The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-06-26
GOOD EXAMPLES.
"The Consultations Of The Re-
Deemed"
sermon of Rev. DR.. Talmage at Win
field. Kansas. Yesterday-A Great
Outdoor Meeting.

great outdoor meeting held in this place, wbere
the Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage, d. D., was the
preacher. Not only this, but adjoining states
were represented IA the congregation, and the
occasion will be long remembered. The text
was: "Ihey that turn many to righteousness
shall shine as the stars for ever and ever"
Daniel xii. 3; and the subject: "The Constel-
lations of the Redeemed" DR.. Talmare
said:
Every man has thousand roots and
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 doxology. There is 10 such
thing as negative influence. We are all posi-
tive IN the place we occupy, making the world
better OF making it worse, on the Lords side
or on the devils, making up reasons for our
blessedness or Punishment; and we have al
ready done mighty work in peopling heaven
or hell. hear people tell Of what they are
going to do. A man who has burned down q
city might as well talk of some evil that he
expects to do, or man who has saved an en-
p1re might as well talk of some good that he
expects to do. BY the force of your evil infiu-
ence you have already consRmed infinite ~val-
ues or you have, by the power OF a right influ-
SUCe, won WlOlo kIDTi.. ms Tor Cod
1t would be absur3 cor 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 embanllment, amid the
wreck of capsized rail-train, proving by elab-
crate argument that something is out of order.
Adam tumbled over the EN- bankment sixty
centuries ago, and the whole race, in one long
train, has gone on tumbling in the same d.
rection. Crash! 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.
First: We may turn them by the charm of O.
right example. A child, coming from filthy
home was taught at school to wash its face. it
went home SO much improved in appearance
that its mother washed her face And when
the father of the household came home. and
saw the improvement in domestic appearance,
he washed his face. The neighbors happening
In, saw the change, and tried the same expert
ment 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 q 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 a 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 iniquity chatter
There are happy men who so into
sick room, and, by a look,
help the broken bone to knit, and
the excited nerves drop to calm beating. There
are pure men whose presence silences the
tongue of uncleanlness. The mightiest agent
OF good on earth is consistent Christian.
like the Bible folded between lids of cloth, of
calfskin or morocco, but like it better when,
in the shape Of q man, it goes out into the
tiful to read about; but rather would see o
man with all the world against him confident
as though all the world we're for him. Pa
thence is beautiful to read about; but rather
would | see o butfeted soul calmly waiting for
the time of deliverance. Faith is beautiful to
read about; but rather would find q man in
The midnight walking straight on as though
he saw everything. Oh how many souls have
been turned to God by the charm of bright
example!
When, in the Mexican war, the troops were
wavering, general rose in his stirrups and
dashed into the enemy's lines, shouting, Men,
follow" They, seeing his courage and dispo-
siticn, dashed on after him and gained the
victory What men want to rally them for
God is an example to lead them. All your
commands to others to advance amount to
nothing so long as you stay behind. To affect
them Alright, YOU need 10 start for heaven
cry of "Men, followl"
Again We may turn many to righteousness
by prayer. There is no such detective as
prayer, for no one can hide away from it. It
puts its hands on the shoulder of man ten
thousand miles off. 1t alights on a 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 another continent. nor can we, with our
small intellect, understand how the touch Of a
Christians prayer shall instantly strike a soul
on the other side OF the earth. You take ship
and go to some other country, and get there
ct II O'Clock in the morning. You telegraph
to New York, and the message gets here at
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 BE
loved one on the road, you may spur up
1athered steed until he shall OUTRAGE the one
that brought the news to Client; but prayer
shall catch it at one gallop. A boy running
away from home may take the midnight train
from the country village, and reach the sea-
port 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 ha:nmock
before he swings into it, and
ct the capstan bar before he
winds the rope around it, and on the sea,
against the sky, as the vessel ploughs on to-
ward it, There is o miglltiness in prayer.
George Muller prayed company of poor boys
together, and then he prayed up an asylum in
which they might be sheltered. He turned his
face toward Edinburgh and prayed, and there
came thousand pounds. He turned his face
toward London and prayed, and there came a
thousand pounds. He turned his face toward
Dublin and prayed, and there came thousand
pounds. The breath of Elijah prayer blew
ell the clouds off the sky, and it was dry
weather. The breath of Elijah's prayer blew
all the clouds together, and it was wet
weather. Prayer, in Daniels time, walked
the cave as lion-tamer. It reached up and
took the sun by its golden bit, and stopped it.
We have all yet to try the full power Of
prayer. The time will come when the Ameri-
can church will pray with its face
toward the west and all the prairies and ip-
land cities win surrender to God; and Will
pray with face toward the sea, and all the
Islands and ships will become Christian Par
ents who have Maynard sons will get down on
their knees and say: Lord, send my boy
home" and the boy in Canton shall get right
up from the gambling table, and go down! to
the wharf to find out which chip starts first for
America
Not one of lis yet knows how to pray. All
We have done as yet has only been potterlng,
and guessing, and experimenting, A boy gets
hold OF his fathers saw and hammer, and tries
a. u t. Az TVt f.NN