Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-09-13

Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, ID. d.


son that God rules all things and can
turn the apparent trivialities of life
into events of the mightiest Importance
and highest benefcence. The text is
] Kings xii, "a, "And a certain man
drew bow at venture and smote the
king of Israel between the joints of the
harness."
once held in my hand little Bible
that had been carried by a soldier all
through the civil war. 1t had been
given to him when he was young
recruit. He always kept IL In bis
breast pocket, just over his heart. In
one OF the great battles a Confederate
bullet plowed its way through three
fourths OF that book and knocked the
man senseless, but that Bible stopped
the bullet on Its journey. And" said
the old soldier, God saved my life by
that book on accouA-g Of my mothers
prayers" Do l believe that? Most
certainly. Paul tells us in the epistle
TO the Ephesians that the shield of
faith is able to Quench all the fiery
darts OF the wicked, so In times OF bat
tie God can direct the course of every
bullet and every missile. He can pro-
tect his children In times of danger as
well as save them from destruction
after they have become helpless.
During the late civil war the two
armies were being concentrated near
Hawks Nest Bluff in West Virginia.
One day an Ohio regiment was seen
TO emerge from the woods. Some
sharpshooters were watching it, among
whom was William Phillips, afterward
General Phillips. No sooner did the
Union soldiers appear than young Phil
lips borrowed long range rife and
took steady aim at the colonel riding
at the head of his troops, but the
sharpshoOter's rifle was aimed just
little too high, and, instead OF crushing
into the brain, the bullet took Off enc
OF the plumes of the coloners hat.
Thirteen years after the war was end
ed General Phillips was visiting the
White House at Washington. In the
presence of Rutherford Il. Hayes he
was telling of this incident. Presi-
dent Hayes remarked: Yes, 1 remem-
Der that shot. 1 was that Ohio colonel
you shot at" God had bigger work
for Rutherford b. Hayes than to let
him be slain in skirmish. He wanted
him to live to become the chief execu-
tive OF our nation. God never lets a
man die before his lfe's work Is fin
ished. He can protect his children in
times of danger as well as rescue them
after they have been overthrown by
misfortune and become helpless.
Gods Omnipotent Power.
But, though God can protect a man
when he wishes, he can also destroy a
man when he wills. BE can direct
the stone from the sling OF David to
the forehead OF Goliath and cause him
TO die. He can foretell the death OF
Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel, and, no
matter what the recreant queen may
do or where she may go. she cannot
escape. And Gof could also foretell
the fate OF King Ahab. When Elijah
pointed the finger of condemnation at
the murderer OF Naboth and said, I'm
the place where dogs licked the blood
Of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood,
even thine" he was the messenger of
God foretelllng how Ahab was to die.
And when three years later King Ahab
Was in battle and an unknown soldier
put an arrow TO his bow and pulled
fl up 20 the tip and let It fly God d.
rected the course OF that arrow, and
it smote the king In the joints OF his
armor. and he died, and thus was the
prophecy fulfilled.
Now, the whole point of my sermon
Is this-the soldier who shot that ar
row did not know where it was going.
but God directed its course. And to-
day i want you to be very careful
about the random arrows you let fly.
1t is never safe for man to shoot
off gun unless he knows where he is
shooting or else he might hurt some
body. There are other injuries, too,
that we may do. A needless word or
an inconsistent act may do another
an irreparable injury. We may have
no malice against him, but casually,
inadvertently, we may cause a wound
that Will never heal. "And certain
man drew n bow at venture and
smote the king OF Israel between the
joints OF his harness"
A Lesson From Legend.
II this fact be true, then, my broth
er. want you TO he very careful how
you deal with your fellow men In ref
erence to Your public profession OF
faith In Jesus Christ. / start on the
premise that you are Christian. You
may be a very poor Christian; grant
that. You may be leaving undone
those things which you ought to do
and may be doing those things which
you ought not TO do. But If I should
ask you today what is your hope of
Immortality you would emphatically
answer, "My only hope OF hereafter
is my firm belief in the pardoning and
saving power OF the atoning blood of
Jesus Christ"
You are like st. Veronica as de-
scribed by the legend OF old. Accord
ing TO tradition, st. Veronica was a
picus woman OF Jerusalem. When Je-
sus was being led forth TO his cruel
fixion, staggering under the weight of
his cross, the blood and the perspira.
ton were rolling from his face and
body. Christ was lettering along from
weakness. Taking pity on him, St
Veronica took her head cloth to wipe
his face and cleanse his brow. When
Jesus gave Veronica back her cloth
the lineaments or his face had been
imprinted upon 1t, and the old legend
tells us 1t was from this imprint that
the present Idea of Jesus features
have been copied. Has it not been 81
with the children of godly parents?
The Christian mother has so loved
Jesus that his spiritual image has
been impressed on her very garments