Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-03-18
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "ReIigion's Refuge"

TEXT: "a qoodly cedar and under IL
shaU d,ceN all fO1Ut of erery 11ing."-Eze
kiel xvii, %
The cedar of Lebanon SIS royal tree. II
stands six thousand feet above the level OF
the sea. A missionary counted the concen-
tric circles and found one tree thirtv-fve
hundred years old - long rooted, broad
branches, all the year in luxuriant foliage
The same branches that bent in the hurr1
cane that David saw sweeping over Leb
anon. rock to-day over the head of the
American traveller. This monarch OF the
forest, with its leaTy fingers, plucks the hon.
ors of thousand years and sprinkIes them
upon its own upiifted brow. as though some
great hallelujah of heaven had been planted
upon Lebanon and 1t were rising up with all
its long armed strength to take hold of the
hills whence it came.
Oh, what fine place for birds to nest ini
In hot days they come thther-the eagle,
the dove, the swallow, the sparrow and the
raven. There is to many of rs a complete
fascination in the structure and habits of
birds. They seem not more OF earth than
heaven-ever vacillating between the two.
No wonder that Audubon, with his gun,
tramped through all of the American for.
eSts IN search of new specimens. Biologists
have spent years in finding the track OF
birds claw in the new red sandstone. There
is enough of Gods architecture in a snipe's
bill or q grouse's foot TO confound all the
universities. Musicians have with clefs and
bars tried to catch the sound of the nightin-
gale and robin. Among the first things that
child notices is a swallow at the caves, and
grandfather goes out With & handful of
crumbs to feed the snow birds
The Bible is full of pathological allu-
sions. The birds of the Bible are not dead
and stuffed, like those of the museum, but
living birds, with huttering wings and plu-
mage. behold the fowls of tbs air." says
Christ. Though thou exalt thyself as the
eagle, and though thou set thy nest among
the stars, thence will bring thee down."
exclaims Obadiah. ''Gavest Thou the goodly
wings unto the peacock" says Job. David
describes his desolaton by saving, 81 am
like pelican of the wilderness; I am like
an owl of the desert; l watch and ain as
sparrow alone upon the housetop." "Yea,
the stork in the heaven knoweth her ap-
pointed time: and the turtle, and the crane,
and the swallow observe the time of their
coming; but my people know not the judg-
ment OF the Lord"-so says Jeremiah.
Ezekiel in my text intimates that Christ
is the cedar, and the people from all quar-
tiers are the birds that lodge among the
under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing"
AS in Ezekieps 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 the eagle, those fierce
as the raven, and those gentle as the dove.
>HAll fowl of every wing"
First. the young may come. OF the egh-
teen hundred and ninety-two years that
nave passed since Christ came about six
teen hundred have been wasted by the good
in misdirected efforts. Until Robert Raikes
came there was no organized effort for saw
ing the young. We spend all our strength
trying to bend old trees, when little pres
ure would have been sufficient for the sap
ling. We let men go down to the very bot
tom of sin before we Gry TO lift them up. 1t
\
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 gets in
full swing, the swift hoofs clicking fire from
the pavement and the bit between his teeth
his momentum is irresistible.
1t is said that the young must be allowed
to SOW their wild oats" I have noticed
that those who SOW their wild pats 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 way of
New Orleans. What is to be the history of
this multitude of young people around me
to-day? l will take you by the hand and
show you a glorious sunrise. l will not
whine about this thing, nor groan about it,
but come, young men aud maidens, Jesus
wants you. His hand is love, His voice is
music, His smile rs heaven. Religion will put
no handouts on your wrist no hOpples on
yourfeet, no brand Cd your forehead.
Invent through the heaviest snowstorm I
have ever known to see dying girl. Her
cheek on the pillow was white as the snow
ON the easement. Her large, round eye hal
not lost any of its iuster. 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
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 and wailings of grief, I 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 Sabbath
we buried her. We brought white flowers
and laid them on the coffin. There was in
all that crowded church but one really happy
and delighted face, and that was the face of
Fanny. Oh, | 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 ayi they fly! "Au fowl OF every
wing"
Again. remark that the old may come
You say, Suppose a man has to 90 on
crutches; suppose he is blind: suppose he is
deaf; suppose that nine-tenths of his life has
been wasted" Then 1 answer: Come with
crutches. Come. old men. blind and deaf
come to Jesus. If you would sweep your
uEIhu otouH oetOTe your DllnQ les, the first
thing you would touch would be the cross
ills hard for an aged man or woman to have
grown old without religion. There taste is
gone. The peach and the grape have lost
their flavor. They say that somehow fruit
does not taste as it used to. Their hearing
gets defective, and they miss a great deal
that is said in their presence
1helr friends nave all gone and everybody
seems so strange. The world seems to 90
away from them and they are left all alone,
They begin to feel in the way when YOU
come into the room where they are and thew