Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-09-12
Ca(nase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, d. d.

sermon the preacher inculcates the les.
son that God rules all things and can
turn the apparent trlviallties Of life
into events of the mighticst importance
and highest bcneficence. The text Is
/ Kings xxi, "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 soldier all
| through the civil war. 1t had been
given TO him when he was q young
recruit lie always kept it In his
breast pocket, just over his heart. In
one Of the great battles a Confederate
bullet plowcd its way through three
fourths of that book and knocked the
man scnselcss, but that Bible stopped
the bullet on It's Journey. "And," said
the old soldier, God saved my life by
that book on account Of my mothers
prayers" DO | believe that7 Most
certainly. Paul tells us in the cpistle
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
we'll 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 a long range rife and
took steady aim at the colonel riding
at the head Of his troops, but the
sharpshooter's rife was aimed just a
little too high, and, instead Of crushing
into the brain, the bullet took off one
of the plumes of the colonel's hat.
Thirteen years after the war was end
ed General Phillips was visiting the
White House at Washington. In the
presence of Rutherford II. Hayes he
was telling of this incident. Presi-
dent Hayes remarked: Eyes, l remcm-
Der that shot. l was that Ohio colonel
YOU shot at" God had a bigger work
for rutherford b. Hayes than to let
him be slain in skirmlsh He wanted
him to live to become the chief eXecu-
| tive Of our nation. God never lets a
man die before his lfes 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. He can direct
the stone from the sling of David to
to die. lie 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 God could also foretell
| the fate Of King Ahab. When Elijah
pointed the finger of condemnation Mt
| the murderer of Naboth and said, IN
of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood,
even thine" he was the messenger of
God fOretelling how Ahab was to die.
And when three years later King Ahah
was in battle and an unknown soldier
put an arrow to his bow and pulled
it up to the tip and let 1t fly God di-
rected the course Of that arrow, and
| 10 L N "a of
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 1t was going
but God directed its course. And to-
day l want you to be very careful
about the random arrows you let fly
1t is never safe for man to shoe,
off gun unless he knows where ne is
shooting or else he might hurt some
body. There are other injuries, too
that we may do. A needless word OF
an inconsistent act may do another
an irreparnble injury. We may have
no malice against him, but casually
inadvertently, we may cause a wound
that will never heal. And n certain
man drew bow at venture ant
smote the king Of Israel between the
Joints of his harness"
A Lesson From Legend.
II this fact be true, then, my broth
err, I want you to be 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 q Christian iol
may be very poor Christian; | gran
that You may be leaving undon'
those things which you ought to do
and may be doing those things which
You ought not to do. But II l should
ask you today what is your hope o.
Immortality you would emphaticall!
answer, my only hope Of a hereafter
Is my firm belief in the pardoning anC
saving power of the atoning blood o
Jesus Christ"
You are like st. Veronica as de
scrbed by the legend Of old. Accord
Ing to tradition, St Veronica was I
pious woman OF Jerusalem. When lie
sus was being led forth to his cruel
fixion staggering under the weight o
his cross, the blood and the perspira
ton were rolling from his face an'
body. Christ was lettering along from
weakness. Taking pity on him, st
Veronica took her head cloth to wip'
his face and cleanse his brow. Whel
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