Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-02
CONGRESS- SALUTED.
REV. DR.. TAlMAGE PRCACHEG A SET
MON UPON A TIMELY THEME.


God In the Past-EarthIy Comfort and
the Rest That Shall Come to Those That
Believe.
WASHINGTON, Dee. las tomorrow
the congress Of the United States assem-
5les and many Of the members were
present at the delivery Of this sermon,
Dr.. TalmaSc took a most appropriate
theme, showing that in all their work
they might realize that God has always
been on the side Of this nation. Text, II
Kings vi, II, "And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw,
and, behold, the mountain was full Of
horses and chariots and chariots Of fire
round about Elisha''
The American congress is assembling.
Arriving or already arrived are the rep
resentativeS of all sections of this be-
loved land. Let us welcome them with
prayers and benedictions. A nobler
group of men never entered Washington
than those who will tomorrow take
their places in the senate chamber and
the house of representatives. Whether
they come alone or leave their families
at the homes: cad far away, may the
blessing of the Eternal God be upon
them We invite them to our churches,
and together they in political spheres
and we in religious circles will give the
coming months to consideration of the
best interests of this country which God
has blessed SO much in the past that l
propose to show you and show them, SO
far as may now reach their ear Or to-
morrow their eye through the printing
press, that God will be with them to
help them as in the text he filled the
mountains with help for Elisha.
The Upper Forces.
AS it cost England many regiments
and So, 900, 600 a year to keep safely a
troublesome captive at st. Helena, SO the
king of Syria sends out whole army to
capture one minister Of religion-per-
haps 90, 200 men to take Elisha Dur
ing the night the army of Syrians came
around the village of Dothan, where the
prophet was staying. At early daybreak
the manservant of Elisha rushed in and
said: 'What shall we do? There is a
whole army come to destroy you! We
must die! We must die!' But Elisha
was not scared q bit, for he looked up
and saw the mountains all around full
of supernatural forces, and he knew
that if there were 80, 900 Syrians against
him there were 100, 600 angels for him,
and in answer to the prophet S prayer in
behalf of his affrighted manservant the
young man saw it too Horses of fire
harnessed to chariots Of fire, and drivers
of fire pulling reins of fire on bits of
and of hJ,9f16 oh
ed swords of fire, and the brilliance of
that morning sunrise was eclipsed by
the galloping splendors Of the celestial
cavalcade. "And the Lord opened the
eyes of the young man, and he saw, and
behold the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha. -
1 speak of the upper forces of the text
that are to fight on our side as a nation.
IF all the low levels are filed with arm
ed threats, I have to tell you that the
mountains of our hope and courage and
faith are full OF the horses and chariots
of divine rescue.
You will notice that the divine equi-
page is always represented as chariot
of fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and John,
when they come to describe the divine
equipage, always represent it as a
wheeled, a harnessed, an upholstered
confagration. 1t is not chariot like
kings and cOnquerors of earth mount,
but an organized and compressed fire.
That means purity, justice, chastise-
ment, deliverance through burning es-
capes. Chariot of rescue? Yes, but a
chariot of fire. All our national disin-
thrallments have been through searching
1 l.
ulation the individual rises. Through
tribulation nations rise. Chariots Of
rescue, but chariots of fire. But how do
I know that this divine equipage is on
the side Of our institutions? [ know it
by the history of the last 119 years.
The American Revolution started from
the pen of John Hancock in Independ
ence hall IN 1776. The colonies, with
out ships, without ammunition, without
guns, without trained warriors, without
money, without prestige. On the other
side, the mightiest nation Of the earth,
the largest armies, the grandest navies
and the most distinguished commanders,
and resources inexhaustble, and nearly
all nations ready to back them up in the
fight. Nothing, as against immensely.
a Divine Interposition.
The cause of the American colonies,
which started at zero, dropped still lower
through the quarreling of the generals,
and through the jealousies at small sue
cesses, and through the winters which
surpassed all predecessors in depth of
snow and horrors of congealment. Elisha
surrounded by the whole Syrian army
did not seem to be worse off than did
the thirteen colonies encompassed and
overshadowed by foreign assault. What
decided the contest in our favor? The
upper forces. the upper armies. The
Green and White mountains of New
England, the Highlands along the Hud-
son, the mountains of Virginia, all the
A 1,1na I.cl,iarn rannneS xuern f1nll Of re-nn-