Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-12-07

He ShOBs how " Q nave k>StA Diesstu ny
God In the P&st-E Earthly Comfort and
the Rest That Shall Come to Those That
Believe.
WASHINGTON, Dec. AS tomorrow
the congress of the United States assem-
bles and many Of tho members were
present at the delivery of this sermon,
Dr. Talmage took 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, 'tAnd the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw,
and, behold, the mountain was full of
horses and cbariots 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 benedietions. A nobler
group Of men never entered Washington
than those who will tomorrow take
tliSiA DlesNSC Ill t1lO GC11atC N4labibNl <tiA
the house Of representatives. Whether
they come alone or leave their families
at the homestead far away, may the
blessing of the Eternal God be upon
theml We invite them to our churches,
and together they in political spheres
and we i'll religious circles will give the
coming months to consideration of the
best interests of this country which God
has blessed so much in tho past that
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 s., 1000. 600 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 SO, 900 men to take Elisha. Dur
ing the night the army Of Syrians came
around the village of Dcthan, where the
prophet was staying. At early daybreak
the maDservant Of Elisha rushed in and
said: "What shall we do? There is
whole army come to destroy you'll We
must diel We must diel" But Elisha
was net scared bit, for he looked up
and saw the mountains all around full
of supernatural forces, and he knew
that if there were so, coo Syrians against
him there were 100, GOO 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
fire, and warriors Of fire with brandish-
ed swords of fire, and the brilliance of
that morning sunrise was eclipsed by
the galfoping 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. -
/ speak of the upper forces of the text
that are to fight ON our side as nation.l,
If all the low levels are filed with arms'
ed threats, / have to tell you that the
mountains of cur 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,
bat an organized and compressed fire.
That means purity, justice, chastise-
ment, deliverance through burning es-
capes. Chariot of rescne? Yes, but a
chariot of fire All our national disin-
thrallments have been through scorching
agonies and red disasters Through trib-
ulation the individual rises. Through
tribulation nations rise. CEariots of
rescue, but chariots of fire. But how do
know that this divine equipage is on
the side Of our institutions? l know it
by the history of the last 1l9 years.
The American Revolution started from
the pea 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
aud the most distinguished commanders,
and resources inexhaustble, and nearly
oil 70, hack tt,o
fight. Nothing, as against immensely.
A Divine interpretation.
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
Appalachian ranges were full of re-en-
forcements which the young man Wash
ington saw by faith, and his men en-
dured the frozen feet, and the gangrened
wounds, and the exhausting hunger, and
the long march because "the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and
he saw, and, behold, the mountain was
full of horses and ehariots of fire round
about Elisha. Washington himself was
a miracle What Joshua was in sacred
history the first American president was
in secular history. A thousand other
men exeelled him in different things,
but he excelled them all in rouDdness
and completeness Of character. The
world never saw his like, and probably
never will see his like again, because
there probably never will be another
such exigency. He was let down adivine
interpOsition He was from God direct
l do not know how many can read the
history Of those times without admitting
the contest was decided by the upper
forces. Then in 1861, when our civil
war opened, many at the north and at
the south pronounced Irrational suicide.
1t was not courage against cowarfiice,
it was not wealth against poverty, it
was not large states against small states.
TWAS heroisln against heroism, it was
the resources Of many generations
against the resources Of generations, it
was the prayer of the north against