Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-04-11
Talmage

BY Rev.
Frank De GOiff
Tdin1 G. d. d.

sermon the Easter story receives a
new and beautiful setting, which ap-
peals equally to the simple and the
learned. The text is Luke xiv, 81,
'And their eyes were opened. and they
knew him, and he vanished out of
their sight"
Familiar truths become impressive
when presented in an unfamiliar way.
1t is therefore necessary for the
preacher TO find new setting for the
gospel camera. whenever l wish
some lesson to be clearly remembered,
] would wing it," once said Thomas
Guthrie, the great Edinburgh pulpiteer
by gratifying the legitimate play of
the imagination salient truth finds it's
way more readily to the heart and
makes a deeper impression on the
memory. The suggestive illustration,
like float keeps it from sinking; like
Il nail, fastens it in the mind; like the
feathers of an arrow, makes it strike,
and, like the bark, makes it stick"
windows For Sermons is the pointed
caption of a book of sermonic illustra-
ton. Yes; we all need new windows
Us well as clear windows through
which we can learn the great lessons
of gospel truth.
This is Easter day. The lessons with
which the anniversary is fraught are
at the very foundation Of our faith.
They are so mOmentOus that the i'm
Rgination is overwhelmed by their i'm
port. The facts are few, but how vital,
how significant they are. Let US try
TO look at them from a different stand
point from that to which we are accus-
toned. Transporting ourselves in
thought to the city Of Jerusalem on
that eventfNl day we hear rumors
about the sitting of the sanhedrin, at
which the humble Nazarene was con-
uemned, but we pay no attention to
them. l listen not to the excited re-
ports flying everywhere that the high
priest and his hirelings and the Off
GERS of the law, led by the Apostate
Judas, had captured Christ in the gar
den of Gethsemane. l mingle not with
the multitudes that are crowding the
courtroom, in which Plate is the Judge
and Jesus the prisoner. l gaze not at
the awful scene when Christ hung
upon the cross and his dying lips part
ed in their last agony. | go not with
Mary down among the lilies to the
tomb on the first Easter morn. But
when the sunglow of Easter afternoon
hoe no hO -,
waves of light l would point you to a
couple Of pedestrians vending their
way from the Jerusalem capital to-
ward the little village of Emmaus. AS
these two ordinarily dressed men walk
on l see them acCOsted by q third trav-
eler, who appeared over the hills. And
now, as these three come nigh to the
village, l would see them enter a hum
bic home. Then. while they are at
supper, I would show you why the
stranger revealed himself to these two
disciples as the risen Christ.
Casters Revelation.
Easter afternoons revelation, in the
first place, comes ass a Welcome en-
cOuragement to all those who are ear
nestly andprayerfully trying to increase
their faith byTeaching out for more
light 1t comes as Il divine demonstra-
ton that lie prayer of q broken heart
ed father once made to Christ, Lord
I believe: help thou mine unbelief," is
one Of the most beautiful and yet hum
bic prayers of earnest beseechment 1t
Is holy inspiration that though we
sometimes in spiritual life have to
walk as q blind man feels his way
along, step by step, yet if we go on
trustfully and prayerfully and hope
fully Christ, after awhile, viii reveal
himself to us in all his glory.
Why do l entertain this hope? l find
ground for it in the fact that one of
the earliest appearances of Christ on
this first Easter day was to the two
men who had doubted the fact of his
resurrection. Christ, when upon earth,
dealt with men as we deal in our loves
with our kith and kin Supposing that
was young man and had gone off
to a four years war Supposing after
q long series of adventures i should
come back. to my native town. Who
would be the first person 1 should
want TO see? Would i wish to go and
call first upon my school friends or
hpOn.a merchant in whose store l used /
to work as a clerk? Would L care first |
to see mIpld society friends and the
boys.with whom l used to play base !
bah in the Village lots? oh. no! If l /
was a young man the person whom l /
would honor first with a visit would !
be my mother and then my father and |
my sisters, If was married man !
the first person l would honor after |
my return home would be my wife T,
and then my children. When the tele-
gram was handed TO Abraham Lincoln |
notifying him of his nomination for |
Inc presidency by the Republican ma
lion convention assembled in Chicago |
the first move Abraham Lincoln made /
was to put on his tall hat and say: /
rwell. boys, there is little woman up |
be street who would like TO hear this