The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-30
DR. TALMACE'S SERMON.


 < Washington, Juno 23--From a pas- Jage of Scripture unobserved by most ! leaders Dr. Taimage in this discourse shows the importance of prompt action n anything we have to do for ourselves kr others; text, Eccleeiastes xi, 1, He hat observeth the wind shall not sow"
 What do you find in this packed sen tence of SolonoE's ruo1oloxuef ma m it farmer at his front door examin- lnx the weather It is seedtime. Hie nelds have been plowed and narrowed. The wheat is in the barn in sacks. ready to be taken afield and scattered. Now Is the time to SOW. But the wind is not favorable. It may blow up storm before night, and he may get wet if he starts out for the sowing. Or it may be a long storm that VIII wash cut the seed from the soil. Or there may have been a long drought, and the wind may continue to blow dry weaSh- CT. The parched fields may not take in the grain, and the birds may pick 1t m. and the labor as well as the seed may be wasted. So he gives up the work for that day and goes back into fhe house and waits to see what 1t VIII be on the morrow. On the morrow the wind is etill in the wrong direction, and for a whole week, and for month Eio you ever see such a long spell of bad weather? The lethargic and overcau- tious and dilatory agriculturist allows the season to pass without sowing, ana so no sowing, of course no harvest. That Is what Solomon means when ne says Tn my text. "He that observeth the wind shall not sow"
 As much in our time as in Solomonic times there Is abroad fatal hesitancy "a disposition to let little things stop us--a ruinous adojurnmnt. We all want to do some good in the world, but how easily we are halted in our en- deayors. Perhaps we are solicitors TOT some great charity. There is good nfan who has large means. and he is accustomed to give literally to asy- Nsrns, to hospitals, to reform organisa- tio,,s, to schools, to churches. to com munities desolated with flood or devastated with fires. But that good man, like many good man, Is mercurial in his tenn perament. He is depressed by atmos- pherlc changes. He is always yictimiz- ed by the east wind. For this or that reason you postpone the charitable son- citation. Meanwhile the suffering that you wish to alleviate does its awlul work, and the opportunity for relief is past. If the wind had been from the west or northwest. you would have en- tered the philanthropist's counting room and sought the gift, but the wind w ae. blowing from the east or north east and you did not make the attempt. and you thoroughly illustrated my text, "Tie that obaerveth the wind shall not sow."
 Lost Opportunity.
 There comes a dark Sabbath morn- Ing. The pastor looks out of the SEin- dow and sees the clouds gather and then discharge their burdens of rain. Instead of full church it will be a handful of people with wet feet. ana the dripping umbrella at the doorway or in the end of the pew. The pastor has prepared one of his best sermons. It has cost him great research, and he has been much in prayer while prepar- Ing It. He puts the sermon 1side Tor R clear day and talks platitudes rnd goes home quite depressed, buat the same time feeling that he has done his duty. He did not realize that in u'at small audience there were at least two persons who ought to have had better treatment. One of those hearers was . man in crisis of struggle with evil appetite. A carefully prepared dis course under the divine blessing would have been to him complete victory. ares of sin would have been extin. Kuished, and his keen and brilliant mind would have been consecrated to the gospel ministry, and he would nave been a mighty evangel, and tens or thousands of souls would have under the spell of his Christian eioduence given up sin and started a nee life. and throughout all the heavens there would have been congratulation and hcsanna, and after many ages Of eter- nity had passed there would be eelebra- ton among the ransomed of what was