Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-09-02
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn DiVlnss Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject; "seraphic Pastures and Human
ImperfectIous."

with solemnity, and theological and prom.
etc Isaiah was thinking about religious
things. as one Is apt to do IN time OF great
national bereavement, and forgetting the
presence Of his wife and two sons, who made
up his family, he had dream, not like the
creams of ordinary character, which gen.
orally cone from indigestion, but vision
most instructive, and under the touch OF
the hand OF the Almighty.
The place---the ancient temple: building
grand, awful, majestic Within that
temple a throne higher and grander than
that occupied by any car, or sultan or en-
peror. On that throne the eternal Christ
In lines surrounding that throne the bright
est celestials, not the cherubim, but higher
than they, the most exquisite and radiant
OF the heavenly inhabitants, the seraphim.
They are called burners because they look
Ike fire. Lips of fire, eyes OF fire. feet OF
fire. In addition TO the features and the
limbs, which suggest human being, there
are pinions which su ygest the ltghteSt, the
swiftest, the most buoyant and most in
spring OF all intelligent creation-a bird.
Each seraph had six wings, each two Of the
wings for a different purpose. lsaiah's
dream duivers and flashes with these
pinions. Now folded, now spread, now
beaten in locomotion. with twain he COW
cred bis feet, with twain he covered his face,
and with twain he did fly"
The probability is that these wings were
not all used at orce. The seraph standing
there near the throne overwhelmed at the in
significance Of the paths his feet had trodden
as compared with the paths trodden by the
feet Of God, and with the lameress OF his
locomotion amounting almost TO decrepitude
as compared with the divine velocity. with
feathery veil of angelic moiesty hides the
feet. with twain he did cover his fee"
Standing there oyerpowered by the over
matching splendors Of COTS glory, AMI un-
able longer with the eyes to loo upon them,
snd wishing those eyes shaded from the in
siderable glory. the pinions gather over the
rountenauce. with twain he did cover the
face" Then as God tells this seraph TO 20 to
The farthest OUTPOST of immensely on message
Of light and love and joy, and get back be-
fore the first anthem, IL does not take the
seraph great while to spread himself upon
the air with unimagned celebrity; one stroke
Of the wing equal to ten thousand leagues OF
air. With twain he did nv."
The most practical AMI useful lesson for
you and me, when we see the seraph
spreading his wings over tho feet, IS lesson
OF humility at imperiection. The bright 81
angels of God are so far beneath God that
He charges them with folly. The seraph 50
far beneath God, and we so far beneath the
.eraph in service we ought to he plunged in
humility, utter and complete. Our feet, how
laggard they have been in the divine seryicel
Our feet, how many mlssteps they have
taken Our feet, III how many paths OF
worldliness and folly they have walked
Neither God nor seraph inten led to put
any dishonor upon that which is one OF the
masterpieces OF Almighty God-.he human
loot. Psychologist and analomst eri over
Nhelmed at the wonders OF its organization.
THE Bridgewater Treatise written by Sir
Charles Bell, on the wisdom and goodness OF
God. as illustrated in the human hand was
result Of the 10000 bequeathed in the last
will aud testament Of the Earl OF Bridge
water for the encouragement OF Christian
literature. The world could afforl TO for
give his eccentricities though he had two
dogs seated at his table, and though he put
six dogs alone in an equipage drawn by four
horses and attended by two footmen.
With his large bequest inducing Sir
Charles Bell TO write so valuable book on
the wisdom OF God in the structure OK tbs
human hand. the world could afford - for
ave his oddities. And the world could now
afford to have another Earl of Bri1gewater.
however idlosyncratic, II he would induce
some other Sir Charles Bell to write n boo
N the wisdom and goodness OF God in the
construction OF the human foot-the ar
liculation of its bones, the fabrication Of its
Joints. the gracefulness OF its lines, the in
genuity OF its cartilages the delicacy OF It's
VEINS, the rapidity OF ITS muscular contrac-
ton, the senstiveness OF its nerves.
| sound the praises Of the human foot.
With that we halt or climb or march. It's
the foundation OF the physical fabric: lt IS
the base OF a God poised column. with u
the warrior braces himself for battle. with
for attlner.nm
With il the toiler reaches his woFS with
il the outraged stamps his indignation. It's
loss an irreparabe disa ster. It's health an
invaluable equipment. IL you want 10
know its value, ask the man whose 1ooV
paralysis hath shriveled, OF machinery hath
crushed. or surgeons knife hath amputated.
The Bible honors 1t. Especial care, Lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone;' ms
will not suffer thy foot TO be moved, "thy
feet shall not stumble Especial charge.
Keep thy foot when thon goeSt TO the
house of God Especial peril, Their fee'
shall slide in due time" Connectel WIN
the worlds dissolution, lie shall SET on
foot on the sea and the other on the earth
Give me the history OF your loot aua y, WI II,
give you the history o. your lifetime. len
me up what steps It hath gon', down what
dec,ivities. and in what roals and in what
0lrpctliOnS, 0ul VIII hlOfN tAApt oDCts JNN
than want to know. None OF US coul1 en-
dure the scrutiny. Oar feet not always in
maths OF God. Sometimes in paths OF
worldiness Our feet, divine an glorlou
machinery for usefulness ami wOrS, so often
making missteps, 50 often going in the
wronr direction. Col knowing every step,
the natriarch saving, "fhOu settest print
ON the heels of my feet" Grimes OF the
hand, crimes of the tongue, crimes OF the
eve, crimes OF the ear not worse than tha
crimes Of the foot. Oh, we want the wings
Of humility to cover the feet. Ought we not
10 20 into self abegnation before the all
searching, all scrutinizing, all trying eye OF
God? The seraphs do. How much more
we, with twain he covered the feet"
All this talk about the dignity OF human
nature is braggldocio and sin. Our na-
ture starte1 AT the hand of God reg al, but
it has been pauperIzs1. There Is well IN
Belgium which once had very pure water,
and it was stoutly masonei with stone ana
| brick: but that well afterward ecane the
centre of the battle OF Waterloo. AT the
opening Of the baltic the soldiers with tnelr
! sabers compelled the gardener. William Won
Kylsom, TO draw water out OF the wen LOT
them, aud it was very pure water.
But the battle ragged, and three hundrel
dead and half dead were flung into the wei
| for oujcS and easy burial. 50 that the well
of retreshment became the well OF death,
and long after people looked down into the
well, and they saw the bleached skulls, oul
no water. so the human soul was well oil
good, but the armies OF sin have fought
around 1t. AMI fought across 1t and beer
! slam, aud IL has become well OF skeletons.
Dead hopes, dead resolutions, dead oppor-
tunities, dead ambitions. An aban lone
well unless Christ shall reopen and purify
and fill it as the we'll Of Belgium never was
| Uncleau, uncleanl
Another seraphic posture In the text
"With twain he covered the face" That
means reverence Godwar1. Never 50 much
| irreverencs abroad in the world as to-day.
You see it in the defaced statuarY, in the
cutting out OF figures from fine paintings
in the chipping OF monuments for me-
mento, in the fact that a military quart
must stand at the graves OF Grant AMI Car
field, and that old shade trees must be cut
down for frewood, though fifty George
! z. Morrises beg the woodmen TO
spare the tree. and that calls a
corpse O cadaver, and that speaks OF
death as going over TO the ma
iority. and substitutes for the reverent
terms, father and mother, THE old maui
and "the old woman" and finds nothing
| impressive in the ruins of Baalbec or the
columns Of Karnac, aud sees M difference
in the Sabbath from any other DAYS except
1t allows more dissipation, and reads the
| Dill Il ,a1lod biOhor Criticism.