Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-02-22
THE TRUMPET BLAST
REV. Or. TALMAGE ON "BRlNGlNG
IN THE SAsAvES."

REV. OR. TALMAGE ON BRINGING
IN The SHeAvFS."
tie shows How Some Mighty sickIes May
Re Used For the Gospel Harvest \ Pow
erfuI Sermon to nm Immense ThronE.
WASHINGTON. Feb. ia change has
taken place. DR. Talma9c when first com
ing To Washington preached only sunday
evenings, but So great has been the de
mand for his services that he now breaches
Sunday morning and evening and takes
charge Of the Thursday evening meeting
The thror IS are immense. The subject Of
his sermon for today was Bringing In
the Sheaves, the text being Joel iii. 10,
Put We in the sickle, for the harvest Is
ripe"
The swora has been poctizcd. and tho
world has celebrated the sword of Bolivar
the sword Of Cortes and tho sword of La
fayette. Tho pen has been properly culo-
gized, and the world has celebrated tho
pen Of Addison. the pen of Southry and
the pen OF Irving. The painters pencil
has been honorcd, and the world has ccle-
bratod tho pencil Of Murillo, the pencil OF
Rubens and tho pencil Of Bicrstadt. The
sculptor's chiscl has come in for high
encomiun. and the world has celebrated
Chantrey's chiscl. and Crawford's chiscl
and GrccnouGh's chiscl. But there is one
instrument about which ! sing tho first
canto that was ever sung-tho sickle, the
sickle of the Bible, the sickle that has
rcaped the harvest Of many centuries
Sharp and bent into semicirclc and gilt
tering, this rcaping hook, no longer than
your arm, has furnished the bread for
thousands Of years. Its success has pro
duced tho wealth of nations. 1t has had
more TO do with the worlds progress than
sword and pen and pencil and chisel all
put together. Christ puts tho sickle into
exquisite scrmonic similc. and you see
that instrument flash all up and down the
Apocalypse rs IT. John swings it, while
through joel In my text God commands
the people. rs through his servants now
no commands them. Put yo in the sickle
for the harvest IS ripe"
Estimate of Values.
Last November there was great rejoicing
all over tho land With trumpet and cor
net and organ and thousand voiced psalm
we praised the Lord for the temporal har-
vests. We praised God for the wheat, the
rye. inc llt NfllUl. illt Tltfs UlA ltls
fruits of tho orchard and all the grains of
the field, and the nation never does u bet
ter thing than when in tho autumn il
gathers to fcstiyity and thanks God for
the greatness Of the harvest. but | come
today 10 speak to you Of richer harvcsts,
even the spiritual. How shall we estimate
the value of "a MANI We say he is worth
SO many dollars, or he has achieved such
and such u position, but we know very
well there arc some men at the top of the
ladder who ought To he nj the bottom and
some ut the bottom who ought to be ut
tho top. and the only way Ia estimate a
man Is by his soul. We all know that we
shall live forever. Death cannot kill MS.
Other crafts may he drawn into the whirl-
pool or shiyercd on the rocks. hut this life
within us will weather all storms and
drop no anchor and 10. 900, 600 years after
death will shake out signals on the high
seas of eternity. You put the mendicant
of your doorstep and say he is only n beg
gar. but he Is worth all tho gold Of the
mountains. worth all the pearls of the sea,
worth tho solid earth, worth sun and moon
and stars. worth the entire material uni
verse. Take all the paper that ever camc
from the paper mills and put 1t side by
side and sheet by sheet and let men with
flectcst pens make figures on that paper
for 10, 600 years. and they will only have
begun to express the value Of the soul.
Suppose / owl.ed Colorado and Nevada
and Australia, of how much value would
they be 10 me one momcntattcr ! departed
this lifei How much Of Philadelphia does
Stephen Girard own today: How much
of Boston property does Abbott Lawrence
own today? The man who today hath a
dollar in his pocket hath more worldly cs-
tate than tho millionaire who died last
year. How do you suppose | feel, stand
ing hero surrounded 10y u multitude OF
souls, each one worth moro than the ma
terial universe; oh. was / not right in
saying this spiritual harvest IS richer than
the temporal harvests must tighten the
girdlc. | must sharpen the sickle | must
be careful how swing the instrument for
gathering the grain lest one stalk DO lost.
One Of the most powerful sicklcs for
reaping this spiritual harvest is the preach
ing Of tho gospel. II the sickle have a
rosewood handle, and II be- adorned with
precious stones, and yet Ii cannot bring
down tho grain IL is not much Of n sickle.
and preaching amounts tn nothing unless
IL haryests souls for God. Shall we preach
philosophy: The Ralph Waldo Emersons
could beat us ut that. Shall we preach
scicnceg The Agassizcs beat Us at that.
The minister of Jesus Christ with weakest
arm going forth in earnest prayer and
welding this sickle Of the gospel shall find
the harvest all around him waiting for
tho angel sheaf binders. oh, this harvest
of souls. ! notice in the fields that the
farmer did not stand upright when he
n n -. \ l..
stoop to his work, and | noticed in order
TO bind tho sllcavcs the better he had t.
put his knee upon them And rs we 20
forth in this work for God we cannot stand
upright In our rhetoric and our mctaphyS
les and our crudition. We have to stoop
10 our work Aye, we have To put our
knee To IL, or we will never gather shcaye>
for the Lords garner. Peter swung that
sickle ON the day OF Pentecost, and 3, 00C
shcaves came in. Richard Baxter swung
that sickle ut Kiddcrminster. and Nc
Cheync mt Dundee. and vast multitudcs
came into the Kingdom of our God.
The Mighty Gospel.
oh, this Is mighty gospel! ltcapturcd
not only John, tho lamb. but Paul, the
lion. Men may Gnash their teeth at 1t and
clinch their fists. but IL is the power ol
/ God and the wisdom of God unto saliva
tion. But, alas. if it is only preached in
/ pulpits and on sabbath days. We must e
forth into our stores, our shops, our bank
/ ing houses, our factories. and the streets,
and everywhere preach Christ We stand
/ In our pulptS for = hours on tho Sab
bath and commend Christ To the people
/ but there are l6S hours in the week, and
what are the hours on the Sabbath
/ against the 1866: OH there comes down
i the ordination Of God this day upon al
/ the people. men who toll with head and
/ hand and foCt-thc ordination comes upon
all merchants, upon all mechanics, upon
/ all toilcrS, and God says to you As he say.
/ To me: Go. teach all nations. He that
/ believeth ard is baptized shall be saved
/ and he that belcveth not shall he damned. :
/ Mighty gospel, let the whole earth heal
/ it, The story Of Christ IS to rcgcnoratc tn,
/ nations. it is to eradicate all wrong it j,
+ 10 turn the earth into a paradise. An old
4 art painted the Lord : supper, and ht
/ wanted the chief attention directed 10 III,
/ face Of Christ When he invited his friend.
In to criticise the picture they admirea
the chalices more than they did the face,
and the old artist said, This picture is a