Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-08-06
TALMACE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANKtDE WITT TALMAGE, DID,,
Pastor Of jefferson Pork Prcsby.
isrian Church, Chicago

Chicago, Aug, I'm this sermon the
preacher pays fitting tribute to the
consecrated mothers and daughters of
America and pleads for wider and
more practical recognition Of their serv-
ices in church and religious work. The
text is Philippians w. 3, Help those
women who labured with me in the Cos
pei"
The. conspicuous places in the church
have aiways been oiled by men. The
effective. personal work of the church,
howeves, has to q 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 consecmted female
workers have always outnumbered the
consecrated male workers. In the his
tory Of the Christian church the wcmen
members. as a class, have rarely Failed
Christ in hours Of need
Not she with tra1torous kiss her Master
stung;
Not she denied him with unfaathfu,
tongue.
She when apostles fed could dangers
bravo
First ut his cradle kneh. last at his grave.
The part woman has in the gospel
campaign 10 that euIbgized by military
historians and poets as that Of the
man behind the gun" They declare
it was not the great leaders like Robert
L. Lee and Stonewall Jackson or U. s.
Grant and w. T. Sherman who bore
the chief brunt of the civil war. 1t
was the common soldier in the ranks.
1t was the artilleryman who lived in
the trenches day in and day out. 1t
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 run
and swept up to the Spanish block
house And IT," said Colonel Roose-
velt, Il had not charged the enemy at
dead run l would have been run
down by my own men, who were run
ming after me-" 1t was the man be-
hind tho 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
gun" we cannot in the church mill
tant 1t is the woman behind the Cos
pei gun" who for centuries upon GEN.
hne no .f
religious strife. 1t is the woman be-
hind the gospel gun" in the home, in
the church, on the street in the coun-
try, in the city and in the foreign
missions who has carried the name of
Jesus Christ all around the world. 1t
| 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 Il 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 believer in Jesus Christ 1t
is so with other churches. Intidels 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 far
as preaching to infidels and atheists
and agnostics is concerned is practical
~ ended. Theodore Cuyler, the grand
old man of the Brooklyn pulpit, lately
declared that in a ministry of over
sixty years he had never yet preached
a sermon upon the divine authenticity
of the Scriptures. He believed that
almost every person with whom his
work came in contact was not only o
believer in the Bible. but also in the
divinity of Jesus Christ. believe that
Or. Cuyier Is right believe that ev
cry man in church today is not only g
believer in Jesus Christ, but that he
also expects some day to receive Christ
as his Saviour and to be redeemed
from sin by the atonement Of the cross
Christ's saving Power.
You show the fact Involuntary, al
most automatically. l can prove tc
you in very few words that you are {
believer In the saving power of divine
Christ. How do you act? What do 20,
say In n crisis! Supposing you were
swept off the deck of transatlantic
steamer like Captain Courageous il
Rudyard Kipling's story? What woult
be the first cry which would ipvoiun
carily come to your lips? Would yol
not call out at the top Of your voice
MY God, helpr Supposlng you wer
caught in blizzard upon the western
prairie. After you had for hours beel
laundering around and around In tn
ever deepening snow, would you not
with your benumbcd faculties. moan
20 Christ, save me! Christ saw
me"' When we were climbing owe
the Johnstown ruins few days afte
the awful Conemaugh food, Rev. ID
Reale told me that during the pandC
moninm Of death a saloon Keeper as h
was sweeping by, caught hold of hi
chuPch's steepie. AS he hung there h
was heard again and again to beseec
God for his life. Mr.. Moody said tina
when he was returning from Europ
on the last trip Of his life the steame
for whole day was every moment e!
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 thu
time proved cnnclusiVely that most me