The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-31
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON
BY THE REV. FRANK DE WITT TALMAeE, D. D.

oS ANGELES, CAL, December A-In
 the prospect and retrospect afforded L by our ascent of the Pisgah heights of human life and experience the preacher finds a topic appropriate to the closing old year and full of encouragement for the new. The text is Deuteronomy xxxiv., l. ITO the top of Pisgah."
 I would that Victor Hugo's works were by my side. I could find in one of his books-I think the one entitled Ninety three''-a marvellous description of storm in mid-ocean., The great ship, which, be- lieve, was a man-of-war, was being tum- bled about in the heavy pillows. The hur- ricane was shrieking in pandemonium of wrath. Only those who have been tossed about by a cyclone far out Of sight of land know what the horrors Of such a storm must have been. Suddenly the dangers of the tempest were multlpo- tently increased by another danger nearer at hand. The ship was rolling this way and that. The huge cannon were stralning at the chains that held them in place. Suddenly one of these cannon broke loose and with frightful velocity it started on
  While the prov of the ship would lift itself and then points it's nose down into the valleys of the waters, like d tenpin ball, the vagabond cannot would rush along the length of the deck and crash into the masts until the terrified sailors al most heard the keel snap under their feet.
 Then when the ship would lurch to lee ward and the gunwales would be sub merged under the rushing waters the huge iron monster would stop just minute The next instant it would make dash in that direction until, like battering ram, it seemed as though it would splinter the side of the hull into kindlings. Horror upon horror followed in its track. It mangled the brave seamen who were try ing to lasso 1t as a cowboy upon west ern prairie would throw the lariat about the horns of a wild steer. Now 1t sent the sailors fleeing for their lives like a covey of cartridges scurrying to the woods after the pointer has made them fly up from the underbrush. Again it wrenched the iron bar out of the hands of the man who was trying to clog the gun carriage wheels and hurled him clear across the deck and far out into the abysmal depths to find a watery grave.
 The dangers of the battlefield were child's play compared to the dangers which threatened that ship. And yet as l read that account many years ago said to myself: Those sailors were having an awful struggle. but very similar arc the multitudinous dangers and difficulties that assail most of us during the yoy- age of life The storms are not April showers, but December tornadoes. The dangers that threaten to demolish us not orly come from without, but assail us from within the ship. It Is hurricane after hurricane bombardment after bom- bardment battling wave after battling wave, rolling juggernaut followed by roll ing 1uggernaut.'
 But though the dangers and storms of life seem to be so many and black while we are passing through them, yet in almost every life there comes a time when like Moses, we can stand upon Pisgah s heights where we can truly see that all these troubles and misfortunes have been working together for our good. As Moses was allowed to climb to the top of Mount Nebo and look off upon the promised land and see the results of his life work, so God lets us climb to the noun tain tops of inspiration and look off upon the results of our life work. Then we can see into the dim future and know that the germ seeds we have planted shall yield their harvests thirty, sixty and a hundred fold. And then we can look back into the past as we'll as into the future and see how God has been leading us all the way. Let us first start with restrospect.