The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-10-28
TALMAGEiS SERMON.
Mightiest Agent Of God on Earth
is a Consistent Christian.
'.rhey That Turn Many to Righteousness
Shall Shine as the Stars Forever
How Many May BE Turned
to Christ.

They that turn to righteousness shall shine
as the stars forever and ever-Daniel xii, J.
Every man has a thousand roots and
| n thousand branches. His roots reach
down through all the earth; his
ems. He speaks with voice, with eye, with
hand, with foot. His silence often is
| loud as thunder, and his life is dirge
| or a doxology. There is no such thing
as negative influence. We are all 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 peopliug Heaven or hell.
hear people tell of what they are 60
ing to do. A man who has burned
down city might as well talk of some
evil that he expects to do, or man
who has saved an empire might as
well talk of some good that he expects
to do. BY the force of your evil in
tiuence you have already consumed in
finite values; or you have, by the
power of a right influence, won whole
kingdoms for God.
1t wou Id be absurd for me, by elab
crate argument, to prove that the
world is off the track. You might as
well stand at the foot of an embank-
ment. amid the wreck of capsized
rail train, proving by elaborate argu-
ment that something is out of order.
Adam tumbled over the embankment
who la
race, in one long train, has gone on
tumbling in the same direction. Crash.
crash! The only question now is, by
what leverage can the crushed thing
be lifted? BY what hammer may the
fragments be reconstructed? | want
to show you how we turn many to
righteousness, and what will be our
future pay for so doing.
First. We may turn them by the
charm of a rival example. A child
coming from filthy home was taught
at school to wash its face. 1t went
home SO much improved in appearance
that it's 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 neigh bors, happening in,
saw the change, and tried the same
experiment, until all that street was
purified, and the next street copied its
example, and the whole city felt the
result Of one schoolboy washing his
face. That is fable, by which we set
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 is a perpetual SER
mon; and the sermon differs 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 go into sick room, and by a look
help the broken bone to knit. and the
excited nerves drop to a calm beating.
There are pure men whose presence
silences the tongue of uncleanness.
The mightlest agent of good on earth
is consistent Christian. l like the
Bible folded between the folds of
cloth, of calf skin Or morocco,
but l like it better when, in the
shape of man, it goes out into the
world-a Bible illustrated. Courage is
beautiful to read about; but rather
would | see a man with all the world
against him confident as though all
the world were for him. Patience is
beautiful to read about; but rather
would l see buffeted soul calmly
waiting for the time of dellverance.
Faith is beautiful to read about; but
rather would find man in the mid
night walking straight ON as though
he saw everything. Oh, how many
souls have been turned to God by the
charm of bright example!
When, in the Mexican war. the
IT, ops were wavering, a general rose
in his stirrups and dashed into the enc
my's lines, shouting: Men, follow
me-" They, seeing his courage and
disposition, dashed on after him and
gained the victory. What men want
to rally them for God is an example to
lead them. All your commands to 9TH
ers to advance amount to nothing as
long as you stay behind. To affect
them Alright you need to start for
Heaven yourself, looking back only to
give the stirring cry of Men, follow"
Again: We may turn many to right
eousness by prayer. There is no such
detective as prayer. for no one can
hide away from it. 1t puts it's hands
on the shoulder of man 10, 900 miles
off. 1t alights on ship midatlantic.
The little child can not understand the
law of electricity, or how the telegraph
operator, by touching the instrument
here, may dart message under the
sea to another continent; nor can we.
with our small intellect, understand
how the touch of a Christians PRAYER
shall instantly strike soul on the
other side of the earth. You take
ship and go to some other country.
and get there at IL o'clock in the
morning. You telegraph to America
and the message gets here at six
o'clock the same morning. In other
words, it seems to arrive here five
hours before it started. Like that is