The Monitor-register., 1896-07-03
THE MIGHTY HUNTER
ARcHERS OF OLDEN TIMES AND Cos
PEI ARROWS.


Irving to BE Successful in Spiritual
Archery-A Plain Path.
WASHINGTON, June 28.-All people
who are trying to do good will find this
discourse of DIR. Talmage inspiring as
we'll as unique. His text was Genesis
x. @: she was a mighty hunter before
the Lord"
In our day. hunting is a sport; but in
the lands and the times infested with
wild beasts it was a matter of life or
death with the people. 1t was very diff
ferent from going out on Il sunshlny att
ernoon with a patent breechloader, to
shoot reedbirds on the flats, when Pol
Ink and Achilles and Diomedes went
out to clear the land of lions and tigers
and bears. My text sets forth Nimrod
as q hero when it presents him with
broad shoulders and shaggy apparel and
sunbrowned face, and arm punched
with muscle-''a mighty hunter before
the Lord" Think he used the bow ana
the arrows with great success practlclng
archery. e,
have thought if it is such a grand
thing and such a brave thing to clear
wild beasts out of acountry, II 1t Is not
a better and drawer thiag to hum GOWN
and destroy those great evils of society
that are stalking the land with fierce
eve and bloody paw, and sharptus and
quick spring. have wondered II there
is not such a thing as gospel archery,
nv which those who have been flying
from the truth may be captured for God
and heaven. The Lord Jesus i'll his SER
mon used the art of angling for an il
lnstration when he said, 81 will make
Won fishers of men," And SO l think l
have authority for using hunting as an
illustration Of gospel truth, and L pray
God that there may be many a man to-
day who will begin to study gospel
archery, of whom itmay, after n while,
be said, "He was a mighty hunter be-
fore the Lord"
Conversion.
How much awkward Christian work
there is done in the worldl How many
good people there are who drive souls
away from Christ instead of bringing
them to himl All their fingers are
MANIFESTATIONS blunderers who up
set more than they right. Their gun
has q crooked barrel and kicks as it
goes off. They are like o stupid COM
rade who goes along with skillful hunt
ers. At the very moment when he ought
to be most quiet, he is cracking an
alder, or falling over a log and fright
ening away the game. How few Chris
tian people have ever learned the lesson
of which I read at the beginning of this
service, how that the Lord Jesus Christ
at the we'll went from talking about q
cup of water to the most practical re-
ligious truths, which o the woman's
soul for God. Jesus in the wilderness
was breaking bread to the people. 1
think it was good bread. 1t 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 a tEansi-
ton it was, and how easily they all I'M
derstood himl But how few Christian
people there are who understand how
to fasten the truths of God and religion
to the souls of menl Truman Osborne,
one Of the eyangelists who went through
this country years ago, had a wonderful
art in tho right direction. He came to
my fathers house n day, and while
we were all seated i'll the room he said,
"Mr. Talmage, are all your children
Christians?" Father said, eyes, all but
De Witt. Then Truman Osborne looked
down into the fireplace and began to
tell a story Of a storm that came on the
mountains, and all the sheep were in
the fold, but there was one lamb outside
that persisted in the storm. Had he
looked me in the eye I should have been
angered when he told that story. But
he looked into the fireplace, and it was
so pathetically and beautifully done
that 1 e found any peace until I
was sure I was inside the fold where
the other sheep were.
The archers of olden times studied
their art. They were very precise in the
matter. The old books gave special di-
rections as to how an archer should go
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 ar
row and affix it to the string-so precise
was the direction given. But how
clumsy we are about religious work.
How little skill and care we exercisel
How often our arrows miss the mark
Oh, that there were more institutions
established i'll all the towns and cities
of our land where men might learn the
art of doing good-studying spiritual
archery, and known as mighty hunters
before the LordI'
A Choice of Weapons.
In the first place, if you want to be
effectuaI in doing good, you must be
very sure of your weapon. There was
something very fascinating about the
archery of ollen times. Perhaps you do
no know what they could do with the
bow and arrow. Why, the chief battles
fought by the English ~Plantagenets were
with the long bow. They would take
the arrow of polished wood, and feather
it with the plume of a bird, and then it
would fly from the bow string of plated
silk. The broad fields of A~gincourt and
Solway Moss and Neville's Cross heard
the loud thrum of the archer's bow
string. Now. my Christian friends, we
v a mlghtier weapon than that. 1t
is the arrow of the gospel; it is a sharp
arrow; 1t is Straight arrow it is feath-
cred from the wing of the dove of Gods
Spirit; 1t flies from a bow made out of
the wood of the cross. As far as 1 can
estimate Or calculate it has brought
down 400, 900, 900 souls. Paul knew
how to bring the notch of that arrow on
to that bow string, and lis whir was
heard through the Corinthian theaters,
and through the courtroom, until the
knees of Felix knocked together. 1t was
that arrow that stuck in Luther's heart
when he cried out: ooh, my sinsl Oh,
my sinsl' If it strike a man in the
head, it kills his skepticism; if it strike
q nan in the heel, it will turn his step;
if it strike him in the heart, he throws
up his hands, as did the Emperor Julian
of old when wounded in the battle, cry
ing, 80 Galilean, thou has conquered
In the armory of the Earl of Penn
broke there are old corselets which show
that the arrow of the English used to
go through the breastplate, through the
body of the warrior and out through the
backplate. What a symbol of that gos-
pei which is sharper than a two edged
sword, piercing to the dividing asunder
of body and soul, and of the joints and
marrowl Would to God we had more
faith in that gospel The humblest man.
if he had enough faith in it. could
bring 100 souls to .Issus-perhaps 500.