Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-03-10
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
ORNITHOLOGICA ILLUSIONS
IN THE BIBLE.
The Refuge offered by tic Christian
Religion to People OF all Ages and
Every Variety OF Character
Interesting Discourse.

OF inc sea. A missionary cOunteu tue Coi
centric circles, and found one tree thirty
five hundred years old-long rooted, broa
branches, all tho year in luxuriant foliage
The same branches that bent in the hurr
cane that David saw sweeping over Lob
anon, rock to-day over the head OF tn
American traveller. This monarch OF tn
forest with its leafy fingers, plucks tn
honors of a thousand years, ant
sprinkles them upon its own uplifte'
brow, rs though some great hallelntat
Of heaven had been planted upon lie
banon, and it were rising up with its long
armed strength to take hold of the hills
whence it came. Obi what q fine place
for birds to nest inl In hot days they
come thither-the eagle, tho dove, The
swallow, the sparrow, and the raven
| There Is to many of US q complete fasci
nation in the structure and habits OF birds
! They seem not more of earth than heaven
ever vacillating between the two. Nc
wonder that Audubon. with his gun,
tramped through all Of the American
forests in search Of new specimens
| Biologists have spent years in the new
| red sandstone There is enough OF
Gods architecture in q snipe's bill or O
grouses foot to confound all the universe
ties. Musicians have, with clefs and bars
tried to catch the sound of the nightingale
and robin. Among the first things that a
child notices is swallow at the caves
and grandfather goes out with a handful
Of crumbs to feed the snow birds. The
bible Is full of pathological illusions.
The birds of the bible are not dead and
stuffed, like those of the museum, but liv-
Ing birds, with fluttering 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. "Gavest thou the goodly
wings unto tho peacocksm says Job.
David describes his desolation by saying,
Il am like q pelican of the wilderness; 1
am like an owl Of the desert; l watch,
and am as a sparrow alone upon the house
top" Yea, the stork in tho heaven
knowcth her appointed time; and tho
turtle, and the cram, and the swallow OBJ
servo the time OF their coming; but my
people know not the judgment Of the
Lord"-so says Jeremiah.
Ezekiel in my text intimates that Christ
Is the cedar, and the people from all quar-
tcrs are the birds that lodge among the
branches. 1T shall be a goodly cedar, and
under it shall dwell all fowl of every
wing" AS in Ezekiels 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 GAN fowl of every
wing"
First, the young may como. OF the
eighteen hundred and niBety-two years
that have passed since Christ came, about
sixteen hundred have been wasted by the
good in misdirected efforts. Until Robert
Raikes came there was no organized effort
for saving the young. We spend all 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 great deal
easier to keep train on the track than
TO get it on when it is off. The expert
enccd reinsman checks the fiery steed at
the first jump, for when no gets in full
swing, the swift hoofs clicking fire from
the pavement, and the bit between his
teeth, his momentum is irresistible. II is
ouAN lAlhL NAS gOuLo Lhuob 10 allONCu W
sow their wild oats" / have noticed
that those who SOW their wild oats seldom
try to raise any other kind of crop There
are two opposite dcstinies. If you are
going to heaven, you had better take the
straight road, and not try to go to Boston
by the way OF New Orleans. What is ia
be the history of this multitude of young
people around me to-dayi will take you
by the hand and show you glorious sun
rise l will not whine about this thing,
nor 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 wrist, no hopples on your feet, no
brand on your forehead.
went through the heaviest snowstorm
] have ever known to see a dying girl
Her cheek on the pillow was white as the
snow on tho easement. Her large, round
eye had not lost any of its lustre Loved
ones stood all 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" 'Ohm
she said, happy! happy! Mr.. Talmage,
tell all the young folks that religion will
make them happy" AS / came out of
the room, louder than all the sobs
end Xalings of grief l heard the
clear sweet, glad voice Of the dying girl;
Good night; we shall meet again on the
other side of the river" The next Sab
bath we buried her. We brought white
flowers and laid them on the CONN. There
was in all that crowded church but one
really happy and delighted face, and that
was the face OF Fanny. Obi / 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 fit refuge for birds OF brightest
plumage and swiftest wing See, they
fly they fly! "All fowl of every wing"
Again: remark that the old may come.
You say, Suppose man has to go on
crutches; suppose TO is blind; suppose he
is deaf; suppose that nine-tenths of his
life has been wasted" Then / answer,
come with crutches; come, old men, blind
and deaf, como to Jesus. II you would
sweep your hand around before your blind
eyes, the first thing you would touch
would be the cross. 1t is hard for an
aged man or woman TO have grown old
without religion. Their taste is gone.
The peach and the grape have lost their
favor. They say that somehow fruit
does not taste as it used TO. Their hear.
ing gets defective, and they miss
great deal that is said in their presence.
Their friends have all gone, and every body
seems so strange. Tho world seems to 60
away from them, and they are left all
alone. They begin to feel in the way wheL
you como into the room where they are;
and they move their chair nervously, ana
say, 81 hope am NOT II tic way" Alasl
that father and mother should ever be in
the way. When you we're sick, and they
sat up all night rocking you, sin~'ng to
you, administering to you, did they think
that you were in the waJl Are you tired
of the old peoplel Do you snap them up
quick and sharpl You will be cursed TO
the bone for your Ingratitude and unkind.
nessl
Obi 1t is hard TO be old without relig-
lon-to feel this world going away, and
nothing better coming. II there be any
here who have gone far on without Christ.
I address you deferehtially. You have
found this tough world for old people.
Alas TO have aches and pains. and no
Christ to sooth them. | want TO give you
4 cane better than that you lean on II is
the cane that the Bible speaks of when it
saws 'srhV rod and thy staff thev comforr