing the instrument here, may dart a mes
sage under the sea to another continent
nor can we, with our small intellect, un
derstand how the touch of a Christian
prayer shall instantly strike a soul OF
the other side Of the earth. You take
snip and go to some other country, and
get there at eleven o'clock in the morn
ing. You telegraph to New ork, ant
the message gets there at six O'Clock the
same morning. In other words, it seems
TO arrive here five hours before it started
Like that Is prayer. God says: ''Befor,
they call l will hear" To overtake ;
loved one on the road you may spur up ,
lathered steed until he shall OUTRAGE tn.
one that brought the news to Ghent, bu
prayer shall catch it at one gallop. 4
boy running away from home may tax,
the midnight train from the country vii
lage and reach the seaport in time to gail
the ship that sails on the morrow, but .
mothers prayer will be on the deck te
meet him, and in the hammock before be
swings into it, and at the capstan befor,
he winds the rope around it, and on thu
sea, against the sky, as the vessel plow
on toward it. There is mightiness il
prayer. George Muller prayed com
pany of poor boys together, and then h,
prayed up an asylum in which they Nigh
be sheltered. He turned his face towar,
Edinburgh and prayed, ard there came 8
thousand pounds. He turned his fac,
toward London and prayed, an,
there came a thousand pounds
He turned his face toward Dublin ant
prayed, and there came a thousan,
pounds. The breath of Eliiah's PRAYER
blew all the clouds off the sky, and it wa
dry weather. The breath of Eliiah's pray
er blew all the clouds together, and i
was wet weather. Prayer, in Daniel.
time, walked the cave as lion tanner. /
reached up, and took the sun by its gold
en- bit, and stopped it. We have all We