Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-10-15
TALMAGES SERMON.
INTERESTING THEME BY TIE WASH.
INCToN PREACHER.

The Progress OF ChTist-Waiking the fafih
Tarou-h Centuries Followed nv Tia"
Evc OF Faith-Thc Glory la H"a'""
When His Saerifcial Wori, = Ended
Text: ION his head were many crowns.
-Roy. xix, II.
Inwatching this march oi Christ We must
not walk before Him or beside Him, Tor tiai
would not bee reverential or w"r~hlplul. -
We walk behind Him. NrtolluW tilm NhH'
not Vet In his teens up Jerusalem terrace
to a building 600 feet long and coo ieet wide
and under the towering spleutnr "I gate
way~, and by a pillar crowned with 'apl-
tai rhisrled into the shape oi flowers anu
leaves and near marble screen until !.
group of white-haircl philosophers ana
theoloCians gather around him, ana lheh
the hUy hcwilders and ruul1Uud~ ana over
whelms these scholarly -rptuaSrharlah-
with questions they cannot answer au',
under His quick why's and WhNi"rrS' ana
huwS and wGens they pull their whlte
boards with embarrassment aud r"' tAelr
wrinklrl forrheais in confusion. and put
ting their stats hard down on th" marble
floor as they arise To- go, they must leel IKE
Gliding the boldur~- that allows Twelve
years of age to ask seycnty-Nv' years OF
age such puZElers.
out of this building we follow Him into
the Quarantania. the mountain "l ttmp;a-
ton. its side to this day black with rob
berS' dens. Look Up the side OF TINS
mountain come all the forces OF perdition
to effect our Chirftain'~ capture. But al
| though weakened by forty days and forty
| nights of abstinence. He hurls all Pande-
monium down the rocks. suggestive OF how
/ He can hHrl into helplessness all our temp
/ tations. Aud now We climb after Him mp
| the tough sides Of the Mountain Of Beat
| tudes. " and on the highest pulpit of rocks,
| the Valley of Hatin before HIN, the Lake
! of Galilee to the right of Him, and lie
! breaches a sermon that yet will transform
! the world with its applied sentiment.
Now. we follow our Chieftalu ON Lake
! Galiler. We must keep to the beach, !uI
our feet are not shOd with the supernatural
and we remember what poor work Peter
| made of il when he tried to walk the water.
| Christ, our leader, is on the top ofthe toss
! ing waves, and it is about half past three
in the morning, and il is the darkest time
lust before daybreak. But by the flashes
| of lightning we see Him putting His feet
on the crest of the wave stepping iron
crest to crest. walking the white surf. The
| sailors think ghost is stridlng the tenn
nest but lie cheers them into placidity
| showing Himself to be II great Christ fol-
sailors. And He walks the Atlantic, an,
Pacific and Mediterranean. aud Adrlati'
now and if exhausted and aiIrtghted VOy
ayers will listen for His voice at half pas
three o'clock in the morning, on any sea
indeed at any hour, they will hear Iii
voice Of compassion and encouragement,
As in December. 1899 | walked on tn,
way from Bethany, and at the foot o
Mount Olivct, a half mile from the wall o
Jerusalem through the garden of Geth
semanc, and under the eight vencrahl.
olive trees now standing, their pomolog
cal ancestors having been witnesses OF the
occurrences spoken of, the scene of hOrrO
and crime came back to me, until shud
' dered with the historical "Reminiscences.
In following our Chicftains marcl
through the centuries. find myself in
crowd in front of Herod's palace in Jcru
salem and on Il movable platform place,
upon a tessellated pavement Pontius Pilnt
sits And a. once year a cOndemne,
criminal is pardOned, PLATE lets the PEG
pie choose whether it shall be an ASSASSIN
or our Chieitain, and they all cry ont io
the liberation of the assassin, thus drttar
ing they prefer murderer to the Savior
of the world. PLATE took n basin OF watc
in front of these people and tried to was
off the blood of this murder from his hands
hut he could not. They are still lifted, an
| see them looking up through all the age
red with carnage.
Still following our Chieftain | ascend III
hill which General Gordon the great Eng
lish explorer and arbiter, first made ella
model of. 1t is hard climbing for our Chief
tain, for He has not only two heavy tin
bers to carry on His back, the upright an
horizontal pieces of the cross, but He
suffering from exhaustion slused by lac
of food, mountain chills, desert heats
whippings with elmwoOd rods, and year
of maItrcatment.
Now we follow our Chiettain to III
shoulder of Mount Oivet and wthol
wings He rises. All Heaven lifted shot
of welcome. In all the libretto Of cclestij
music it was hard to find an anthem cnoug
conubilaut to celebrate the Joy saint
cherubic, scraphic, archangelic, delc.
But still we follow our Chieftain in II
march through the centuries, for invisih
He still walks the earth. and by the eye
faith WE still follow Him. | hear His trcG
in the sick room and in the abodes
bereavement He marches on and Il
nations are gathering around Him. tn
islands OF the sea are hearing His vote
The continents are feeling His powe
America will be His. Europe will be Iii
Asia will be His!
One by one governments will fall int
line and constitutions and Iiteratures vi
adore His name. More hOnored and wo
shipped is he in this year of 1897 than at al
time since the year one and the day hastei
when ali the nations will join one p.oce
sion, following the Lamb whithersoev
He gOeth.' Marching on! Marching on.
This dear old world, whose back has bee
scourged, whose eyes have been blinde
whose heart has been wrung, will yet riy
heaven. The planets torn robe of pain al
crime and dementia will come off, and Il
white and spotless and glittering robe
holiness and happiness will come on. II
last wound will have stung for the Ia
time; the last grief will have wiped i
last tear; the last criminal will have r
pented of his last crime, and our world TIN
: has been a straggler among worlds-a 10
; star, "a maynard planet, rebelliOus glob
.. miscreant satellite-will hear the volt
. that uttered childish plant in'Bethlcheu
. and agonized prayer in Gethsemane, al
dying groan on Golgotha, and as this vol,
cries, Come" our world will return fro
its wandering never again to stray. Marc
! ing on! Marching on!