Milford chronicle., 1892-07-29
CRISIS OF THE SOUB,
Or. TALMAGE ON THE IMPORTANCE
OF oeeORTUNE ACTION.


the services conducted by Rev. DR.. Talmag
continue as great as ever. At every stoI
ping point during his preaching tour he
greeted by phenomenal audiences. Unles
some change in the programme become
necessary, he will, during the next te
days, preach in the leading Scottish cities
as already announced. He has just re
turned from Russia, whittier he went witt
Mr.. Klopsch to supervise the distribution
of the cargo Of The Christian Herald re
lief steamer Leo. The reception accorded
DR. Talmage in the czar's capital city b,
mobiles, officials and the pOpulaee SHOW
that the hold he has upon the hearts o
Christians Is worldwide. The arrival o
the Leo was made the occasion of genera
rejoicing. The St. Petersburg Oficial
conferred the freedom of the city on thei
! American guests The LeOs cargo wa.
| forwarded to the famine districts without
| delay. The sermon selected for this Weel
| Is entitled THE Souls Crisis" from
/ Isaiah ". g. Seek ye the Lord while b.
may be found"
Isaiah stands head and shoulders abov,
| 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 1t were, the side
face of Christ; others a bust Of Christ
But Isaiah gives us the full length portrait
Of Christ. Other Scripture writer's excel in
some things-Ezekiel more weird, David
more pathetic, Solomon more epigram-
matte, Habakkuk more su blime-but when
you want to see Christ coming out from
the gates Of prophecy IN all his grandeur
and glory you inyOluntarily turn to Isaiah.
So that If the prophecies in regard to
Christ might be called the "OratoFio ai
the Messiah" the writing Of Isaiah is the
"Halleluiah Chorus, where all the batons
wave and all the trumpets come in. Isaiah
was not a man picked up out Of insigpil'
canoe by inspiration. lie was known and
hOnOred. Josephus and philo and Sirach
extolled him IN their writings. What
Paul was among the apostles Isaiah was
among the prophets
My text finds him standing on NOM
tain for inspiration, looking out into the
future, behOldng Christ advancing and
anxious that all men might know him; his
voice rings down the ages, Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found" ooh, " says
some one. that was for Olden times" No,
my nearer. If you have Travelled in other
lands you have taken a circular letter of
credit from some banking house in Lon
don. and in st. Petersburg or Venice or
Rome or Antwerp or Brussels or Paris
yoH 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
a circular letter for all ages and for all
lands, and wherever It is presented for
help the help comes, Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found"
NOW Is TIE ACCEPTED TIME.
come today with no hairspun theories
u religion, with no nice distinctions, with
no elaborate disquisitiOn, but with plain
talk on the matters Of personal religion
feel that the sermon preach this morn
ing will he the SAVIOR OF life unto life or of
death unto death In other words, the
Gospel Of Christ is a powerful medicine;
it either kills or cures. There are those
who say: II would like to become Chris
tian. I 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 heayep-wait.
jag, waiting, but not with intelligent WaiJ-
ing, Or they would get on board the line OF
Christian influences that would bear them
into the kingdom of God.
Now you know very well that to seek a
thing is to search for 1t with earnest en-.
deavor. II you want to see a certain man
in London, and there is 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
directory, but cannot find the name; you
go in circles where you think perhaps he
81.
the city where he lives, but perhaps not
knowing the street, you go through street
after street and from block to block, and
you keep on searching for weeks and for
months.
You say, 1T is matter Of $4,000 wheth-
er / see him or not" Oh, that men were as
persistent in seeking for Christi Had you
lne-half that persistence you would long
ago have found him who is the joy Of the
forgiven spirit We may pay our debts,
we may attend church, we may relieve the
loor, we may be public benefactors. and
ret all our life disobey the text, never seek
iod, never gain heaven. Oh that the idea
If God would help this morning while ]
ry to show you in carrying out the idea
# my text first, how to seek the lord, and
n the next place, when to seek him
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. "
l remark, in the first place, you are to
eek the Lord through earnest and believ-
ng prayer God is not an autocrat or
lespOt seated on a throne with his arms
esting on brazen lions and sentinel
,acing up and down at the foot of the
hrone God is father seated in a bower,
Waiting for his children to come and climb
n his knee and get his kiss and his ben
diction. Prayer is the cup with which /
We 60 to the fountain Of living water"
nd dip up Iefreshment for our thirsty
oul Grace does not come to the heart as
re set n cask of water to catch the rain IN
he shower. It Is pulley fastened 10 tho
hrone Of God which we pull. bringing the
leasing.
PRAYER IS THE SOULS SINCERE CRY.
/ do not care so much what posture you {
AXE in prayer nor how large an amount ]
( voice you use. You might get down on .
our face before God, If you did not pray
light inwardly, and there would be no re
ponse. You might cry at the top Of your
dice, and unless you had believing spirit
'ithin, your cry would not go farther up {
han the shout Of plowboy to his oxen. /
'rayer must be believing earnest, loving,
'ou are in your house some summer day,
nd a shower comes up, and bird alright
darts into the window and wheels around
ne room. You seize it. You smooth its
lifled plunage You feel its lluttering
cart You say HPoor thing, poor thingW
low a prayer goes out Of the storm Of this
-orld into the window Of Gods mercy,
nd he ca .ches it. and he feels its futtering
llse, and lie puts it in his own bosom Of
feption and safety,
Prayer is warm, ardent, pulsattng e4eF;
Sc It is the electric battery which
,uched thrills to the throne Of Godi 1t is
le diving bell in which we go down into
le depths If Coils mercy and bring up
l,earls Of great price" There Is an IN
lance where prayer made the waves Of /
solid as granite pavement Oh,
ow many wonderful things prayer has ae-
1mplshedl Have you ever tried it? In !
he days when the Scotch Coyenanters {
-ere prosecuted and the enemies were If ,
IF them ope of the head men among the I
ovenanters prayed 20 Lord We DO ~ /
cad men unless thou shalt help US. o 4