Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-09-25
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DR. TALMAGE's
STERLING DIsCoURaER
Subject: wings OF Love-"

NJ -
Scene-An Oriental harvest field. Grain
standing. Grain in swaths. Grain in
sheaves.
At the side of the field a white tent in
which TO take the incoming, jars of vinegar
or of sour wine to quench the thirst of the
hot working people. Swarthy men striking
their sickles into therustling barley. Others
twisting the bands for the sheaves, putting
one end of the band under the arm, and with
the free arm and foot collecting the sheaf.
Sunburned women picking up the stray
straws and bringing them to the binders.
Boaz a fine looking Oriental, gray bearded
and bright faced, the owner of the field, look
ing ON, and estimating the value OF the grain
end calculating so many ephahs to the acre,
and with his large, sympathetic heart plying
the overtassed workmen and the women,
with white faces enough to faint in the hot
MONDAY sun. But there is one woman who
especially attracts the mans attention. She
Is soon to be with him the joint owne of the
field. She has come from a distant land for
the sole purpose of being kind to an aged
m
know not what her features were; but
when the Lord God sets behind a woman's
face the lamp Of courage and faith and self
sacrifice there comes out a glory independent
bf features. She is TO be the ancestress Of
Jesus Christ. Boaz, the owner Of the field,
rs soon as be understands that it is Ruth, az
costs her with a blessing: "A full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wing thou art come to trust-n Christ
compares Himself toa hen gathering the
chickens under her wings. In Deuteronomy
God is represented as an eagle stirring up
her nest. In a great many places In the
Psalms David makes archaeological illusions;
while my text mentions the wings OF God,
under which a poor, weary soul had come to
trust.
| ask your attention, therefore while, tax
ing the suggestion Of my text l speak to
you in all simplicity and love of the wings
of the Almighty.
First, remark that they were swift wings
under which Ruth had come to trust. There
is nothing in all the handiwork Of God more
curious than a birds wing. You have been
surprised sometimes to see how far it could
lfy with one stroke Of the wing; and when it
has food in prospect or when it is affighted,
the pulsations of the birds wing are unimag-
Unable for velocity. The English Lords used
10 pride themselves on the speed of their fall
cons. These birds, when tanned, had in them
the dart Of lightning. How swift were the
carrier pigeons in the time Of Anthony n
at the siege of Jerusaleml Wonderful speed
A carrier pigeon was thrown up at Rouen
and came down at Ghent-ninety miles off,
in one hour. The carrier pigeons were the
tel of the oldeu time. Swallows have
been shotin our latitude having the undi-
gested rice OF Georgia swamps in their crops,
showing that they had como four hundred
miles in six hours. 1t has been estimated
that in the ten years OF q swallows life it
flies far enough to have gone around the
world ei~ghty-nine times, so great is its We
locitY.
And so the wings Of tho Almighty spoken
of in the text are swift wings. They are
swift when they drop upon a foe, and swift
when they come to help Gods friends. II a
father and his son be walking by the way.
and the child goes too near a precipice, how
long does il take for the father to deliver the
child from dangerg Longer than it takes
God TO swoop for the rescue of His children.
The fact is that you annot get away from
tho care of God. If you take the steamship
or the swift rail train He is all the time along
with you. "Whither shall l 20 from Thy
spirit, and whittier shall / flee from Thy
,prosenceg If | ascend up into heaven thou
art there. II ! make my bed in he'll, behold!
Thou art there. II / take the wings of the
morning and dwell in tho uttermost parts of
the sea, even there Thy hand shall hold
,me.n
J The Arabian gazelle is swift as the wind.
IL il gets but one glimpse Of the hunter it
puts many crngs between. Solomon Our or
five times compares Christ TO IN Arabian
gazelle calling it by another name) when he
lsays, my beloved is like a roe" The diff
ference is hat the roe speeds the other way;
Jesus speeds this. Who but Christ could
have been quick enough to nave helped Peter
when the water pavement broker Who but
Christ could have been quick enough to help
the DUKE Of Argyle when in his dying mo-
ment he cried. Good cheerl l could die
like a Roman, but l mean 10 die Ikea Chris
tian. He who goes first goes cleanestP' |
had a friend who stood by the track at Car
disle, Penn, when the ammunition had given
out at Antietam, and he saw the train from
Harrisburg freighted with shot and shell as
1t went laundering down toward the battle
field He said that it stopped not for any
crossing. They put dow the brakes for no
grade. They held up for noperiL The wheels
were on fire with the speed as they dashed
past. II the train did not come up in time
with the ammunition it might as well not
come at all.
So, my friends there are times in our lives
when we must ave help Immediately or per-
ish. The grace that comes too late is no
grace at all. What you and / want is a God
NOW. Oh, is it not blessed to think that
God is always in such quick pursuit of His
dear childrcnf When a sinner seeks pardon,
or a baffied soul needs help, swifter than
,thrush's wing, swifter than ptarmigan's
wing, swifter than flamingo's wing, swifter
than eagles wing are the wings of the Al
mighty.
Irenark further, carrying out the idea OF
my text, that the wings under which Ruth
had come to trust were very broad wings.
There have been eagles shot on the Rocky
Mountains with wings hat were seven feet
from tip to tip. When the king OF the air
sits on the crag the wings are spread over all
the eaglets in the eyrie, and when the eagle
starts from the rock the shadow Is like the
spreading of a storm cloud. So the wings
Of God are broad wings. Ruth had been
under those wings in her intantile DAYS; in
the days Of her happy girlhood in Moab; in
the day when she gave her hand to Mahlon,
in her first marriage; in the day when she
wept over his grave; in the day when she
trudged out into the wilderness Of poverty;
in the days when she plucked up the few
straws Of barley dropped by ancient custom
in the way of the poor.
OH yes, the wings OF God are broad wings.
They cover up all our wants all our sor-
rows. all our sufferings. He puts one wing
over our cradle, and He puts the other over
our grave. Yes my dear friencs. it is not a
desert in which we are .lacea- it is a nest.
Sometimes it is a very hard lest. like that OF
the eagle, spread OF the rock with ragged
moss and rough sticks, but still is a nest; and
although it may be very hard under US over
us are the wings Of the Almighty. There
sometimes comes a period in ones life when
he feels forsaken. You said, Everything
is against me. The world is against me.
The churct is against me. No sympathy. no
hona Evervbodv that comes near nn