The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-08-18
TALMAGE SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY TIE k3Is o..
vlhE.
Subject: Practical Charity-The Benevo.
1ence of Dorcas ExtOlled - Her Work
Contrasted with Present Day Metnod.
woman Gods Handmaiden.

} Copyright lsOo.l
WASHINGTON, ID. C.-Dr Talmag,
who Is still travelling in Northern Europe
has forwarded the following report of
J sermon IN which he utters helpful word
, to all who are engaged in alleviatinc h,
man distresses and shows how such wor
VIII be crowned at the last; text. Act
TX, 30, And all the widows stood by hin
weeping and showing him the coats an,
garments which Dorcas made while sh
was with them
Joppa is most absorbing CITY of th
ORIENT. Into her harbor once ffoated tn,
rats OF Lebanon cedar from which tn,
temples OF Jerusalem were bulded. Solo
mons oxen drawing the logs through tn,
town. Here Napoleon had 800 prisoner.
massacred. One Of the most magnificent
charities OF the centuries was started IL
this seaport by Dorcas, woman with hel
needle, embroidering her name incfaceably
INTO the beneiicence of the world | see
her sitting in yonder home In the door
| way and around about the building and i1
the room where she sits are the pale faces
OF the poor. She listens to their plant
she pltles their Woe, she makes garments
Tor them, she adjusts the manufactured
articles to suit the bent form of this inva-
lid woman and to the cripple that comes
! crawling on his hands and knees She
gives coat to this one; she gives sandals
to that one. With the gifts she mingles
prayers and tears and Christian encourage
| ment. Then she goes out to be greeted on
the street corners by those whom she has
blessed, and all through the street the cry
| Is heard, "Dorcas is coming!" The sick
| look up gratefully in her face as she puts
her hand on the burning brow, and the
lost and the abandoned start up with hope
as they hear her gentle voice, as though
an angel had addressed them, and as she
goes out the lane eyes half put out with
SIN think they see a halo of light about
her brow and trail Of glory in her path
way: That night a half paid shipvright
Climbs the hill and reaches home and sees
his little boy well clad and says, Where
dld these clothes come from" And they
tell him, "Dorcas has been here" I'm an
other place woman Is trimming a lamp;
Dorcas bought the oil. In another place
family that had not been at table for
many week are gathered now, for Dorcas
has brought bread.
But there is a sudden pause in that won-
ans ministry. They say: Where is Dor
cas-: Why, we haven't seen her for many
a day. Where is Dorcas:' And one of
these poor people goes up and knocks at
the door and finds the mystery solved. All
through the haunts of wretchedness the
news comes, ''Dorcas is sick!' No bulletin
flashing from the palace gate telling the
stages OF a kings disease is more anxiously
waited TOR than the news from this bene.
factress. Alas, for Joppa there is wailing,
walhng, That voice which has uttered SO
many cheerful words is hushed; that hand
which has made SO many garments for the
poor is cold and still; the star which had
poured light into the midnight of wretch
edness is dimmed by the binding mists
that go up from the river of death In
every forsaken place in that town, wher-
ever there is sick child and no balm,
wherever there is hunger and no bread
wherever there is guilt and no commisera
ton, wherever there is broken heart and
no comfort, there are despairing lookss
and streaming eyes and frantic gesticuh.
tions as they cry, 'Dorcas is dead"
They send for the apostle Peter, wh6
happens to be in the suburbs of the place,
stopping with a tanner of the name of 81
mon. Peter urges his way through the
crowd around the door and stands in the
presence of the dead What demonstra-
tion of grief all about him! Here stand
some of the. poor people, who show the
garments which this poor woman had
made for them. Their grief cannot be ap-
form miracle. He will not do it amid the
excited crowd, so he orders that the whole |
room be cleared. The apostle stands now
with the dead. Oh, it is serious mo
ment, you know, when you are alone with
a lifeless body! The apostle gets down on
his knees and prays, and then he comes to
the lifeless form of this one all ready for
the sepulcher, and in the strength of Him
who is the resurrection he cries: ''Tabtha,
arise.' There is a stir in the fountains
of life, the heart flutters. the nerves thrill
the check hushes, the eye opens, she sits
up.
We see in this subject Dorcas, the disci-
pie, Dorcas the benefactress, Dorcas the
lamented, Dorcas the resurrected.
If | had not seen that word disciple in
my text, l would have known this woman
was Christian. Such music as that never
came from a heart which is not chorded
and strung by divine grace. Before | show
you the needlework Of this woman | want
to show you her regenerated heart, the
source of pure life and of all Christian
charities. | wish that the wives and moth,
ars and daughters and sisters of all the
earth would initiate Dorcas in her disciple
ship. Before you cross the threshold OF
The hospital, before you enter upon the
and trials of tomorrow, |
,harge you in the name of God and by the
turmoil and tumut of the judgment day,
} woman. that YOU attend to the first, last
md greatest duty Of your lfe-the seeking
or God and being at peace with HIM,
When the trumpet shall sound there will
De an uproar and wreck of mountain
md continent. and no human arm can help
-ou. Amid the rising OF the dead and
mid the boiling of yonder sea and amid
he live, !eaping thunders of the flying
leavens calm and placid will be every
heart who hath put her trust in
notwithstanding all the tu-
nult, as though the fire in the heavens
we're only the gildings of an autumnal sun
ct, as though the awful voices of the sky
we're but a group of friends bursting
through a gateway at even time with
aughter and shouting, "Dorcas the disci
le." Would God that every Mary and
very Martha would this day sit down at
he feet OF Jesus.
Further, we see Dorcas, the benefactrcss.
history has told the story of the crown;
pic poet has sung of the sword: the pas
oral poet, with his verses full of the redo
.ncc of clover tops and a-rustle with the
TX Of the corn. has sung the praises OF
he plow. l tell YOU the praises of the
eedie. From the fig leaf robe prepared
/ the garden of Eden to the last stitch
lken on the garment for the poor the
eedlc has wrought wonders OF kindness.
enerosity and bcaefaction. It adorned
ne girdle of the high priest, it fashioned
Ne curtains in the ancient tabernacle. it
lshioned the chariots OF King Solomon. ]
provided the robes of Queen Elizabeth
nd in high places and in low places, by
1e fire of the pioneers back log and un-
pr the flash of the chandelicr-eyery- :
hcre--it has clothed pakedness, it has