Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-21
THE BATTLE FOR BREAD.
TAI,NIAGE TALKS OF THE CUES
TION OF THE DAY.

portance in the Minds of the Nj 'sses-
EijahgFed by the Ravens Sufficient
that God iii Provide for His People
BROOKLYN, y. V, June 20.-As a re-
mort has been published in most papers
that the Rev. DR.. L. Dewitt Talmage was
in poor health, he told his congregation in
the Brooklyn Tabernacle to-day that he
had, in the thirty years of his ministry,
missed but one Sabbath through i'll
health. and that sabbath twentv-four
wears ago. He said that he had never
been IN as robust health as at present.
Or. Talmage has been in Brooklyn seven
teen years. The ordinary state of things
at the Brooklyn Tabernacle on Sunday
mornings is that six thousand people
assemble inside and multitudes are not
able 10 get in. At recent meeting
OF the session thirty-eight new members
were received, making the COMMUNICATE
membership of this churcn about three
thousand four hundred. The opening
hymn to-day was
..Though trouble asSail and dangers alright,
Though frlends should all IAN anu Toes al
unite,
Yet one thing assures us, whatever betide,
TIL Scripture assures us--'The Lord will pro-
vide >"
The subject of the sermon to-day was,
HThe Battle for Bread" and the text was
taken from l. Kings, xviii, 6: And the
ravens brought sim bread and flesh in the
morning, and bread and flesh in the even
ing" DR.. Talmage said
The ornlthoogy OF the Bible is a very inter
esting study. The stOrk which knOweth her
Amounted time. The common sparrOwB
teaching the Lessor of Gods providence. The
ostriches OF the desert, by careless incubation,
illustrating the recklessness Of parents who
do not take enough pans with their children.
The eagle symOOnzng riches which take
wings and fly away. The pelican emblemiZ
ing solitude. The bat. flake Of the darkness.
The nIghthawk, the ossiirage. the cuckoo, the
lapWing, the osprey. by the command of God
in Leyitlcus, 1uug out OF the worlds bill of
fare. l would like TO have been with Audi
bon as he went through he woods with gun
and pencil bringing down and sketching the
fowls of heaven, his untolded portfolio thrill
ing all christendom. What wonderful crea-
lures Of God she birds are! Some Of them
this morning, like the songs of heaven let
lOose bursting through the gates of heaven.
Consider their feathers, which are clothing
and conveyance at the same times the nine
vertebre OF the nerk, the three eyelids to
each eye the third eyelid and extra curtain
for graduating the light of the sun.
Some of these birds scavengers and some of
them orchestra. Thank God for qualls
whistle and lark's carol and the twtter Of the
WI en-, called by the anclentS the king OF BIRD,
because when the 70 wis Of heaven went into a
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 eX-
hausted, sprang up much higher and was
called by the ancients the king of birds.
Consider those of them that have golden
crowns and crests, showing them TO be fPath-
cred lmperials. And listen to the humming-
birds serenade IN the ear of the h0neysuckle.
Look at the belled klnghsher. striking like a
dart from sky to water. Listen TO the voice
of the owl, giving the keynote to all crOakers.
behold
battling with the reindeer. ! do not know
whether an aquarium or aviary is the best
altar from which to worship God.
There is an incident IN my text that bafles
ali the pathological wonders of the world.
The grain crop had been cut of. Famine
was in the land. In cave BY the brook
Cherith sat a minister of God, Elijah, waiting
for something to eat. Whv did ne not 20 to
the neighbour? There were no neighb0rs; it
Was W llderness Why did he not pick some
of the berries? There were none. Ii 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 pitiless
heavens, ana he sees alock of birds approach
ing. ON. II they were only partrld9es, 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 unce8n, aud
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! cruckn' prove them
TO be raves. They wuirr around about
futteriBg wing and pause on the level of his
lips, ami one Of the ia ems brings bread and
another raven brings meat, and after they
have discharged their tiny cargo they wheel
past, and hers come until after awhile the
prophet has enough, and these black servants
Of the wilderness table are gone. For six
months, and some sly whole year, morning
and evening. the break asst and a supper beii
sounded as these ravens rang out on the air
their "cruck cruck - Guess where hey got
the food from. The old rabUins say they got
fsa,, ffalaa NJ a a
that the ravens got their food from pious
Obadiah, who was in the habit of feeding the
persecuted. Some say that heravens brought
the food to their young in the trees, and that
Eii,h had only to climb up and get it,
some LAY that the whole story is improb-
able; for these were carnlvOTOus birds, and he
food they carried was the torn flesh OF living
Deasts. ana that ceremOnlally unclean: or il
was carrion anu ii would not have been tit for
the prophet Some say they were not
ravens at all. but that the word translated
''rayens" In my text ought to have been trans
lated Arabs :" so it would have read: The
Arabs brought bread and flesh in the morn
leg. and bread anu flesh in the evening "
Anything but 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 az.
robbing only one man-and that is yourself
OF one of the most comforting, beautiful, pa
theTc and triumphant lessons in all the ages
l can tell you who these purveyors were:
they were ravens l can tell you who freight
IL
who launched them: God. l can tell 70 who
taught them which way TO fly: God. | can
tell YOU who told them at what cave to swoop:
Got. / can tell you who introduced raven TO
prophet and prophet to raven: God There is
one passage will whisper in your ear, for
weutd not want TO utter IL aloud, lest some
one should drop doNn under its power: III
any man sh all take away from the words Of
the prophecy OF this book. God shalt take
away mis- part out OF the book of life and ouJ
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, ana on outspread wing pau ,e
u the lip OF every soul hungerlng forcom-
foit.
On the banks of what rivers have been the
great battles of the worlds While YOU are
looking over the map OF the world to answer
that viii tell you that the great conf ct to-
day iB on the Thames. on the Hudson. on the
Mieslssippi. on the kennebec. on the Savaa-
nah. on the kh'ne, on the Nile, on the Canes
on the hOang-h0. II is battle that has been
going on for six thousand years. The troops
engaged in IL are fourteen hundred millions
and those who have fallen are vAster In nuin =
Der than those VINO march. II is a battle for
bread. Sentimentaliets cit IN u Gu. hiOned
chair in their pictured study, with their slip-
pered feet on a damask ottoman. and say that
this world rs great scene II agarice and
greed. IL does not seem 50 10 me- II
it were not for the absolute ucce.sities
% he cases, nine tenths OF the s ores factor-
les, shops, banking houses OF the land would
be close to-inof row Who Is that man dclv-
ing Ia the Colorado bills. or toiiIng ina "A New
ENGLAND factory, or going thrOugl a roll Of
bills IN the bank. or measuring fabric on
tne c1unterf lie is champion sent forth in
behalf OF some home circle thHt has 10 be
cared Tor. m behalf OF some church OF God