Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1896-07-02
THE LORDS HUNTERS
Bring Down Much Cams In the Pre-
serves of Belzeb,h.
They Used the Darts of Truth Fashioned
From the Gospel, and Sometimes Tipped
with the Poison of Rcmorse-Sermon
by Rev. Dewitt TnImagc, DID.

sis, ", .: "lle 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 il WINS a matter ri life and death
with the braplt. 1t w;is tcrr different
from going ont on Il sunshiny afternoon
with patent brccch-loadcr 10 shoot
reed birds ~ the flats, when PolluN
and Achilles and nioucdEs went ont to
clear the land of lions and tigers and
bears NV text sets forth Nimrod as
hero when il presents him with broad
shoulders and shaggy apparel and sun
brow ned face. and arm punched with
musclc-'a mighty hunter before the
Lord. think he used the bow and he
arrows with great success prncticiuY
archer
have thought if il is such grand
thing and such brave thing to clear
wild beasts out nf country, il il is
not better aud Drawer thing to hunt
down and destroy those great evils Of
society that are stalking the land with
fierce eye aud bloody paw, and sharp
tusk an sharp spring. have won
dcrcd if there is not such a thing
As Gospel archery, 10y which those who
have been flying from the truth may be
captured for tod and Heaven. The
Lord Jesus III His sermon used the art
of angling for an illustration when lie
said: Il will make You fishers of men"
And So think | have authority for
using hunting as an illustration of
Gospel truth, and ! pray God that there
may he many man to-day who will
begin tn study Gospel archery; ~
whom it may after awhile be said: "He
was 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 Him! All their fingers are
thumbs religious blundcrRrs who up
set more than they right. Their gun
has d crooked barrel and kicks as it
goes off. They are like clumsy com
rade who goes along with Sllillful hunt
erS-at the very moment when he ought
to be most quiet he is cracking an al
der or falling over a log and frightcn-
ing away the game. How few Christian
people have ever learned the lesson of
which | read at the beginning of this
service, how that the Lord Jesus
Christ ut the well went from talking
about cup uf water tn the most prac
teal religious truths. which won THE
woman's soul for God! Jesus in the
Wilderness was breaking bread to the
people. think it 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: Be
ware of the yeast, or of the lcavcn, oi
the PharisccS." So natural n transi
ton IT was, and how easily they under
stood Him. But how few Christian
people there are who understand hnv
to fasten the truths Of God and religion
to the souls of mep. Truman Osborne
one of the evan: ,t- ho went
through the county ycrts ago, had a
wonderful ri IT, thy ''"hi iirectior
lie came t my fathers house
day. and while we were all scatcu
in the room de said; Mr.. Talmaqe
arc all your children Christians?'
Father said: ''lcs, all but he Witt
Then Truman Osborne looked dowi
into the fireplace and began To tell q
story of a storm that came on tn,
mountains AMI all the sheep ~Src ~
the fold, but there was one lamb out
side that persisted IN the storm. Had
he loolcl me in the eye | should have
len angcrcd when he told that story
ut he looked into the fireplace, and Il
was 50 rathetically and beautifully
done that | never found any peace un
I'll ! was sure ] was inside the FOLD
where the other sheep were.
The archcrs Of olden times studied
their art. They were very precise il
the natter. The old books gave spc
cial directions as to how an archer
should go. and as to what an archer
should do. lie must stand erect anC
firm. his left foot a little in advance o
the right foot With his left hant
he must take hold of the bow
in the middle. and then with the
three fingers and the thumb of hi
right hand he should lay hold of tho
arrow and aifiN il to the string $,
precise was the direction given. Blu
how clumsy we are about religious
work, How little skill and care W,
exercise, How often our arrows mis-
the mark. Oh. that there were NOR,
institutions established In all the town
aud cities of our land where men nigh
learn the art of doing good-studyin,
spiritual archery. and known "A
mighty hunters before the Lordl"
Ia the first place. if You want to b.
cffcctual in doing good, You must b
very sure Of your weapon. There wa
something very fascinating about tn,
archery OF o'dCn times. Perhaps yO'
DO not know what they conld do will
the bow and arrow. Why, the chic
battles fought hy the English Plantag
cne'S were with the long bow. The,
woull take the arrow of polishe,
wood. and feather il with tn
piumr of bird, and then i
would fly from the bow-strin,
of plated silk. The broad field
of AGincourt aud Solway Moss, AM
Nrvillc's Cross heard the loud thrum u
the archer's bow-string. Now. IN,
Christian friends we have mightic
weapon than that. 1t is the arrow o
The Gospel: it is a sharp arrow: it is
straight arrow: il is fcathercd from
the wing of the dove of Gods spirit
il flies from a bow made out of tn
wool of the cross. As far as
can estimate or calculate, it ha
brought down 400, 900, 900 souls. Pan
y H<w how to bring the notch of tina
arrow onto that bow-string, and it
whirr was heard through the Corinth