The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-09-09
A. LESSON IN HUMILITY.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage Talks on
the Wings Of the Seraphim.
BY Them are TypIHed the Attitudes w.
Should Take Before God-HumiIity
and Reverence should BE
Foremost.

EOremOBCs
The following discourse. selected by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage from among
those delivered by him during his So
journ in England, is presented to the
American readers this week. The
text Is:
with twain he covered his face: with twain
he covered his feet. and With twain did he fly.
Isaiah. vi. 2
In hospital Of leprosy good King
Uzziah had died, and the whole land
was shadowed with solemnity, and theo-
logical and prophetic Isaiah was think
ing about religious things, as one is apt
to do in time of great national bereave-
ment, and forgetting the presence of
his wife and two sons, who made up
his family, he has dream; not like the
dream of ordinary character, which
generally come from indigestion, but
a vision most instructive, and under the
touch of the hands of the Almighty
The place, the ancient temple; build
ing, grand, awful, majestic. Within
that temple throne higher and grander
than that occupied by any czar or sui
tan or emperor. On that throne, the
eternal Christ. In lines surrounding
that throne the brightest celestials, not
the cherubim, but higher than they; the
most exquisite and radiant of the heav-
emily inhabitants; the seraphim- They
are called burners because they look
like fire. Lips of fire, feet of fire. In
addition to the features and the limbs,
which suggest a human being, there
are pinions, which suggest the lithest,
the swiftest, the most buoyant and
most inspiring of all intelligent crea-
tion-a bird Each seraph had six
wings for different purpose. Isaiah's
dream quivers and flashes with the PIN
ions Now folded, now spread, now
beaten in lecomotion. with twain he
covered his feet, with twain he covered
his face. and with twain he did fly"
The probability is that these wings
were not all used at once. The seraph
standing there near the throne over
whelmed at the insignifcance of the
paths his feet had trodden, as compared
with the paths trodden by the feet of
God, and with the lameness of his lo-
comotion amounting almost to decrepi-
tude as compared with the Divine veloc-
ity, with feathery veil of angelic
modesty hides the feet. "With twain
he did cover the feet"
Standing there overpowered by the
overwhelming splendors of Gods glory,
and unable longer with the eyes to look
upon them, and wishing those eyes
shaded from the insufferabl glory, the
pinions gather over the countence.
with twain he did cover the face. ''
Then as God tells this seraph to go to
the furtheSt outpost of immensity on
message of light and love and joy, and
get back before the first anthem, it
does not take the seraph a 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 we, see the
seraph spreading his wings over the
feet, is lesson of humility at imper-
fection. The brightest angels of God
are so far beneath God that He charges
them with folly. The seraph so far be-
meath God, and we so far beneath the
seraph in service we ought to be
plunged in humility, utter and COM
plete. Our feet, how laggard they
have been in the Divine servicel Our
feet, how 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 dishonor upon that which is
one of the masterpieces of Almighty
God-the human foot. Psychologist and
anatomist are overwhelmed at the won
ders of its organization. The Bridge
water Treatise, written by Sir Charles
Bell, on the wisdom and goodness of
God as illustrated in the human hand,
was a result of the forty thou
saand dollars bequeathed in the
last will and testament of the
earl of Bridgewater for the encourage
ment of Christian literature. The
world could afford to forgive his eccen-
tricitieS, 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 foot
men. With his large bequest inducing
Sir Charles Bell to write so valuable a
book on the wisdom of God in the
structure of the human hand, the world
could afford to forgive his oddities,
And the world could now afford to have
another earl of Bridgewater, however
idicsyncratic, If he would induce some
other Sir Charles Bell to write a book
on the wisdom and goodness of God in
the construction of the human foot.
The articulation of its bones, the lu-
brication of it's joints, the gracefulness
of it's lines, the ingenuity of its carti-
lagos, the delicacy of its veins, the ra-
pidity of its muscular contraction, the
sensitiveness of its nerves. / sound the
praises of the human foot. With that
we halt or club or march
1t is the foundation of the
physical fabric. 1t is the base of
God-poised column With it the
warrior braces himself for battle. With
IL the orator plants himself for eulo-
gium- With il the toiler reaches his
work. With it the outraged stamps
his indignation It's loss an irreparable
disaster. Its health an invaluable
equipment If you want to know its
value ask the man whose foot paralysis
hath shriveled, or machinery hath
crushed, or surgeons knife hath ampu-
tated. The Bible honors il. Especial
care: Lest thou dash thy foot against
m stone;' ''he will not suffer thy foot
10 be moved thy feet shall not stun
BILE" Especial charge: Keep thy foot
when thou goest to the house of God ("
Especial peril: 'Their feet shall slide
in due time" Connected with the
worlds dissolution: He shall set one