Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-05-05
"a CENTENNIAL SERMON.
- ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY REV.
DR.. TAlMAGE.

1nAn the United staths-Ihe cause Oh the
Ansrican Colonies and the Great Revo-
sssson-DInerent Varieties of Lies.
BROOKLYN, April 2s--At the Taber-
aAcle to day, the Rev. 7. De Witt Tai
naage, d. d., preached a sermon APP
Popriate to the coming centennial.
1he vast congregation sang the hymn
beginning;
Before Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred Joy.
DR.. Talmage's text was ii Kings vi, IL:
sand the Lord opened the eyes of the
young man; and he saw; and, behold,
the mountain was full Of horses and
chariots of fire round about Elisha"
He said:
As it cost England many regiments
and two million dollars a year TO keep
safely a troublesome captive at St
Helena, SO the king Of Syria sends out
q whole army to capture N minister
Of religion perhaps 80, 900 men TO take
Elisha. During the nigh the army Of
Assyrians came around the village of
Dothan, where the prophet was stay
ing. At early daybreak the mar SER
want OF Elisha rushed in and said:
''What shall we dot there is q whole
army come to destroy you. We must
die, we must die" But Elisha was not
scared a bit, for he looked up and saw
the mountains all around full of su-
p~ernatural forces, and he knew hat
II there were $1,000 A~ssyrians against
him there we're 100, 900 angels for him;
and in answer to the prophets prayer
in behalf Of his affrighted man ser
want, the young man saw it too.
Horses of fire harnessed 10 chariots of
fire. and drivers of fire pulling reins
OF fire on bits Of fire; and warriors Of
fire with brandished sword of fire, and
the brilliance of that morning sunrise
was eclipsed by the galloping splen-
doris OF the celestial cayllcade. "And
the Lord opened the EYES of the young
man; and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and char
lots of fire round about Elisha"
have often spoken 10 YOU OF the Assy.
RAN perils which threaten our Amer.
lean institutions, but now as we arr
assembling to keep centennial cele-
bration of the Inauguration of
Washington, | speak OF the upper
forces of the text that are TO fight on
our side. If all the low levels are filled
with armed threats, / have 10 tell you
that the mountains of our hope and
courage and faith are full of the horses
and chariots of Divine rescue.
AIIEGoRY OF THE CHARIOT OF FIRE.
You will notice that the Divine
equipage is always represented as a
chariot of fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and
John when they come TO describe the
Divine equipage, always represen.
1t as o wheeled, a harnessed, an uphol-
stored confagration. 1t is not achariot
like kings and conquerors Of earth
mount, but an organized and COM
pressed fire. That means purity, JUS
6ce, chastisement, d~eliverance through
burning escapes. Chariot of rescued
yes, but chariot of fire. All our ma
tional observation-disclosures have been
through scorching agonies and red dis
sisters. Through tribulation the indi-
vidual rises. Through tribulation ma
tons rise. Chariots Of rescue, but
chariots of fire.
But how do / know that this Divine
equipage is ON the side of our institu-
tonsa l know il by the history Of the
last one hundred and eight years. The
American Revolution started from the
PEN Of John Hancock in Independence
hall in 1776. The colonies without
ships, without ammunition, without
guns, without trained warriors, with
out money, without prestige. On the
other side, the mightiest nation of the
Earth, the largest armies, and thegrand-
81 navies, and the most distinguished
commanders, and resources inexhaust-
fbls, and nearly all nations ready TO
hack them ap in the fight Nothing
- against INNER ".
The cause of Til. American colonies,
which started at zero, dropped still
lower through the quarreling Of the
generals, and through the jealousies at
small successes, and through the win
tiers which surpassed all predecessors in
depth OF snow and horrors Of CONCEAL
ment. Elisha surrounded by the
whole Assyrian army did not seem TO
be worse off than did the thirteen colo
mics encompassed and overshadowed
by foreign assault. What decided the
contest in our favor7 The upper forces,
the upper armies. The Green and
White mountains of New England,
the Highlands along the Hudson, the
mountains of Virginia, all the Appar
lachian ranges were full Of reinforce |
ments which the young man Wash
ington saw by faith and his men en-.
dured the frozen feet, and the gan.
grened wounds, and the exhausting
hunger, and the long march because
.'the Lord opened the eyes Of the
young man; and he saw: and,
behold, the mountains were full
Of horses and chariots of fire
Mound about Elisha" Washing
ton himself was a miracle. What
Joshua was in sacred history the first
American president was in secular his
tDry. A thousand other men excelled
him in different things, but he excelled
themallin roundneSsand completeness
q character. The world never saw
tis like, and probably never will see
hs like again, because there probably
1ever will be another such exigency.
He was let down a Divine interposi-
oBon- He was from God direct.
4 do not know how any man can
I'D the history ofthose times without
dmitting that the contest was decii.
by the upper forces.
- sloNIFIoANCE OF TILE CIVIL WAR.
Then in 1861, when u civil war