The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-10-11
SPIRITUAL WORKERS
DR.. Talmage Uses Hunting as an
Illustration of Gospel Truth.
Urges All Christian Workers to In
creased Fidelity and Tells How
Much Effort at Doing
Good Fails.

NdSIlIklUlf MAY L.
In this discourse DR.. Talmage urges
all Christian workers to increased
fidelity and shows how much effort at
doing good fails through lack OF
adroitness; text, Genesis. 1879: "He
was mighty hunter before the Lord.
In our day hunting is a sport, but in
the lands and the times infested OF
wild beasts it was a matter of life or
death with the people. 1t was very dif-
ferent from going out on sunshiny
afternoon with a patent breechloader
TO shoot reed birds on the flats, when
POlluX and Achilles and Diomedes
went out TO clear the land of lions and
panthers and bears. NenOphOn grew
eloquent in regard to the art of hunt
ing. In the far east people, elephant
mounted, chased the tiger. Francis l.
was called the father of hunting. And
Moses, in my text, sets forth Nlmrod
as a 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 a brave thing TO clear
wild beasts out of a country if 1t is not
a better and a 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 lie
said: 81 will make you fishers of
men," And so / think have authority
for using hunting as an illustration of
Gospel truth, and | pray God that
there may be many man enlisted in
the work who shall begin to study
Gospel archery, of whom it may after
awhile be said: ale 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 it
goes off. They are like a 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. i 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-
pie: Beware of the yeast or of the
leaven of the Pharisees." SO natural /
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 God
and religion to the souls of menl
The archers of olden time studied
their art. They were very precise in
the matter. The old books gave spe-
cial directions as to how an archer
should go and as TO what an archer
should do. He must stand erect and
firm, his left foot a little in advance
Of the right foot. With his left hand
he must take hold of the bow in the
middle, and then with the three fingers
and the thumb of his right hand he
should lay hold the arrow and affix it
TO the string-so precise was the di-
rection given. But how clumsy we are
ibout religious work. How little skill
md care we exercised How often our
lrrows miss the mark am glad that
here are institutions established in
many cities of our land where men
nay learn the art of doing good
studying spiritual archery and become
Known as mighty hunters before the
.ord!"
In the first place, If you want to be
,ffectual in doing good you must be
cry sure of your weapon. There was
omething very fascinating about the
Irchery of olden times. Perhaps you
10 not know what they could do with
he bow and arrow. Why, the chief
'attles fought by the English Planta-
-enets were with the longbow. They
would take the arrow of polished wood
nd feather it with the plume of
ird, and then it would fly from the
owstring of plated silk. The bloody
elds of Agincourt and Solway Moss
nd Nevilles Cross heard the loud
hrum of the archer's bowstring. '
low, my Christian friends, we have a
nightier weapon than that. 1t is the
rrow of the Gospel; it is a sharp ar
ow; it is a straight arrow; ii is feath-
red from the wing of the dove of
od's spirit; it flies from bow made '
ut of the wood of the cross. 1t has '
rought down 4OO.OOO,OOO of souls ]
'aul knew how to bring the notch Of '
hat arrow on TO the bOwstring, and \
S whirr was heard through the Cor !
ithian theaters and through the q
ourtroom until the knees of Felix S
nocked together. 1t was that arrow J
nat stuck in Luther's heart when he 7
ried out: "Oh, my sins! Oh, my a
nsl" If it strike a man in the head, '