The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-01-02
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN
DAY SERMON.
kSubject: "Lifted from the Brick
kilnS."


TEXT: "Though ne hare lain among tn
pots yet shall ne be as tie 1UinyS OF u doC
/ covered ,rith situer, and her feathers 1Otth
! yello,v gold."-PsalmS. xviii, Is.
Isuppose you know what tie Jsraelites did
down in Egyptian slavery. They made
bricks. Amid the utensils of the brlck-klll
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
plemenrs of cookery and the imple
ments Of hard work When they arose
In the morning they found theil
garments covered with the clay and
the smoke and the dust, and besmirched and
begrimed with the utensils Of cookery. But
after while the Lord broke up that slavery.
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 lavid in my text comes to
describe the transition of these poor lSraelites
from their bondage amid the brick-liilns into
/ the glorious emancipation for which God
had prepared them, he says: Though We
have lain among the pots, yet shall We he as
the wings Of dove covered with silver, and
her feathers with yellow gold"
brated book, Life in Egypt" said
[ she sometimes saw people in the East
cooking their food on the tops OF
khouses, and that she had often seen, just be
] fore sundown, pigeons and doves which had,
during the heat of the day, been hiding
among the kettles and the pans with which
the food was prepared, picking up the crumbs
that they might find-just about the hour
of sunset would spread their wings and fly
heavenward, entirely unsoled by the
region in which they had moved, for
the pigeon is q very, cleanly 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 emancirated lsraeliteS, and
says to all those who are brought out OF any
kind of trouble into any kind OF spiritual
ioy: Though ye have lain among the
pots, yet shall ye he as the wings of dove
covered with silver, and her feathers with
yellow gold"
Worse than Pharaoh, it keeps US trudging.
trudging in most degrading service; but
after a while Christ comes, and He says: Let
nv people go" and We pass out from among
the brick-kilns of sin into the glorious liberty
Of the Gospel; we put on the clean robes OF
Christian profession, and when at last we
soar away to the warm nest which God has
provided for US in heaven we shall go falrer
than a dove, its wings covered with silver,
and its feathers covered with yellow gold.
I am goingt to preach something which some
Of YOU do not believe, and that is that the
rrandest possible adornment is the religion
Of Jesus Christ z There are 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
that Hume told a minister in the bishoprlc
of Durham that he had never particularly
examined the New Testament, yet all his lie
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 l am ashamed that you,
protesting to be- 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 it. They think it some
thing impractical, something that will not
work. something Pecksniffian, something
hypocritical, something repulsive, when it is
so bright and so beautiful you might conf
pare 1t to chaffinch, you might compare it
to robin redbreast, you might compare 1t
its feathers with yellow gold.
But how is it if young man becomes
Christian! All through the club rooms where
he associates. all through the business circles
where he is known, there is commiseration.
They say: What pity that a young man
who had such bright prospects should so
have been despoiled by those Christians, Civ
ing up all his worldly prospects for some
thing which is Of no particular present
Ill -. trh
comes a Christian, her voice, her face, her
manners the charm of the drawing room.
Now all through the fashionable circles the
whisper gees: ''What pity that such bright
light should have been eXtinguiShed, that
such graceful gait should be crippled, that
such worldly prospects should be obiiterated.'
Ah, 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 will
do for a mans heart. I care not how cheer
full man may naturally be before conver-
sion, conversion brings him up to higher
standard of cheerfulnesS. l do not say he
will laugh any louder l do not say but he
may stand back from some forms of hilarity
in which he cnce indulged; but there comes
into his soul an immense satisfaction. A
young man, not Christian, depends upon
worldly successes to keep his spirits up. Now
he is prospered, now he has large salary, now
he has beautiful wardrobe. now
has more money than he knows how
to spend; everything goes bright
and we'll with him. Eut trouble GENES
there are many young men i'll thu house this
morning who can tes. ify out Of their own eX
perience that sometimes to young men
trouble does come-hs friends are gone, his
salary.is gone his health is gone; lie goes down.
down. he becomes sour, cross, queer, mis-
anthropic, blames the word, blames society,
biames the church. tlames everything.
rushes perhaps to the intoxicating cup to
drown his trouble, but instead of drowning
his trouble browns his body and browns his
soul.
But here is Christian young man.
Trouble comes to him. Toes he give up:
sources of heaven. He says: God is my
father. Out OF all these disasters Shall
pluck advantage for my soul. All the
promises are mine. Christ is mine, Christian
companionsh!p IS mine, heaven is mine.
What though my apparel be worn
out. Christ gives me a robe or righteousness.
What though my money he gone! have q
ClCle ueeu 10 the WNOle uulFeTSe III liie t'ioui-
ise: All are yours What though my
worldly friends fail away: Minister;ng
angels are my boiYguard. " hat though
my fare be poor and my bread be scant: l
sit at the Kings banquet"
Oh, what shallow stream is worldly en-
ioyment compared with the deep, broad,
overHowiny river OF Gods peace. rolling
midway in the Christian heart. Sometimes
you have gone ous ON the iron-bound beach
of the sea when tnore has been storm on
the ocean, aud you have seen the waves dash
into white foam at your feet They did not
do you any harm. While there, you thought
of the cha pier writt"n by the tSalnlSt, and