The national leader., 1889-05-18
r. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Nations Protector

The Nations Protector.
nu tne LORD opened the evas -, a.,
al anu ne saws and behold tba ,no y1o,y, Ouiig
+ EliObn nviStS !, 81 ana chariotS of fire rnnnd
Ehsha'" IL Kings 6: II. y Hfo lound
= IL cost England many repimants
Two million dollars wear to keen
ny a troublesome captive at ~
ena' so the king of Syria sends out
noie army to capture one minister
aei1gion-perhaps $4,000 men-to
EllSna. During the night the
ny OF Assyrlans came around the
age OF lothian. where the prophet
staying At early daybreak the
n'servant Of Elisha rushed in and
What shall we doP there is a
o.e army come to destroy you'll We
Sc ole! we must diel" But Elisha
not scared bit, for he looked up
saw the mountains all around full
SUPERNATURAL FORCES,
q he knew that if there were so 600
syrlans against him there were 1OO..
angels for him; and in answer to
prophets prayer in behalf of his
rignteo man servant, the young man
W IL TOO. Horses Of fire harnessed
chariots of fire, and drivers of fire
ling relns of fire on bits Of fire, and
Rrrlors of fire with brandished
ords or ire, and the brilliance of
at morning sunrise was eclipsed by
% galloping splendors of the celestial
valcade. "And the Lord opened the
es or the young man; and he saw:
d Dehold the mountain was full of
brses and chariots Of fire round about
lisha." / have often spoken to you
the Assyrian perils which threaten
pr American institutions, speak of
be upper forces Of the text that are to
Rht on our side. Ii all the low levels
Fe filled with armed threats, I have to
PHI you that the mountains Of our hope
nd courage and faith are full of the
|Orses and chariots of Divine rescue.
You will notice that the Divine
Auipage is always represented as
|hariot Of fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and
John, when they come to describe the
Divine equipage, always represent it as
wheeled, harneSsed, an upholstered
|Onflagration. 1t is not a chariot like
Eings and conquerors Of earth mount,
|ut an organized and compressed fire.
That means purity, justice, chastise-
hent, deliverance through burning es-
apes. Chariot Of rescue? yes, but
hariot of fire. All
OUR NATIONAL Observation-Disclosures
lave been through scorching agonles
md red disasters. Through tribulation
he individual rises. Through tribu-
alton nations rise. Chariots of rescue,
,ut chariots Of fire. But how do /
inow that this Divine equipage is on
he side of our Institutions? 1 know it
y the history of the last one hundred
md eight years. The American Revo.
ution started from the pen Of John
Hancock in Independence Hall in
776. The colonies, without ships,
ammunition, without guns,
Without trained warriors, without
money, without prestige. On the other
ide, the mightiest nation of the earth,
he largest armies, the grandest navies,
nd the most distinguished command.
rs. and resources inexhaustible. and
learly all nations ready to back them
lp in the fight. Nothing, as against
mmenslty.
The cause of the American colonies,
which started at zero, dropped still
over through the quarreling of the
and through the jealousies at
mall successes, and through the win.
ers which surpassed all predecessors in
Lepth of snow and horrors Of CONCEAL
nent. Elisha surrounded by the whole
Assyrian army did not seem to be the
worse off than did
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES
and overshadowed by for
,ign assault. What decided the contest
u our favor? The upper forces, the
upper armies. The Green and White
of New England, the High
ands along the Hudson, the noun
,ains of Virginia. all the Appalachian
ranges were full of reinrorcements
which the young man Washington saw
0y faith: and his men endured the
'rozen feet, and the gangrened
wounds, and the exhausting hunger,
and the long march, because 1.-THE
Lord opened the eyes of the young
man; aud he saw: and behold, the
were full of horses and
,hariots Of fire round about Elisha"
Washington himself ecas a miracle.
What Joshua was in sacred history,
he first American president was in
secular history. A thousand other
men excelled him in different things,
but he excelled them all in roundness
and completeness of character. The
world never saw his like, and probably
will never see his like again. because
there probably never will be another
such exigency. He was let down q
Divine interposition. he was from
God direct.
I do not know how any man can
read the history of those times without