The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-07-16
RBV. DR.. TALHAGB.
r1spAx,s DISCOURSE BIZ TA1
xorKp DIVINE
Subject; 1.-THE Mighty Hunter"

Tiki: "He was mighty hunter before
tlA41prd." -Genesis K. 9.
b ssr day hunting is sport; but in the
lands and the times infested with wild beasts
1t was a matter OF life or death with the
people. 1t was very different from going
out on q sunshiny afternoon with patent
breechloader, to shoot reedbirds Oh the flats,
when Pollux and Achilles and Diomedes went
out to clear the land of lions and tigers and
bears. My text sets forth Nimrod as hero
when II 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 II 1t is such grand thing
and such brave thing to clear wild beasts
out OF country, II it is not a better and
drawer thing to hunt down and destroy those
great evil3 q society that ara talking the
land with fierce eye and blo5>y paw, and
sharp tusk and quick spring. l have Won
dered 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 in His sermon used
the art of angling for an illustration when
He said, II 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 be many
man to-day who will begin to study gospel
archery, OF whom it may, after WHILE be
said, "He was mighty hunter before the
Lord"
how much awkward Christian work there
Is done in the world How many good peo-
pie there are who drive souls away from
Christ instead OF bringing them to Him! All
their fingers are thumbs-religious blunder-
ers who upset more than they right. Their
gun has crooked barrel and kicks as it
goes off. They are like stupid comrade
who goes along with skillful hunters. AT
the very moment when he ought to be most
quiet, he is cracking an alder, or falling
over a log and frightening 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 at the well went from talking about
cup of water to the most practically re-
ligious truths, which won the womans soul
Tor God. Jesus in the wilderness was break
ing bread to the people. 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 lea
ven of the Pharisees." So natural a transit
lion it was. and how easily they all I'M
ierstood Him But how few Christian peo-
pie there are who understand how to fasten
The truths Of God and religion to the souls
Of menl Truman Osborne one of the evan
gelists who went through this country years
ago, had a wonderful art in the right direc-
ton. 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, Eyes all
but De Witt" Then Truman Osborne
looked down into the fireplace and began to
tell story of 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 | should have been angered when he
told that story. But he looked into the fire.
place. and it was so pathetically and beauti-
fclly done that | never found any peace un-
til ] was sure / was inside the fold where
he other sheep were.
The archers Of olden times studied their
art. They were very precise in the matter.
The old books gave special directions 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 arrow
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 exercise! How often our arrows miss
| he mark! Oh, that there were more insti-
| utlons established in all the towns and cit
| les of our land where men might learn the
art of doing good-Studying spiritual arch
cry, and known as mighty hunters before
| he Lord"
| In the first place, if you want to be effec-
| tua in doing good, you must be very sure of
your weapon. There was something very
fascinating about the archery of olden times.
Perhaps you do not know what they could
10 with the bow and arrow. Why, the chief
battles fought by the English Plantagenets
we're with the long bow. They would take
The arrow of polished wood, and feather it
with the plume of bird, and then it would
| Wy from the bow string Of plated silk. The
broad fields of Aglncourt and Solway Moss
| and Neville's Cross heard the loud thrum of
he archers bow string. Now, my Christian
friends, we have mightier weapon than
that. 1t is the arrow Of the gospel; it is q
sharp arrow; it is straight arrow: it is
eathered 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 it has brought down 400, 900, 900
souls. Paul knew how to bring the notch of
that arrow on to that bow string, and its
whir was heard through the Corinthan
theatres, and through the courtroom, until
The knees of Felix knocked together 1t was
| Ludt dTIOW that STRUCK III Lutler S Deart
when he cried out: "Oh, my sins! Oh, my
sins" If it strike man in the head, it kills
his skepticism; if it strike a man 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, crying 80 Galilean, Thou has con-
quered"
In the afmory of the Earl OF Pembroke
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 through the backplate. What symbol
of that gospel which is sharper than a two.
edged sword piercing to the dividing asun-
| der of body and soul, and of the Joints and
marrow, Would to God we had more faith
in that gospel! The humblest man, if he had
enough faith in it, could bring 100 souls tc
Jesus-perhaps 500. Just in proportion as
| this age seems to believe less and less in it
| believe more and more in 1t. What are
men about that they will not accept theil
own deliverance? There is nothing proposed
| by men that can do anything like this gospel
The religion of Ralph Waldo Emerson was
| the philosophy of icicles; the religion Of
| Theodore Parker was sirocco of the desert
| covering up the soul with dry sand; the re.
| ligiOn of Renan was the romance of be-
lieying nothing; the religion of the Huxleys
and the Spencers merely pedestal on which
human philosophy sits shivering in the night
OF the soul, looking up to the stars, Offering
no help to the nations that crouch and
groan at the base. Tell me where
there is one man who has rejected
that gospel for another who is