Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1892-03-10
A GOODLY CEDAR.
CHRIST THE ONLY REFUGE FOR
PEOPLE OF EVERY SORT.

SHRiS IfE OHIY GFOSC fOEl
PEOPLE OF EVERY SORT.
Sermon Preached by the Rev. T. De Witt
Talmase, d. D., at the tabernacle in
Brooklyn on Sunday, March S-Text,
Ezekiel xviii. 23.
BROOKLYN, March 6.-The congre-
cation at the Brooklyn Tabernacle
this morning sang with fervor the
hymn beginning
Ny faith looks up to thee,
Thou Lamb OF Calvary.
DR.. Taimage,s subject was the ref
xse offered by the Christian religion
to the people of all ages and every
variety of character. His text was
Ezekiel xvii, %, "A goodly cedar, and
under it shall dwell al fowl of every
wing"
The cedar of Lebanon is a royal
tree. 1t stands six thousand feet
above the level of the sea A mis-
sionary counted the %concentrlc cir
cles. Il found one to- t~hirty-fve
hu Led years old-long rooted,
broad branches, all the year in luxu-
rant foliage. The same branches
that bent in the hurricane that David
saw sweeping over Lebanon rock, to-
day over the head of the American
traveller.
This monarch of the forest, with
its leafy fingers, plucksthe honors of
thousand years and sprinkles them
upon its own upiifted brow, as though
some great hallelujah of heaven had
beer planted upon Lebanon and It
were rising up with all its long armed
strength to take hold of the hills
whence it came. Oh, what a lire
place for birds to nest In! In hot
days they come thither-the eagle,
the dove, the swallow, the sparrow,
and the raven.
There is to many of US a complete
fascination II the structure and habits
of birds. They seem not more OF
earth than heaven-ever vacillatins
between the two. No wonder that
Audubon. with his gun, tramped
through all of the American forests
in search of new specimens. Cecil
ogists have spent years in finding
the track of a birds claw in the new
red sandstone. There is enough Of
Gods architecture in q snipes bill or
a grouse's foot to confound all the
universities. Musicians have, with
clefs and bars, tried to catch the
,sound of the nightingale and robin.
4 Among the first things that a child
notices is a swallow at the caves;
and grandfather goes out with a
handful Of crumbs to feed the snow
birds. The Bible is full of ornitholog-
zeal illusions. The birds of the Bible
are not dead and stuffed, ike those
of the museum, but living birds. with
futtering wings and plumage. Be
hold the fowls Of the air." says
Christ. Though thou exalt thyself
as the eagle, and though thou set thy
nest among the stars, thence will l
bring thee down" exclaims Obadiah.
"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto
the peacocksz' says Job.
David describes his desolation by
saying, Il am like pelican Of the
wilderness: I am like an owl of the
desert; | watch. and am as q sparrow
alone upon the housetop.H yea, the
stork in the heaven knoweth her APP
pointed time; and the turtle and the
crane and the swallow observe the
time of their coming; but my people
know not the judgment of the Lord"
50 says jeremiah.
Ezekiel in my text mtimates that
Christ is the cedar. and The r-ople
from all quarters are the birds that
lodge among the branches. ItshaIl
be a goodly cedar, and under it shall
dwell al fowl otevery wing Asin
z.ass-. so now Christ is q
goodly cedarxand 70 him I flying
all kinds Of people, Young and Old,
rich aud poor; men high soaring as
the eagle. those fierce Is the raven
and those gentle as the dove-All
fowl OF every wing"
THE YOUNG NAY COME.
First, the young may come. OF
the eighteen hundred and ninety
two years that have passed since
Christ came. about sixteen hundred
have been wasted by the good III mis-
directed 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 saplins. We
let men go down to the very bottom
of sin before we Try to lift them up.
It is a great deal easier to keeps Tram
on the track than to get it on when
it is off. The experienced reinsman
checks the fiery steed at the first
jump. for when he getsin full swing,
the swift hoofs clicking fire from the
pavement. and the bit between his
teeth his momentum is irresistible.
It is said that the Young must be
allowed to sow the.4 wild oats" l
have noticed that those who sow
their wild oats seldom Try to raise
any other kind Of crop. There are
two opposite destinies. 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 to De the history OF this null
tiuude of young people around me to-
day Twill take you by the hand
aud show You a glorious sunrise. l
viii not whine about this thing, nor
groan aboot 1t; bu1 come, young
.aen and maidens, Jesus wants you.
His hand is love; his voice is music;
his smile is heaven. Religion viii
put no handouts on your wrist, no
hopples on your feet, no brand on
your forehead.
Invent through the heaviest snow
storm l have ever known to see a
dying girl Her cheek on the pillow
was white as the snow on the case
ment. Her large, round eye had not
lost any of its luster. Loved ones
stood all around the bed trying to
hold her back. Her mother-could