Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-07-03
THE MIGHTY HUNTER
ARCHERS OF OLOEN TIMES AND Cos
PEI ARROWS.

ARcHERS OF OLDEN TIMES AND Cos
PEI ARROWS.
Rev. DIR. Talmage breaches Unique and
Inspiring Discourse For Those Who Are
Trying to Be Successful in Spiritual
Arohery-A Plain Path.
WASHINGTON, June 2s.-All people
who are trying to do good will find this
discourse of DR.. Talmage inspiring as
well as unique His text was Genesis
K, 8: "He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. D"
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 a sunshiny aft
ernoon with a patent breechloader, to
shoot reedbirds on the flats, when Pol
lux and Achilles and Diomedes went
out to clear the land Of lions and tigers
and bears. My text sets forth Nimrod
as 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 and
the arrows with great success practicing
archery.
have thought if it is such grand
thing and such brave thing to clear
wild beasts out Of acountry, if it is not
a better and braver thing to 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 have wondered If there
is not such a thing as gospel archery,
by which those who have been flying
! from the truth may be captured for God
and heaven The Lord Jesus in his SER
mon used the art Of angling for an IL
lustration when he said, Il will make
YOU fishers Of men. And so l think l
have authority for using hunting as an
illustration of gospel truth, and pray
God that there may be many a man to-
day who will begin to study gospel
archery, of whom itmay, after while,
be said, "He was a mighty hunter be-
fore the Lord.
Conversion.
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 himl All their fingers are
thumbs-religious blunderers who up
set more than they right Their gun
has a crooked barrel and kicks as it
goes off. They are like a 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 read at the beginning OF this
service how that the Lord Jesus Christ
Mt the we'll went from talking about a
cup of water to the most practical re-
ligious truths, which won the woman S
soul for God. Jesus in the wilderness
was breaking bread to the people. l
think il was good bread. 1t was very
light bread and the yeast had done It's
work thoroughly. Christ, after he had
broken the bread, said to the people,
Beware Of the yeast, or Of the leayen
of the Pharisees. So natural a transl-
tion it was. and how easily they all un-
derstood himl But how few Christian
neople there are who understand how
To fasten the truths Of God and religion
to the souls of menl Truman Osborne,
one of the evangelists who went through
this country years ago, had a wonderful
art in the right direction. He came to
nv fathers house one day, and while
we were all seated in 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 perished in the storm Had he
looked me in the eye should have been
angered when he told that story. But
be looked into the fireplace, and 1t was
SO pathetically and beautifully done
that 1 never found any peace until
was sure l was inside the fold where
the other sheep were.
The archers Of olden times studied
their art They were very precise in th'
matter. The old books gave special dl
rections as to how an archer should g
and as to what an archer should DO III
must stand erect and firm, his left 100
a little in advance of the right toot
With his left hand he must take hold o.
the bow in the middle, and then witt
the three fingers and the thumb OF hi
right hand he should lay hold of the ar
row and affix it to the string-so precise
was the direction given. But how
clnmsv we are about religious work
How little skill and care we exercise
? How often our arrows miss the marx
Oh. that there were more institution
established in all the towns and cltle
of our land where men might learn tn
art OF doing goOd-stuuylhB spa.
: archery, and known as mighty hunter
before the LordP'
A Choice Of Weapons.
In the first place, if you want to D
r effectual in doing good, you must b
very sure Of your weapon. There wa
something very fascinating about TIN
J archery Of olden times. Perhaps you d'
3 not know what they could do with TN
bow and arrow. Why, the chief battle
fought by the English Plantagenets wer
with the long bow. They would TAX
the arrow Of polished wood, and feathe
q it with the plume of bird, and then
would fly from the bow string OF plaite'
{ silk. The broad fields of Agincourt ant
, Solway Moss and Neville's Cross hear
the loud thrum Of the archer's bov
string. Now. my Christian friends, W
have a mightier weapon than that
b is the arrow Of the gospel; it is shaI1
n arrow It is astraight arrow 1t IS featn
cred from the wing of the dove Of God
} Spirit; it flies from a bow made out
t the wood Of the cross As far as ca