Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-05-09
SUNDAYS SERMON.
eve OF REV. DIR TALMAGE6
STERLING DISCOURSES
snbiect. THE Upper Forces in Amer
lean History"

:, .a.,oo man; and he sdi0,: and, behold,
le a s'o,,afair, lcas full of horses and char.
" ", ~ fre round about Elisha. III Kings
vi, T.
as Il cost England many regiments and
80 million dollars year to keep safely a
s-onhlesonie captive at st. Helena, so the
ving Of SYRIA sends out Z whole army to
aantire one minister of religion-perhaps 50,
esbp mon Ia take Elisha During the night
he army of Assyrians came around the VII
~ al Dothan, where the prophet was
,assving. At early daybreak the man
ssryant of Elisha rushed in and said:
JVbat shall we do? there is a
,rhola army come TO destroy you. We must
~ ~ must dien But Elisha was not
oa.ro1 a bit, for he looked up and saw
M mountains all around full of super
astural forces. and he knew that if there
zero 10000 Assyrians against him there
ware 10000 angels for him: and in
.Sswer 70 the prophets prayer in behalf of
M afIrightcd man servant, the young man
/ .arit too. Horses of fire harnessed to char
~ Of fire, and drivers of fire pulling reins
n ere on bits Of fire; and warriors of fire
IN brsudished sword Of fire, and the brill
;onco Of that morning sunrise was eclipsed
/ ~ the eallouing splendors of the celestial
,svalcade Sand tho Lord opened the eyes
1 ii tbe Young man: and he saw; and, behold,
4 X moilutain was full Of horses and chariots
n IRE round about Elisha" / have often
qaoEgn TO you Of the Assyrian perils which
threaten one American institutions, but now
IS we are assembling to keep centennial cele-
frstion Of the Inauguration of Washington,
lpoak Of the upper forces Of the text that
4 ,re 10 fight on our side. II all the low levels
srs alled with armed threats, / have to tell
Won that the mountains Of our hope and cour-
~ and faith are full of the horses and char
bis Of Divine rescue.
4 You will notice that the Divine equipage is
always represented as chariot of fire. Eze-
hp and Isaiah and John, when they come to
describe the Divine equipagc, always repre-
sent il as a wheeled, a harnessed, an uphol-
| d5red conaagration. 1t is not chariot like
Kings and conquerors of earth mount, but an
/ Oganized and compressed fire That means
purity, Justice, chastisement deliverance
through burning escapes Chariot of rescuey
yss but chariot of fire All our national
dseDthralments have been through scorching
A sronies and red disasters. Through tribu-
btion the individual rises. Through tribt-
htion nations rise Chariots of rescue, but
Caariots Of fire.
But how do / know that this Divine equi-
pga Is on the side of our institutions l know
L by The history Of the last one hundred and
eabt Years The American revolution started
from the pen Of john Hancock, in hide
pcndence Hail. in 17i6. The colonies without
SLIPS, without ammunition, without guns,
i.hout trained warriors, without money,
. without prestige, On the other side, the
mgltiest nation of the earth, the largest
/ armies and the grandest navies and the most
4 Distinguished commanders, and resources in
4 e1haustible, and nearly all nations ready to
/ back them up in the fight. Nothing as against
/ mmensty.
The cause of the American colonies, which
started at zero, dropped still lower through
die quaFreling of the Generals, and through
the iealousies at small successes, and through
The winters which surpassed all their prede-
cSyOrs in depth of snow and horrors of con-
i scalmeut Elisha, surrounded by the whole
ASyrian army did not seem to be worse off
H than did the thirteen colonies encompassed
4 and oyershadowed by foreign assault. What
4 decided the contest in our favor The upper
forces, the upper armies The green ard
. white mountains Of New England. the high
4 lands along the Hudson, the mountains of
4 Virginia, all the Appalachian ranges were
ll Of re-enforcements which the young man
4 Washington saw by faith, and his men
endured the frozen feet, and the gan
4 yened wounds and the exhausting hun
GER and the long march because ''the
Lord opened the eyes Of the young man; and
4 be saw; and, behold, the mountains were full
d horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha Washington himself was a mira
4 de. What Joshua was in sacred history the
lrst American President was in secular his
4 tory. A thousand other men excelled him in
different things but he excelled them all in
& Oundness and completeness of character.
d The world never saw his like, and probably
" never will SEQ his like again, because there
4 PROBABLY never will be another such ext
& 8lcy. He was let down Divine interposi-
hon. He was from God direct.
lido notk know how any man can read the
history Of those times without admitting
mat the contest was decided by the upper
4 forces
Then in 1861, when our Civil War opened,
many at the North and at the South pro-
nouaeed it national suicide 1t was not cour-
~ against cowardice, it was not wealth
Salnst poverty, it was not large States
ganst small States. 1t was heroisin against
raoEn, It was the resources of many gener-
sl'H against the resources of many genera
NJ I'm u was the prayer of the North against
. ~ Prayer OF the South it was one-half of the
Iaon In armed wrath meeting the other half
lle nation in armed Indignation. What
"aa come but determinations
~ lle opening OF the war the commander
4Slei q tho United States forces was a
NY Who had beca great in battle but old /
1 Il aga come with many infirmities, and he 7
~ right to quietude He could not /
I..aI horse, and he rode on the |
.N held in a carriage, asking the I
li'e not TO Jolt it too much. During the (
~ ~, u me four years of the contest on the (
SSs'le:n side was man in mid-life, who 4
y y N his veins the blood of many genera (
= q warriors, himself one of the heroes F
=. O11 e and Cerro Gordo, Contreras 1
- Siapultepec. As the years passed on
- Ae scroll of carnage unrolled, there
- - olt IRON both sides heroism and
- sh and a determination that the world
- never seen marshaled And what but
aLlnatlol could come when Philip Sheri-
III AZ and otonewal jackson met, and Nathan
I'M, ~ ana Sidney johnson rode in from
/ ts pt gu south, and Grant and Lee, the two
i 49, ooltS OF battle, clashed Yet we are
4 cT, -.oh' and yet we are at peace. Earthly
4 ~ ~ dld not decide the conflict. The up
i. .iceS OF the text. They tell us there was
y s1..e fought above the clouds on Lookout
4,S .tl but there was something higher
IAN tae horses and chariots of God came
~. rescue Of this nation in 1876, at the
49, residential election famous for
~, -. y lerocity. A darker cloud yet settled
- upon TINS nation. The result of the
E geS-oIA was IN dispute, and revolution, not
49,, 60 Two or three sections, but revolution
n 4 lily Iy Town and village and city of the
: sre,,.lll..sea states, seemed imminent. The
4 s,v, ~ w vas That New York would throttle