Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-23
CalrnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt. Talmase, b. D.


old folks, the young folks, the influen.
tial and the humble there are words of
cheer and congratulation in this ser.
mon, as well as encouragement in well
doing. The text 10 Romans xvi, 8, "Sa.
lutte Urbanc, our helper In Christ, and
Stachys, my beloved"
Have you ever wandered over any Of
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 q.
Meade or Of Robert 4. Lee depended
not more upon the generals being
faithful than upon all the colonies apd
majors and captains and sergeants and
corporals and private soldiers being
faithful and working together and In
unison. The difference between a con.
quering army and mob is the differ
ence between men working together In
an intelligent way TO achieve desired
purpose and 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-
gcnces about him.
What is true of the army Is absolute
~ true in reference to business. How
is the Panama canal to he dug! BY
the United States commissioners ap-
pointed by the president? BY the chief
engineer? BY the contractors? Oh, no.
AS in the mercantile establishment, the
buyers. the advertising agents. the
foorwalkera. the statesmen. the delivery
wagons, all work together in unison
and each as cooperative agent helps
the other, so in the Panama canal all
the different departments are working
together. Each man il helped by some
other man, and each man tries to help
the other men. Now, what is true in
the army and in the business and in
the 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 in
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 I'D.
vice lie should be most anxious to fol-
low. speak thus not only TO help the
pew. 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
bers 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 car in order to hear the sermons
Alright. But. though their eyes may he
weak and their hearing mufiied, 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
year out perhaps for half 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 oil
their past experiences.
The Value of Experience.
Is not the man OF experience in tho
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 dangerous Op
Grafton had to be performed upon you
for whom would you send? Woul,
you call the young doctor who las
year graduated Mt the head OF his med
ical class, brilliant though he might be
No. You would send for such a MAJ
as Or. Hamilton, who stood by til,
bedside Of James A. Garfield, or for 1
man like Dr. Janeway. who came al
fast as revolving wheels could carr!
him to the bedside of William McKn
ley, or for skillful practitioner lik'
Sir MOrell Mackenzie, who looked int
the diseased throat OF Crown Prince
Frederick. These were all old men
For years and years and years the!
had been examining thrOats and cut
ting away diseased tissues.
Suppose you are going to ascend thu
Ganges, the most dangerous navigabl,
river Of the world. Every day the cur
rent of that river changes. The bank.
are strewn with the bleaching bones o.
ships which were allowed to rot in tn,
sun when their keels We're beached
Would You send for the brilliant laced
stan officer OF midas vicerOy? Nay
You would send for the old, grizzled
white haired pilot who for years ant
years has been running up and dow
that dangerous stream. He knows b!
experience where the currents run an(
where are the dangerous sand bars
He may be cranky. He may be gruf
and fault finding. but he ia imperiOu