Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-07-06
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly DisCOurses of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subjects: 1.-THE Constellation
OfIhe Redeemed: preached
AT Winfield, Kansas.l

TEXT: They that turn MANY 20 Ttghc
eousneSs shall shine as the stars JoreUer ana
eUer. Daniel xii, 8.
Every man has a thousand roots and q
thousand branches. His roots reach down
through all the earth; his branches spread
through all the heavens. He speaks with
voice, with eve, 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.
hear people tell of what they are going to do.
A man who has burned down a city might as
well talk of some good that he expects TO do,
or man who has saved an empire might as
weli 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 influence, 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 capszed rail train, proving 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. Crash! Crash The only
question now is, By what leverage can the
crushed thing be liftedt By what hammer
may the fragments be reconstructedl
want to show you how we may turn many
to righteousness and what will be our future
paw for SO doing.
First-We may turn them by the charm
OF right example. A child, coming from a
filthy nome, was taught at school to wash its
face. 1t went home so much improved in APP
pearance 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 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 a 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
chatter. There are happy men who
go into a 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 unCleanness. The mghtiest
agent Of good on earth is a consistent Chris
tian. 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 a man with all the world
against him confident as though all the world
were for him. Patience 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 walking
straight on as though he saw everything.
Oh, how many souls have been turned to God
by the charm of bright examplei
When, in the Mexican war, the troops were
wavering, a General rose in his stirrups 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 example to lead them.
All your commands to others to advance
amount to nothing so long as you stay be-
hind. To 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
ness by prayer. There is no such detective
us lOT llO Ou6 Gull Hue away from IL.
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 Geographic
operator, by touching the instrument here,
may dart message under the sea to anot her
continent; nor can we, with our small in tel
lect understand how the touch of Chris
tian's prayer shall instantly strike soul on
the other side of the earth. You take
ship and go to some other country,
and get there at II o'clock in the morn
ing. 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: Before they call | will
hear" To overtake loved one on the road
you may spur up lathered steed until he
shall OUTRAGE the one that brought the news
to Client; but a prayer shall catch it at one
gallop. A 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 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 a m1ght1ness 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
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 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 all yet to try the full power OF
prayer. The time will come when the
American church will pray with it's 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 ::s-.I
Parents who have hayward sons will get
down on their knees and say: Lord, send my
| boy homen and the boy In Canton shall get
right up from the gaming table, and go down
to the wharf to find out which ship starts
| first for America.
Not one of us yet knows how to pray. Al
we have done as yet 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 anC
| takes the same saw and hammer, and build:
the house or the ship. In the childhood of oul
Christian faith, we make but poor work with
these weapons of prayer. but when we come
90 the stature OF men in Jesus Christ, then
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; plunge'
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 marvels have beer
wrought! If saved we are all the captives OIL
some earnest prayer. Would God that, in