The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-11-16
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE,S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "MigratorY Birds.n

Subject: "MigratorY Birds.n
TEXT: THE stork in the heauen kno,oet1
| her appointed times, and the turtle, anG
the crane, and the s,valloW obserue the tim
of their coming: but my people lcno,c not tn
judgment Of the Lord"-Jsremiah viii. :
| When God would set fast a beautiful
thought He plants it in tree. When He
would put it afoat He fashions it into 8
| fish. When He would have it glide the air
| He molds it into bird. My text speaks
of four birds Of beautiful instinct-the
stork, of such strong affection that it is
| allowed femiliarly to come. in Holland and
Germany. and build its nest over the door,
way; the sweet dispositioned turtledove
| mingling in color white and black and
| brown and ashen and chestnut; the crane
with voice like the cIang Of tru mpet; the
swallow, swift as dart shot out of the bow
OF heaven, falling, mounting, skimming,
sailing-four birds started by the prophet
| twenty-five centuries ago, yet flying on
through the ages, with rousing truth under
| glossy wing and in the clutch Of stout claw.
suppose it may have been this very season
| of the eyear-autumn-and the prophet out
Of doors, thinking Of the impenitencs Of the
people OF his day, hears a great cry over
head
Now you know it is no easy thing for one
with ordinary delicacy Of eyesight to. look
| into the deep blue of the MONDAY heayen,
but the prophet looks up, and there are
| flocks of storks and turtledoves and cranes
and swallows drawn out in long lines tor
| flight southwark. As is their habit, the
cranes had arranged themselves into two
lines, making an angela wedge splitting
the air with wild velocity-the old
crane with commanding call, bidding
them onward, while the towns and the
cities, and the continents slid under them.
The prophet, almost blinded from looking
into the dazzling heavens, stoops down and
begins to think how much superior the biris
are in sagacity about their safety than men
| about theirs, and he puts his hand upon the
| pen and begins to write, "The stork in the
heavens knoweth her appointed times, &ld
the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow
observe the time of their coming; but my
people know not the judgment OF the
Lord"
II you were in the field to-day, in the
clump Of trees at the corner OF the field you
would see convention of birds, noisy as the
American congress the last night before ad.
journment, or as the English parliament
when some unfortunate member proposes
more economy in queens housshold-a con-
vention of birds all talking at once, moving
and passing resolutions on the subject OF
migration; some proposing to 60 to-mor-
row, some moving that they 90 to-day.
some moving that they 60 to Brazil. some
to Florida, some to the tablelands OF Mexico.
but all unanimous in the fact that they must
60 soon, for they have marching orders
from the Lord, written on the first white
sheet of the frost and in the pictorial Of the
changing leaves.
There Is not a belted kingdsher, or a
chaffinch, or a fra crested wren, or
plover, or a red legged partridge but ex-
poets to spend the winter at the south, for
the apartments have already been ordersl
for them in South America or in Africa,
and after thousands of miles Of flight they
will stop in the very tree where tney spent
last January. Farewell. bright plrnage
Until spring weather, away! Fly on, great
band Of heavenly musicians! Strew the
continent with music, and whether from
northern fields, or Carolinian swamps, or
Brazilian groves men see your wings or
hear your voice, may they bethinS them.
salves of the solemn words Of the text, The
stalk in the heaven kuowth her appointed
times, and the turtle and the crane and the
swallow observe the time of their coming,
but my people know not the Judgment OF
the Lordf'
Ipropose, so far as God may help me, this
morning, carry out the idea Of the text, to
show that the birds Of the air have more sa-
gacty than men. And begin by ,partlcu-
iarizing and saying that they mingle music
with their works. The most serious under
taking Of a birds life is this annual travel
from the Hudson to the Amazon, from the
Thames to the Nile. Naturalists tell US that
they arrive there thin and weary and plu-
mage ruffled, and yet they 60 singing all the
way; the ground, the lower line of the
music; the sky, the upper line OF the music;
themselves, the notes scattered up and down
between.
It is good sign when you hear a work
man whistle. It is better sign when you
hear him hum q roundelay. 1t is a still
better sign when you hear him sing the
words Of Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley.
A violin chorded and strung, if something
accidentally strike it, makes music, and l
suppose there is such thing as having our
hearts so attuned by divine grace that
even the rough collisions Of life will make
heavenly vibration. I do not believe that
the power Of Christian song has yet been
fully tried, / believe that il you could roll
the .'Old Hundred" do1ology through Wall
street it would put an eni to any financial
disturbance / believe that the discords,
and the sorrows, and the sins Of the world
are to be swept out by heaven born halle
luiahs.
Some one asked Haydn, the celebrated
musician, why he always composed sucn
cheerful music. why" he said. ~ can't
do otherwise. When l think of God my
soul is so full of joy that the notes leap
and dance from my pen." wish we might
all exult nelodiously before the Lord
With God for our Father and Christ fol
our Saviour, and heaven for our home, and
angels for future companions, ana eternity
for lifetime, we should strike all the notes
OF joy. Going through the wilderness of
this world let us remember that we are on
the way to the summery cline OF heaven,
and from the migratory populations flying
through this autumnal air learn always to
keep singing.
Children Of the Heavenly King.
Asye journey sweetly sing;
Sing your Savlour's worthy praise,
Glorious In His works and ways.
Ye are travelling home to God.
Inthe way your fathers trod;
They are happy now, and We
Soon their happiness shall see.
The church of Goi never will be a tri-
umphant church until 1t becomes singing
church.
I go further and remark that the birds Of
the air are wiser than we in the fact that
in their migration they fly very high. Dur.
ing the summer, when they are in the
fields, they often come within reach of the
gun, but when they start for the annual
flight southwark they take their places
midheaven and go straight as an arrow to
the mark. The longest rifle that was ever
brought to shoulder cannot reach them.
Would to God that we were as wise as the
stork and crane In our flight heavenwardl
of the world, the flesh aud the devil. We
ara hrol, oht dawn nv Eamntationa that