Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-05-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
CHRISTIAN FIDELITY THE SUB
JECT LAST SUNDAY.
sas Was a Mighty Hunter Before the
Lord''-Text, Genesis X. Verse 9-The
Archers of OIdsn TImes-Awkward
Christian Work.

course Dr. Ia1mage Urges all Chr1St1an
workers to increased fidelity and shows
how much effort at doing good fails
through lack of adroitness; text, Gene
sis K, g. "He was a mighty hunter be-
fore the Lord
In our day hunting is a sport, but in I
the lands and the times infested of
wild beasts it was matter of life or
death with the people. 1t was very
different from going out on a sunshiny
afternoon with a patent breechloader
to shoot reedbirds on the flats, when
Pol1ux and Achilles and Diomedes
went out to clear the land of lions and
panthers and bears. Xenophon grew
eloquent in regard to the art of hunt
ing. In the far east people, elephant
mounted, chased the tiger. Francis I.
was called the father of hunting. And
Moses, in my text, sets forth Nimrod
as a hero, when it presents him with
broad shoulders and shaggy apparel
and sun Drowned face, and arm bunch
ed with muscle, ga mighty hunter be-
fore the Lord" think he used the
bow and the arrows with great success
practicing archery
1 have thought if it is such grand
thing and such a brave thing to clear
wild beasts out of a country, if it is
not a better and braver thing to hunt
down and destroy those great evils Of
society that are stalking the land with
fierce eye and bloody pay and sharp
tusk and quick spring. I have won
dered if there is not such a thing as
gospel archery, by which those who
have been flying from the 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 1 think 1 have authority for
using hunting as an illustration of gos-
pei truth, and 1 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 be-
fore the Lord
Awkward Christian Work.
How much awkward Christian work
there is done in the worldi How
many good people there are who drive
souls away from Christ instead of
bringing them to him. All their fin
gers are thumbs-religious blunderers
who upset more than they right. Their
gun has crooked barrel and kicks as
1t goes off They are like clumsy COM
rade who goes along with skillful hunt
ers. At the very moment he ought TO
be most quiet he is cracking an alder
or falling over a 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 a cup of water to 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 thorough
ly. Christ, after he had broken the
bread, said to the people, Beware Of
the yeast or of the leaven of the Phar-
isees." So natural transition it was,
and how easily they all understood
himi But how few Christian people
there are who understand how to fas-
ten the truths of God and religion to
the souls of men!
The archers of o1den time studied
their art. They were very precise N
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 the 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
about religious work. How little skill
and care we exercise, How often our
arrows miss the mark, 1 am glad
that there are institutions established
in many cities of our land where men
may learn the art of doing good
studying spiritual archery and become
known as mighty hunters before the
Lord"
How to he EdectuaI.
In the first place, if you want to be
effectual in doing good you must be
very sure of your weapon. There was
something very fascinating about the
archery of olden times. Perhaps you
do not know what they could do with
the bow and arrow. Why, the chief
battles fought by the English Plan
tagenets were with the 1ongbow. They
would take the arrow of polished wood
and feather it with the plume of a
bird, and then it would fly from the
bOwstring Of plated silk The bloody
fields of Agincourt and Solway Moss
and Neville's Cross heard the loud