Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-05-11
DR.. Talmage breaches a Ser
mon Appropriate to the
Centennial.
A Discourse Complete With
Interesting Histori-
cal Data.
Our American Institutions Are
Threatened, but q Divine Equip
age Ia Always on Hand and
Ready to Rescue.

mage, -. ~, preached q sermon apprO-
pirate to the coming centennial. The
vast congregation sang the hymn begin
ming:
Before JehOvah's awful throne,
Yc nations, bow with sacred JOY.
DR.. Talmage's ext was III Kings vi, II:
'And 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" lie said:
AS it cost England many regiments
and So, 600, 900 a year to keep safely a
troublesome captive at St. Helena, so the
king of Syria sends out a whole army TO
capture one minister Of religion per
haps so, 900 men to take Elisha. During
the night the army of Assyrians came
around the village o. Dothan, where the
prophet was staying. AT early daybreak
the man servant of Elisha rushed in and
said: What shall we do2 there is a
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
supernatural forces, and he knew that If
there were 80, 900 AssyIians against him
there were 100, 900 angela for him; and
in answer to the prophets prayer in be-
half Of his affrighted man servant, the
young man saw it to. Horses Of fire har.
-unooI - ol,ar;nto nc fro an1 drivprl NJ
fire, pulling reins Of fire on bits OF fire;
and warriors Of fire with brsndished
sword of fire, and the brilllancc Of that
morning sunrise was eclipsed by the
~galloping splendor of the celestial caval'
cade. And the Lord opened tbo eyes OF
the young man: and he saw; and behold,
the mountain was full of horses and
charlots OF Ere round about Elisha |
have often spoken to you OF the Assyrlan
perils which threaten our American insti-
tutions, but now as we are assembling 10
keep centennial celebration of the in
auguration Of Washington, | speak of the
upper forces of the text that are to fight
On our side. If all the low levels are
filed with armed threats, | have to tell
YOU that the mountains of our hope and
courage and faith are full OF the horses
and chariots Of divine rescue.
You will notice that the divine equi-
page is always represented as a chariot
of fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and John
when they come TO describe the divine
esuipage, always represent it as a
wheeled. a harnessed, an upholstered
confederation. IL is not q chariot Ike
kings and conquerOrs of earth mount,
but an organized and compressed tire.
That means purity, justice, chastiscment,
d%eliyerance through burning escapes.
Chariots Of reacuc2 yes, but chariots Of
fire. All our natiOnal observation-disclosures
nave been through scorchlng agon'es and
red disasters. Through tribulalion the
individual rises. Through t%riDulation
nations rise. Chariots OF rescue, but
chariots Of fire.
But how do ! know that this divine
eouipage is on the side of u ins,itu-
tions? | know it by the history of the
last 10S years. The American revolution
started from the pen OF John Hancock IN
independence hall in l776 The colonies
without ships, without ammunition, with
out guns, without trained warriors, with
out money, without prestige. On tho
other side, the mightiest nation OF tn,
earth, the largest armies, y the grand
est navies, and the most distinguished
commanders. and resources ineXhaustlble
and nearly all nations ready to bac,. then
up in the fight. Nothing as against i'm
mensity.
The cause Of the American colonies
which started at zero. dropped still lowe
through the quarreling of the generals
and through the ~Jealousies at small sue
ces.es, and through the winters which
surpassed all predecessors in depth o
snow and horrors of congealment. Elisha
surrounded by the whole Assyrian army
did not seem to be worse of than did tn
thirteen colonies comprised an
overshadewed by the foreign as
sault. What decided the centes
in our favor9 The upper forces
the uppe armies. The Green and Whit
mountains uf New England, the Hlgh
lands along the Hudson, the mountains o
Virginia, all the Appalachian range
were full Of re-enforcements when In
young man Washington saw by 1al'n
and his men endured the frozen feet an
the gangrened wounds. and the exhsus'
ng hunger, and the long march oecaus
"the Lord opened the eyes OF the youn
man; and he saw: and, behold, tn
mountains were full of horses ana cnar
OTIS Of fire round about Elisha. Masl
ington himself was a miracle. Whs
Joshua was in sacred history the mr.
American president was in secular M
tory. A thousand other men exceiie
him in different things, but he excelie
them all in %roundness and completeness
of character. The world never saw q
like, and probably never will see his iis
again, because there probably never WI
be another such exigency. He was j
down a divine interposi;ion. lie w
from God direct.
do not know how any man can res
the history Of those times without ADM
ting that the contest was decided by u
Then in 1861. when our civil w
opencd, many at TIE north ana al u
south pronounced it national suicide.
was not courage against cowardlce, II
not wealth against poverty, II was n
large states against small states. III
heroism against heroism, it was the !
sources Of lpepy generations against :
"a oi many generations, II was I