Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-01-06
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
HE BROOKLYN DIVISt'S Sun
DAY SERMON.

TZXT3 "Aad "a ~ ~js~1Hsyed h fnnse nevr
about A.~ \ lqh.>eosa -ha1e.. aaa h. ri
70 hs snrth and asrs = coios saying uato
hCr. Snni, fsal.k. ny yer*e~nfest thou NJ,
and 4 sft1 "ho nr: Haon. lord, And he
Lorf s..d. I an Jex,.s seho1a ..om y~rso-
catest. Acts IL, 3-5-
The Damascus o. Bible times still stan n.
with n population Of $4,000. l. was "A gay
city Of white and giistenin; archlsrtctr, il
minare,s AMI cre~ .ehl. ana a2Fn.A playing
with the light Ct ths rsttring sin era5o1-
cred IN groves % olive ani csron and orange
and poneGranase; a lannon's river p.ungiay
its brightness INTO til. s.ene n city by the
a%ncientr styled "a par surroundefi fy en-
erslts.
tina: city. Let the Chsstians Of the piac..
hide. for that ratal.aie coming oA.r the
hills Is male =, Of Prosecutors their leader
small As1 unat'ractive In som. respects. ~
leaders sometimes are insignificant in per-
son witness the Duke. OF Wellington AMI
DR.. Archibald Alexander. but there il
something very intent In the eye 81 this
man OF tho text, and the horse he fiies /.
latherei with the foam Of a long anil quick
travel 81 135 miles. He urges on his steel,
for those Christians must be captured ami
silencAd, and that religion OF the eross must
be annihiiatei.
Suddenly the horses shy OF and plunge ua-
til the riders are preciritated. Freed from
the riders. the horses bound snoning away.
You know that dumb animals, ut the sight
Of an eclipse, or an earthquake. or anything
Ike Il supernatural appearance. sometimes
become very uncontrollable. A new sun had
been ktnd.ed In the heavens, putting ont the
+ glare OF the ordinary sun. Christ, with tho
gIories Of heaven wrapped about Him,
looked ont from a cloud, and the splendor
was iusnfarable, and no wonder the horses
sprang and the equestfiAns dropped.
Dust covered and bruised. Saul attempts to
get up, shading his eyes with his hands from
tha severe luster ofthe heavens, but unsucess-
fully. tor he is struck stone blind as he cries
out. Who art thou. Lord?" and Jesus an
swere1 him II am the one you have been
rhasfn~. He that whips and seourges those
Dtnas.ene Christians whips and ecourges
Me. 1t Is not their back that Is bleeding It
Is Mine. 1t is not their heart that Is break
ing II is Mine. am Jesus whom thou per-
secutest."
From that wild, exciting and overwhelm-
Ing scene there rises up the greatest
preacher OF all the ages-Paul-in whose
behalf prisons were rocked down, before
whom soldiers turned pale, into whose hand
Mediterranean sea captains put control Of
their shipwrecking craft, and whose epistles
are the avant courier OF a resurrection day.
learn from this scene that a worldly fall
sometimes precedee a spiritual uplifting. A
man does not get much sympathy by falling
~ a horse. People say he ought not to have
got into the saddle II he could not ride.
Those OF us who were brought up in the
country remember we'll how the workmen
laughed when, on our way back from the
brook, we suddenly lost our ride. When in a
grand review n general toppled from the
stirrups. 1t became a National merriment.
Here Is Paul on horsback-a proud man,
riding On with Government in his
pocket, q graduate OF a most famous school,
In which the celebrated DR.. Gamaliel had
been q professor, perhaps having already at
tanned two Ofthe three titles Of the school
rab. the first ; rabbi, the second. and. on the
way to rabbak. the third and highest title.
l know from his temperament that his horse
was ahead Of the other horses. But without
time to think OF what posture he should
, take, or without consideration for his dig
nifty. he Is tumbled into the dust. And yet
that was the best ride Paul ever took. Out
OF that violent fall he arose into the apostle
ship. So 1t has been in all ages, and so 1t is
now.
You will never be worth much for God and
the church until you lose your fortune, Or
have your r equation upset, or in some way,
somehow. are thrown and Inundated. You
must go down before you go up. Joseph
finds his path TO the Egyptian court through
the pit into which his brothers threw him.
+, Daniel would never have walked among the
bronzed lions that adorned the BabylOnish
) throne IL he had not first walked among the
} real lions OF the cave. And Paul marshals
all the generations OF (nFlStcn1Om by 1all-
ing fiat on his face on the road to Damascus
Men who have been always prospered Inay
) be efficient servants OF the world. tut will be
| Of no advantage to Christ. You may ride
majesticaliy seated on your charger. rein in
, hand, foot in stirrup. but you will never be
worth anything spiritually until you fall of.
3 They who graduate from the school of Chris
l with the highest honors have on their diplo
ma the seal OF Il lions muddy paw. or the
plash OF an angry wave. or the drop of
stray tear, or the brown scorch of Il perse
- cutting fire. In 900 cases out OF 1000 there Il
no moral or spiritual elevation until ther,
has been a thorough worldly upsetting.
Again. l learn from the subject that til
religion OF Christ is not IA pusillanjmou
thing. People in this day try to make US be
neve that Christianity is something tor mel
OF small caliber. for women with no capacit
to reason. for children in the infant elias
, under six years of age. but not for stalwar
men. Look at this man OF the text Do yo
. not think that the religion that couE cap
ture such q man as that must have som
power in it? He was q log ician he was
metaphysician he was an all conauerin
= orator; he was a poet OF the highest type
He bad a nature that could swamp the lend
S ing men OF his own day. and hurlel a-ain-
the sanhedrin he made il trenbIe.
J He learned all that he could get III til
4 school O: his native village then he la
gone to a higher school and there mastsre
= the Greek and the Hebrew and perfec:e
himself in hellea5lettres, until in after ven,
he as'onished the Cretans. AMI the Corintf
ians, and the Athenians by quotations fro
their own authors. | have never found an,
thing in Carlyle or Goeth or Herbert Spence
tina, could compare in strength or beau,
e, with Paufs epistles. l do not think there
anything in the writings OF Sir William Han
- it'on that shows such mental discipline.
you 'int m faufs rgument about jus,iic.
ton and the resurrection. ! have not foun
anything IN Milton finer in the way Of ina;
ipaiion than | can find in raul's illustrate,
! drawn from the IN phitheaier.
> There was nothingi in EoSert Eranet plea.
. in> for his life. or in Edmund Burke 4
raicninS Warren Hastings in WestninSt
Hall. tina, compared with the scene in II
courtroom when, before robed officials, Ia
bowed and began. hts spe-ch. savin-.
. think myself happy. kingAcrippa. beeauss
u shali answer for mysei. this :ay." r.ps
that "A religion that can capture a-uaan Ill.
Z that must hay. some power In Il. II l. liz
yoa stopped talking as though all the r.
OF the world wrreso9posrf ~ Chrsstigus:
Where Paul lea is. We can afford TO follow.
- an glad TO know tina: Christ has in Z