Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-10-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME BY THE
NEW YORK PREACHER
Subject; can Angelic Rescue"

] hAAas NAAs ETAtlOArs hllEtllnAAtE futnNT. tn
other brave, obedient. religious son. Prom
his bronzed appearance YOU can tell tina
this son has been much In the fields, ant
| from his shaggy dress You know that h,
has been watching the herds. The mount
ain air has painted his cheek rIbicund. II,
Is twenty or twenty-five or, a. some sep
| pose, thirty-three years Of age. neyerthe
| less a boy. considering the length Of life I,
/ which people lived in those times and IN,
fact that a son never is anything but a boz
! to father | remember that my father
used to come into the house when the chill.
dren were home on some festal occasion
and say, where are the bOys?" although
! 1.-THE boys were twenty-five and thirty and
thirty-1ve years Of age. So this Isaac i.
only boy to Abraham. and this father
heart is in him. II is Isaac here and Isaac
there. II there is any festivity around the
fathers tent, Isaac must enjoy il. Ii is
lsaac's walk. and Isaacs apparel. and
manners, and Isaac's prospects, and Isaac's
prosperity. The fathers heartstrings are
all wrapped around that boy and wrapped
again, until nine-tenths Of the old mans
life is in Isaac. | can Just imagine how
lovingly and proudly he looked at his only
son.
Well, the dear old man had borne a great
deal OF trouble. and il had left its mark
upon him. In hIeroglyphics Of wrinkle the
SNoAg WIS NllAANh nun lOEtutdu 10 chin.
But now his trouble seems all gone, and We
are glad that he is very soon TO rest forever.
II the old man shall get decrepit, Isaac is
strong enough to wait on him. 1.-THE father
get dim OF eyesight, Isaac will lead him by
the hand. II the father become destitute
Isaac will earn him bread. How glad we
are that the ship that has been in such a
stormy sea is coming at last into the harbor
Are you not rejoiced that glorious old Abra-
mo- 1S thrpaf fyh with l. ~
A thunderbolt! From that clear eastern
sky there drops into that fathers tent a
voice with an announcement enough to turn
black hair white and to stun the patriarch into
instant humiliation. God said abraham"
The old man answered, Here | am" God
said to him: Take thy son, thy only son
Isanc, whom thou lowest, and get thee into
the land of Moriah and offer him there as a
burnt Offering In other words slay him;
cut his body into fragments; put the frag-
ments on wood; set fire to the wood and let
Isaac body be consumed to ashes
"Cannibalism! Murder" says some one
mot so" said Abraham. / hear him solilo-
quize: Here is the boy on whom | have de-
pended! Oh, how 1 loved him! He was
given in answer to prayer, and now must
surrender him? o Isaac my son! Isaac, how
shall part with you? But then ii is always
safer to do as God asks me to. | have been
AZ uulh plhCtS uClOEt, anu uOu got me OUT.
will implicitly do as God has told me,
although 1t is very dark. | can't see nv
way, but l know God makes no mistakes
and to Him l commit myself and nv darling
SON"
Early in the morning there is a stir around
Abraham tent. A beast of burden is fed
and saddled. Abraham makes no disclosure
OF the awful secret At the break of day he
says: Come. come. Isaac. get up We are
GOING off "a fTVn ny 4 ,
hear the ak hewing and splitting amid The
wood until the sticks are made the right
length and the right thickness. and then
they are fastened on the beast of burden.
They pass on. There are four of them
Abraham, the father; Isaac, the son, and
two servants. Going along the road l see
Isaac looking up into his fathers face and
saying: Father. what is the natter Are
you not well? Has anything happened? Are
you tired? Lean on my arm" Then, turn
ing around to the servants, the son saws,
"Ah. father is getting old. and he has had
trouble enough in other days to kill him.
The third morning has come, and il is the
day Of the tragedy. The two servants are
left with the beast Of burden, while Abra-
ham and his son Isaac, as was the custom of
good people in those times, went up on the
hill to sacrifice to the Lord. The wood is
taken of the beasts back and put on Isaac's
back. Abraham has in one hand pan of
Goals or lamp and in the other sharp.
keen knife. Here are all the appliances for
sacrifice, you say. No. there is one thing
wanting. There is no victim-no pigeon or
heifer or lamb. Isaac. not knowing that he
is to be the victim, looks up into his fathers
face and asks question which must have cut
the old man to the bone, my father" The
father said, my son. Isaac, here am. The
son said behold the fire and the wood. but
where is the lamb" The fathers lip quiy-
cred, and his heart tainted, and his knees
Knocked together, and his entire body, mind
and soul shiver in sickeninS anguish as he
struggles to gain equipoise, for he does not
want to break down. And then he looks
into his sons face with thousand rushing
tendernesses and says, my son, God will
provide Himself a lamb"
The twain are now at the foot of the +hill,
the place which is to be famous for most
transcendent occurrence. They gather some
stones out Of the field and build an altar of
three or four feet high. Then they take this
wood off Isaacs back and sprinkle it over
the stones. so as to help and invite the fame.
The altar is done-it is all done. Isaac has
helped to build it. With his father he has
discussed whether the top Of the table is
even and whether the wood is pro perly pre-
pared. Then there is q lause. The son
looks around to see if there is not some liy-
for the offering. Abraham tries to choke
down his fatherly feelings and suppress his
grief in order that he may break to his son
the terrific news that heis to be the victim
kh, Isaac never looked more beautiful
than on that day TO his father As the Oh
man ran his emaciated fingers through his
sons hair he said to himself: "How shall I
give him up? What will his mother say
when | como back without nv boy? /
tbO1rybt bh Typ11ll n vol ahr, tI,o -
my declining days. l thought he would
have been the hope OF ages to come. Beau
tiful and loving. and yet to die under nv
own hand. o God, is there not some other
sacrifice that will dO2 Take my life and
spare his! Pour out my blood and save
Isaac for his mother and the world" But
this was an inward struggle The father
controls his feelings and looks into his sons
face and says, "Isaac, must tell you alp
His son said eyes, father; l thought you
had something on your mind. Tell it.. D." The
father said. "My son, Isaac. thou art tine
lamb" "Oh," you say, why didn't that
young man, if he was twenty or thirty years
of age. smite into the dust his intirm father?
He could have done it," All. Isaac knew by
this time that the scene was typical of a
Messiah who was to come and so he made
no struggle. They fell on each others necks
and walled out the parting. Awful and
matchless scene of the wilderness! The
rocks echo back the breaking Of their hearts.
The cry, my son, my son!" The answer
''AIy father, my fatherl''
Do not compare this. as some people have,
TO Agamemnon willing to offer up his
daughter, Iphigenia, to please the gods.
There is nothing comparable to this wonder
tul obedience to the true God. You know
that victims for sacrifice were always bound,
so that they might not struggle away. Raw
llngs. the martyr, when he was dying for
Christ's sake. said to the blacksmith who
held the manacles, "Fasten those chains
tight now, for my flesh may struggle might
lily" So Isaac's arms were fastened, his
feet are tied. The old man, rallying all his
strength, lifts him on to pile of wood.
Fastening thong on one side of the altar,
he makesit span the body of Isaac, and fas-
tens the thong at the other side of the altar,