Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-09-19
1.-THE WINGS OF LOVE-"
DIR. TALMAGE DELIVERS A N0TA.
BILE SERMON.
Graphic Word Picture OF the Al
mighty and His Protecting Wings.
The Only Safe Nest.

tno lflh lnSl'' Dr' ldlhuSe pTcdChcu iroih
Ruth 2. IL, his subject being 1.-The wings OF
love-" He said:
Scene: An Oriental harvest field. Grain
standing. Grain in swaths. Grain in
sheaves. At the side of the field, white
tent in which TO take the nooning Jars OF
vinegar or OF sour wine to quench the
thirst of the hot working people. swarthy
men striking their sickles into the Trusting
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, fine looking
Oriental, gray-bearded and bright-faccd,
the owner of the field, looking on and cst-
mating the value of the grain and calculat-
ing 50 many ephahs to the acre; and, with
his large, sympathetic heart, plying the
overtaskcd workmen and the women, with
white faces enough to faint in the hot noon
day sun. But there is one woman who
especially attracts the mans attention.
She is soon to be with him the joint owner
of the field. She has come from a distant
land for the sole purpose of being kind to
an aged woman. l know not what her feat
ures were; but when the Lord God sets
behind woman's face the lamp of courage
and faith, and self-sacrifce, there comes
out glory Independent of features. She
is to be the ancestress of Jesus Christ
BoaZ, the owner OF the field, as soon as he
understands that IL Is Ruth, accosts her
with blessing: IA full reward be given
thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose
wings thou art come to trust" Christ COM
pares himself to n hen gathering the chick
ems 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
tuhf haH IN
trust.
l ask your attention. therefore, while.
! taking the suggestions OF my text, / speak
to you in all simplicity and love of the
wings Of the Almighty.
First: l 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 n birds wing. You
| have been surprised. sometimes tn see how
! far it could fly with one stroke OF the wing
and when il has food i'm prospect, or when
! IL Is atIrlghted, the pulsations of the bird :
wing are unimaglnable for velocity. The
! English lords used TO pride themselves on
! the speed of their falcons. These birds
when trained had in them the dart OF
! lightning. How swift were the carrier
| pigeons in the time OF Anthony and at the
! siege of Jerusalem! Wonderful speed A
carrier pigeon was thrown up at Rouen and
came down at Ghent-nincty miles off-in
/ Olc houIs lit NdtIltE DlEtDuS Ntit ine
! telegraphs Of the olden time. Swallows
! have been shot i'm our latitude having the
undigested rice OF Georgia swamps in their
| crops, showing that they had come -four
! hundred miles in six hours. 1t has been
! estimated that in the ten years OF n swal-
! lows life IL flies far enough to have gone
around the world eighty mine times, SC
great is its velocity. And so the wings OF
the Almighty, spoken of in the text, arc
swift wings. They are swift when they
| drop upon foe, and swift when they come
! TO help Gods friends. If father and his
son be walking by the way and the child
! goes TO near precipice, how long does II
take for the father to deliver the child from
! danger? Longer than it takes God u
| swoop for the rescue of his children. The
| fact Is that you cannot get away from the
care Of God. II you take the steamship, OF
the swift rail train He is all the time along
with you. "Whlther shall | go from Thy
! spirit, and whittier shall l fee from Thy
presence? If i ascend up into heaven
Thou art there. If / make my bed in
hell, behold Thou art there. II / take the
wings Of the morning and dwell in the ut
| termost parts of the sea, even there Thy
hand shall hold me-"
The Arabian gazelle is swift as the wind.
| If it gets but one glimpse OF the hunter ii
puts many crags between. Solomon. -four
or five times. compares Christ TO an
! Arabian gaZelle calling IL by another
name), when he says: "My beloved is like a
IA roe" The difference is, that the roe
! speeds the other way, Jesus speeds this.
| Who but Christ could have been quick
enough to have helped Peter when the
water-pavcment broke? Who but Christ
could have been quick enough to help the
| Duke of Argyle. when in his dying moment.
he cried: Good cheer! l could die like a
Roman. but l mean to die like a Christian.
Como away, gentlemen. He who goes first
| 4 f,tr
by the rail track at Carlisle. Pennsylvania,
when the ammunition had given out at
! Antietam; and he saw the train from Har-
risburg, frcightcd with shot and shell. as il
went laundering down toward the battle
field. He said that 1t stopped not for any
| crossing. They put DOWN the brakes for no
| grade. They held up for no peril. Tho
wheels were on fire with the speed az they
dashed past. IL the train did not come up
| in time with the ammunition IL might as
well not come at all. 3d. my friends, there
are times I'm our lives when we must have
| help Immediately or perish The grace
| that comes too late is no grace at all. What
| you and want is n God-now. Oh! Is IL
not blessed to think that God is always In
such quick pursuit OF his dear childrenf
| When sinner seeks pardon, or a bafiled
| soul needs help, swifter than thrush's wing.
swifter that ptarmigan's wing swifter than
fiamingo's wing. swifter than eagles wing,
are the wings Of the Almighty.
/ remark 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 that were
seven feet from tip TO tip. When the king
| of the air sits on the crag, the
| wings are spread over all the caglets in the
eyrie, and when the eagle starts from the
rock, the shadow is like the spreading of n
storm cloud. So the wings of God are broad
wings. Ruth had been under those wings
| In her infantile days I'm the days OF her
| happy girlhood in Moab; in the day when
she gave her hand 10 Mahlon, in her first
marriage; in the day when she wept over
| his grave In the day whes she trudged out
into the wilderness of poverty; in the days
when she picked up the few straws IL bar
| ley 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 sorrows all our sufferngs. He puts
one wing over our cradle and He puts the
other over cur grave Yes, my dear friends,
| IL is not 6esert in which we are placed; IL is
| n nest Sometimes IL is very hard nest,
| like that OF the eagle, spread on the rock,
with ragged moss and rough sticks, but still
is a nest; and, although IL may be very
hard under us, over US are the wings OF the
| Almighty. There sometimes comes period
| in ones life when he feels forsaken. You
said Everything is against me. The
world Is against me. The church is against
/ l..sI..