Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-09-26
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMACE. DID,.
- Pastor Of Jefferson Park Pfesby.
tsrian Church. Chicago

up their tasks In our schools, colleges
and universities, many Of them for
the first time, this sermon Is peculiarly
and widely appropriate. The text Is
Matthew xi, 20, Learn Of me-"
The school-house is the great reser-
yoir in which are collected the streams
of knowledge which have flowed down
from the ages. 1t Is the place where
scholars can climb upon the broad
shoulders Of the intellectual giants of
the past and the present and see as
far as they have seen, because those
shoulders are lifting those students
heads toward the stars. 1t Is the
place In which man Is taught how 10
harness the winds and lasso the elec-
tricity and tap the oil wells and con-
tribute to the common wealth and de-
yelopment Of his brother man, so that
all working together may cause the
"desert to blossom as the rose" What
is the cause of all those fine farms, big
barns and immense granariesf Why
this thrift and prosperity every
where" l once asked Pennsylvania
farmer when bicycling through Lam
caster tounty. "rhe school-house," he
replied. "You cannot go anywhere
in this part OF the state without hnd-
ing the public school-house at almost
every crossroads and the small college
in almost every town Of any Size"
"What is the cause Of your dilapidated
farms and the slothfulness and filth l
see everywhere around meT l asked
anot--r farmer that same spring In a
region q few hundred miles from the
one the prosperity Of which prompted
my first question. ITO the absence OF
the schoo-house," was the answer.
Most Of our people are ignorant and
uneducated. What is more, most OF
our people do not want to learn;
neither do they wish their children to
learn" Against such a wall of oppo-
sltion as that it is almost impossible
for intellectual progress to make any
true headway.
A Representative Term.
We would eulogize that compound
word Of eleven letters called the
"school-house." But, after all, the
is merely representa-
tive term. Its true value Is not In the
intrinsic worth of the bricks and
stones and wood which compose Its
it is In the spiritual and in
tellectual worth of the men and the
women who stand behind it's teachers
desks. Students from far and near
came to sit at the feet Of Hillel and
his famous grandson Gamaliel, al
though for the most part those teachers
had no buildings Of any worth. Plato
was the disciple of Socrates and the
teacher of Aristotle, who Is the founder
Of the academic school famous the
world round. yet for the most part
these men had the street corners for
their classrooms and the hillsides for
their laboratories. They were poor In
pocket though rich In brains. The
name Of Thomas Arnold has given
Rugby It's greatest fame. The name Of
Eliphalet Mott is the most priceless
heritage Union college at Schenectady
ever received. The name Of ark
HOPKINS is of more value to VII, IS
college than an endowment Of $5A :
300 could ever be. With my own ey
as a student, saw that great educate
then eighty-four years Of age, leaving
our college town to attend the Harvard
Seated upon the rostrum
At Harvard on that great occasion
were the president Of the United States
and senators and governors and leaders
in the various walks Of life. But when
Mark Hopkins. old Williams pride,
slowly ascended the platform the whole
audience rose en- masse and bowed.
That homage was tribute to the fact
that the skilled workman is greater
han his factory; that the teacher Is OF
more Importance than the school-house
n which he stands.
The Divine Teacher is our theme. IL
We have not yet learned the value OF
Jesus Christ as an instructor, then let
Is learn it now in the command OF my
ext. Jesus in these three words re-
,orded in Matthew emphasizes the
treat fact that from him. and him
llone, we can learn the gospel lessons
We ought to learn. Thus today would
yrasp the ropes of the village school
house and the city church bells as the
college sexton holds his bell rope. and
.s pull and the church bells swing
backward and forward and the silver
lotes of these bells go echoing down
he valleys until they plunge up against
he sounding boards Of the hills would
.ry as gospel minister: Come to
schools Come to school! All ye who
" ould learn Of Jesus. come to school,
,ome to SCHOOL, Is not this the mean
ng Of my text. Learn Of meT
The Gospel Classroom.
The gospel classroom. In the first
,lace, has in Christ an authoritative
eacher. I invite you with confidence
o sit at his feet because he has a right
o teach. He speaks not only because
ls a human being he has learned what
We ought to learn. but he comes cloth
d with divine authority. His creden-
iais are higher than those OF any hu-
nan teacher. They proceed from GOD
himself. He is the Son and the CO.
,qual Of God the Father. He comes
o US as a conqueror clothed in white
yesture, "and on his thigh a name
written, King Of kings and Lord OF
ords." "For he taught them as one
having authority and not as the
Icribes."
In this age of intellectual progress 1t
s absolutely essential for every true
eachep, whether Of the higher or the
over grades, to have bis or her Gre
lentials. For instance, II / wish to ed
lcate one of my little girls to be pub
ic school teacher / say to her: Now,
your future life occupation
depends entirely upon yourself and
your work. l am going to send you
,Dt,hlic 0obnn1 /