The Nicodemus cyclone. [volume] (Nicodemus, Graham County, Kan.) 1887-1888, 1888-04-06
1.-THE ANGELS OF THE GRASS. A"
Or. TALMAGE'S EASTER MORN,
ING DISCOURSE,
Easter Churches First Did
Christ Embrace.
The Lily the Queen OF Bible
Flowers.

Special to the Kansas City Times.
J BROOKLYN, n. Y, April 1.-The platform
, and galleries of the Tabernacle were thi.
morning profusely decorated with flowers
On the previous evening the church had beer
open to prepare the decorations, for which
the congregation had been invited to bring
flowers.
Inc immense audience room is not large
enough to contain the people on ordinary oc-
caslons; it must be left to the Imagination to
suggest the throngs, both inside and outside
the church, on this great festal day.
The Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage D. D., took
for his text Luke r. %: eff then God SC
clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field,
and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how
much more will he clothe you" He said
The lily is the queen of Bible flowers The
rose may have disputed her throne in modern
times, and won it; but the rose originally had
only nVe petals. 1t was under the long con tin
ued and intense gaze of the world that the rose
Dlushed into its present beauty. In the Bible
Train, cassla and hyssOp and frankincense
and myrrh and spikeDard and campfire and
The rose follow the lily. Fourteen times in
the Bible is the lily mentioned; only twice
the rose. The rose may now have wider en-
plre, but the lily reigned in the time of Els.
ther in the time Of Solomon in the time of
Christ.
Caesar had his throne on the hills. The
lily had her thrown in the valley. In
Inc greatest sermon that was ever preach,
ed, there was only one flower, and
that lily The Bedford dreamer John
Bunyan, entered the House of the Interpre-
Tor, ana was shown cluster of flowers, and
was told to consider the lilies"
we may study orreject other sciences at our
OptlOn. 1t is so with astronomy, it is SO with
chemistry, 1t is SO with Jurisprudence it is so
with physiology 1t is SO with geology; but the
science of botany Christ commands us to
study when He says: Consider the lilies. -
Measure them from root to tip of petal. In
male ther breath. Notice the gracefulness of
their polse. Hear the whisper of the white
lips of the Eastern and of the red lips of the
American liIy.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies is
the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the lady
washington OF the Sierras, the Golden Band
lily, the Giant lily of Nepaul, the Turks Can
lily, the African lily from the Cape of Good
Hope All these lilies have the royal blood in
their veins. But l take the lilies of nv text
This morning as typical of all flowers and
this Easter day, garlanded with all this opul-
ence OF floral beauty, seems to address us.
saying: Consider the lilies, consider the
ivies consider the hyacinths, consider the
hellotropes consider the Oleanders. With
dlHerentlal and grateful and intelligent and
WOrShlptul souls, consider them. Not with
lnslpld sentlmentalism, or sophomore vapOr-
ing, put Tor grand and practical and everyday,
ana, IL need be, homey uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angles of the grass.
1hey all have voices When the clouds speak.
they thunder; when the whirlwinds speak
they scream; when the cataracts speak. they
roar; but when the flowers speak,
they always whisper. stand here
to interpret their message What have
you to say, ye angels of the grass, to this
WOrshipGul multitude
This morning | mean to discuss what
flowers are good for That is my subject:
what are flowers good for!
L. l remark, in the first place, thew are
good for lessons of Gods providential care.
That was Christs first thought. All these
bowers seem to address US to-day, saving:
God will give you apparel and food. We
have no wheel with which to spin, no loom
with which to weave, no sickle with which to
harvest, no wellsweep with which to draw
water; but God stakes our thirst with the
dew, and God feeds us with the bread of the
sunshine, and God has apparelled us with
more than SOlomonc regaIity. We are
prOphetesses OF adequate wardrobe. If God
so clothed US, the grass of the field, will He
not much more clothe you, o We of little
faithg'
Men and women of worldly anxieties, take
this message home with you How LONG
has God taken care of you! Quarter of the
Journey of life! half the journey of life? three
quarters the journey of life9 Can YOU not
trust him the rest of the way! God does not
promise you anything like that which the
Roman emperor had on his table at vast ex
pense-tive hundred nghtingales' tongues
but lie has promised to take care of YOU. He
has promised you the necessities, not the
luxuriantly clothes the grass of the field. will
lie not provide for you, his living and inn
mortal childrena He will.
NO wonder Martin Luther ALWAYS had a
flower on his writing-desk for Inspiration
Through the cracks of the prison floor flower
grew up TO cheer Plcciola. Mungo Park, the
great traveller and explorer had his life
saved by flower He sank down in the
desert to die, but seeing flower near by. it
suggested Gods mercifuI care, and he p0t nm
With new courage and travelled on to safety
sal9 the mowers are the angels of the grass
ada now they are the evangelS of the sky
II. If you insist on asking me the question.
what are flowers good for? | respond they are
good for the bridal day. The bride must have
them on her brow, and she must have them in
her hand Inc marriage altar must be GOV.
cred with them. wedding without flowers
would be as inappropriate as a wedding with
out music. AT such time they are for con
graduation and prophecies of good. So much
" the pathway of life is covered I'D with
thorns, We ought to cover the beginning with
orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such occasions.
1Or IN nlnety-nlne out Of hundred cases il ia
the very best thing that could have happened.
The world may criticise and pronounce il an
lnpatitude, and may lift its eyebrows in sur
prise and think ii might suggest something
better; but the God who sees the twenty. for
~, fifty years Of welded life before they have
begun arrangeS all for the best So tnat
flowers, in almost all cases, are appropriate
Tor the marriage day. The divergences Of dis
position will become cores pondences, reck-
iessness will become prudence, frivoity will
be turned into practically.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had carefully locked bureau. and
III The bureau box, and in the box 4 folded
paper, and in the folded paper a half-bIown
rose, slightly fragrant, discolored. carefully
pressed. She put 1t there forty or fifty wears
ago. On the anniversary day of her wedding
she will go 10 the bureau, she will lift the box
she VIII unfold the paper, and TO her ewes will
ne exposed the half blown bud, and the memo
rles OF the past will rush upon her. and tear
will drop upon the flower; and suddenly ii is
transhgured and there is a stir in the dust OF
the anther, and ii rounds out and ii is full of
Niei and 1t begins TO tremble in the procession
up the church aisle. and the dead music of
hall century ago comes thrOhbing through the
air; and vanished faces reappear. and right
hands are joined. and a manly voice promises.
4 he fFa-