The Bossier banner., 1895-01-03
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Preacher Presents a
Cure for the Leprosy Of Sin.
1he Lesson of the Proud King Naaman, a
Leper, and the Captive Hebrew
Child-Christianity Among
Children.


Rev. T. Dewitt TalDage made selec-
ton of the following sermon for dis
semination through the press this
week. Its subject is: ''The Sick Gen
eral," based upon the text:
He was leper.-II Kings, W.,
Here we have a warrior sick; not
with pleurisies Or rheumatisms or con-
sumptions, but disease worse than
all these put together. A red mark
has come out on the forehead, precursor
of complete Disagreement. I have
something awful to tell you. Gen.
Naaman, commander-in-chiefo of all the
Syrian forces, has the leprosy! 1t is
on his hands, on his face, on his feet,
on his entire person. The leprosy!
Get out of the way of the pestilence!
If his breath strike you, you are dead
man. The commander-in-chie of all
the forces of Syria! And yet he
would be glad to exchange conditions
with the boy at his stirrup, or the
hostler that blankets his charger. The
news goes like wildfire all through the
realm, and the people are sympathetic,
and they cry out: sit is impossible
that our great hero, who slew Ahab,
and around whom we came with such
vociferation when he returned from
victorious battle-can it be possible
that our grand and glorious Naaman
has the leprosy?' Yes Everybody
has something he wishes he has not.
David, an Absalom to disgrace him;
Paul, thorn to sting him; Job, car
buncles to plague him; Samson,
Delilah to shear him; Ahab, a
| Naboth to deny him; Haman,
Mordecai to irritate him;
| George Washington, childnessness to
| afflict him; John Wesley, a termagant
wife to poster him; Leah, weak eyes;
Pope, a crooked back; Byron, a club
foot; John Milton, blind eyes; Charles
Lamb, an insane sister; and you, and
you, and you, and you, something
which you never bargained for, and
would like to get rid of. The reason
| of this is that God does not want this
world to be too bright; otherwise, we
would always want to stay and eat
these fruits, and lie on these lounges,
and shake hands in this pleasant So
ciety. We are only in the vestibule of
grand temple. God does not want US
to stay on the doorstep, and therefore
He sends aches, and annoyances, and
SORROWS, and bereavements of all
sorts to push US on, and push us up
toward ripper fruits, and brighter
society, and more radiant prosperities
God is only whipping us ahead. The
| hot ov,l oI>-
ert Hall had more rapturous views OF
Heaven than other people had was be-
cause, through their aches and pains,
God pushed them nearer up to it. II
God dashes out one of your pictures, ii
is only to show you brighter one. If
He sting your foot with gout, your
brain with neuralgia, your tongue with
an inextinguishable thirst, it is only
because He is preparing to substitute
better body than you ever dreamed
of, when the mortal shall put on i'm.
mortality. 1t is to push you on, and tc
push you up toward something grande,
and better, that God sends upon you,
as He did upon Gen. Naaman, some
thing you do not want. Seated in hi:
Syrian mansion-all the walls glitter
ing with the shields which he ha(
captured in battle; the corridors
crowded with admiring visitors, who
just wanted to see him once; music ant
mirth, and banqueting filling all the
mansion, from tessellated floor t.
pictured ceiling-Naaman would hav,
forgotten that there was anything bet
ter, and would have been glad to sta,
there ten thousand years. But ., hov
the shields dim, and how the visitor
fly the hall, and how the music drop
dead from the string, and how tn
gates of the mansion slam shut witt
sepulchral bang, as you read the clos
ing words of the eulogium: He was
leper! He was leper" .
There was one person more sympa
thetic with Gen. Naaman than an
other person. Naaman's wife walk
the floor, wringing her hands, and try
ing to think what she can do to a.
leviate her husbands suffering. Al
remedies have failed. The surgeon
general and the doctors of the roya
staff have met, and they have shaker
their heads, ss much as to say: IN
cure; no cure" I think that the OF
fce-seekers have all folded up thei
recommendations and gone home
Probably most of the employees of tn
establishment had dopped their wor
and were thinking of looking for som
other situation. What shall now bt
come of poor Naaman's wife? She mus
have sympathy somewhere. In he
despair she goes to a little Hebrew cal
tive, a servant-girl in her house, t
whom she tells the whole story; a
sometimes, when overborne by the so
rows of the world, and finding no syn
spathy anywhere else, you have gon
out and found in the sympathy OF som
humble domestic-Rose, or Dinah, {
J Bridget-a help which the world coul
J not give you.
What scene it was: one of tt
grandest women in all Syria in cabint
council with waiting maid over tt
declining health of the mighty gel
eral! 81 know something" says tt
little captive maid; II know som