The Bossier banner., 1901-06-13
SPIRITUAL WORKERS

SIlKlIUAL NUhhEhO
DR.. Talmage Uses Hunting as au
Illustration of Gospel Truth.
Urges All Christian Workers to In
creased Fidelity and Tells How
Much Effort at Doing
Good Fails.
Copyright, 1901 by Louis kopsch' N. ~
In this discourse DR.. Talmage urges
oil Christian workers to increased
fidelity and shows how much effort at
doing good fails through lack OF
adroitness; te1t, Genesis, 1879: HE
was mighty hanter before the Lord.
In our day h, ating is sport, but IN
the lands and the times infested OF
wild beasts it was a matter of lite or
death with the people. 1t was very dit
ferent from going out on a sunshlny
afternoon with patent breechloaoer
to shoot reed birds on the flats, when
Pollux and Achilles and Dlomedes
went out to clear the land of lions and
panthers and bears. Nenophon grew
eloquent in regard to the art OF hun1-
ing. In the far east people, elephant
mounted, chased the tiger. Francis l.
was called the father of hunting. Ana
Moses, in my text, sets forth Nimrod
as hero, when it presents him with
broad shoulders and shaggy apparel
and sun Drowned face and arm
punched with muscle, "a mighty hunt
er before the Lord" l think he used
the bow and the arrows with great
success practicing archery.
| have thought if it is such grand
thing and such brave thing to clear
wild beasts out of country if it is not
better and braver thing to hunt
down and destroy those great evils OF
society that are stalking the land with
| fierce eye and bloody paw and sharp
| tusk and quick spring. l have won
dered if there is not such thing as
| Gospel archery, by which those who
have been flying from truth may be
| captured for God and Heaven. The
| Lord Jesus in His sermon used the art
of angling for an illustration when He
said: 81 will make you fishers of
men," And so l think have authority
for using hunting as an illustration OF
Gospel truth, and l pray God that
there may be many a man enlisted IN
the work who shall begin to study
Gospel archery, of whom it may after
awhile be said: "He was a mighty
hunter before the Lord"
| How much awkward Christian work
there is done in the world! How many
good people there are who drive souls
away from Christ instead of bringing
them to Him! All their fingers are
| thumbs-religious blunderers who up
set more than they right. Their gun
has a crooked barrel and kicks as 1t
goes off. They are like clumsy COM
rade who goes along with skillful
hunters. At the very moment he
ought to be most quiet he is cracking
an alder or falling over log and
frightening away the game. How few
Christian people have ever learned
how the Lord Jesus Christ at the well
went from talking about cupful OF
water to the most practical religious
truths, which won the woman's soul
for God! Jesus in the wilderness was
breaking bread to the people. think
it was very good bread. 1t was very
light bread, and the yeast had done its
work thoroughly. Christ, after He
had broken the bread, said to the peo,
pile: Beware of the yeast or of the
leaven of the Pharisees." So natural a
transition it was and how easily they
all understood Him! But how few
Christian people there are who under
stand how to fasten the truths Of Goo
and religion to the souls of men!
The archers of olden time studied
their art. They were very precise il
the matter. The old books gave spe
cial directions as to how an archer
should 60 and as to what an archer
should do. He must stand erect anG
firm, his left foot little in advance
of the right foot. With his left hant
he must take hold of the bow in The
middle, and then with the three finger!
and the thumb of his right hand hi
should lay hold the arrow and affix i
to the string-so precise was the di
rection given. But how clumsy we ar
about religious work! How little skill
and care we exercise! How often oul
arrows miss the mark! l am glad tha
there are institutions established il
many cities of our land where mel
may learn the art of doing good
studying spiritual archery and becom
known as mighty hunters before tn
Lord!"
In the first place, if you want to b
effectual in doing good you must b
very sure of your weapon. There wa
something very fascinating about tn
archery of olden times. Perhaps yo
do not know what they could do wit
the bow and arrow. Why, the chic
battles fought by the English Planta
genets were with the longbow. The
would take the arrow of polished WOO
and feather it with the plume of
, bird, and then it would fly from tn
bowstring of plated silk. The blood
fields of Agincourt and Solway Mos