The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-08-29
SERMON TO FARMERS.
Dr.. Talmege on Farming and the
Farmers Struggles.
Farm Facts In the Bible-Deep Flowing
Needed For the Field as Well as
the Soul - The Great
Harvest.


near Lebanon. Pa, Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage preached to great crowd on
Farming, Gospel Type" his text be-
ing from /. Kings, xix, 10: Elisha,
the son of Shaphat who was blowing
with twelve oxen before him and he
with the twelfth" DR.. Talmage said:
Farmers of America, accept my salu-
tation! Our text puts US down into the
plow's furrow, where many of us have
been before. My boyhood passed on a
farm and my father farmer, your style
of lie is familiar to me. One of my
earliest recollections Is that OF my
father coming in from the hot harvest
field exhausted, the perspiration stream
ing from his forehead and chin, and
fainting on the doorsill, and my mother
resuscitating him, until seeing the
alarm of the household he said: Don't
be frightened. 1 got little tired and
the sun was hot but 1 am all right
now" And remember mother seated
at the table often saying: ''Well, am
too tired to eat!" The fact is that do
not think the old folks got thoroughly
rested until they lay down in the grave
yard back Of Somerville to take the
last sleep.
Office seekers go through the land and
they stand on political platforms, and
they tell the farmers the story about
the Independent life of farmer, giving
fattery where they ought to give SYM
patty. Independent of what? OF the
10 hot hn -
the rust in the wheat? of the long rain
with the rye down? Independent of the
grasshopper? of the locust? of the army
worm? of the potato bug? Independ-
emit of the drought that burns up the
harvest? Independent of the cow with
the hollow horn? or the sheep with the
foot rot? or the pet horse with nail in
his hoof? Independent of the cold that
freezes out the winter grain? Independ-
ent of the snowbank out of which he
must shovel himself? Independent of
the cold weather when he stands thrash
ing his numbed fingers around his body
to keep them from being frosted? In
dependent of the frozen feet? Inde-
pendent of what7
Fancy farmers who have made their
fortunes in the city and 60 out in the
country to build houses with all the
modern improvements and make farm
ing luxury may not need any solace;
but the yeomanry who get their living
out of the soil, and who that way have
to clothe their families and educate
their children, and pay their taxes and
meet the interest on mprtgaged farms
such men find terrific struggle.
The Bible is full of them. In Christ's
sermon on the mount you see the full
blown lilies and the glossy back of the
crows wing as it flies over Mount Olivet
David and John, Paul and Isaiah find in
country life source of frequent illus
tration, while Christ takes the RESPONSE
bility Of calling God a farmer, declar-
ing: MY Father is the husbandman."
Noah was the first farmer. We say
nothing about Cain, the tiller of the
soil. Adam was gardener on a large
scale, but to Noah was given all the
acres of the earth. Elisha was an agri-
culturist, not culturing ten-acre lot,
for in my text you find him blowing
with twelve yoke of oxen before him,
and he with the twelfth. In Bible times
the land was so plenty and the inhabit-
ants so few, that Noah was right when
he gave to every inhabitant certain
portion of land; that land, if cultured,
ever after to be his own possession.
They were not small crops raised in
those times, for though the arts were
rude, the pillow turned up very rich soil,
and barley, and cotton, and fax, and all
kinds of grain came up at the call of the
harvesters. P1iny tells of one stalk of
grain that had on it between three and
four hundred ears. The rivers and the
brooks, through artificial channels,
were brought down to the roots Of the
corn, and to this habit of turning a river
wherever it was wanted Solomon refers
when he says: 1.-The Kings heart is in
the hand of the Lord and He turneth it
as the rivers of water are turned, width
He will"
The wild beasts were caught, and
then hook was put into their nose, and
that God refers when He says to wicked
81 will put a hook in thy
nose and will bring thee back by the
way which thou earnest" And God has
. hook in every mans nose, whether it
be Nebuchadnezzar or Ahab or Herod.
He may think himself very independent,
but some time in his life or in the hour
Of his death he will find that the Lord
Almighty has hook in his nose.
This was the rule in regard to the cul-
tivation of the ground: ''Thou shalt not
plow with an OK and an ass together"
the folly of ever putting in
telligent and useful and pliable men in
with the stubborn and I'M
The vast majority of
in the churches and in reforma-
tory institutions comes from the disre-
gard of this command of the Lord: |
Thou shalt not pillow with an OK and an
ass together"
There were large amounts OF property |
invested in cattle. The Moabites paid |
100, 900 sheep as an annual tax. Job had |
!, 900 sheep, 5000 camels, 500 yoke of |
oxen. The time of vintage was ushered |
in with mirth and music. The clusters |
Of the vine were put into the wine press,
and then five men would get into the |
press and trample out the juice from the
grape until their garments were satu-
rated with the wine and had become the |
emblems of slaughter. Christ Himself, |
wounded until covered with the blood |
of crucifixion. made use of this allusion |
when the question was asked: Where
fore art thou red in thine apparel and |
thy garments like one who treadeth the |
wine vat?" He responded: Il have
trodden the wine press alone"
In all ages there has been great honor |
paid to agriculture. Seyen-eighths Of
the people in every country are disciples |
a IL or in