The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-03-13
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS SERMON IN THE NEW
YORK ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
Subject: ga Snowy Day"

TEXT: "He went down and slew 4 lion in
pit in snowy day Chronicles N., %.
Have you ever heard Of him? His name
was Bensiah. He was man OF stout muscle
and OF great avoit,iupol5. His father was
hero, and he Inherited prowess. He was
athletic, and there was iron in his blood,
and the strongest bono in his body was back
bone. He is known for other wonders be-
sides that of the text. An Egyptian five
cubits in stature, or about seven feet nine
Iuches high, was moving around in bragga-
Hocio and fiourishinS great spear. careless
as to whom he killed, and Benaiah of mytext.
with nothing but walking stick, came upon
him, snatched the spear from the Egyptian,
and with one thrust Of Its sharp edge put an
end to the blatant bully, which makes us
think Of the story in our Greek lesson, TOO
hard for us if the smarter boy on the same
bench had not helped us out with it. in which
Goratius the Macedonian and Dioxippus the
Athenian fought in the presence OF Alexan-
der. the Macedonian armed with shield and
sword and javelin and the 'Athenian with
nothing but club. The Macedonian hurled
the javelin, but the Athenian successfully
lodged it, and the Macedonian lifted the
spear, but the Athenian with. the club broke
II, and the Macedonian drew the sword, but
the Athenian tripped him up before he could
strike with 1t, and then the Athenian with his
club would have beaten tho life out OF the
Macedonian, fallen among his useless
weapons, if Alexander had not commanded.
s;Stop! Stop
i But Benaiak OF the text is about to do
something that will eclipse even that. There
is trouble in all the neighborhood. Lambs
are carried off in the night, and children ven
turing only little way from their fathers
house are found mangled and dead. The
fact is the land was infested with lions, and
np fhoSa
beasts. much less corner or attack 1t. AS q
good Providence would have it, one morning
a footstep of lion was tracked in the snow.
It had been out on its deyouring errand
through the darkness, but at last it is found
by the impression of the four paws on the
white surface Of the ground which way the
wild beast came and which way 1t had gone.
Perilous undertaking, but Benaiah, the hero
of the'text, arms himself with suchTweapons'
ss those early days afforded, gunpowder
having been invented in far subsequent
century by the German monk 'Bertholdus
Schwarz Therefore without gun or any
kind of firearms. BeDaiah OF the text no
doubt depended on the sharp steel edge for
his own defense and the slaughter of the
hon as he followed the track through the
snow. 1t may have been q iayelin; it may
have been only knife. But what Benaiah
lacks in weapons he will make up in strength
of arm and skill of stroke. But where Is
tho lion. We must not got off his track
in the snow The land has many
eisterns, or pits. for catching rain. the
rainfall being very scarce at certain seasons,
md hence these ciSternS, or reservoirs, are
higged here and there and yonder. Lions
have an instinct which seems to tell them
when they are pursued. and this dread mon
ster of which I speak retreats into one OF
these cisterns which happened to be free OF
water and is there painting fromthe long run
and licking its jaws after repast of human
flesh and after quafdng the red vintage OF
human blood.
Benaiah is all alert and comes cautiously
on toward the hiding place of this terror OF
the fields. Coming to the verge of the pit, he
looks down at the lion, and the lion looks
up at him. What moment 1t was when
their eyes clashed. But while modern Du
Chaillu, Gordon Cumming. or Sir Samuel
Baker or David Livingstone would have
gust brought the gun to the shoulder, and
held the eye against the barrel, and
blazed away into the depths, and finished
the beast, Benaiah with only the old
time weapon. can do nothing until he
gets on level with the beast.
with shining teeth CT rage and claws lifted to
tear to shreds the last yestige Of human life,
springs for the man. while Benaiah springs
for the beast. But the quick stroke OF the
steel edge flashed again and again and again
until the SNOW was no longer white and the
right foot of triumphant Benaiah is half
covered with the tawny name OF tho slain
horror Of Palestine.
Now you see how emphatic and tragic
and tremendous are the words Of my text,
..He went down and slew lion in pit in q
snowy day." Why put that in the Bible?
Mhy put it twice in the Bible once in the
hook of Samuel and here in the book of
Chronicles? Oh. the practical lessons are so
many for you and for me! What cheer in
lhis subject for all those Of you who are in
conjunction Of hostile circumstances. Three
things were against Benaiah OF my text
In the moment Of combat. the snow that i'm
peded his movement. the pit that eEvironed
him In a small space. aud the lion. with open
Jaws and uplifted paw. And yet hear the
shout of Bsnaiah's victory. Or. men and
women of three troubles, you sey. Il co"la
stand one, and think could stand Two,
but three are are least one too many"
There is man in business perplexity sld
who has sickness in his family. and old age
Is coming on. Three trouGleS-a lion. pit
and snowy day. There is a good woman
with failing health and dissipated husband
and wayward boy-three troubles. There
is n young man, salary cut down, bad
rough, frowning future-three' troubles.
There is maiden with difficult school
lessons she cannot get a face that is not
rs attractive as some Of her schoolmateS'. q
prospect that through hard times she must
luit school before she graduates-tbreet trou-
bles. There is an author, his manuscript re-
jected. his power of origlnation In decadence.
q numbness in forehnger and thumb, which
threatens paralysiS-three troubles. There
is reporter of fine taste sent to report a
pugilism instead OF an oratorio. the copy
he hands in rejected because the paper
is full, mother to support on small
income-three troubles / could march
right of these seats and across this platform,
Ii they would come at my call. 500 people
with three troubles. This is the opportunity
TO play the hero or the heroine, not on q
small stage, with few hundred people to
clap their approval. but with all the galleries
OF heaven filled with sympathetic and ap-
plauding spectators, for we are surrounded
by great cloud Of witnesses" My brother,
my sister, my father, my mother, what
chance you have. While you are in the
struggle, II You only have the grace Of
Christ to listen. voice parts the
heavens. saying. MY grace is sufficient
for thee. "Whom the Lord loveth He chast-
eneth. ''You shall be more than conquerors."
And that reminds me Of letter on my table
written by some one whom I suppose to be at
this moment present. saying, "My dear dear
doctor, you will please pardon the writer for
asking that at some time when yon feel like
it you kindly preach from the thirtieth
Psalm, fifth verse. Weeping may endure for
night, but JOY cometh in the morning. and
much oblige downtown business man.
So to all downtown business men and to
all uptown business men say: Ifyou have
on hand goods that you cannot sell and
debtors who will not or cannot pay. and you
are also suffering from uncertainty as to
what the imbecile American Congress will do
about the tariff. you have three troubles. and
enough to bring you within the range Of the
consolation Of my text, where you find the