The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-29
SHOOTING AT MEMS SOULS.
REV. TALNAGE breaches on
SPIRITUAL ARCHERY.

..He Was "A Mighty Hunter Before
she LOrd~-The Gospel sharper
Than a Tvvo-EdEed sword-The
Monster OF IntemPerance one Of
che Wild Beasts That should BE
Hunted.
Washington. June 2S.-AI people who are
trying to do good VIII find this discourse
of Dr. Talmage inspiring as well as unique.
HIS text was Genesis 10. 8. He was
mighty hunter before the Lord"
In our day. hunting IS a sport; but in
the lands and the times infested with wild
beasts, il was n matter OF life or death
with the people. Il was very different
from going out on a sunshiny afternoon
with patent breech-lCader, TO shoot reed
birds on the flats. when P0llux and Achil-
les and DIomedes went out 20 clear the
land Of lions and tigers and bears. My
text sets forth Nimrod as a hero when
il presents him with broad shoulders and
shaggy apparel and sun-browned face. and
arm punched with muscle-"a mighty hum
Ger before the Lord" I think he used
the bow and the arrows with great sue
cess practicing archery.
have thought II 10 IS such a grand
shing and such a brave thing 10 clear
wild beasts out Of a country, if it IS not
better and drawer thing 10 hunt down
and destroy those great evils Of society
that are stalking the land with fierce eye
and bloody paw, and sharp tusk and
Quick spring. I have wondered If there is
not such thing as Gospel archery, by
which those who have been flying from
the truth may be captured for God and
heaven. The Lord Jesus i'm his sermon
used the art of angling for an Illustration
when he said: 4 will make you fishers
of men," And so / think have author
ity for using hunting as an illustration
of Gospel truth; and 1 pray God that there
may be many a man to-day who Will be-
gin to study Gospel archery of whom it
may, after while, be said: He was a
mighty hunter before the Lord.
How much awkward Christian work
there Is done in the world! How many
good people there are who drive souls
away from Christ instead of bringing them
TO himi All their fingers are thumbs-re-
ligiOus blunderers VINO upset more than
they right. Their gun has a crooked bar
rel. and kicks as IL goes off. They are
like a clumsy cOmrade VINO goes along
with skllful hunters; at the very mo-
ment when he ought TO be most quiet,
ne Is cracking an alder, or falling over
log and frightening away the game.
How few Christian people nave ever
beginning Of this service, how that the
Lord Jesus Christ at the well went from
talking about a cup Of water TO the most
practical religious truths. which won the
woman's soul for God! Jesus In the will
derness was breaking bread to the people.
] think il was good bread; IL was very
light bread and the yeast had done its
work thoroughly. Christ. after he had
broken the bread, said to the people:
Beware Of the yeast, or of the leaVen,
of the Pharisees" So natural at transit
ton il was; and how easily they all un-
derstOOd him! But how few Christian
people there are who understand how TO
fasten the truths of God and religion TO
the souls of men. Truman Osborne, one
of the eVangelsts who went through this
country years ago, had a wonderful art
in the right direction. He came to my
fathers house one day, and while We
were all seated in the room, he said:
Mr.. Talmage, are all your children
Christians?" Father said; Yes. all but
Dewitt" Then Truman Osborne looked
down into the fireplace and began to
tell story of storm that came on the
mountains. and all the sheep We're in the
fold; but there was one lamb outside That
persisted in the storm. Had he looked me
in the eye / should have been angered
when he told that story; but he looked
into the fireplace, and 1t was so pathet!-
cally and beautifully done that l never
found any peace until L was sure ] was
inside the fold where the other sheep
were.
The archers Of olden times studied their
art. They were very precise in the mat
ter. The old books gave special direc-
tions as to how an archer should 20, and
as to what an archer should do. He must
stand erect and firm, his left foot a little
IN advance of the right foot. With his
left hand he must take hold Of the bow in
the middle, and then with the three fingers
and the thumb of his right hand he should
lay hold of the arrow and afiix 1t to the
string-so precise was the direction given.
But how clumsy we are about RELIGIOUS
work! How little skill and care we exer-
else! How often our arrows miss the
mark! Oh, that there were more institu-
tons established in all the towns and cit
les OF our land, where men might learn
the art OF doing good-studying spiritual
archery, and known as mighty hunters
before the Lordr'
In the first place, IL you want to be eff
1ectual in doing good, you must be very
sure OF your weapon. There was some
Shlng very fascinating about the archery
OF olden times. Perhaps you do not know
what they could do with the bow and ar
row Why, the chief battles fought by the
English Plantagenets We're with the long
DOW. They would take the arrow of pol-
ished wood, and feather It with the Mime
of a bird, and then it would fiv from the
boW-strlng of plated silk. The broad
nelds OF Agincourt and SOlway Moss and
NeVlle's Cross heard the loud thrum of
Inc archer bow-strlng. Now, my Chris
tian friends, we have a mightier weaDon
than that 1t is the arrow of the GOSPEL;
II is a sharp arrow; it is q straight arrow;
- - ACeAtAAclc Gu from the wing OF the dove
of Gods spirit; it flies from bow made
out OF the wood of the cross. AS far as
can estimate or calculate, il has brought
down four hundred million souls. PAN
knew now to bring the notch of that arrow
on TO that bow-string, and its Whirr was
heard through the Corinthian theaters
and through the court room, until the
knees OF Felix knocked together. 1t was
thai arrow that stuck in Luther's hear
when he cried out, ooh, my sinsi Oh. my
sins If il strike man in the head. il
Kills his scepticism; if il strike a man il
the heel, 1t will turn his step; IL it strik,
him in the heart, he throws up his hands
as did the Emperor Julian of old wber
wounded in the battle, crying, % Galilean
Thou hast eonqueredr
In the armory of the Earl of Pembroke
there are old corselets which show tha
the arrow of the English used to .,
through the breastplate, through the bod,
OF the warrior, and out through the back
plate. What a symbol of that eosDe
which is sharper than a two-edged sword
piercing to the dividing asunder of bod
and soul, and of the joints and marrow
Would TO God we had more faith in tina
gospel The humblest man. if he ha,