The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-07-07
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
An Interesting Discourse On 'The
Battle For Bread"
The Ravens Of Gods PIovidence-The In.
fI;y Of Divine Resources-The Great
Home Question Not Home Rule
But Home Maintenance.

But Home Maintenance.
Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage, In a recent
sermon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, took
for his subject "The battle for bread" The
text was:
And the ravens brought him bread and
flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in
the evenins.-Kings, xvii.,6
DR.. Talmage said:
There il an incident to my text that baf.
fies 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 Cherith 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. 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 pittiIess heavens. and sees a flock 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 cruck (" 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 while the prophet has enough,
and these black servants of the wilderness
table are gone. For six months, and for q
whole year, morning and evening, the
breakfast and supper bell sounded as
hese ravens rang out on the air their
'cruck! eruckw Guess where they got
he food from. The old rabbins say they
'ot it from the kitchen of King Ahab.
rom pious Obadiah, who was in the habit
# feeding the prosecuted. Some say that
he ravens brought the food to their young
n the trees, and that Elijah had only to
limb up and get It. Some say the whole
tory is improbable, for these were carniv.
rous birds, and the food they carried
'as the torn flesh Of living beasts,
md that ceremonially unclean, or it was
'arrion, and it would not have been fit for
ae prophet. Some say that they were no
avens, but that the word translated
ravens" in my text ought to have been
translated "Arabs, }" SO it would have read:
THE Arabs brought bread and flesh in the
morning, and bread and fesh in the even.
ng. Anything, but admit the Bible to DO
rue.
Hew away at this miracle until all the
miracle Is gone. Go on with the depicting
process, but know, my brother, that you
are robbing only one man-and that is
yourself-of one of the most comforting,
beautiful, pathetic and triumphant lessons
in all the ages. can tell you who these
purveyors were: they we're 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
God. can tell you who introduced raven
to prophet and prophet to raven: God.
There is one passage will whisper in
your ear, for would not want to utter it
aloud lest some one should drop down
under its power:
II any man shall take awav Il ON the W ords
OF the prophecy of this book, God shall take
ava 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
tort.
On the banks of what rivers have been
the great battles of the worldI While you
are looking over the map of the world tc
answer that, will tell you that the grea,
conflict to-day Is on the Thames, on the
Hudson, on the Mississippi, on the Kenne.
Nile, on the Ganges, ON the Hoang- Ho. Il
is battle that has been going on for six
thousand years. The troops engaged in il
are one billion four hundred million, ant
those who have fallen are vaster In mum
bers than those who march. 1t is battle
for bread. Sentimentalists sit in q cush
toned chair, in their pictured study, will
their slippered feet on damask ottoman
and say that this world is great scene o.
avarice and greed. il does not seem SO Il
me. If it were not Tor the absolute neces
stiles of the cases, nine-tenths of tn,
stores, factories, shops, banking houses o
the land would be closed tomorrow. VIII,
is that man delving in the Colorado hills
or toiling in a New England factory? o.
going through roll of bills in the bank
or measuring fabric at the counter
He is champion sent forth il
behalf of some home circle that ha
to be cared for, in behalf of som
church of God that has to be supported
in behalf of some asylum of mercy tina
has to be sustained. Who is that woman
bending over the sewing. machine, or car
rying the bundle, or sweeping the room
or mending the garment, or sweltering a
the washtub? That is Deborah, one of tn
Lords heroines, battling against Amale
kitish want. which comes down with irol
chariot to crush her and hers.
The great question with the vast ma
jority of people to-day is not "home rule,
but whether there shall be any home +
rule; not one of tariff, but whether the,
shall have any thing to tax. The grea
question with the vast majority of peopl
is: "How shall support nv famlys Ho,
shall meet my notes: How shall l pa,
my rent. How shall give food, clothin
and education to those who are depend en-