The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-03-01
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINEs SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject. Lifted from the Brick
kilns.n


TEXT: "Thoudh ne hare idin dniong tho
pots, net shall ne be as the i5ings Of doue
covered NTH siiuer, and her feathers toith
yellolU gold. Psalms. xviii, Is.
Isuppose you know what TIE IsraelitAs did
down in Egyptian slavery. They made
bricks. Amid the utensils OF the briek-kiln
there were also other utensils OF cookery
the kettles, the pots, the pans, with which
they prepared their daily food-and when
these poor slaves, tired of the days work, lay
down to rest, they lay down amid the i'm
plements OF cookery and the imple-
inents Of hard work. When they arose
in the morning they found their
garments covered with the clay and
the smoke and the dust, and besmlrched and
begrimed with the utensils of cookery. But
after while the Lord broke up that slavery,
and He took these poor slaves into land
where they had better garb, bright and clean
and beautiful apparel. No more bricks for
them to make Let Pharoah make his own
bricks. When David in my text comes to
describe the transition OF these poor lsraelites
from their bondage amid the brick-kllns into
the glorious emancipation for which God
had prepared them, he says: Though ye
have lain among the pots, yet shall ye se as
the wings Of a dove covered with silver, and
her feathers with yellow gold.
Miss Whately, the author OF cele-
brated book, Life in Egypt said
she sometimes saw people in the East
cooking their food on the tops Of
houses, and that she had often seen, juS be-
fore shutdown, pigeons and doves which bad,
during the heat of the day, been hfiing
among the kettles and-the- lFjtss fssiistk-
the food was prepared, picking up the crAmbs
that they might find-just about the'hour
OF sunset would spread their wings and fly
heavenwsrd, entirely unsoiled by the
region in which they had moved, for
the pigeon is a very clearly bird.
And as the pigeons flew away the
setting sun would throw silver on their
wings and gold on their breast So you see
it was not a far fetched simile, or an un-
natural comparison, when David in my text
says to these emancipated Israelites, and
says to all those who are brought out of any
kind OF trouble into any kind of spiritual
Joy: Though ye have lain among the
/ pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of dove
covered with silver, and her feathers with
yellow gold"
Sin is the hardest of all taskmasters.
| Worse than Pharaoh, it keeps US trudging
| trudging in a most degrading service; but
/ after while Christ comes, and he says: II et
my people co. aud we pass out from among
/ the brick-kllns of sin into the glorious liberty
of the Gospel; we put on the clean robes of a
1 Christian profession, and when at last we
soar away to the warm nest which God has
provided for US in heaven, we shall 90 fairer
! than a dove, its wings covered with silver,
/ and its feathers covered with yellow gold
! lam going to preach something which some
of you do not believe, and that is that the
/ grandest possible adornment is the religion
/ of Jesus Christ. ~ There are a great many
| people who suppose that religion is very
| different thing from what it really is. The
reason men condemn the Bible is because
/ they do not understand the Bible; they have
not properly examined it. Dr. johnson said
1 that Hume told minister in the bishopric
of Durham that he had never particularly
examined the New Testament yet all his life
warning against it. HALEY, the astronomer,
announced his skepticism TO Sir Isaac New
/ ton. and Sir Isaac Newton said: Now, sir, |
have examined the subject and you
have not and | am ashamed that you,
protesting to be a philosopher, consent
TO condemn a thing you never have ex-
amined.n And so men reject the religion
Of Jesus Christ because they really have
never investigated il. They think it some
thing impractical, something that will not
work something Pecksnifiian, something
hypocrirical, something repulsive, when it is
so bright and so beautiful you might com
pare 1t to chafiinch, you might compare it
to a robin redbreast, you might COMPARE it
10 dove, its wings covered with silver, and
its feathers with yellow gold.
But how is it if a young man becomes a
Christian! All through the club rooms where
he associates, all through the business circles
where he is known, there is commiseration.
They say: what a pity that young man
who had such bright prospects should 50
have been despOiled by those Christians, Civ
ing up al mis- worldly prospects for some
thing which is of no particular present
WORTH Here is a young woman Hb<sEs
comes E. C'l.ristie, u,..,us.s1 n
mdnnefs inc Charm OF the drawing TSE a
Now all through the fashionable circles the
whisper goes: What pity that such a bright
light should have been extinguished, that
such a graceful gait should be crippled, that
such worldly prospects should be obliteratedf'
An, my friends, it can be shown that re-
ligion's ways are ways of pleasantness and
that all her paths are peace: that religion,
instead of being dark, and doeful. and
lachrymose, and repulsive is bright and beau
tiful, fairer than dove, its wings covered
with silver and its feathers with yellow
gold.
See, in the first place, what religion viii
do for mans heart. 1 care not how cheer
full a man may naturally be before CONVEX
sion, conversion brings him up TO a higher
standard of cheerfulness. | do not say be
will laugh any louder, I do not say but be
may stand back from some forms of hilarity
in which he once INDUCED: but there comes
int his soul an immense satisfaction. A
young man, not a Chr stan, depends upon
worldly successes 10 keep mis- so-.i m Now
he is prospered, now he has large salary, now
he has beautiful wardrobe now
lie has pleasant friends. now he
has more money than he knows how
to spend; everything goes bright
and well with him. But trouble c0rn,s5-
there are many young men in the house this |
morning who can ties ify out Of their own ex-
perience that sometimes to Young men |
trouble does come-his friends are gone his |
salary IS gone, his health is gone; he goes down.
uoMn. he becomes sour, cross, queer, mis- |
antnroplc, blames the world, blames society, |
"a -lnr oh. ]
rushes perhaps To the Intoxicating Gun to |
drown his trouble, but instead Of drowning |
ms trouble browns his body and browns his |
soul
But here is Christian young man.
Trouble comes to him Does he give upi
No. He throws himself back on the re-
sources OF heaven He saws: God il my
father. Out of all these disasters | shall
pluck advantage for my soul. An the
promises are mine. Christ is mine. Christian
IS mine, heaven is mine.
-" hat though my apparel be worn
outs Christ gives me robe of Righteousness.
v hat though my money be gonef have
,i s uee 81, 70 the whole universe in the prom
Sc; All are yours What though nv
worldly friends fal away! Ministering
lngels are my bodYguard. " hat though
ny fare be poor and my bread be scanti |
1t at the Kings banquet
On, what shallow stream is worldly en-
" hlehb Soin lIdIeu Win the deep, broad,
'veriowlng river of Gods peace, rolling
midway in the Christian heart! Sometimes
Gu have gone out on the iron-bound beach
{ the sea when there has Seen storm on
he ocean, aud you have seen the waves dash
nto white foam at your feet. They-did rot !
o you any harm. While there, you thought
1 the chapter written by the Psalmist, and
erhaps you recited it 10 yourself while the
torn was making commentary upon the
assage; God is our refuge and strength,
very present help in time of trouble.
therefore, will not fear though the earth be
emoved, and though the mountains be
arried into the midst of the sea; though the
iaters thereof roar and be troubled, though !
he mountains shake with the swelling
hereof. Selahm Oh, how independent the
sligiOn of Christ makes a man of worldly
access and worldly circumstances Nelson,
he night before his last battle, said: 10
borrow shall wln either peerage or grave
Westminster Abbey" And it does not make
inch difference to the Christian whether
e rises or falls in worldly matters; he has c
reLOwn any way. Other plu- S
lage may be torn in the blast, but that soul S
horned with Christian grace, is fairer than !
lie dove, its wings covered with silver, ana /
5 feathers with yellow gold. }
You and have found out that people who 5
retend to be happy are not always happy. !
COX at that young man carIcaturlng the !
hristian religion, soothing at every I
ling good, going into registering drunken I
IS, dashing the champagne bottle TO l