The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-10-01
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Wings Of Love.

Subject: "Wings Of Love.
TEXT: 1.-THE Lord God of Israel, under
'rhose 1oings thou art come to trust."-Ruth
il. 12.
Scene-Ah 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 the rustlng barley. Others
twisting the bands for the sheaVes, putting
enc 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 q fine looking Oriental, gray bearded
and bright faced, the owner Of the field, look
ing On, and estimating tho value of the grain
and calculating so many ephahs to the acre,
and with his large, sympathetic heart pityinS
the overtosked workmen and the women,
with white faces enough to faint, in the hot
especially attracts tho mans attention. She
Is soon to be with him the joint owner Of the
field. She has come from distant land for
tho sole purpose Of being kind to an aged
woman.
I know not what her features were; but
when the Lord God sets behind woman's
face the lamp Of courage and faith and self
sacrifice there comes out a glory independent
Of features. She Is to be the ancestress of
Jesus Christ Boaz, the owner Of tho field,
as soon as be understands that 1t is Ruth, ac-
given thee Of the Lord God Of Israel under
whose wing thou art come to trust" Christ
compares Himself to hen gathering the
chickens under her wings In Deuteronomy
God is represented as an eagle stirring up
her nest. In great many places in the
Psalms David makes ornithological illusions;
while my text mentions the wings Of God,
under which poor, weary soul had come to
trust.
I ask your attention, therefore, while, tax
ing the suggestion Of my text, I speak to
you in oil simplicity and love of the wings
Of the Almighty.
First Iremark that they were swift wings
under which Ruth had come to trust. There
is nothing in all the handiwork Of God more
curious than birds wing. You have been
surprised sometimes to see how far it could
fly with one stroke of the wing; and when 1t
has food in prospect, or when it is affrighted,
the pulsations Of the birds wing are unimag-
Unable for velocity. The English Lords used
to 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 and
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
tsl>graphs Of the olden time. Swallows have
be:n shotin our latitude having the undi-
gested rice OF Georgia swamps in their crops
showing that they had come four hundred
miles in six hours. It has been estimated
that in the ten years Of swallows life it
flies far enough to have gone around the
world eishty-nine times, so great is its We
locitY.
And so tho wings of the Almighty spoken
OF in the text are swift wings. They are
when they come to help Gods friends. If q
father and his son be walking by the way,
and the child goes too near precipice, how
long does it take for the father to deliver the
child from danger? Longer than it takes
God to swoop for the rescue Of His children.
The fact is that you cannot get away from
the caro- OF God. If you take the steamship
or the swift rail train He is all the time along
with you. "Whither shall I go from Thy
spirit, and whittier shall flee from Thy
preoence? II ascend up into heaven Thou
art there II make my bed in hell, behold!
Thou art there. II take the wings OF the
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts Of
the sen, even there Thy land shall hold
men
The Arabian gazelle is swift rs the wind.
II it gets but one glimpse Of the hunter it
puts many cIegs between. Solomon four or
Ave times compares Christ to an Arabian
gazelle calling it by another name) when he
says my beloved Is like roe" The diff
ference is that tho roe speeds the other way;
Jesus speeds this. Who but Christ could
have been quick enough to have helped Peter
when tho 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 I could die
like Roman, but mean to die Ikea Chris
tian- he who goes first goes cleanestF'
had friend who stood by the track at Car
isle Penn, when the ammunition had given
out at Antietam, and he saw the train from
Harrisburg freighted with shot and shell as
it went laundering down toward the battle
field. he said that it stopped not for any
crossing. They put down the brakes for no
grade They held up for no peril. The wheels
ware 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 have 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 childrenf When sinner seeks pardon,
or bafled soul needs help, swifter than
thrush's wing, swifter than ptarmigan'a
wing. swifter than famingo's wing, swifter
than eagles wing are the wings Of the Al
mighty.
I remark further, carrying out the idea Of
M, text, that the wings under which Ruth
had come to trust were very broad wings,
Ihere have been eagles shot on the Rocky
Mountains with wings that were seven feet
from tip to tip. When tho king Of the Dir
sits on the crag the wings are spread over all
the cagletS in the eyrie and when the eagle
starts from the rock tho shadow is like the
spreading of storm cloud. So the wings
OF God are broad wings. Ruth had been
under those wings in her infantile days; in
tie 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 tho 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 cur wants, oil our sor-
rows, oil our sufferings. He puts one wing
over our cradle, and He puts tho other over
our grave. Yes my dear friends, it is not
desert in which we are placed, it is n nest.
Sometimes it is very hard nest, like that of
nQOIn ho NIL II