The Brookhaven leader., 1886-07-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
An Interesting Discourse On The
Battle For Bread"
The Ravens Of Gods Providence-Ths In.
anity of Divine Resources-The Great
Home Question Not Home Rule
But Home Maintenance.

And the ravens brought him bread and
flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in
the evenlng.-Kings, xviii, &
DR.. Talmage said:
The ORTHODOXY Of the Bible is very in
teresting study. The stork, which know
eth her appointed time; the common spar.
rows, teaching the lesson of Gods provi-
dence; the ostriches of the desert, by care
less incubation, illustrating the reckless
ness Of par nts who do not take enough
pains with their children; the eagle, SYM
bolizing riches which take wings and fly
away; the pelican, emblemizng solitude:
the bat, flake of the darkness; the night
hawk, the essifrsge, the cuckoo, the lap.
wing, the osprey, by the command of God
in Leviticus, flung out of the worlds bill of
fare. ] would like to have been with Au-
dubon as he went through the woods with
gun and pencil bringing down and sketch
Ing the fowls of heaven his unfolded port
folio thrilling all Christendom What
wonderful creatures of God the birds arei
some of them, this morning, like the
songs of Heaven let loose, bursting through
the gates of Heaven. Consider their feath-
ers, which are clothing and conveyance at
the same time; the nine vertebre of the
neck, the three eyelids to each eye, the
third eyelid an extra curtain for GRADUATE
ing the light Of the sun.
Some of these birds scavengers and some
of them orchestra. Thank God for the
quaPs whistle and lark's carroll and the
twitter of the wren-called by the ancients
the king of the birds, because when the
fowls Of heaven went into contest as to
who could fly the highest, and the eagle
swung nearest the sun, a wren on the back
of the eagle, after the eagle was exhausted,
sprang up much higher, and so was
called by the ancients the king of birds.
Consider those of them that have golden
crowns and crests, showing them to be
feathered mperials. And listen to the
humming BIRDS serenade in the ear of the
honeysuckle. Look at the belted king
fisher, striking like dart from sky to
water. Listen to the voice of the owl,
giving the key mote to all croakers. And
behold the condor among the Andes, bat
Ting with the reindeer. l do not know
whether an aquarium or aviary is the best
altar from which to worship God.
There is an incident to my text that baf-
hes all the pathological wonders of the
world. The grain crop had been cut Off
Famine was in the land In the cave by
the Brook Cherth sat minister of God
Elijah, waiting for something to eat
Why did he not go to the neighbors?
There were no neighbors; it was wilder
ness. Why did he not pick some of the
berries? There were none. If there had
been they would have been dried up.
Seated one morning at the mouth of his
cave the prophet looks into the dry
and nittilpSs hAaVAnS and Hnply Of
birds approaching. Oh, if they were only
partridges, or if he only had an arrow
with which to bring them down! But as
they come nearer he finds they are not
comestible, but unclean, and the eating of
them would be spiritual death. The
strength of their beak, the length of their
wings. the blackness Of their color, their
loud, harsh "cruck! cruckW prove them to
be ravens. They whirr around about the
prophets head, and then they come on
huttering wing and pause on the level of
his lips, and one of the ravens brings
bread, and another raven brings meat,
and after they have discharged their tiny
cargo they wheel past, and others come
until after a while the prophet has enough,
and these black servants of the wilderness
table are gone. For six months, and for a
"hOiO yCdlS anu evening, Ul0
breakfast and supper bell sounded as
these ravens rang out on the air their
''cruek! oruck" Guess where they got
the food from. The old rabbins say they
got it from the kitchen of King Ahab
Others say that the ravens got their food
from pious Obadiah, who was in the habit
OF feeding the prosecuted. Some say that
the ravens brought the food to their young
III the trees, and that Elijah had only to
climb up and get it. Some say the whole
story Is iInprobable, for these were carniv-
orous birds, and the food they carried
was the torn flesh of living beasts,
and that ceremOnially unclean, or it was
carrIon, and it would not have been fit for
the proph Some say that they were no
ravens, but that the word translated
ravens" in nv text ought to have been
translated ARABS" so it would have read:
cine Arabs brought bread and flesh in the
morning, and bread and flesh in the even
ing. Anything hut admit the Bible to be
true.
Hew away at this miracle until all the
miracle is gone. Go on with the depicting
process, but know, my brother, that you
are robblng only one man-and that is
self--of one of the most comforting,
beautiful, pathetic and triumphant lessons
IN all the ages. ! can tell you who these
purveyors were: they were ravens. can
tell you who freighted them with pro-
visions: God. can tell you who launched
them: God. | can tell you who taught
them which way to fly: God. | can tell
you who told them at what cave to swoop:
God. can tell you who introduced raven
to prophet and prophet to raven: God.
There is one passage | will whisper in
your ear, for l would not want to utter it
aloud lest some one should drop down
under its power:
II anymau shall take away fro ON the word
OF the prophecy of this book, Go d shall take
away his part out of the book OF life and
out of the Holy City.
While, then, this morning we watch the
ravens feeding Elijah, let the swift dove
of Gods spirit sweep down the sky with
divine food, and on Outspread wing pause
at the lip of every soul hungering for COM
fort.
On the banks of what rivers have been
che great battles of the world2 While you
are looking over the map of the world to
answer that, / viii tell you that the great
conflict to-day is on the Thames, on the
Hudson, on the Mississippi, on the Kenne-
bee, on the Savannah, on the Rhine, on the
Nile, on the Ganges, on the Hoang- Ho. 1t
is battle that has been going on for six
thousand years The troops engaged in it
are one billion four hundred million and
those who have fallen are vaster in num-
bers than those who march. 1t is a battle
for bFead. Spntfmentalists sft In crsb