The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-05-02
THE VOICE OF THE FLOWERS
Sermon by DR.. Talmage in the Garland
Decked Brooklyn Tabernacle.
ne Mysteries of the Resurrection Scattered
Before the Promise of the Divine Word
The Physical Nature in Heaven.
Sermon on Sunday, April IS.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle was deliberately dec
srated, both in platform and galleries Within
he church scene of rare beauty was presented
ne platform being covered with flowers ar
rnnged in various devices, and breathing forth q
Delicate aroma. The building was 80 crowded
hat the doors were held open by the pressure.
gble to get further than the iron gates in the
street,
The subject Of the sermon was "Eastertide. !"
DIR. Talmage took his text from l. Cor, XIV,
%: NOW is Christ risen from the dead. and
Become the first fruits of them that slept" He
spoke as follows:
On this glorious Easter morning, amid the
musc and the flowers, I give you Christian sau-
tation. This morning. Russian meeting Russian
On the streets of St. Petersburg halls him with
the salutaton, Christ is rsen," and is answered
Nv his friend in salutaton, HE is risen, indeed.
H. some parts OF England and Ireland, to this
very day, there is the superstition that on Easter
morning the sun dances in the heavens: ana wei
may we forgive such a superstition. which illus
frates the fact that the natural world seems to
Eympathize with the spiritual
Hail Easter morning Flowers fowers All
Of them voice, all OF them a tongue, all OF
them full of speech to-day. / bend over one OF
the lilies, and I hear it say: Consider the lilies
Of the fields, how they grow; they toll not,
neither do they spin, yet Solomon, in all his
glory, was not arrayed as one OF these" bend
eyer rose and it seems to whispers II am the
rose of Sharon And then I stand aud listen.
From all sides there comes the chorus of flowers
SAYING "If God so clothe the grass OF the 1eid
which to-day is and to morrow is cast into the
oven, shall He not much more clothe you, y ye
of little faithF
Flowers! flowers! Braid them into the brides
Aai- Flowersl lowers Strew them over the
graves of the day, sweet prophecy of the resur-
Fection. Flowersl flowers! Twist them into %
garland for my Lord Jesus on Easter morning.
'Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning, is
now and ever shall be"
Why, If a rainbow this morning had fallen and
struck the galleries, and struck the platform, the
scene could not have been more radiant Oh.
how brightly and how beautiful the flowers. and
how much they make me think Of Christ and
His religion, that brightens everything it touch
e. brightens our life brightens our character,
brightens society, brightens the church, bright
sns everything. You who go with
than 1 am because Of your righteousness,
you cannot cheat me. You old
hypocrite, know you. Pretty case you are for
man who processes to be more than conqueror.
Kt is not religion that makes you gloomy; it is
khe lack of it. There is Just as much religion
In a wedding as in burial; just as much religion
IN a smile as In a tear. Those gloomy Christians
we sometimes are the people to whom like
30 lend money, for | never see them again. The
women came to the Savior's tomb, and they
dropped spices all around the tomb and those
spices were the seed that began to grow, and
from them came all the flowers Of this Easter
morn. The two angels robed in white took hold
of the stone at the Saviors tomb, and they
hurled it with such force down the hill that it
crushed in the door of the worlds sepulchre
and the stark and the dead must come forth.
care not how labyrinthine the mausoleum or
how costly the sarcophagus, or however beauti.
fully parterred the family grounds, we want
them all broken up by the Lord of the resurrec
tion They must come out. Father and mother
they must come out; husband and wife-they
must come out; brother and sister-they must
come out; our darling children-they must come
out The eyes that we close with such trem-
bling fingers must open again in the radiance of
that morn. The arms we folded in dust must
join ours in embrace of reunion. The voice
that we hushed in our dwelling must be re-
turned. 0 how long some of you seem to be
Waiting-waiting for the resurrection, waiting!
And for these broken hearts to-day l make a
soft, cool bandage out of Easter flowers.
Six years ago the night before Easter, re-
eeived an Easter card on which there was a rep
resentation of that exquisite flower, the trumpet
ereeper and under it the words, 1.-THE trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall rise" There was
especial reason why at that time I should have
that card sent me, and present the same con-
ISOLATION to- day to all this house; and who has
escaped2
MY IFl6nuS, THIS morning j unO IN the rlsen
Christ prophecy of our own resurrection, my
text setting forth the idea that as Christ has
risen, so His people will rise. He the first sheaf
of the resurrection harvest He 1.-THE first fruits
of them that slept Before get through, this
morning, will walk through all the cemeteries
Of the dead, through all the graveyards where
all your loved ones are buried, and will pluck
of these flowers and will drop sweet promise
of the Gospel-a rose of hope, lily of joy on
every tomb-the child's tomp. husnano :
tomb, the wife's tomb, the fathers grave the
mothers grave; and while we celebrate the resur-
rectlon of Christ, we will at the same time cele-
brate the resurrection of all the good. Christ
the first fruits of them that slept"
If should come to you this morning and ask
you for the names of the great conauerors of the
world, you would say Alexander. Cesar, Philip,
Napoleon All, my friends, you have forgotten to
mention the name Of a greater conqueror than
lll these-a cruel, CHASTITY conqueror. He rode
IN black horse across Waterloo, Atlanta and
Chalons, the bloody hoofs crushing the hearts Of
nations. 1t is the conqueror, Death. He car
ries black flag and he takes no prisoners He
digs trench across the hemispheres and fills it
with the carcasses of nations. Fifty times
would the world have been depopulated had not
Gcd kept making new generations Fifty times
the world would have swung lifeless through the
air-no man on the mountain, no man on the
sea, an abandoned ship blowing through i'm
mensity.
Again and again has he done this work with
all generations. He is q monarch as well as a
eonqueror; his palace sepulchre, his fountains
the falling tears of world. Blessed be God, in
the light of this Easter morning see the proph-
scy that his scepter shall be broken and his pal
ace shall be demolished! The hour is coming
when all who are in their graves shall come
forth Christ risen we shall rise. jesus .sthc
FIRST fruits of them that slept"
Now, around this doctrine of the resurrection
there are great many mysteries You come to
me this morning and say: "If the bodies Of the
!. dead are to be raised, how is this and how is
questions / am incompetent to answer;
but there are great many things
you believe that you are not able to explain.
You would be q very foolish man to say: at
won't believe anything / can't understand.
Why. putting down one kind of fower-seed,
comes there up this flower of this colorl Why,
putting down another fower-seed, comes there
mp flower of this color2 One flower white, an
other flower yellow, another flower crimson.
ksxT tha ffa,.ns