The Brookhaven leader., 1890-12-04
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Ninth Discourse of the Series on
the Holy Land
AZ the Home of Jesus and Among the
Holy Hills-HIstorlo Associations
of Nazareth fastening
on to GalIlse.

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage delivered
thet ninth discourse of his series de
scriptive OF life in the Holy Land t,
congregations in Brooklyn and New
York City, taking for his eext:
He came to Nazareth, where he wa
brought up.-Luke iv., 16
What a splendid sleep had las
night in a Catholic convent my frs
sleep within doors since leaving Jeru
salem, and all of us as kindly treated
rs though wo had been the Pope anC
his College of Cardinals passing tina
way. Last evening the genial sister
hood of the convent ordered a hundred
bright-eyed Arab children brought ou
to sing for me, and 1t was glorious
This morning l come out on the step:
of tho convent and looked upon the
most beautiful village of all Palestine
its houses OF white limestone. Cues,
its namel Nazareth, historical Naza
reth, one of the trinity of places tha'
all Christian travellers must see or fee
that they have not seen Palestine
namely, Rethlehom, Jerusalem, Naza
reth. Babyho boyhood, manhood o.
Him for whom believe there are fifty
million people who would now, II il
were required, march out and die
whether under axe or down in the floods
or straight through the fire.
All Christs boyhood was spent in
this village and its surroundings.
You see 1t all through His sermons. II
a man becomes a public speaker, in his
orations or discourses you discover his
early whereabouts. What q boy sees
between seven and seventeen always
sticks to him. When the Apostle Peter
breaches you see the fishing nets with
which he had from his earliest days
been familiar. And when Amos deliv-
ers his prophecy you hear in it the
bleating of the herds which he had in
boyhood attended. And in our Lords
sermons and conversations you see all
the phases Of village life and the
mountainous life surrounding 1t. They
raised their own chickens in Nazareth,
and in after time He cries: 20
Jerusalem Jerusalem how often
would have gathered thee
as hon gathereth her chick
ems under her wings" He had
seen His mother open tho family ward
robe at tho close of summer and the
moth millers flying out, having de-
stIoyod the garments, and in after
years lie says: Lay not up for your.
selves treasures on earth where moth
doth corrupt" In childhood He had
seen a milo of flowers, white as the
snow, or red as the flame, or blue as the
sea, or green as tho tree-tops, and no
wonder in His manhood sermon He said:
Consider the lilies" While one day
on a high point where now stands the
tomb of Neby Ismail, He had seen wing
ing past Him so near as almost to furry
His hair the partridge, and the hoopoe,
and the thrush, and the osprey, and
the crane, and the raven, and no
wonder afterward in His manhood SER
mon He said: "Behold the fowls of the
air." In Nazareth and on the road to
it there are great many camels. |
see them now in memory making their
slow way up the zig-zag road from the
plain of ESdraelon to Nazareth. Famil-
lar was Christ with their appearance,
also with that small insect the gnat
which He had seen His mother strain
out from cup Of water or pail of milk,
and no wonder He brings afterward the
large quadruped end the small insect
into His sermon and, while seeing the
Pharisees careful about small sins, and
reckless about large ones, cries out:
"Woe unto you blind guides which
strain out gnat and swallow a camel. :"
lie had in boyhood seen the shepherds
got their flocks mixed up, and to one
not familiar with the habits of shep-
herds and their fiocks, hopclessly mixed
up. And sheep-stealer appears on
tho scene and dishonesty demands
rome of those sheep when he owns not
one OF them. WELL" say the two
honest shepherds, I'VE will soon settle
this matter" and one shepherd goes
one direction and the other shepherd
goes out in another direction, and the
sheep-stealer in another direction, and
each one calls, and the flocks of each
of tho honest shepherds rush to
their owner, while the sheep-stealer
calls, and calls again, but gets not one
of the flock. No wonder that Christ,
years after. preaching on a great occa-
sion, and illustrating His own shepherd
qualities, says: when He putteth forth
His own sheep He goeth before them,
and the sheep follow Him, for they
know His voice, and the stranger they
will not follow, for they know not the
voice of the stranger" The sides OF
these hills are terraced for grapes. The
boy Christ has often stood with great
round eyes watching the trimming o.
the grapevines. Clip, goes the knife
and off falls branch. The child Chris
says to the farmer: What do you de-
that for?" "Oh," says the farmer, 'that
is dead branch, and it il
doing nothing and is only il
the way, so l cut it off," Their
the farmer with his sharp knife prune:
from a living branch, this and that ten
drill and the other tendril. But" says
the child Christ" these twigs that yor
cut off now are not dead; what do yor
do that for?" "Oh," says the farmer
I'VE prune Off these that the mair
branch may have more of the sap, and
SO be more fruitful" No wonder il
after years Christ said in His sermon
81 am the true vine, and my Father Il
the husbandman; every branch in me
that beareth not fruit He taketh away
| and every branch that beareth fruit He