The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-07-06
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
'The Consultations of the Res
deemed'' and Their Mission.
Encouragement Tor Christian Workers to
Pursue with UndIminished Zeal
the Course Marked Out
for Them

Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage preached to an
immense outdoor gathering at Winfield,
Kas., on recent Sabbath, and took for
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
KS
DR.. Talmage 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 no such thing as negative in
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 devil's, making W reasons for our
blessedness or Punishment, and we have
already done mighty work in peopling
Heaven or hell. hear people tell of what
they are going 10 do. A man who has
burned down a city might we'll talk of
some evil that he expects to do, or man
who has saved an empire might we'll
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 intfu-
ence, won whole kingdoms for God
1t would be absurd 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 rall-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
tumbling in the same direction. Crashl
crashl The only question new Is, by what
leverage can the crushed thing be lifted2
BY what hammer may the fragments be
TecOnstructed2
want to show you how we may turn
many TO righteousness, and what will be
eur future pay for SO doing.
1. We may turn them by the charm OF
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 a fable by
which we set forth that the best way to
get the world washed Of its sins and pol
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 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 in
EQUITY chatter. There are happy men
who go into q siCk-roOm, and, by look,
Q IL Il. I
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 consistent
Christian. 1 like the Bible folded between
lids of cloth, or calfskin, or morocco, but
1 like it better when, in the shape of a
man, it goes out into the wOrld-a Bible
illustrated. Cour age is beautiful to read
about; but rather would I see man 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 1 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 str aight on as though he saw every
/ thing. Oh, how many souls have been
turned to God by the charm Of bright
example.
When, in the Mexican war, the troops
were wavering, a General rose in his stir
| rups and dashed into the enemy's lines,
| shouting: 'Men, follow" They, seeing
! his courage and disposition, dashed on
! after him and gained the victory. What
/ men want to rally them for God is an ex-
ample 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 to start for Heaven your
self, looking back only to give the stirring
/ cry of: "Men, fOllOwW
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 a man ten thousand miles off 1t alights
on ship mid-Atlantic. The little child
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, I'M
/ derstand how the touch of a Christian's
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 at eleven O'Clock in the Orn-
ing. You telegraph to New Y Ork, and
/ 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: before
! loved one on the road you may spur up a
lathered 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 vii
lage and reach the seaport in time to gain
the ship that sails on the morrow, but a
mothers prayer will be on the deck to
meet him, and in the hammock before he
swings into it, 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 a COM
pany of poor boys together, and then he
( prayed up asylum in which they might
be sheltered. He turned his face toward
/ Edin hurgh and prayed, ard there came a
thousand pounds. He turned his face
! toward London and prayed, and
| there came II 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's pray
er blew all the clouds toge Their, and it
/ was wet weather. Prayer, in Daniels
time, walked the cave as a lion-tamer. 1t
/ reached up, and took the sun by its gold
en- bit, and stopped it. We have all yet
I to try the full power of prayer. The time
/ will come when the American Church
Z will pray with its face toward the West,
and all the prairles and inland cities will
surrender to God, and viii pray with face
toward the sea, and all the islands and
I ships win become Christian. Parents
/ who have hayward sons win get down on
their knees and say: Lord, send my boy
home" and the boy in Canton shall get
right up from the gaming table, and go
down to the wharf to find out which ship
I starts first for America
Not one OF US yet knows how to pray.
[ All we have done vet has only been