Milford chronicle., 1905-11-24

Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage, D. D.

Los Angeles, Cdl.s NON. 10 VI lHo
old folks, the young folks, the infuen-
tial and the humble there are words of
cheer and congratulation in this ser
mon, as well as encouragement in well
doing. The text is Romans xvi, o, ''Sa-
lutte Urbane, our helper in Christ, and
Stachys, my beloved"
Have you ever wandered over any Of
the great battlefelds of the world?
Have you ever had guide lead you
over the blood soaked soil of Gettys-
burg? Then you have been struck with
the fact that no one squad, no one COM
pany, no one regiment, no one brigade,
no one division alone fought that bat
tie. The success of General George G.
Meade or of Robert E. Lee depended
not more upon the generals being
faithful than upon all the colonels and
majors and captains and sergeants and
corporals and private soldiers being
faithful and working together and in
unison. The difference between a con-
Ouering army and mob is the diifer-
ence between men working together in
an intelligent way to achieve desired
purpose and a conglomerate collection
of individuals, each claiming that his
own will is the equal, if not the supe-
rior. of all the other wills and intelli-
gences about him.
What is true Of the army is absolute
ly true in reference to business How
fs the Panama canal to be dug! BY
the United States commissioners ap-
pointed by the president? By the chiet
engineer? BY the cOntractors2 Oh, no.
As in the mercantile establishment, the
buyers, the advertising agents, the
fOorwalkers, the statesmen, the delivery
wagons. all work together in unison
ana each as a cooperative agent helps
tbe other so in the Panama canal all
fbe different departments are working
together. Each man is helped by some
other man, and each man tries to help
the other men, Now, what is true IN
fhe army and in the business ana IN
ahe contractors world is equally true
in regard to church work. Here we do
not find the minister himself doing all
the work. Paul himself could not do
IT. He had his helpers, his associates,
his workers. He himself tells us that
Urbane and Stachys were his associ-
ates in Gods work. Neither can the
church members make successful
church unless there is cooperation III
the pulpit. Thus the purpose Of my
sermon today is to show you who are
the minister's best friends; who are the
men and the women upon whom he
should most wisely lean and whose ad-
vice he should be most anxious to FOL
dow. l speak thus not only to help the
new. but also to answer letters which
have come to me from all parts OF the
country. written by young ministers
asking what course they should take IN
reference to their church work.
Who are the minister's best friends? |
In the first place, they are the old
folks. They are the men and the wo-
men who have been walking with Je-
sus Christ twenty, forty, fifty or even
sixty years. They are the church mem
hers whose hair is white, whose step
IS often infirm and whose hearing
sometimes must have the sounding
board of the palm Of the hand back OF
the ear in order to hear the sermons
Alright. But, though their eyes may be
weak and their hearing mutied, with
those eyes they have been reading the
promises of God and with those ears
they have been listening to his words
of comfort through many dark trials
which have come to them year in and
wear out perhaps for half a century.
Now. my friends, the minister Of the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ can
not afford to turn his back upon such
counselors; neither can the church
members themselves afford to stop
their ears to the words of advice which
these aged Christians can speak out Of
their past experiences.
The value of Experience.
Is not the man of experience in the
TEMPORAL world to be more followed
than the young STRIPPING whose knOwl-
edge consists only of theories and gen
eralities? Suppose you had a very Sc
rious illness, suppose a dangerous op-
Grafton had to be performed upon you,
for whom would you send? Would
YOU call the young doctor who last
year graduated at the head of his med
Zeal class, brilliant though he might be?
No. You would send for such a man
as DR.. Hamilton, who stood by the
bedside of James A. Garfield, or for a
man like DR.. Janeway, who came as
fast as revolving wheels could carry
him to the bedside of William McKin-
ley, or for a skillful practitioner like
Sir AIorell Mackenzie, who looked into
the diseased throat Of Crown Prince
Frederick. These were. all old men.
For years and years and years they
had been examining throats and cut
ting away diseased tissues.
Suppose you are going to ascend the
Ganges. the most dangerous navigable
river of the world. Every day the cur
rent of that river changes The banks
are strewn with the bleaching bones Of