Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-08-05
REV DIR. TALMAGE.
HE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: THE Souls Crisis" Preached
in london.

TEXT: seek re the LOTd Uttte he mag
be tOu1ld."-Isaiah w., 6.
Isaiah stands head and shoulders above
the other Old Testament authors in vivid
descriptiveness of Christ. Other prophets
give an outline of our Saviour's features.
Some of them present, as it were the side
face of Christ; others bust of Christ; but
Isaiah gives US the full length portrait Of
Christ. Other Scripture writers excel in
some things. Ezekiel more weird, David
more pathetic, Solomon more ep1grammatic
Habakkuk more sublime, but when you want
to see Christ coming out from the gates OF
prophecy in all His grandeur and glory you
involuntarily turn to Isaiah.
So that if the prophecies in regard to
Christ might be called the "Oratorio of
the Messiah" the writing of Isaiah is the
"Hallelujah Chorus" where all the batons
wave and all the trumpets come. Isaiah
was not a man picked up out of ins iguifi-
canoe by inspiration He was known and
honored. Josephus and Phiio and Sirach ex-
tolled him in their writings. What Paul was
among the apostles, Isaiah was among the
prophets.
My text finds him standing on mountain
of inspiration, looking out into the future,
beholding Christ advancing and anxious
that all men might know Him, his voics
rings down the ages, Seek We the Lord
while He may be found" oh" says some
one, that was for olden times" No. my
hearer. If you have Travelled in other lands
d
from some banking house in London, and in
st. Petersburg or Venice or Rome or Ant
werp or Brussels or Paris you presented that
letter and got financial help Immediately.
And want you to understand that the text,
instead of being appropriate for one age or
for one land is circular letter for all ages
and for all lands, and whenever it is pre-
scented for help, the help comes. ''Seek ye
the Lord while He may be found"
l come to-day with no hairspun theories
OF religion, with no nice distinctions, with
no elaborate disquistion, but with plain
talk on the matters of personal religion.
feel that the sermon | preach this morning
will be the SAVIOR of life unto life or death
unto death. In other words, the Gospel Of
Christ is powerful medicine; it either kills
or cures. There are those who say: 81
would like to become a Christian. l have
been waiting a good while for the right
kind of influence to come" And still you
are waiting. You are wiser in worldly
things than you are in religious things. And
yet there are men who say they are waiting
to get to heaven-waiting, waiting, but not
with intelligent waiting, or they would get
on board the line of Christian influences
that would bear them into the kingdom Of
God.
Now you know very we'll that to seek
thing is to search for it with earnest endeav-
or. If you want to see a certain man in
London, and there is a matter of much
money connected with your seeing him, and
you cannot at first find him, you do not
give up the search. You look in the direct
DRY, but cannot find the name; you go in
circles where you think perhaps he may
mingle, and, having found the part of the
city where he lives, but perhaps not knowing
the street, you 90 through street after street
and from block to block, and you keep on
searching for weeks and for months.
You say, ut is a matter of 910, 900
whether see him or not" Oh, that men
were as persistent in seeking for Christ!
Had you one half that persistence you would
long ago have found Him who is the joy Of
the forgiven spirit. Wemay pay our debts.
we may attend church, we may relieve the
poor, we may be public benefactors, and yet
all our life disobey the text, never seek God.
never gain heaven. Oh, that the spirit of
God would help this morning while try to
show you, in carrying out the idea of my
text first, how to seek the Lord, and in the
next place, when to seek Him. seek ye the
Lord while He may be found"
| remark, in the first place, you are to
seek the Lord through earnest and believing
prayer. God is not an autOcrat or despOt
seated on throne with His arms resting on
braZen lions and a sentinel pacing up and
down at the foot Of the throne. God is a
father seated in a bower, waiting for His
children TO come and climb on His knee and
get His kiss and His benediction. Prayer is
the cup with which we &C to the fountain
OF living water" and dip up refreshment for
the heart as we set cask of water to catch
the rain in the shower. 1t is a pulley fast
ened to the throne Of God, which we pull,
bringing the blessing.
l do not care SO much what posture you
take in PRAYER, nor how large an amount of
voice you use. You might get down on your
face before God, if you did not pray right
inwardlY, and there would be no response.
You might cry at the top of your voice, and
unless you had believing spirit within,
i L
shout of plowboy to his oxen. Prayer
must be believing, earnest, loving. You are
in your house some summer day, and
shower comes up. and a bid aHrlghted darts
into the window, and wheels around the
room. You seize it. You smooth its ruff
fed plumage. You feel its futtering heart.
You say, Poor thing, poor thingH Now
pray er goes out Of the storm of this world in
to the window of Gods mercy, and He
catches it and He feels its 1uttering lse,
and He puts it in His own bosom of affection
and safety.
Prayer is warm, ardent, pulsating exer-
else. 1t is the electric battery which, touched
thrills to the throne of God. It is the diving
bell in which we so down into the depths OF
Gods mercy and bring up ''pearls Of great
price" There is an instance where prayer
made the waves of Gennesaret solid as
granite pavement. Oh. how many wonder
tul things prayer has accomplished! Have
you ever tried it? In the days when the
Scotch Covenanters were prosecuted and the
enemies were after them one of the head
men among the Covenanters prayed: 20
lord. we be as dead men unless Thou shalt
help us. y LORD, throw clap OF = ny c1oaE
over these poor things" And instantly
Scotch mist enveloped and hid the prosecuted
from their persecutors-the promise literally
fulfilled. while they are yet speaking l
will hear"
Oh, impenitent soul, have you ever tried
ILL., Of -orS LID 10 S-
loving and faithful and patient" Do you
heliaye thhls You ara told that Christ CANA