The Penn's Grove record., 1895-05-03
REV. DR. TAKMAGR
rHH HROoKLyn DrvfNWs suN-
DAY sERMON.
Subject. "salvation. -

the other Old Testament authors In vivid de
scriptiveness Of Christ. Other prophets Civ
an outline Of our Saviour's features Somt
Of them present, as 1t were, the side face q
Christ, others q bust Of Christ, but Isaiat
gives Us the full length portrait OF CHRIST
Other Scripture writers excel in some thing
-Esekiel more weird, David more pathetic
Solomon more epigrammatic, Babekkuh
more sublime-but when you van TO sst
Christ coming out from the gates OF prophe-
cy In all His grandeur and glory you tnvoluD
tarily turn TO Isaiah, 20 that IL the pruphe-
Giles In regard to Christ might be called the
.'Oratoio Of the Messiah" the writing Of
Isaiah Is the 'Halleluiah Chorus" where all
the kitons wave and all the trlmpets come
in. Isaiah was not a man picked up out Of
| insignifcance By inspiration. He was known
end honored. J~osephus and Phllo and
6lrach extolled him In their writings. What
| Paul was among the apostles Isaiah waa
among the prophets
My text finds him standing O n q noun
| tain Of inspiration, looking out into the fu-
ture, beholding Christ advancing and anx-
ious hat all men might know Him. His
| voice rings down the ages, "Seek ye the
Lord while He may be found" "Oh," says
some one, 'thas was for olden times" No,
my nearer. II you have travelled IN other
lands, you have taken Q circular letter OF
| credit from some banking house In New
York and in 81. Petersburg or yenioe or
Rome or Melbourne or Calcutta. you pre-.
sented that letter and got financial help I'm
mediately. And ] want you to understand
that the text, instead of being appropriate
for one age or for one land, is q circular let.
ter for all ages and for all lands, and where
ever II Is presented for help the help comea
tSeek ye the Lord while He may be found"
Icome to-day with no hair spun theories
Of religion, with no nice distinctions, with
no elaborate disquisition, but with an urgent
call TO personal religion The gospel. Of
Christ 10 q powerful medicine It either
kills or cures. There are those who sayt II
been waiting a good while for the right
kind Of influences to come" and still you
are waiting. You are wiser in worldly
things than you are In laligious things. II
you want to get to Albany, you go the Grand
Central Depot or to the steamboat wharf,
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 10 get ia
heaven, waiting, waiting, but not with In
telligent waiting, orthey would get on board
the line Of Christian influences that woulf
bear them into the kingdom Of God
Now, you know very well that to seek Q
thing Is to search for 1t with earnest endeav.
or. II you want to see q certain man In
this city, and there Is . matter OF e10,0N
connected with your seeing him, and you
cannot at first find him, you do not give up
LQ0 b6bfcu- 1Ou tOOk III Tue uifocbOfyt Dut
cannot find the name. You 60 in circlec
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 go through street after street and from
block to block, and you keep On searching
for weeks and for months.
You say, at Is a matter Of ei0, 900 whether
I see him or not" Oh, that men were az
persistent in seeking for Christi Had you
one-half that persistence you would long ago
have found Him who is the Joy Of the for
given spirit We may pay our debts, we may
attend church, we nay relieve the poor, we
may be public benefactors. and yet all our
gain heaven Oh, that the Spirit Of God
would help me, while I try to show you, In
carrying out the idea Of my text, first how Il
seek the Lord and In the next place when L
seek Him
remark. in the first place. You are 30 seel
the Lord through ernest and believing
prayer. God Is not an autoorat or . despoi
seated on o throne, with His arms resting on
brasen lions and . sentinel pacing up and
down at the foot Of the throne. God Is q
father seated in q bower, waiting for His chill
dren to come and climb on His knee and get
His kiss and His benediction- Prayer Is the
CUP with which we go the s.fountain of living
water and dip up refreshment for our
thirsty soul Grace does not come to the
heart as we set a cask at the corner OF the
house to catch the rain in the shower. 1t Ia
o pulley fastened to thethrone Of God, which
we pull, bringing the blessing.
/ do not care 80 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, II you did not pray
right inwardly there would be no response.
You might cry at the top Of your voi5e, and
unless you had a believing spirit within your
cry would not go further up than the shout
I NJ n ptnuhnv 70 hfa nran pravar rnsaa< he
believing, earnest, loving, You are In your
house some summer day and o shower comes
up, and a bird, ~affrighted, darts Into the
window and wheels about the room You
seize 1t. You mooth its rufled plumAge
You feel its iuttering heart You say, "Pool
Of the storm Of this world into the window
Of God,s mercy, md He catches It, and He
ssels its fiuttarfng pulse, and he puts 1t IN
His own bosom Of affection and safety.
Prayer lie Q warm, ardent, pulssttng exercise.
u b . electric battery. which, touched,
bell In which we go down INTO the depths d
Gods mercy and bring mp 'spearis Of great
price" There was an instance where prayer
made the waves Of the Geuneearet solid az
stone pnvemenk oh, bow many wonderful
things prayer has accomplished Have you
C~ovenanters were prosecuted and the enemies
wore after them one OF the head men among
the C~ovenanters prayedl "oh, Lord, we bs
as dead men unless Thou shalt help usl Oh,
Lord, throw the lap OF Thy cioak over thest
poor thingsr' And instantly q Scotch mis-
developed and hid the perseouted from theil
persecutors-the promise literally fulfilled
.while they are yet speaking I win hear"
Have you ever tried the power OF prayer!
God says. HE IL loving and faithful and pa
tent" Do you believe that You are told
that Christ came TO save sinners. Do you
believe that2 You are toll that all you have
10 do 70 get the pardon Of the gospel is to
ask for ii. Do you believe thata Then coms
, 10 Him and say; 30 Lord, I know Thou
canst not lie Thou hast told me TO coms
TOR pardon sndI could get II. leone, Lord
Keep Thy promise and Hibernate my captivs
souL"
Oh, that you might have an altar In th,
parlor, In tho kitchen, In the store, In tbs
, barn, for Christ viii be willing to come agar
} 10 the Manager to hear prayer. He woulc
l come to your place of business as He COD
sronted Matthew, the tax commissioner. /
o measure should some before Congress tina
J you thought would ruin the Nation, how yor
would send In petitions and remembrance
And yet there has been enough sin In YOU
heart to ruin 1t forever, and you have nevel
demonstrated or petittoned against It i
. your physical heath failed and you had tn,
means. you would go and spend the summe
In Germany n the winter In Italy. and yos
5 T0uld t0lnx II y Nory Cuonp Vuhoy A yOt
, had to go all round the earth to get bach
your physical health. Have you made An,
effort, any expenditure, any exertion fol
you immortal and spiritual health2
} oh, thst you might now begin to SEED
} after God with earnest prayer! Some OF yos
have been working for years and years FOL
the support OF your families. Have 20,
given one-half day to the working out o
your salvation with fear and trembling
You came here with an earnrst purpose,
take It, as I have come hither with an Games
purpose. and we meetface 10 face. and l tel
ro1, nrst OF all, II you want to ind the Lort
you must pray and pray and pray.
. I remark again. you must seek the Lort
through Bible study. The Bible Is the now
~ book In the world. "0h," you say, ~
was made hundreds Of years ago, and th,
harmed men OF King James translated I
hundreds OF years ago" I confute that ides
by telling you IL h not I'VE minutes old whes
God by His blessed spirit retrAnslates It int
lhs heart. II you VIII, In the seeking OF tn
way Of life through Scripture study, implor,
Gods Hight 10 fall upon the page, you vii
ind thsf these promises are NOT secont
aid, @d that they drop streight from TN
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