Milford chronicle., 1893-06-23
AT THE TABERNACLE.
DR.. TALMAeE SPEAKS OF THE CON-
soLATloNs OF CHRISTIANITY.

SOIATIONS Or C1hlo ltAiNi Z =
The Cluster OF GRAPES From Canaan TyPi-
aes the Clusters OfHopes, Of Prospects
and Of Consolation Conveyed In the Cos
pei Of Christ.
BROOKLYN, June 1s.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
In selecting a theme for tOday's sermon In
the Brooklyn Tabernacle chose one peoul-
iarlv suitable to the season Of fruits, the title
being Grapes From Canaan and the text
Numbers xiii, %, ''And they came unto the
brook of Eschol and cut down from thence
a branch with one cluster OF grapes, and
tbev bare it between two upon a staff"
The long trudge of the Israelites across
the wilderness was almost ended. They had
come to the borders of the promised land.
OF the 100000 adults who started from
Eqypt for Canaan, how many do you sup
pose got there? Five hundred thousand?
Oh. no. Not 20O, COO, not 100000, nor 90, nor
90. nor 10, but only men Oh, it was ru-
fnous march that Gods people made, but
their children were living. and they were
on the march, and now that they had come
IN to the borders Of the promised land they
were verv curious to know what kind OF a
Dlace it was. and whether it would be SAFE
to 20 over. So a scouting party is sent out
to reconnoiter, and they examine the land,
and they come back bringing specimens OF
its growth.
Just as you came hack from California
bringing to your family a basket Of pears
or piums or apples to show what mon
strous fruit they have there, 50 this scout
ing party cut off the biggest bunch of
cranes they could find. It was so large
that one man could not carry it, and they
thrust pole through the cluster, and there
was one man at either end of the pole, and
so the bunch of grapes was transported.
I was some time ago in a luxuriant vine
ward. The vine dresser had done his work.
The vine had clambered up and spread its
wealth all over the arbor The sun and
shower had mixed cup which the vine
drank until with flushed cheek it lay slum-
bering in the light, cluster against the
cheek Of cluster. The rinds Of the grapes
seemed almost bursting with the juice in
the warm lips Of the autumnal day, and 1t
seemed as If all you had to do was to lift a
chalice toward the cluster and its hfeblood
would begin to drip away. But, my friends,
in these rigorous climes we know nothing
about large grapes.
Strabo states that in Bible times and in
that it took two men with outstretched
arms to reach round them, and he says
there were clusters 2 cubits in length or
twice the length from the elbow to the tip
| Of the long finger. And Achaicus, dwelling
| in those lands, tells us that during the time
he was smitten with fever one grape would
/ slake his thirst for the whole day. No owOn-
/ der. then, in these Bible times two men
| thought it worth their while to put theiT
| strength together to carry down one cluster
| of grapes from the promised land.
| A CLUSTER OF HOPES AND CONSULTATIONS.
But this morning I bring you larger
cluster from the heavenly EschOl-a cluster
of hopes, a cluster of prospects, a cluster OF
| Christian consultations, and am expecting
that one taste of it will rouse up your appe
tite for the heavenly Canaan. During the
past winter some of this congregation have
gone away never to return. The aged have
nut down their staff and taken up the scep
ter Men in midlife came home from Otiic'
or shop and did not go back again ant
never will go back again. And thu
dear children, some of them, have beer
gathered in Christ's arms. He found thi
world too rough place for them, and 81
he has gathered them in. And, oh, how
many wounded souls there are-wound
for which this world offers no medicamen
and unless from the gospel of our Lore
Jesus Christ there shall come a consolation
there will be no consolation at all. Oh
that the God Of all comfort would help m
while ] preach, and that the God Of all com
fort would help you while you hearl
First, l console you with the divinel,
sanctioned idea that your departed friend
are as much yours now as they ever were
I know YOU sometimes get the idea in you
mind, when you have this kind Of trouble
that your friends are cut off from you ant
they are no longer yours, but the desire t
have all our loved ones in the same lot Il
the cemetery is natural desire, universe
desire and therefore a God implanted dc
sire and is nightly suggestive Of the fac
that death has no power to break up tn
family relations.
If our loved ones go away from our pos
: session, why put fence around our lot il
the cemetery? Why the gathering OF fou
or five names on one family monument
Why the planting Of one cypress vine
that it covers all the cluster Of graves
WHY nut the husband beside the wife an
the children at their feet9 Why the Dol
on the gate of our lot, and the charge t
the keepers of the ground to see that tn
grass is cut, and the vine attended to, an
the flowers plantedP Why not put our de
Darted friends in one common field 0
grave? Oh, it is because they are ours.
That child, o stricken motheri Is as muc
yours this morning as in the solemn hOu
when God put it against your heart an
said as of old, "Take this child and nurs
it for me, and will give thee thy wages.
It is no mere whim. It is a divinely plante
Drinciple in the SOUL and God certainl
would not plant lie, and he would nc
culture a liel Abraham would not allo'
Sarah to be buried in a strangers grounds
. although some very beautiful ground wa
, offered him a free gift, but he pays 4C
shekels for Machpelah, the cave, and th
trees overshadowing it. The grave hs
J. been we'll kept, and today the Christla
+ traveller stands In thoughtful and Rdmirin
i mood. gazing upon Machpelah, where Ahri
r ham and Sarah are taking their long slee
- of 1900 years
Your father may be slumbering undo
J the tinkling Of the bell Of the Scotch kirl
Your brother may have gone down in IL
: ship that foundered off Cape Hattera
Your little child may be sleeping on IL
verge of the Towering western prairie, "
God will gather them all up, howev'
) | widely the dust may be scattered. Neve
s theless 1t Is pleasant to think thaG we WI
be buried together When my father die
! and we took him out and put him down
the graveyard Of Somerville, 1t did NJ
I seem so sad to leave him there, becaui
J right beside him was my dear, good, oil
: beautiful Christian mother, and 1t SCENE
as If she said; Il was tired, and came
! bed a little early. am glad you ha'
] come. 1t seems as of old"
CoMPANIONsHIP IN DEATH.
Oh, it is a consolation to feel that, whC
men come and with solemn tread carr
3 you out to your resting pla. !, they wi
open the gate through which me Of yoV
friends have already gone, and throue
y which many Of your friends will fOllo'
Sleeping under the same roof, at last slee
= ing under the same sod. The ar Il
leaves that drift across your grf vi
drift across theirs, the bird songs t. = dr.
{ on their mound will drop on yours, Al