The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-03-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
REFUGE OFFERED TO ALL PEOPLE
BY THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BRooKLYN, March 6-The congregation
at the Brooklyn Tabernacle this morning
sang with fervor the hymn beginning
Ny faith looks up to thee
Thou lamb of Calvary.
DR.. Talmage's subject was the refuge
offered by the Christian religion to people
of ali ages and every variety of character
His text was Ezekiel xvii, y, 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 thirty-fve
hundred years old-long rooted, broad
branches, all the year in luxuriant foliage
The same branches that bent in the hur-
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 . thousand years and sprlnkles 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 long armed strength to take
hold Of the hills whence it came
Oh, what fine 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 q us a complete
fascination in the structure and habits OF
birds. They seem not more of earth than
Leaven-Sver vacIllatiug 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
snipes bill or q grOuse's foot TO confound
ali the universities. Musicians have, with
clefs and bars, tried to catch the sound of
the nightingale and robin Among the
first things that a child notices is a 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-
sious. The birds of the Bible are not dead
and stuffed, like those Of the museum, but
living birds, with futtering wings and
plumage Behold the fowls of the air.
SAYS Christ. Though thou exalt thysef
as the eagle, and though thou SCI thy nest
among the stars. thence win bring thee
down. p exclaims Obadiah. -Gavest thou the
gO0dly wings uutOtke peacockS.' says lob.
David describes lis desOlatiOn By saying,
Il am like pelican of the wilderness; /
am Ike an owl of the desert; l watch and
ara rs a sparrow alone Upon the hOuSetOp."
Yea. the sto-k 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. ct shall be a gOOdly cedar, and
under il shall dwell all fowl of every
wing" As in Ezelziel's 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 as the
eagle, 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 TO bend old trees, when a
little pressure would have been sufficient
for the sapling. We let men go down to
the verv bottom of sin before we try to lift
them up. L Is great deal easier to keep
a train on the track than TO get it on when
it is oil. The experienced reinsman checks
the fiery steed at the first jump, for when
he gets II full swing, the swift hoOfs click
in fire from the pavement and the bit be-
tween his teeth, his momentum is ire
sistible.
IL is said that the young must be allowed
TO sow their wild oats I 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 co
ing 10 heaven. you had better take the
straight road, and not try 10 go to Boston
By the way Of New Orleans What is to
be the history Of this multitude OF young
people around me tOdays viii take yOa
by the hand and show you a glorious sun
rise VIII rot whine about this thing
nor groan 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 wrist. no topples on your feet, no
brand on your forehead.
RELIGION MADE IL i. HAPPY.
went through the b. ,iest snowstorm
have ever known TO see a dying girl. Her
cheek on the pillow was White as the snow
on the easement. Her large, round eye
mn lttt Al--t any OF It's lAcAEE- IOFGi 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 OF
mother was frantic with grief. said,
Fanny, how do you feel:" oh" she
said, happy, happy Mr.. Talmage, tell
all the young folks that religion will make
them happy"
AsI came out Of the room, louder than all
the sObs and wailin2s OF grief I heard he
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
al that crowded church but one really
happy and delighted face and that was
the face of Fanny. Oh. I wish that now
my Lord Jesus would 20 through this au-
dience and take al these flowers Of youth
and garland them on his brow. The cedar
Is a ct refuge for birds of brightest plu-
mage and swiftest wing. See, they fy!
they fly ''ElI 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 | answer: Come
with clutches. Come. old men, blind and
deaf. come to Jesus. If you would sweep
your hand around before your blind eyes,
the first thing you would touch would be
the cross II is hard for an aged man or
woman to have grown old without religion
Their taste IS gone The peach and the
grape have lost taeir flavor. They say that
somehow fruit does not taste as it used to.
Their hearing gets defective, and they miss
y eel Efs~< -