The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-09-10
Calnnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage, D. D.

sermon the preacher inculcateS the les
son that God rules all things and can
turn the apparent trivialities OF life
into events of the mightiest importance
and highest beneficence The text is
l Kings xxi, 81, and a certain man
drew Il bow at :: venture and srrota the
king of Israel between the joints of the
harness.
l once held in my hand a little Bible
that had been carried by Il soldier all
through the civil war. 1t had been
given to him when he was a young
recruit. He always kept it i'll his
breast pocket, just over his heart. In
one Of the great battles Il 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 Oh account Of my mothers
prayers" DO | 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
sharpshootcrs 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 rifle and
took steady aim at the colonel riding
at the head of his troops, but the
sharpshoOter 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 colonels hat.
Thirteen years after the war was end
ed General Phillips was visiting the
White House at Washington. In the
presence Of Rutherford 3. Hayes he
was telling of this incident. Presi-
dent HAYES remarked: Yes. | renem-
| Der that shot. l was that Ohio colonel
YOU shot at" God bad 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
man die before his life's work Is fin
| ished. He can protect his children in
| times Of danger as we'll as rescue them
after they have been Overthrown by
| misfortune and become helpless.
Gods Omnipotent Power.
But. though God can protect man
when he wishes, he can also destroy a
| man when he wills. He 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 God could also foretell
the fate Of King Ahab. When Elijah
pointed the finger Of condemnation at
the murderer of Naboth and said, In
the place where dogs licked the blood
| 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 Anal
| was in battle and an unknown soldier
nut an arrow to his bow and pulled
1t I'D to the tip and let it fly God di
| IF
it smote the king in the joints OF bis
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 gong
but God directed it's course. And to
day | want you to be very cafetu
about the random arrows you let fly
It is never safe for man to shoe
off a gun unless he knows where he l:
shooting or else he might hurt some
body. There are other injuries, too
that we may do. A needless word o.
an inconsistent act may do another
an irreparable injury. We may have
no malice against him, but casually
inadvertently, we may cause wount
that will never heal. "And a certain
man drew bow at venture ant
smote the king of Israel between tn
Joints of his harness"
A Lesson From a Legend.
IF this fact be true, then, my broth
err. I want you to be very careful hov
YOU deal with your fellow men in ref
erence to your public profession o
faith in Jesus Christ. start on tn
premise that you are Christian. lo'
NAV be a very poor Christian; gran
that, You may be leaving undon
those things which you ought to a.
and may be doing those things whicl
YOU ought not to do. But If l shoui'
ask YOU today what is your hope o
Immortality you would emphaticali
answer. my only hope OF hereafte
Ia nv firm belief in the pardoning AM
saving power of the atoning blood Q
Jesus Christ" ;.
You are like St. Veronica as &c
scribed by the legend OF old. ACCORD
,nu to tradition, ST. Veronica was
| l.