Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-08-08
TAI M ! CS L
SER MON
e. Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMACE. DID,.
Pastor of jefferson Park Presby-
terrain Church. ChicaGo


consecrated mothers and daughters OF
America and pleads for a wider ana
more practical recognition Of their serv-
ices I'm church and religious work. The
text is Philippians iv. 3. Help those
women who labored with me in the Cos
pei"
The conspicuous places in the church
have always been filed by men. The
effective personal work of the church.
however. has to large extent been
done by women. Opening the scroll OF
GOSPEL triumphS. the names of the
greatest preachers and organizers have
been men: but in the ordinary walks
of religious life the consecrated female
workers have always Outnumbered the
conSecratcd male workers. In the his
tory of the Christian church the women
members. as class, have rarely falieu
Christ in hours of need.
Not she with traitorous kiss her Master
stung;
Not She denied him with unfaithful
tongue.
She when apostles fled could dangers
brave.
First at his cradle knelt. last at his grave.
The part woman has in the gospel
campaign is that eUlogized by military
historians and poets as that of the
man behind the gun" They declare
it was not the great leaders like Robert
+. Lee and StoneWall Jackson or l. ).
Grant and w. T. sherman VINO bore
Of
was the common soldier in the ranks
1t was the artilleryman who lived III
the trenches day in and day out. II
was the sentinel doing picket duty.
They declare that Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt had but little to do with the
capture of san Juan hill. 1t was the
common soldier. who broke into a run
and swept up to the Spanish block
house And it." said Colonel RooSe-
Welt. Il had not charged the enemy at
Il dead run | would have been run
down by my own men. who were run
ming after me-" Ii was the man be
hind the gun who captured San Juan
hill. and he should have his share OF
the glory. which belongs not to Theo-
dore Roosevelt or any other officer
alone.
The Woman Behind the Gospel Gun
But. though in military parlance we
may talk about the man behind the
mn" we cannot in the church mill
tant. 1t is the woman behind the Cos
pel gun" Who for centuries upon cen
turtles has borne the greatest brunt or
religious strife. 1t is the woman be-
hind the gospel gun in the home, IN
the church. on the street, in the cOuh-
trv. in the city and in the foreign
missions who has carried the name OF
Jesus Christ all around the world. II
is the woman behind the gospel gun
who has won the greatest gospel VIC
tories for our churches in the past
Therefore the purpose Of this sermon
is to make manly plea TO the fathers
and husbands. brothers and sons, OF
the families of our churches to take
their positions in religious work beside
their mothers and wives, sisters and
daughters.
Nearly every man in my audience
today is a believer in Jesus Christ. II
is so with other churches. Inidels and
agnostics are still numerous. unhap
ply, but they are not in our churches
and the voice from the pulpit does not
reach their ears. My ministry so fal
as preaching to infidels and atheists
and agnostics is concerned is practical
" ended. Theodore Cuyler the Crane
old man of the Brooklyn pulpit, lately
declared that in a ministry Of Ovel
sixty years he had never yet preached
a sermon upon the divine authenticity
Of the Scriptures. He believed tina
almost every person with whom hi:
work came in contact was not only
believer in the Bible. but also in the
divinity of Jesus Christ. l believe tina
DR.. Cuyler is right l believe that ey
cry man in church today is not only
believer in Jesus Christ, but that h
also expects some day to receive Chris
as his Saviour and to be redeemed
from sin by the atonement of the cross
Christ's saving Power.
You SHOW the fact invOluntarily. al
most automatically. | can prove L
YOU in very few words that you are
believer in the saving power Of diyin
Christ. How DO you act? What do yo'
say in a crisis? Supposing you wer
swept off the deck of transatlanti
steamer like Captain Courageous il
Rudyard Kiplings story? What wOul
be the first cry which would involun
tarily come to your lips? Would yo
not call out at the top Of your voice
My God, helpE' Surprising you wer
caught in a blizzard upon the wester
prairie. After you had for hours bee
laundering around and around in tn
ever deepening snow, would you no
with your bcnumbed faculties, moan
30 Christ. save me. 0 Christ, say
me- When we were climbing owe
the JohnstOWn ruins a few days aftc
the awful Conemaugh food, Rev. d
Beale told me that during the pand'
mOnium Of death Il saloon keeper, as h
was sweeping by, caught hold Of hi
church's steoplc. As lie hung there h
was heard again and again to beseec
God for his life. Mr. Moody SAID ina
when he was returning from Europ
on the last trip Of his life the steamC
for whole day was every moment el
pected to go to the bottom. Then h
heard men everywhere publicly pra.
ing to God for help-men who, perhap
had not publicly or privately prayed
God for years. Their prayers at tbs
time proved concluSively that most lle
do believe in Jesus Christ; that mo-
men 90 expect some day to be save
by the atoning power Of the cross.
Now, my brother, if you believe
Jesus Christ and hope some day to |
saved by him why is it that your belle
does not affect your life? Why are yo
not man enough to 20 and work in h
vineyard? Your slothful, lazy habit
m spiritual sense ought to make yo