The age-herald., 1902-01-05
Dr. T'alrrage's Sermon,

ss-s-s-s-s-s-s-s
 Washington. December 29.--While this discourse of pr. Talmage. rebukes arro- gance it. encourages humanity and shows how the evening of life may be bright ened. The text is Kings xx, Il. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it of.
 Harness is the obsolete word. for ar nor. It means harness for the man. not harness for the beast; harness for battle, not harness for the blow. The ancient ar nor consisted of helmet for the head, breastplate and shield for the heart, greaves for the feet. The text makes a comparison between a man enlisting for some war and a veteran returning. the one putting on the armor and the. other putting 1t off.
 Benhadad, the King of Syria, thought he could easily overcome the King of Israel. Indeed, the Syrian was so sure of the victory that he spread an ante bellum banquet With thirty-two Kings he was celebrating what they were going to do. There were in all thirty three Kings at the carousal, and their COnQlt1On IS QeSCTlDeu III lAc DlOiCt iOe as convivial or stimulated exaltation, but drunk. Their gilded and hammered pa vilions were surrounded by high mettled horses neighing and champing and hitched to chariots such as Kings rode in Benhadad sends officers over to the King of Israel demanding the surrender of the city, saving: Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children and afterwards sends other officers saying that the palace or the King will be searched and every thing Benhadad wants he will take with out asking. Then the King of Israel called a council of war, and word is sent back to Benhadad that his unreasonable demand will be resisted. Then Benhadad sends another message to the King or Israel, a message full of arrogance and bravado, practically saying: We Will destroy you utterly. will grind Samaria into the dust but there will not be dust enough to make handful for each one of my troops" Then the King Of Israel replied to Benhadad, practically saying: Let me see you do what you say. You royal braggart, you might better have postponed your banquet until after the battle instead of spreading it before the battle. You huzza too soon. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast Himself as he that putteth it off.
 Too Much Boosting.
 An avalanche of courage and righteous ness, the Israelitish army came down on Benhadad and his host. It was hand to hand fighgt, each Iraelite hewing down a Syrian Benhadad. on horseback, gets away with some of the cavalry, but is only saved for worse defeat, in which 100, 900 Syrian infantry were, slaughtered in one day. Now we see the sarcasm and epigrammatic power of the message of my text sent by the King of Israel to Benhadad, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off,
 All up and down history we see such too early boosting Soult, the marshal of France, was so certain that he would conquer that he had proclamation print ed announcing himself King of Portugal and had a grand feast prepared for 4 o'clock that afternoon, but before that hour he fled in ignominious. and Vel lington of the conquering hosts sat down at o'clock to the very banquet that the marshal of France had ordered for him. self Charles V. invaded France and was so sure of conquest that he requested Paul Jovius. the historian, to gather to- gether a large amount of paper on which to write story of his many victories, but disease and famine seized upon his troopers, ana ne rcLredLeu III UlSIIldy. 0u Benhadad's behavior has been copied in all ages of the world. It, will be my ob- ject. among other lessons, to show that he who puts off the armor, having finished the battle, is more to be con graduated than he who begins.
 First, I find encouragement in this subject for the aged who have got through the work and struggle of earthly life. My venerable friends. if you had ax. @F F.x1I citation of what you would have to SC through in the thirties and the forties and the fifties of you lifetime you would have been appalled,. Fortunately the be- reavements. the temptations, the perse- cutions. the hardships were curtained from your sight With more or less forti- tude you passed through the crisis of pain and sadness and disappointment and fatigue and still live to recount the divine help that sustained you. At twenty or thirty years of your age at the tap of the drum you put on the harness. Now, at sixty or seventy or eighty, you are peacefully putting it off. You would not want to try the battle of life over again. So many of just your tempera- ment and with as good starting and as fine percentage and seemingly with as much equipose of character as you had have made complete shipwrecks that you would not want again to run the risks. Though you can look back and see many mistakes. the next time you might make worse mistakes Instead of being depressed over the fact that you are being counted out or omitted in the great undertakings of the church and the world. rejoice that you have a right to hang up your helmet and sheathe your sword and free your hands from the gauntlets and your feet from the boots of mail
 At the Soldiers home in the suburbs of this city often admire the peaceful and contented looks of the venerable heroes