Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-07-30
REV. DR.. TALMAGH.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divinss Sum-
day Sermon
Subject: "The Souls Crisis" preached
In London.l

TIKI 'Seek Ne the Lord phile He mn
be Jound.n-Isaiah w., 8.
Isaiah stands head and shoulders ahoy
the other Old Testament authors in vivi
Gescrpnyeness OF Christ Other prophet
give an outline of our Saviours features
Some oil them present, as it were, the sid
race OF Christ. others a bust OF Christ: bu
ISAIAH gives us the full length portrait o
Christ. Other Scripture writers excel il
some things. Ezekiel more weird. Dayit
more pathetic, Solomon more epigrammatic
dabaksuk more sublime, but when YOU wan
10 see Christ coming out from the gates O
prophecy in all His grandeur and glory, you
lnvoluntarily turn to Isaiah
So that if the prophecies in regard x
Christ might he called the 'Oratorio OF
the Messiah the writing of Isaiah is thu
| 'Hallelujah Chorus, where all the batons
wave and all the trumpets come. Isciah
was not man picked uD out CO insignifi,
/ canoe BY inspiration. He was known and
/ honored. Josephus and Philo and Siraca ex-
4 toled him in Their writings. What Paul was
among the apostles, Isaiah was among thu
| prophets.
| My text finds him standing on mountain
! of inspiration, looking out into ths future,
beholding Christ advancing and anxious
that all men might know Him, his voic ,
/ rings down the ages, seek We tina Lord
while He may be foundn 'aOh," saws some
| one, THAT was for olden times" no. nv
nearer. If you have Travelled in 9th ar lands
| you have taken a circular letter of credit
from some banking house in London, and in
I 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 a circular letter for all ages
snd for all lands, and whenever it is pre-
/ sented for help the help comes. Seek We
the Lord while He may be foun !"
come to-day with no hairspun theories
/ OF religion, with no nice distinctions, with
no elaborate disquisition, but with a plain
| tslk on the matters of personal religion. l
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 me- icine; it either kills
| CT cures. There are chose who say: 81
/ would like to become a Christian 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 reli sious things. And
yet there are men who say they are waiting
10 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.
!
thing is to search for it with earn est endeav-
or. Ifyou want to sea a certain man in
London, and there is a matter of much
money connected with your seeug him, and
you cannot at first fni him, you do not
give up the search. You look in the direct
CRY, but cannot find the name; you go in
circles where you think perhaps he may
mingle, and, having found the part of ths
city where he lives, but perhaps not knowing
the street. you go through street after street
and from block to block, AMI you keep on
searching for weeks and for months
You say, ut is a matter of 10000
whether l see him or not" Oh, that men
were as persistent in seeking for Christi
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 disohey 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
t'xt, first, how to seek the Lord, and in the
hext place, when to seek Him. seek ye the
Lord while He may be found"
| remark, in tho first place. you are to
seek the Lor9 through earnest and believing
prayer. Goa is not an autocrat or despot
seated on a throne, with His arms resting on
frazen 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 benedictioa. Prayer is
the cup with which we go to the fountain
OF living water" and dip up refreshment for
cur thirsty soul. Grace does not come to
The heart as we set cask Of water to catch
the rain in the shower. 1t is a pulley fast
ened to the throne CT God, which we pull,
bringing the blessing.
| 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, il you did not pray right
inwardly. and there would be no response.
You might cry az the top of your voice, and
unless you had a believing spirit within,
your cry would not 90 farther up than thu
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 bird affrightei darts
into the window, and wheels around the
room. You seiza it. You smooth its ruf-
fed plumage. You feel its futtering heart.
You say, Poor thing, poor thinep Now
pray 81 goes out Of the storm of this world in
To the window of Gods mercy, and He
catches it and He feels its huttering pulse,
and He puts it in His own bosom Of affection
and safety.
Prayer is warm, ardent pu,satins exer-
else. IL is b1e 6I6tlIlC u LJetJ WHICH, lOucuei
thrills to TIE throue OF God. 1t is tho diving
bell in which we go down into the depths OF
Gods mercy AMI bring up pearls Of great
price" There is an instanc4 where prayer
made the waves OF GanueSaret solid as
granite pavement. o.. hoT many won Ter
tul things PRAYER has accomplished! Have
You ever tried il? In the days when thu
Scotch Covenanters were prosecute and the
enemies were after them one of the head
NV l.
Lord, we be as dead men unless Thou shalt
help U.S. q LORD, throw the lap OF Thy cloak
over these POOR things" And instantly a
Scotch mist enveoped and hid the prosecuted
from their persecutors-tae promise literally
fulfilled. "N lille they are yet speaking
will hear"
Oh, impen,tsnt soul, have you ever triei
the power of prayer, God says: He is
loving and faithful aud patient" Do you
believe that You are told that Christ cane
to save sinners. Do you believe that? You
are told that all you have to do to get the
pardon OF the Gospel is to ask for it. Do
you believe that, Then cjms to Him all
say; 10 Lori. know Thou canst not lie.
Thou hast told me to come for pardon, and
could get it. come, LORD. Keep Thy
promise and iberate my captive SOUL
oh, that you might have an altar in the
parlor, in the kitchen, i'll thu stors in tns
barn for Christ will be willing to c)ne
again to the manger to hear prayer. DE
will come in your place OF business as he
confronted Matthew. tae tax commissioner.
If a measure slouli cone before Congress
that you thought would ruin the Nation
how you woui send III patti ms an remon-
strances. And yet there has been enough
sin in your heart to ruin it forever, and you
have never demonstrated or pstitioned
against it. If your physical health failed,
and you had tae mslns, You would go AMI
spend the summer i'll Germany aud the win
ter in Italy, and you would think il very
cheAp outlay if you had to 20 all around the
earth TO get back your physical health.
Have you made any effort, any expenditure,
any exertiou for your immortal and spiritual
health No, you have not ia zen one step.
Oh, that you might now begin to seek
after God with earnest prayer, Some OF you
have been working for years and years for
tine support of your families Have YOU
given one-helf dav to the working out OF
your salvation with fear and tremb!ings
You came here this morning with an earnest
purpose, | take it. as l have come hither
with an earnest purpose. AMI we meet facs
to face, and tell you, first of ALL if YOU
want to find the Lord you must pray and
pray aud pray.
remark again, you must seek tue Lord
through Bible study. The Bible is the new
est book in the world. ''Oh,n YOU saw. SIT
",""0 Gus y. years dgo, dn1 Tue
learned men of King James translated it
hundreds OF wears ago" / confute that
idea bv telling YOU it is not five minutes OIL.
when God by His blessed spirit retranslataS
It into the heart If YOU will in the sesk-
Ing OF the way Of life through Scripture
study, implore Gods light to fall upon the
page, you will find that these promises ara
not one second old and that they drop
straight from the throne or God into your
heart
There are many people to whom the Bible