Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-02
[EGELs OF THE GRASS.
The Flowers Good for Lessons of
Gods ProvidentiaI Care, for the
Bride and for the Dead.
They Form g Religious Symbolism to
Eemiud Us Gf the Resurrection
and the Promises ~ Salvation.
Easter Day Comes TO Recall tho Savior's
Earthly Career and HIS Dare for
His Immortal Children.

DR.. TALMAGE's EASTER MORNING DIS
COURSE.
Special to the Gazette.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, April 1.-The plat
form and galleries of the Tabernacle were
This morning proiusely decorated with
Aowers. On the previous evening the
church had been open TO prepare the
decorations, for which the congregation
bsd been invited to bring flowers.
The immense audience room Is not
large enough to contain the people on
ordinary OCCASIONS; 1t must be left to the
imagination to suggest the throngs, both
inside and outside the church on this
great fastal dsy.
The Ray. T. Dewitt Talmage, DID,,
took for his text Luke xii %: "If then
God so 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 msy have disputed her throne in
modern times, and won it; but the rose
originally had only five petals. 1t was
under the lo1g-continued and intense
gsze of the world that the rose b!ushed
into its present beauty. In the Bible
train, cassia and hyssop and frsnkincense
and myrrh and spikenard 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 empire, but the lily reigned
ia the time of Esther, in the time of s olo-
mon, in the time Of Christ.
Cesar hSd his throne on the hills. The
hly hsd her throne IN the valley. In
the greatest sermon that was ever presch-
ed, there was only one flower, and that
q lily. The Bedford dreamer, John
Bunyan, entered the house of the inter
prefer, and WAS shown 9 cluster Of
foWers, and Wss told to "consider the
lilies"
We may study or rejsct other sciences
at our option. IL is so with astronomy,
il is so with chemistry, it is SO with ju-
risprudence, it is so with physiology, it is
so with geology; but the science of bot
any Christ commands US to study when
he says, "Copsider the lilies" Measure
them from root to tip of petal. Inhale
their breath. Notice the graeefulness Of
their poise. Hear the whisper of the
lips Of
Belonging to this royal family of lilies
is the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the
Lsdy Washington of the Sierras, the
Golden Band Ills, the Giant lily Of Nspsul,
the Turks Cap lIiy. the African lily from
the Cape OF Good Hope. All these lilies
have the royal blood in their veins. But
l taEe the lilies of my text this morning
as typical Of sll lowers, and this Easter
dSy, gsrlanded with all this opulerce Of
1orsl beauty, seems to address us, say
ing "Consider the lilies, consider the
aziless, consider the fuchsias, consider
the geraniums, consider the ivies, con-
slider the hyscinths, consider the hello
tropes, consider the oleanders." With
diffsrential and grateful and intelligent
sad worshipful souls, consider them. Not
with insipid sentimentelism, or with
sophomore vsporing, but for grand and
practical and every day, and, II need be,
homely uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angels of the grass.
They all have voices. When the clouds
speak, they thunder; when the whirl-
winds speak, they scream; when the
catarscts speak, they roar; but when the
flowers speak, they always whisper. l
stand here TO interpret their message.
What have you to ssy, o ye angels Of the
grass, to this worshipful multitude?
This morning l mean to discuss Whist
f0wers are good for. That is my sub
ject: What are i0wers good for?
!, remark in the first place, they are
good for lessons of Gods providential
care. That was Christ's first thought.
Al these flWers seem to address us to-
day, saying: sc ID will give you apparel
snd food. We have no wheel with which
to spin, no loom with which to weave, no
sickle with which to harvest, no we'll
sweep with which to draw water; but
God slskes cur thirst with the dew and
God feeds US with the bread Of the sun
shine aud God has eppsrelled US with
more thon Solomonic regality. We are
prophetesses Of adequate wardrobe. II
God so clothed Us, the grass OF the field,
will he not much more clothe you, o, ye
OF little faitb?"
Men a1d women Of worldly anXieties,
TAKE THIS MESSAGE HOME
with you. How lopg has God taken care
fyou? Quarter OF the journey of life?
half the journey of life? three-quarters
the journey of life? 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 ia lie at vast
expense-500 nightingsles' tongues-but
BE has promised to take care of you. He
has promised you the necessities, not the
luxuries-bread, not cake. II God so
luxuIiAntly clothes the grass of the field,
will He not provide for you, his living
and immortal children? he will.
No wonder Martin Luther always had
flower on his writing desk for inspira-
ton. Through the cracks of the prison
door fower grew up to cheer Picciols.
Mungo Park, the great traveller and ex-
plorer, had his life saved by flower.
He sank down in the desert to die, but
seeing q flower near bY,it suggested Gods
merciful care, ana he got up with new
coursge and travelled on to safety. I said
the h5wers are the angels Of the grass. !
add now that they are the evangels OF
the sky.
2. II You insist on asking me the ques-
ton: What are flowers good for9 re-
spond, they are good for the bridal day
The bride must have them on her brow,
and she must have them in her hand. The
marriage altar must be covered with
them. A wedding without flowers would
be as Inappropriate IS wedding without
music. At such time they ereSfor con-