The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-03-18
ROOM FOR ALL.
DR.. Talmage on the Refuge offered
By Religion.
christianity Ample For All Conditions an
Characteristic Infinite Mercy of
God-How Easy It is For the
Christian to Die.

In late sermon at Brooklyn Rev
II De Witt Talmage- discoursed on the
refuge offered by the Christian relig
ion to people of all ages and every va
yriety of character. His text was
Ezekiel xvii %; "a goodly cedar and
under il shall dwell all fowl of every
wing" DR.. Talmage said:
The cedar of Lebanon is aroyal tree.
1t stands 5000 feet above the level of
the sea. A missionary counted the
-concentric circles and found one tree
g, 500 years old-long rooted, broad
branches, all the year in luxuriant
foliage. The same branches that bent
in the hurricane that David saw sweep
ing over Lebanon, rock to-day over the
head of the American traveller. This
monarch of the forest, with its leafy
fingers, plucks the honors of a thou
sand years, and sprinkles them upon
its own upiifted brow, as though some
great hallelujah of Heaven had been
planted upon Lebanon and it were ris-
ing up with its long-armed strength to
take hold of the hills whence it came.
%, what fine place for birds to nest in.
In hot days they come thither-the
eagle, the dove, the swallow, the spar
row and the raven. There is to many
of us q complete fascination in the
structure and habits of birds. They
seem not more of earth than of Heaven
ever vacillating between the two
No wonder that Audubon, with his
gun, tramped through all of the Amer
lean forests in search of new speci-
mems Biologists have spent years in
the new red sandstone. There is
enough OF Gods architecture in a
snipe's bill or a grouse's foot to con-
found all the universities Musicians
have, with clefs an bars, tried to
catch the sound of the nightingale and
robin. Among the first things
that a child notices is a swallow at
the caves, and grandfather goes out
with a handful of crumbs to feed
the snowbirds. The Bible is full of
archaeological illusions. The birds OF
the Bible are not deaf and stuffed like
those OF the museum, but living birds
with futtering wings and plumage.
Behold the birds OF the air." saws
Christ Though thou eXalt myself
as the cage and thou set thy nest
among the stars, thence will | bring
thee down" exclaims Obadiah.
-"Gavest thou the goodlv wings unto
the peacocks?' says job. David de-
scribes his desolEtion by saying: II am
like pelican of the Wilderness; / am
like an owl of the desert; | watch and
an as a sparrow alone upon the house
top" YEA, the stork in the Heaven
siInoweth her appointed time, and the
turtle and the crane and the swallow
observe the time of their coming, but
my people know not the judgment of
the Lord. says Jeremiah
Ezekiel in my text intimates that
Christ is the cedar, and the people
from all quarters are the birds that
lodge among the branches. sit shall
be a goodly cedar, and under it shall
dwell all fowl of every wing" As in
Ezekiers time, so now-Christ is a
goodly cedar, and to him are flying all
kinds of people-young and old, rich
and poor, men high soaring as the
eagle, those fierce as the raven, and
those gentle as the dove. "An fowl of
every wing"
y
1892 years that have past since Christ
came, about 900 have been wasted by
the good in misdirected efforts Until
Robert Raikes came there was no or
gained effort to save the young. We
spend our strength trying to bend old
trees, when a little pressure would
have been sufficient for the sapling
We let men go down to the very bottom
. of sin before we try to lift them up 1t
IS a great deal easier to keep a train on
the track than to get it on when
it is off. The experienced reins-
man checks the fierv steed at the first
Jump, for when he gets in full swing, the
swift hoofs clicking fire from the pave
ment, and the bit between his teeth,
his momentum is irresistible. 1t is said
that the young must be allowed to sow
their wild oats" / have noticed that
those who sow their wild oats seldom
try to raise any other kind of a crop.
There are two opposite destinies. If
you are going to Heaven you had better
take the straight road and not try to
get to Boston by the way of New
Orleans What Is to be the history of
this multitude of young people around
me to-day? will take you by the
hand and show you glorious sunrise.
will not whine about this thing or
groan about it; but come, young men
and maidens, Jesus wants you His
hand is love; his voice Is music; his
smile is heaven Religion will put no
handouts on your wrists, 70 hoppels
on your feet no brand on your fore
head. ..
went through the heaviest snow
storm / have ever known to see DYING
girl Her check on the pillow was
white as the snow on the easement
Her large, round eye had not lost any
of its luster Loved ones stood ali
around the bed trying to hold her back.
Her mother could not give her up; and
one nearer to her than either father or
mother was frantic with grief. said:
Fanny, how do you feel?" ''Ohl' she
said, happy! happy! Mr.. Talmage,
tell all the young folks that religion
will make them happy" AS l came
out of the room, louder than all the
.sobs aud wailings of grief heard the
clear. sweet. glad voice OF the dying
girl: Good night; we shall meet again
2on the other side of the river" The
next Sabbath we buried her We
brought white flowers and laid them
on the coffin. There was in all that
crowded church but one really happy
and delighted face, and that was the
face of Fanny. Oh! / wish that now
my Lord Jesus would go through this
audience and take all these flowers of
youth and garland them on His brow.
The cedar is a fit refuge for birds of
brightest plumage and swiftest wing.