The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-17
BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES.
DIR. TALMAGE-S WEEKLY SERMON
AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.

Unprecedented Demand 10 Hear the
Noted Preacher at Washington.
Two sunday Sermons. in Addition
10 Taking Charge of "a THURSDAYS
Evening Meeting. Are Now DeIiV-
cred by Him-The Song of the
Sickle" the First CantO in Honor
of the Curved and differing steel,
the Reaper's Hook-SOnE and
Prayer Are Mighty SfcIsIes for the
RcapinE Of the Gospel Harvest.
Three ReSOunding blasts on the
Gospel Trumpet-An Eloquent SER
mon.
Washington. Feb IA change has
taken place. Dr. Talmage when first COM
ing TO Washington preached only Sunday
evenings, but so great has been the de-
mand for his services that he now preach
es Sunday morning and evening, and takes
charge Of the Thursday evening meeting.
The throngs are immense. The subject of
his sermon for to-day was, bringing I'm
the sheaves," the text being Joel 3. 10;
Put We in the sickle. for the harvest is
ripe"
The sword has been poetized and the
world has celebrated the sword of Boil
var. the sword of Cortez and the sword
Of Lafayette. The pen has been properly
eulogized, and the world has celebrated
the pen of Addison the pen of Southey
and the pen Of Irving. The painters pen
Gil has been honored. and the world has
celebrated the pencil of Murillo, the pen
ell of Rubens, and the pencil Of Bierstadt
The sculptor's chisel has come i'm for high
encomium, and the world has celebrated
Chantreys chisel, and Crawford's chisel,
and Greenough's chisel But there is one
instrument about which l sing the first
canto that was ever sung-the sickle, the
sickle of the Bible. the sickle that has
reaped the harvest of many centuries.
Sharp. and bent into a semi-circle, and
glittering. this reaping hook. no longer
than your arm. has furnished the bread
for thousands of years. It's success has
produced the wealth of nations. 1t has
had more to do with the worlds progress
than sword and pen, and pencil, and CHS
ell, all put together. Christ puts the sickle
into exquisite sermOnic smile, and you see
that instrument fash all up and down
the Apocalypse as 81 John swings IT,
while through Joel in my text God COM
mands the people, as through his servants
now he commands them-'Put We in the
sickle for the harvest is ripe"
Last November there was great reJoic-
ing all over the land. With trumpet and
cornet and organ and thousand-voiced
psalm we praised the Lord for the temp
oral harvests. We praised God for the
wheat, the rye, the oats, the cotton, the
rice, all the fruits of the orchard and all
the grains of the field; and the nation
never does a better thing than when in
the autumn IL gathers to feStiVity and
thanks God for the greatness OF the mar
vest. But ! come to-day to speak to you
of richer harVests, even the spiritual. How
estimate the a.
say he is worth so many dollars, or he has
achieved such and such "A positions but we
know very we'll there are some men at
the top on the ladder who ought 90 be at
the bottom, and some at the bottom VINO
ought to be at the top, and the only way
to estimate a man Is by his soul. we all
know that we shall live forever. Death
cannot kill us. other crafts may be drawn
into the whirlpool or shVered on the rocks
but this life within us will weather an
storms and drop no anchor, ana ten mill
ion years after death Will shake out sig
mails on the high seas of eternity. You
put the mendicant off your doorstep ana
say he is only a beggar; but he is worth
all the gold of the mountains, worth all
the pearls of the sea, worth the Sohd
earth, worth sun and moon ana stars,
worth the entire material universe. Take
all the paper that ever came from the pa
permits and put it side by side and sheet
by sheet, and let men with heetest pens
make figures on that paper for 10000 years,
and they will only have begun to express
the value of the soul Suppose owned
Colorado and Nevada and Australia, OF
how much value would they be TO me one
moment after ! departed this life? How
much of Philadelphia does Stephen Girard
own to-day? How much of Boston prop
erty deS Abbott Lawrence own to-day
The man who to-day hath a dollar in his
pocket hath more worldly estate than the
millionaire who died last year. How do
YOU suppose | feel, standing here sur
rounded by multitude of souls each one
worth more than the material universe?
Oh. was l not right in saying, TINS spirit
ual harvest is richer than the temporal
harvest? l must tighten the g1rdle, L
must sharpen the sickle, l must be care
full how 1 swing the instrument Tor gain
ering the grain, lest one stalk be lost. one
of the most powerful sickles for reaping
this spiritual harvest is the preaching OF
the Gospel. If the sickle have a rosewood
handle, and it be adorned with precious
stones and yet it cannot bring DOWN thS
grain it is not much of a sickle, ana
preaching amounts to nothing unless II
harvests souls for God. Shall we preach
philosophy? The Ralp Waldo EmersoRs
could beat us at that Shall we preach
science2 The Agassizes could beat us at
that. The minister of Jesus ChrlSt with
weakest arm going forth in earnest pray er
and welding this sickle of the gospel, shall
find the harvest all around him WAuhS
for the angel sheaf-binders. Oh, this mar
vest of souls / notice in the fields that
the farmer did not stand upright when
he gathered the grain. noticed he mad TO
Stoop to his work, and l noticed IN order
to bind the sheaves the better he had TO
put his knee upon them. And as we go
forth in this work for God We cannot
stand upright in our rhetoric and our met
aphysics and our erudition We have to
stoop to our work. Ay, we have TO put
our knee to it or we will never gather
sheaves for the Lords garner. Peter
swung that sickle on the day of Pentecost
and 5000 sheaves came in. Richard BaN-
ter swung that sickle at Kidderminster
and McCheyne at Dundee, and vast null
titudes came into the kingdom of our God.
Oh this is a mighty gospel 1t captured
not only John the lamb, but Paul the
lion. Men may gnash their teeth at it,
and clinch their fists, but it is the power
of Cod and the wisdom of God unto sal
walton. But alas, if it is only preached in
pulpits and on Sabbath days! We must go
forth. into ur stores, our shops, our bank
ing houses our factories, and the streets,
and everywhere preach Christ. We stand
in our pulpits for two hours on the Sab
bath and commend Christ to the people;
hut there are 16S hours in the week, and
what are the two hours on the Sabbath
against the 166? Oh, there comes down the
ordination of God this day upon all the
people men who toll with head and hand
and foot-the ordination comes upon all
merchants, upon all mechanics, upon all
toilers, and God says to you as he says
TO me: GO teach all nations. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
and he that belieVeth not shall be damn
ed" Mighty gospel, let the whole earth