Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-03-10
IALMAGE'S SERMON.
REFUGE OFFERED TO ALL PEOPLE
BY THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.


Shall Dwell.
DRooKLl-N, March G.--The congregation
ct the Brooklyn Tabernacle this morning
sang with fervor the hymn beginning
My faith looks up TO thco
Thou lamb of Calvary.
Dr. Talmsge's subject was the refuge
offered by the Christian religion to people
Of all ages and every variety of character.
His text was Ezekiel xviii %, "a goodly
cedar, and under it shall dwell all fowl of
every wing"
The cedar Of Lebanon is a royal tree. 1t
stands six thousand feet above the level of
the sea. A missionary counted the concen-
trio circles and found one tree thfrty-tive
hundred years old-lcng rooted, broad
branches, all the year in luzurtant foliage.
The same branches that bout in the bur
ricane that David saw sweeping over Leb-
anon rock today over the head of the Amer
lean traveller, This monarch of the for
est, with its leafy fingers, plucks the hon
ors of a thousand years and sprinkles them
upon its own uplifted brow, as though
some great hallelujah Of heaven had been
planted upon Lebanon and it were rising
up with all its long armed strengthto take
hold of the hills whence it came.
Oh, what fine place for birds to nest in!
In hot days Ghey come thithcr-the eagle
the dove, the swallow, the sparrow and the
raven. There is to many OF US 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 a
birds claw in the new red sandstone
There is enough Of Gods architecture in
snipe's 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. Among the
first things that child notices is swal-
low 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
plumage. "Behold 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, " exelaims Obadiah. "Gavest thou the
goodly wings unto the peacocks" says job.
David describes his desolation by saying,
IL am like pelican of the wilderness; l
am like an owl of the desert; | watch and
Am as sparrow alone upon the housetop."
"Y ca, the stork in the heaven knoweth her
appointed 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"-so says jeremiah.
a GooDLY CEDAR.
Ezekiel in my text intimates that Christ
is the cedar, and the people from all quar-
tiers are the birds that lodge among the
branches 'It shall be goodly cedar, and
under it shall dwell all fowl of every
wing" As in Ezekiels time, so now
Christ is a geodly cedar, and to him are
flying all kinds Of people-young and DID,
rich and poor, men high soaring as the
enEle, those fierce as the raven, and those
gentle as the dove "All fowl of every
wing"
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 in misdirected efforts. Until Robert
Raikes came there was no organized effort
for saving the young. We spend all our
strength trying 10 bend old trees, when a
little pressure would have been sufficient
for the sapling We let men 20 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 il GU 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 click
ing fire from the pavement and the bit be-
tween his teeth, his momentum is ire
sistible.
1t is said that the young must be allowed
80 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 destinies. If you are 60
ing 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
be the history Of this multitude of young
people around Inc today; | will take you
by the hand and show you glorious sun
rise. will not whine about this thing,
nor groaa about il, but come, young men
and maidens, Jesus wants you. His hand
IS love, his voice is music, his smile is
heaven, Religion viii put no handouts
on your WRIT. no hopples on your feet, no
brand Oh your forehead.
RELlHIoN MADE HER HAPPY.
went through the heaviest snowstorm I
have ever known TO see a dying girl. Her
on the caseInent. Her large, round eye
had not lost any Of its lus'cr Loved ones
stood all around the bed trying TO hold her
back. Her mother conl) not give her up.
and one nearer to her thai, either father or
mother was frantic with grief. said,
"Fanny, how do you feelF' "Ohr' she
said, happy, happy Mr.. Talmage, tell
all the yolFt,g folks that religion will make
them huppy.'
As / came ogt Of the room, louder than all
the sobs and wailings of grief, heard the
clear, sweet, glad voice of the dying girl,
Coed 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 lIce of Fanny. Oh, / wish that now
my Lord jesus would 90 through this au-
sience and take all these flowers Of youth
md garland them on his brow. The cedur
S fit refuge for birds of brightest plu-
mage and swiftest wing, See, they fly!
they fly! "All fowl Of every wing"
Again, i remark that the old may como