St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-10-23
TALMAGE'S SERMON.

IALWAUCO = SEHMUNs
Mightiest Agent o6 God On Earth
is q Consistent Christian.
sThey That Turn Many - 1ighsseasoeas
Shall shine - the 8ears Eoseves''-
How Maay May H Turned
70 Chsist.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmags's recent ser.
mon was preached from the following
text:
They that turn 70 rishteousness shall shine
o. the stars forever and ever.-Daniel Kill,
Every man has . thousand roots ard
Q thousand branches. His roots reach
down through all the earth; his
branches spread through Ill the hesv-
ems. He speaks with voice. with eye. with
hand, with foot His silence often u
loud q thunder, and his life II dirgs
or . doxology. There Il NO such thing
as negative influence. We are oil posi-
tive in the place We occupy. making
the world better or making it worse.
on the Lords side or on the devils;
making up reasons for our blessedness
or banishment; and We have already
done work in peopling Heaven or hell.
l hear people tell Of what they are GO
ing to do. A man who has burned
down . city might - we'll talk efsome
evil that he expects to do; or . man
who has saved IN empire might -
we'll talk Of some good that he expects
to do. BY the force Of your evil in
auence you have already consumed In
finite values; or you have, by the
power of right influence, won whole
Kingdoms for God.
1t wou Id be absurd for me, BY elab-
crate argument to prove that the
world il of tho track. You might -
well stand ut the foot Of IN embank-
ment. amid the wreck Of capsized
rail train. proving BY elaborate argu-
ment that something Il out OF order.
Adsm tumbled over the embAnkment
sixty centuries ago. and the whole
race, in one long train, has gone ON
tumbling in the same direction. Crash!
crashl The only question now IL by
what leverage can the crushed thing
be liftedf BY what hammer may the
fragments be reconstructed? l want
to show you how we turn many TO
righteousness, and what will b our
future pay for % doing.
First We may turn them BY the
charm OF . rival example. A child
coming from . filthy home was taught
1T school to wash its face. 1t went
home SO much improved in appearance
that its mother washed her face. And
when the father,of the household came
home and saw The improvement In
domestic appearance. he washed his
face. The neighbors. happening In.
saw the change, and tried the same
experiment. until all that street was
purified, and the next street copied it
example. and the whole city felt the
result Of one schoolboy washing his
face. That's . fable. ny which We Get
forth that the best way to get the
world washed Of its sins and pollution
is TO have our own heart and life
cleansed and purified. A man with
grace in his heart and Christian cheer
fulness in his face and holy consist-
ency in his behavior II perpetual ser
mon; and the sermon dif1ers from
others in that it has but one head. and
the longer it runs the better.
There are honest men who walk
down wall street, making the teeth Of
iniquity chatter. There are happy men
who 20 into Q sick room. and by look
help the broken bone 70 knit. and the
excited nerves drop to . calm beating.
There arc pure men whose presence
silences the tongue Of uncleannesa
The mightiest agent Of good on earth
il . consistent Christian. I like the
Bible folded between the folds Of
cloth, of calf skin or morocco.
but I like it better when. in the
shape of . man, it goes ont into the
world-a Bible illustrated. Courage Il
beautiful to read about; but rather
would l see man with Ill the world
against him confident - though Ill
the world were for him. Patience Il
beautiful to read about; but rather
would I sec . bu6eted soul calmly
waiting for the time OF dsliversnos.
Faith is beautiful TO read about; but
rather would fnd . man In the mid.
night walking straight ON - though
he saw everything. Oh. how many
souls have been turned to God BY the
charm Of . bright examplel
When. in the Mexlean war. thl
tr ops were wsvering. . general ros<
in his stirrups and dashed into the enc
my's lines, shouting: men. follow
mer' They, seeing his courage and
disposition, dashed on after him and
gained the victory. What men want
to rally them for God Il IN example r
lead them. All your commando to 9th
ers TO advance amount to nothing q
long - you stay behind. To a6eei
them Alright you need TO start foa
Heaven yourself. looking back only 4
give the stirring cry Of Men. follow!
Again: We may turn many to right
eousness by prayer. There II NO suci
detective - prayer. for NO one ca
hide away from it II puts it, hand'
on the shoulder Of . man 100 milss
OF. 1t alights on . ship midatlantie
The little child can not understand tn
law Of electricity, or how the telegraph
operator. by touching the instrument
here, may dart . message under tn
sea to another continent; nor can Ne
with our small intellect. undesstant
how the touch Of . Christians preye'
shall instantly strike soul On tn
other side 0f tho earth. You TAX
ship and 70 70 some other country
and ret there at IL o'clock In thl
morning. You telegraph 70 Ameste'
and the message gets hsro . q,
o'clock the same moenin9. In CHE
words. It seems 10 arrive heso A.
hours before It started. Like tha4 !