The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-29
REV. TALMAeE ON SALVATION.
SEEK YE THE LORD WHILE HE
MAY BE FOUND.

The WRITINGS OF Asalah the hniielu-
Jah Chorus of Biblical Literature.
The Policy of Waiting for Reii-
EfOn an InexcusabIe BIunder.
Those Who Would BE Saved Must
seek SalvatiOn-Earnest and Be
Iieving Prayer the Means.
New York, April .&.-Rev. DR.. Tai
mage to-day again preached to a great
audience in the Academy Of Music. As
usual, many were turned away for lack Of
seats. The sermon was on Salvation"
the text selected being Isaiah, $50: Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found"
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 it 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, Da-
vid more pathetic. Solomon more cpl
grammatic, Habakkuk more sublime; but
when you want to see Christ coming out
from the gates of prophecy in all his gran
deur and glory. you involuntarily turn to
Isaiah. So that If the prophecies in regard
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 insignif-
canoe by inspiration. He 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.
-
tain of inspiration. looking out into the flu
ture beholding Christ advancing and anx-
lous 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 circular let
ter of credit from some banking house In
New York, and in st. Petersburg. or Ven
dee, or Rome, OF Melbourne, or Calcut-
"a, you presented that letter and got fnan-
cial help Immediately. And 1 want you to
understand that the text. instead of being
appropriate for one age, or for one land,
Dis a 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"
I come to-day with no hair-spun the
cries of religion. with no nice distinc-
tons, with no elaborate disquisition; but
with an urgent call to personal religion.
The Gospel Of Christ is a powerful medi-
cine; u either kills or cures There are
those who say, Il would like to become
3 Christian. I have been waiting a good
while for the right kind of influences to
are wiser in worldly things Than Won are
In religious things. If you want TO get to
Albany. you go to the Grand Central de-
pot, or TO the steamboat wharf and, hav-
Ing 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 waiting, 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 IL with earnest
endeavor. If you want to see a certain
man in this city, and there is a matter
of $4,000 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 may mingle. and, having found the
part of the city where he lives, but per
haps 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.
whether / 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. We may
pay our debts. we may attend the 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 show YOU
IN carrying out the idea OF my text, first
how to seek the Lord, and In the next
place, when TO seek him.
l remark, In the first place, you are to
seek the Lord through earnest and be-
heving prayer. God Is not an autocrat
or despot seated on a throne, with his
arms resting on brazen lions and a sem
tinel 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 benediction. Prayer is the cup
with which we go TO the fountain of liv-
ing water" and dip up refreshment for
our thirsty soul. Grace does not come to
the heart as we set cask at the corner
OF the house to catch the rain in a shower
It Is pulley fastened to the throne of
God. which we pull. bringing the blessing
l 90 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 you did not pray
right inwardly, there would be no re-
sponse you might cry at the top of your
voice, and unless you had a believing
spirit within, your cry would not go
1urther up than the shout of plow-boy to
MS oxen. Prayer must be believing earn
est loving. You are in your house some
summer day, and a shower comes UP. and
bird. affrighted, darts into the window
and wheels about the room You seize IT,
You smooth its ruffied plumage. You feel
Its huttering heart. You say, Poor thing
poor thing!' Now, a prayer goes out of
the storm Of this world into the window of
Gods mercy, and he catches it, and he
1eels its huttering pulse, and he puts ii in
his own bosom of affection and safety
prayer is warm ardent pulsating exercise
II IS an electric battery which, touched.
thrills TO the throne of God. 1t is the div
ang-ben in which we go down into the
depths of Gods mercy and bring M,
pearls Of great price" There was an in
stance where prayer made the waves of
the Gennesaret solid as stone pavement
On. how many wonderful things PRAYER
has accomplished Have you ever tried it?
In the days when the Scotch Covenanters
were prosecuted, and the enemies were
after them. one of the head men among
the Covenanters prayed: "Oh Lord. W..
be as dead men unless thou shalt help usi
oh, Lord, throw the lap of thy cloak over
these poor things?" And Instantly
Scotch mist enyeloped and hid the perse-
cuted from their persecutors-the promise
literally fulfilled: while they are vet
speaking / will hear"
Have you ever tried the power OF praver.2
God says; He is loving, and faithful
and patient Do you believe that? You are
told that Christ came to save sinners
DO you believe that2 You are told that All
70 n TO. rraf 80