The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1901-05-17
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,

!
In this discourse DR.. TaImage 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 a mighty hunter before the LORD.
In our day hunting is sport, but IN
the lands and the times infested OF
wild beasts it was matter OF LIE or
| death with the people. 1t was very Gil
! ferent from going out on sunshlny
| afternoon with "a patent breechloader
to shoot reed birds on the flats, when
| Pollux and Achilles and Dlomedes
| went out to clear the land of hons ana
| panthers and bears. Nenophon grew
| eloquent in regard to the art OF hunt
| ing. In the far east people, elePhahC
mounted, chased the tiger. Francis L.
was called the father of hunting. And
| Moses, in my text, sets forth Nlmroo
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 brave thing to clear
wild beasts out of country if it is not
| a better and a drawer 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: Il 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
ADMINISTRATORS 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 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 cupful of
water to the most practical religious
] truths, which won the wOman's soul
for Godl Jesus in the wilderness was
! breaking bread to the people. L think
it was very good bread. 1t was very
! light bread, and the yeast had done it's
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 men!
| The archers of olden time studied
! their art. They were very precise in
the matter. The old books gave spe-
I cial directions as to how an archer
! should 60 and as to what an archer
!
! firm, his left foot 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 d.
rection given. But how clumsy we are
| about religious work. How little skill
and care we exercise! How often our
! arrows miss the mark! l 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!'
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 fascina ting 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 Planta-
genets were with the longbow. 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
thrum of the archer's bowstring.
Now, my Christian friends, we have a
mightier weapon than that. 1t is the
arrow of the Gospel; it is a sharp ar
row; it is straight arrow; it is feath-
cred from the wing of the dove of
Gods spirit; it flies from bow made
out of the wood of the cross. 1t has
brought down 4OO,OOO,OOO of souls
Paul knew how to bring the notch of
that arrow on to the bowString, and
its whirr was heard through the Cor
inthian theaters and through the
courtroom until the knees of Felix
knocked together. 1t was that arrow
that stuck in Luther's heart when he
cried out: "Oh, my sins! Oh, my
sins!" If it strike a man in the head,
it kills his skepticism; if it strike him
in the heel, it will turn his step; if it
strikes him in the heart, he throws up
his hands, as did one of old when
wounded in the battle, crying: go
Galilean, thou hast conquered"
In the armory Of the earl of Penn