Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-07-04
THE MIGHTY HUNTER
ARcHERs or oLoEN TIMES AND Cos
PEI ARROWS.


PEI ARROWS.
Rev. DIR. Taimage breaches Unique and
Inspirlag Discourse For Those Who Are
irving to BE Successful In Spiritual
Archery-A Plain Path.
WASHINGTON, Juno 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
<. O: she was 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 sunshiny aft
ernoon with 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. Ny text sets forth Nimrod
as a 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 country, if it is not
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 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 H.
lustration when he 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 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. -
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 CON-
rade who goes along with skillful hunt
ers. AT the very moment when he ocght
to be most quiet, he is cracking an
alder, or falling over log and fright
ening away the game How few Chris
tan 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 a
cup of water to the most practical re-
ligious truths, which won tho woman 6
soul for God. Jesus in the wilderness
was breaking 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 leaven
of the Pharisees. F" So natural transit
ton it was, and how easily they all I'M
derstood himi Bot 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 evangelists who went through
this country years ago, had wonderful
| art in the right direction. 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 a story of storm that came on the
mountains, and all the sheep were in
4 the fold, but there was one lamb outside
that persisted in the storm. Had he
looked me i'll the eye should have been
angered when he told that story. But
he looked into the fireplace, and it was
so pathetically and beautifully done
that / 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 the
matter. The old books gave special di-
rechons as to how AN archer should &c
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
/ tho how fhN ,,aslIla
the three fingers and the thumb of bis
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 exercise
How often our arrows miss the mark.
Oh, that there were moro institutions
established in 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 Lordp'
A Choice of Weapons.
In the first place, if You want to be
effectual in doing good. you must be
very sure Of your weapon There was
something very fascinating about the
archery Of olden times. Perhaps you dc
not 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
1t with the plume of bird, and then ii
would fly from the bow string Of plated
silk The broad fields of Agincourt and
Solway Moss and Neyille's Cross heard
the loud thrum of the archer's bow
string. Now. my Christian friends, we
have mightier weapon than that 1t
is the arrow of the gospel; it is sharp
arrow; it Is astraight arrow; it is feath-
cred from the wing of the dove of God 3
Spirit; it flies from a bow made out of
the wood of the cross. As far as can
estimate or calculate it has brought
down 400, 600. 600 souls Paul knew
how TO bring the notch of that arrow on
TO that bow string, and its whir was