Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-09-24
TALMAGES SERMON.
INTERESTING THEME BY TIE WASH.
NCTCN PREACHER.
Strong Words of Hope and Promise Fo,
Discouraged Toiiers In the Lord's Vine.
yard - Christian Workers. Like the
stars. shine In Magnitude Forever.

Strong Words of Hope and Promise Foa
Discouraged ToiIers in the Lands Vine.
yard - Christian Workers. Like the
Stars, Shine in Magnitude Forever.
TEXT: They that turn many TO right
eOusness shall shine n the stars forever
and ever. Daniel n., 3.
Every man has a thousand roots and
thousand branches. His roots reach down
through all the earth. His branches
spread through all the heavens. lie speaks
with voice, with eye. with hand, with foot.
His silence often Is loud "a thunder and his
life Is dirge or a doNolOgv. There Is no
such thing a. negative influence. We are
all positive In the place We occupy, making
the world better or making Il worse, ON the
Lords side or ON the devils, making up
reasons for our blessedness or Punishment,
and We have already done work In popping
heaven or he'll. hear people tell OF what
they are going to do. A man who has
burned down a city might a. we'll talk OF
some evil that he expects to do, or man
who has saved an empire might a. well talk
of some good that he expects 10 do. by
the force Of your evil influence you have
already consumed infinite values, or you
have by the power OF a right influence won
whole kingdoms for God
Ii would be absurd for me- by elaborate
argument, TO prove that the world is OF the
track. You might rs well stand at the foot
of an emhankment, amid the wreck Of a
capsized rail train, proving by elaborate
argument that something is out Of order.
Adam tumblrl over the emhankment sixty
centuries ago, and the whole race, in one
long train, has gone on tumbling in the
same direction. Crash! Crash! The only
question now Is, Bv what leverage can the
crushed thing be liitedy By what hammer
may the fragments be reconstructed?
want to show you how We may turn many
to righteousness and what will be our
future pay for so doing.
First, we may turn them by the charm OF
n right example. \ child coming from n
filthy home was taught at school to wash
its face. Ii 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
domesti" appearance he washed his face.
The neighbors, happening in, saw the
change and tried the same experiment, I'M
til all that street was purified, and the next
street copied its example and the whole
city felt the result of one SchOOlbOy wash
ING his face. That is "A 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 cleaused and puri.
fled. A man with grace in his heart and
Christian chcerfulness in his face and holy
consistency in his behavior is a perpetual
sermon, and the sermon differs from others
in that it has but one head and the longer
1t runs the better.
There are honest men who walk down
Wall street making the teeth of iniquity
chatter Tlcrr are happy men who go in
to n sickronm and lay II look help the broken
bone to knit and the excited nerves drop
to a calm beating. There are pure men
whose presence slences the tongue Of un.
cleanness The mightiest agent Of good on
earth Is a consistent Christian. | like the
Bible folded between lids of cloth or calf
skin or morocco, but like it better when,
in the shape Of amau, 1t goes ont into the
world Bible Illustrated. Courage is beau
tiful to read about, but rather would | see
a man with all the world against him conf.
dent as though all the world were for him.
Patience Is beautiful to read about, but
rather would | see hutIeted soul calmly
waiting for the time Of deliverance. Faith
Is beautiful to read about, but rather would
find a man in the midnight 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 troops
were wavering, general rose in his stir
rups and dashed into the enomy's lines,
shouting, Men, follow mel They, seeing
his courage and disposition. dashed on AT
ter him and gained the victory. What men
want to rally them for God is an example
| to lead them. All your commands to others
| to advance amount to nothing as long AS
| you stay behind. To affect them Alright
| you need to start for heaven yourself look
ing back only to give the stirring cry Of
'Men. follow"
| Again, we may turn many to righteous
| ness by prayer. There Is no such detective
as prayer, for no one can hide away from
it. 1t puts its hand on the shoulder of a
man 10000 miles off. 1t alights on n ship
mdatantic The little child cannot under
stand the law of electricity, or how the
telegraph operator, by touching the instru-
| ment here, may dart message under the
sea to another continent, nor can We, with
our small intellect, understand how the
| touch OF Il Christians prayer shall instantly
| strike Il soul on the other side Of the earth.
! You take ship and go to some other coun-
| try and get there at II o'clock in the morn
ing, You telegraph to America and the
| message gets here at o'clock the same
morning. In other words, it seems to ar
rive here five hours before II started. Like
that is prayer God says, Before they
call will hear" TO overtake a loved one
on the road you may spur up a lathered
| steed until he shall OUTRAGE the one that
brought the news to Client, but prayer
shall catch it at one gallop. boy
running away from home may take
the midnight train from the country
| village and reach the seaport in time to
and builds the house or the ship. In the
| childhood of our Christian faith we make
but poor work with these weapons of
| prayer; but when we come to the stature
of men in Christ Jesus then, under these
| implements, the temple of God will rise and
| the worlds redemption will be launched.
| God cares not for the length of our prayers,
or the number Of our prayers, or the beauty
| OF our prayers, or the place of our prayers,
| but 1t Is the faith in them that tells. Be-
| lieving prayer scars higher than the lark
| ever sang, plunges deeper than diving bell
ever sank darts quicker than lightning
ever flashed. Though we have used only
the back of this weapon instead of the edge
what marvels have been wrought! If saved
we are all the captiyeS of some earnest
gain the ship that sails on the morrow, but
a mothers prayer will be on the deck to
meet him, and in the hammock before he
swings into it, and at the capstan before
he winds the rope around and on the sea,
against the sky, as the vessel plows on
toward it. There is mightinessin prayer.
George Muller prayed company of poor
boys together, and then he prayed up an
asylum in which they might be sheltered
He turned his face toward Edinburgh and
prayed, and there came E1000. He turned
his face toward London and prayed and
there came $1,000. He turned his face to-
ward Dublin and prayed and there came
$1,000. The breath of Eliiah's prayer blew
all the clouds off the sky, and it was dry
weather. The breath of Elijah's prayer
blew all the clouds together, and it was
wet weather. Prayer, In Daniels time
walked the cave as a lion tanner. 1t reached
up and took the sun by its golden bit and
stopped it and the moon by its silver bit
and stopped it.
We have all yet to try the full power o
prayer. The time will come when the Amer
lean church will pray with its face TOWARD
the west, and all the prairies and inlanC
cities will surrender to God and will pra.
with face toward the sea, and all the islands
and ships will become Christian. Parents
who have hayward sons will get down OF
home, and the boy in Canton will get RICH
| up from the gaming table and 90 down Il