Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-09-09
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun.
DAY SERMON,
Subject: "Seraphic Pastures ana
Human Imperfections."

tU5h train he corcrcd has feet. and actth
ttcG,n he DID fy."-Isaiah Vi, 2.
In hospital of leprosy goo King Czziah
had died, and the whole land was Swallowed
with solemnity, and theolO gical and prOph-
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 come from indigestion, but a vision
most instructive, and under the touch of
the hand or 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
like fire. Lips of fire, eyes of fire. feet of
fire. In addition to the features and the
limbs, which suggest human being, there
are plnions, which suggest the lightest, the
swiftest, the most buovant and most in
spring of all intelligent creaton-a bird
Each seraph had six wings, each two Of the
wings Tor a different purpose Isaiah's
dream quivers and flashes with these
pinions. Now folded now spread, now
beaten in locomotion. With twain he COW
6T6O MS IeeC, WIN IVAN ne covered his lace.
and with twain he did f1y."
The probability is that these wings were
not all used at once. 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 lameness of his
locomotlon amounting almost to decrepitude
as compared with the divine velocity, with
teathery veil Of angelic mo festy hides the
feet. with twain be did cover his feet"
Standing there overpowered by the over
matching splendOrs OF Gods glory and un-
able longer with the eyes TO LOOK upon them,
and wishing those eyes shaded from the in
sutferable glory. the pinions gather over the
cOuntenance. with twain he did cover the
face" Then as God tells this raDh to go to
the farthest outpost Of immensely on message
of light and love and joy, and get back be-
fore the first anthem, 1t does not take the
seraph great while to spread himself upon
the air with unimagined celebrity; one stroke
OF the wing equal to ten thousand leagues Of
air. with twain he did fly"
The most practical and useful lesson for
you and me, when see the seraph
spreading his wings over the feet Is a lesson
OF humility at lmperfectiOn. The bright st
angels of God are far beneath God that
He charges them with folly. The seraph so
far beneath God, and We so far beneath the
seraph in service we ought to be plunged in
humility, utter and complete. Our feet how
laggard they have been in the divine service!
Our ieet, now many misstepS they have
taken! Our feet, in how many paths Of
wOrldliness and folly they have walked
Neither God nor seraph intended to put
any dlshonor upon that which is one of tho
masterpieces OF Almighty God--the human
foot. Psychologist and anatomist ara over
whelmed 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
a result OF the $40, 900 bequeathed in the last
will and testament Of the Earl of Bridge
water for the encouragement of Christian
literature. The world could afford 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 of the
human hand, the world could afford to for
give his Oddities And the world could now
afford to have another Earl of Bridgewater,
however laiosyncratic, if he would induce
some other Sir Charles Bell to write book
on the wisdom and goodness of God in the
construction OF the human foot-the ar
ticulation OF its bones, the fabrication of its
joints, the gracetuLness of its lines the in
genuity OF its cartridges, the delicacy of it's
veins, the rapidity OF its muscular contrac-
ton, the senSltiveuesS OF its nerves.
| sound the praises of the human foot.
With that we halt or climb or march. It is
the foundation Of the physical fabric. 1t is
the base OF a God poised column. With it
the warrior braces himself for battle. With
it the orator plants himself for eulogium.
W 18th it the tOlier reaches his work. With
it the outraged stamps his Indignation. Its
loss an irreparabie disaster. Its health an
invaluable equipment. II you want to
know its value, ask tho mau whose foot
paralysis hath shriveled, or machinery hath
crushed, OF surgeons knife hath amputated.
The Bible hOnors it. Especial care, LEST
thou dash thy foot against stone;" The
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 feet
shall slide in due time" Connected with
the worlds dissolution, "He shall set one
foot on the sea and the other on the earth.
Give me the history of your foot and will
give you the history of your lifetime. Iell
me up what steps 1t hath gone, down what
declivities, and in what roads and in what
directions, and l will know more about you
than want to know. None of US could en-
dure the scrutiny. Our feet not always in
paths of God. Sometimes in paths of
worl6iness. Our feet, divine and glorious
machinery for usefulness and work, so often
making missteps, so often going in the
wrong direction. God knowing every step,
the patriarch saying, "Thou settest print
on the heels Of my feet" Crimes of the
hand, crimes of the tongue, crimes of the
eye. crimes OF the ear not worse than the
crimes Of the foot. Oh, we want the wings
of b umility to cover the feet Ought we not
to go into self abb nation before the all
searching, all scrut1n1zing, all trying eye or
God? The seraphs do. How much more
we? 'tWith twain he covered the feet"
All this talk about the dignity of human
nature is braggadocio and sin. Our ma
ture started at the hand Of God regal, but
it has been pauperized. There is well in
Belgium which once had very pure water,
and it was stoutlY masonad with stone and