The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-04-05
CONSIDER THE LILIES.
DR.. TALMAGE'S EASTER SERMON AT
THE TABERNACLE.

THE TABERNACLE.
He Discusses the Uses OF Flowers and
the Lessons Taught by Thcm-Orange
Blossoms for the Bride, . Handful Of
violets for the Tomb.
BROOKLYN, April 1.-The platform
and galleries of the Tabernacle were this
morning profusely decorated with
flowers. On the previous evening the
church had been open to prepare the
decorations, for which the congregation
had been in 7ited to bring flowers.
The INN ense audience room is not
large enough to contain the people on
ordinary occasions; it must be left to the
imagination to suggest the throngs, both
inside and outside the church, on this
great festal day.
The Rev T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.,
took for his text Luke xii, %: ''If then
God SO clothe the grass, which is today
the oven. how much more will he clothe
you" He said:
The lily is the queen Of the Bible flow
ers. The rose may have disputed her
throne in modern times, and won it; bat
the rose originally had only five petals.
1t was under the long continued and in
tense gaze of the world that the rose
blushed into its present beauty. In the
Bible train, cassia and hyssop and
frankincense and mvrrh 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 In the time of Esther,
in the time of Solomon, in the time of
Christ. r
Caesar had his throne on the hills. The
lily had her throne in the valley. In the
greatest sermon that was ever preached,
there was only one flower, and that a
lily. The Bedford dreamer, John Bun
yam, entered the house of the interpreter,
| and was shown cluster of flowers, and
| was told to consider the ilies.''
We may study and reject other sciences
| at our option. 1t is so with astronomy,
it is SO with chemistry, it is SO with juris-
prudence, it is SO with physiology, it 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. Inhale
| their breath. Notice the gracefulness
| of their poise. Hear the whisper of the
white lips of the eastern and of the red
lips of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies
| is the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the
Lady Washington lily Of the Sierras, the
Golden Band lily, the Giant lily of Ne
| paul, the Turks Cap lily, the African
lily from the Cape Of Good Hope. All
these lilies have the royal blood in their
veins. But I take the lilies Of my text
this morning as typical Of all flowers,
and this Easter day, garlanded with all
| this opulence of floral beauty, seems to
address us, saying: Consider the lilies,
consider the azalias, consider the fuch-
sias, consider the geraniuns, consider the
ivies, consider the hyacinths, consider
the heiotropes, consider the oleanders. :"
With differential and grateful and intel
ligent and worshipful souls, consider
| them. Not with insipid sentimentalism
or with sophomore vaporing, but for
grand and practical and everyday, and,
if need be, homely uses, consider them,
The flowers are the angels of the grass.
They ali have voices. When the cloud.
speak, they thunder; when the whirl-
winds speak, they scream; when the cat
arac+s speak, they roar; but when the
flowers speak, they always whisper. I
stand here to interpret their message.
What have you to say, oh ye angels of
the grass, to this worshipful multitude?
This morning I mean to discuss what
flowers are good for. That is my sub
ject: What are flowers good for2
l. I remark, in the first place, they
are good for lessons of Gods providential
care. That was Christ's first thought
All these flowers seem to address us to-
day, saying: ''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 well
sweep with which to draw water; but
God slakes our thirst with the dew, and
shine, and God has appareled us with
more than 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, oil
ye of little faithf'
Men and women of worldly anxieties
take this message home with you. How
long has God taken care Of youi Quar-
ter of the journey of ife9 half the jour
ney of life? Three-quarters the journey
of life? Can you not trust him the res
of the way? God does not promise yor
anything like that which the Roman
\ emperor had on his table at vast expens'
500 nightingales' tongues-but he ha'
promised to take care of you. He ha
promised you the necessities, not TIN
. luxuries-bread, not cake. If God 81
luxuriantly clothes the grass OF the field
will he not provide for you, his living
and immortal children? He will.
No wonder Martin Luther always hae
a flower on his writing desk for inspira
ton. Through the cracks OF the prison
! floor a flower grew up to cheer Picciola
Mungo Park, the great traveller and ex
plorer, had his life saved by flower
He sank down in the desert to die, but
seeing a flower near by, it suggested
God s mereifnl care, and he got up will
new courage and travelled on TO safety,
said the flowers are the angels Of tn
grass. ] add now they are the evangel
of the sky.
2. If you insist on asking me the ques
ton: What are flowers good fort 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 witt
them. A wedding without flower
A would be as inappropriate as weddinl
without music. AT such time they ar
for congratulation and prophecies Q
good. So much of the pathway Of life
!. covered up with thorns, we ought t
cover the beginning with orange bios
# SONS.
/ Flowers are appropriate on such occa
>. sions, for in 90 out Of 100 cases it is th
: very best thing that could have haI
pened The world may criticise and pre-
nounce it an inaptitude, and may lift il
eyebrows in surprise and think it migl