The Forrest City times., 1892-03-11
DR. TALMAGE's SERMON.
ORNTTHoLocicA ILLUSIONS
 IN THE BIBLE.
The Refuge offered by the Chrisitsn Religion to People of all Ages and Every Variety ef Character
 Interesting Diseours&

 of Dr. Talmsges sermon this morning was Ezekial T. a. "A xoodly cedar and under it shall dwell all fowls of every wing. The Rev. Dr. spoke as follows:
 The cedar of Lebanon is e royal tree. It stands six thousand feet above the level of the sea missionary counted the con centric circles, and found one tree thirty five hundred years old-long- rooted, broad branches. all the year in luxuriant foliage The same branches that bent in the hurri- cane that David saw sweeping over Leo- anon. rock to-day over the head Of the American traveller This monarch of the forest. with its leafy fingers. plucks tae houors of a thousand years. and sprinkles them upon it's own uphfted brow. as thouyh some great haIlel1iah Of heaven had been planted upon Le- banou, and it were rising up with it's long armed strength to take hold of the hllls whence it came Oh. what . fine place for birds to nest inl In not days they come thither-the eagle. the dove. the swallow, the sparrow, and the raven There Is to many of us complete fascl- nation in the structure and habits of oards- They seem not more of earth than heaven ever yacillating between the two. NO wonder that Audubon. with his gun, tramped through all of the American forests ia search of new specimens GeOlozists have spent years in the new red sandstone There is enough of Gods architecture in a snipe's oill or grouse's foot to coufound all the universi- ties. Musicians have, with ciefs and oars tried to catch the sound of the nightingale and robin. Among the first things that | child notices is a swallow at the caves, 1 and grandfather goes out with handful | of crumbs to feed the snow-birds- The 1 bible is full of pathological aiiuslons- l The birds of the bible are not dead and stuffed, like those of the museum. but n.y. I ing birds. with furtering wings and plum age Behold the birds Of the air. says Christ Though thou exalt myself as the eagle, and | thou set thy nest among the stars. thence will bring thee down ex- claims Obadiah '7Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocksr says Job. David describes his desolation by saying. i II am Ike pelican of the wilderness; am like an owl of the desert; l watch, ! and am as a sparrow alone upon the house. , top.u "Yea the stork in the heaven [ knoweth her appointed time; and the turtle, aud the crans, and the swallow oo- serve the time of ,hesr coming; but my people know not the judgment oi the Lordr-so says Jeremiah.
 1 Ezekiel in my text intimates that Christ is the cedar. and the people from all quar- ters are the birds that lodge among the branches. s.It shall be goodly cedar, and ! under it shall dwell all fowl of every wiug.n As in Ezekiefs time, so now Christ is 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 s'Al fowl of every
 wingr
 Frs, the young may come. Of the eighteen hundred and ninety-two years that nave passed since Christ came, about
 sixteen hundred have been wasted by the
 good in misdirected efforts. Until Robert
 Raikes came there was no organized enor'
 for saving the young. We spend all our
 strength trying to bend old trees, when 2 little pressure would have been sufficient
 for the sapling. We let men 20 down tc
 the very bottom of sin before ws
 trv to lift them up. IL is great dea
 easier to keep train on the track thar ! to get it on when u is oil. The experi
 enced reinsman checks the iery steed al
 the first iump, for when he gets in fui
 swing. the swift hoofs clicking lire Iron
 the pavement. and the bit between hi'
 teeth. his momentum is irresistible. 1t i
 said that the young must be allowed t'
 SOW their s'Rild oats.n I have noticed
 that those who SOW their wild oats seldom
 try to raise any other kind of crop Ther'
 are two opposite destinies. If you arr
 going to heaven, you had better take th
 straight road, and not try to go to Bostol by the way of New Orleans. Wha. is |
 be the history of this multitude of younl
 people around me to-dsys will take vol
 by the hand and show you glorious sun
 rise. will not whine about this thing
 nor groan about 1t; but come. young mel
 and maidens, Jesus wants you. His han'
 is love: hi. voice is music; his smile i
 heaven Religion will put 10 handcuffs o your wrist, no hopples on your feet, n
 brand on your forehead.
 Iwent through the heaviest snowstorr
 have ever known to see dying gir Her cheek on the pillow was white as th snow on the easement Her large. roun
 eye had not lost any of its iustre Love ones stood all around the bed trying "A. E her up; and one nearer to her than eithe father or mother was frantic with grie said. Fanny. how do you feeltn sOh 1. she said, happy happy Mir. Taimag' tell all the young folks that religion wi make them happy" As l came out the room. louder than all the sot and wailings of grief heard th clear, sweet, glad voice of the dying gir |. Good night; we snall meet again on tn l other side of the river" The next Sal } bath we buried her. We brought whit l flowers and laid them on the cofin. Thei l was in all that crowded church but or really happy and delighted face, and tsi l was the face of Fanny. Ohi l wish thi r now my Lord Jesus would go through th l audience, and take all these flowers I youth and garland them on His brow. IT 7 cedar is fit refuge for birds of orighte , pluu.age and swiftest wing. See, the
 fly they fyl .All fowl of every wing" Again: remark that the old may com
 You say, Suppose man has 10 go crutches; suppose he is blind, suppose
 Is deaf; suppose that nine-tenths Of
 life has been wasted" Then l answe
 come with crutches; come, old men, olir and deaf, come to Jesus If you wou ' sweep your hand around before your oliI 3 eyes. the first thing you would tout 1 would be the cross. It is hard for 1 aged man or woman to have grown r without religion Their taste is gon - The peach and the grape have lost the 0 flavor. They say that somehow frs Y does not taste as 1t used to. Their hes
 ing gets defective. and they miss
 great deal that is said in their present
 Their friends have all gone, and oo'
 seems so strange The world seems to