The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-05-11
TALMAGE's SERMON.
The Bible the Great Need OF tho
Anxious Soul.
The Love of Christ = Diamond Field n
Which All May Deive--The Church
the Ordained Means Of
Seeking the Gems.

| Seeking the Gems.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage preached
On Salvation" in the Academy Of
music. New York city, taking for his
text:
Seek ye the Lord while he may DO found
| Isaiah w.,
Isaiah stands head and shoulders
above the other Old Testament authors
In vivid descriptiveness of Christ.
Other prophets give an outline of our
Savior's features. Some of them
present, as 1t were, the side face OF
Christ; others q 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
epigrammatic. Habakkuk more sub
lime; but when you want to see Christ
coming out from the gates of prophecy
In all his grandeur and glory, you in
voluntarily turn to Isaiah. So that
II the prophecies in regard to Christ
might be called the "Oratoria of the
Messiah" the writing of Isaiah is the
'Hallelujah Chorus" where all the
batons wave and all the trumpets come
In. Isaiah was not a man picked up
out of insignificance 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 q
mountain of inspiration. looking out
into the future, beholding Christ adj
vancing and anxious that all men
might know Him; His voice rings
down the ages: Seek We the Lord
while He may be found" 'Oh," says
some one, that was for olden times"
No, my nearer. If you have travelled
In other lands you have taken a circu-
lar letter of credit from some banking
house in New York, and in st. Peters
burg, or Venice, or Rome, or Mel
bourne, or Calcutta; you presented
that letter and get financial help i'm
mediately. And want you to under
stand 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 wherever it is
presented for help, the help comes"
Seek We the Lord while He may be
found"
/ come to-day with no hair-spun
theories of religion, with no nice dis
tinctions, with no elaborate disquisi-
ton; but with an urgent call to per-
sonal religion. The Gospel of Christ
is powerful medicine; it either kills
or cures. There are those who say:
II would like to become a Christian. !
have been waiting a good while for the
right kind of influences to Gomez" and
still you are waiting. You are wiser
in worldly things than you are in re-
ligious things. If you want to get to
Albany you 60 to the Grand Central
depot, or to the steamboat wharf, and,
having got your ticket, you do not sit
down on the wharf or sit in the depot;
you get aboard the boat or train. And
yet there are men who say they are
waiting to get to Heaven-waiting,
waiting, but not with intelligent wait
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 thing is to search for it with
earnest endeavor. II you want to see
acertain man in this city, and there is
matter of ten thousand dollars connect
ed withyour seeing him, and you can not
At first find him, you do not give up the
search. You look in the directory,
but can not 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
60 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
whether 1 see him or not" Oh, that
men were as persistent in seeking for
Christ! Had you one-half that persist
ence 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
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
me, while try to shown you, in carry
ing out the idea of my text, first, how
to seek the Lord and in the next place,
when to seek him.
remark, in the first place, you are
to seek the Lord through earnest and
believing prayer. God is not an auto
crat 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 father
seated in bower, waiting for His
children to come and climb on His
knee, and get His kiss and His bene-
diction. Prayer is the cup with which
we go to the fountain of living
water" and dip up refreshment for
our thirsty soul. Grace does not come
to the heart as we set cask Ut the
corner of the house to catch tina rain
In the shower. 1t is pulley fastened
to the throne Of 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-if