The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-27
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.


and put your arm around my neck, and | let me put my arm around your neck, as we used to do when boys lying under the 1 green walnut trees. l think that l could die more easy" So the great southern minister and leader lay down upon his slaves cot and held his black servant in his white arms until the white angel of death came down and took the soul from beneath the black skin. Surely such man of God as Bishop Polk was not cruel or malevolent. Yet at the bugle blast of war he donned the soldiers uniform. As a lieutenant general of the Confederate army he was shot at Pine Mountain, Ga. 1 June 14 1864. He was shot only a few hours after he had confirmed Into the 1 Episcopal church some of his brother officers.
 When Good Men May Fight.
 | It Is proper and right at certain times | and seasons for good men to go to war, if they go with the right motive. The | qualities which go to make up a good and a brave soldier are those which should 1 characterize a good Christian. The cour- age and self-sacrfce and devotion to a righteous cause which have been dis played in the field needed in the l Christians daily life. Therefore, Paul l aptly and powerfully uses the figure of my text for gospel comparison. He is practically saying to young Timothy: l and general. Enlist in his service. Im- plicitly obey his orders. Charge in Christs name If the order Is given you to charge. l Do sentinel duty and trudge weary marches If that Is your order. Be ready l to fight on battlefield, or starve In trench. or suffer in hospital. duty may com mand." All young people are delighted l with military parade. Let me in this ' sermon recount for you how a gospel sol dier should obey Christ's bugle call
 What does it mean to be gospel sol- | dier? First and foremost to take the oath of enlistment. The difference between an | army and mob, the difference between collection of men governed by one | brain, ruled by one voice. directed by one order, and lock of men running hither and thither like a flock of sheep, or | frightened, stampeding cattle, doing as l they will, is the difference between the oath of enlistment and no oath Before a man takes the oath of enlistment he Is a free man. After he takes the oath of enlistment he Is no longer an independ- | ent Individuality. He is a soldier, sub l ject to the soldiers orders, and is liable | to be shot if he deserts or disobeys his superior officers. The oath of enlistment | practically says: "I will. if necessary, let others do my thinking. l will go where I am told to go, and do what I am told | to do" The oath of enlistment is more l binding than bands of steel. I well re- member the time that I took the oath of enlistment in the United States army, and the transformation in my life which | immediat tely took place on account of that | oath The Spanish-American war had broken out. At that time I was living in | Chicago and was chaplain of one of the | largest regiments In Illinois. As soon as war was declared the colonel telegraphed l Governor Tanner placing our whole reg
 iment at the service of the state. What fO dxa I lyf,nx At J,txr +a oht ', and to my family required me to stay; my duty to my country called me to go.
 The Divine Commander.
 Worried and fretted by these conflict ing duties, I was narrowed by day and could not sleep by night. But no sooner did l enter the exposition grounds at Springfield. H., where we encamped. no
 sooner did the mastering officer tell me | to raise my right hand over the open
 Bible and take the oath of enlistment. than all worry and doubt and trouble fad
 ed from my mind. Why? One minute be- fore took that oath of enlistment I was
 free to do as I would. One minute after took that oath of enlistment I was a | United States soldier, subject to the or
 ders of the president of the United States. l What Is true in reference to the Eng fish soldier or the French soldier or the l American soldier is true of the gospel
 soldier. You cannot do effective service | as a soldier of Jesus Christ unless you
 publicly give to him your oath of en-
 listment. And when you once do give
 that oath you are no longer your own
 master. Then you are in exactly the same | position toward your divine commander r
 as was Captain Clark toward his earthly
 commander. After he had brought the | Oregon on her famous trip from hte Pa | cifc ocean around South America g
 southernmost cape, up past the coast of | Brazil, Captain Clark immediately went
 into the first United States port he could find and telegraphed President Mckinley.
 "The Oregon has arrived safe and is | awaiting orders" In the public church
 aisle and by the table of the holy com | munion you give an open testimony of your purpose to surrender your will to the divine will. You must say, "I am ready, O Christ to do what thou wilt have me to do, and go where thou com
 mandest me to go."
 The Gospel Soldier.
 What does it mean to be a gospel sol
 dier? To be assigned to some distinct
 part of some distinct command in the
 great Christian army, following the
 standards of Jesus Christ. To have an
 individual place reserved for you in the
 gospel ranks, where you are to fight for
 the church militant each priva te
 American soldier during the civil war had place reserved TOT nlm Tn the ranks | whether he belonged to the cavalry or
 the artillery, the infantry the engin- l eerlng corps. As a military organization | of a great aggregation of individuals, so
 the success of the army depends upon l that military organization being divided 1 and subdivided and divided again by or | derly arrangement. The individual the 1 private soldier must have his distinct l place just as the general or the colonel I or the major or the captain has his 1 place.
 Let us study for a moment the con- l structon of an American army. Take, for l illustration. that which followed Sher- man to the sea. There were in that host
 about 10000 men, Those 100000 men were | divided first into three parts each com
 manded by a major general. Generals 1 Schoield, McPherson and Slocum had re- | spectively charge of the right wing, the l center and the left wing of that army. l Then each wing and center was again di- 1 vided into corps, under such leaders as
 Generals Logan, Howard and Kirkpat- l rick. Then these corps were again sub | divided into divisions, and these divisions | into regiments, and these regiments into | companies. and each private soldier was | assigned to a distinct company, the let l ter of which was marked on his hat and | the number of the regiment marked upon | the lapel of his coat
 Distinct Place Reserved.
 Each American soldier always had a