The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-01-25
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
EHE BROOKLYN DIvINES SUN.
DAY SERMON
IEubject: GOD Among the Birds"

lEubject: GOD Among the Birds"
f. TEXT: "Behold the fouls of the air!'-
Matthew vi, 26.
+ There is silence now in all our January
forests, except as the winds whistle through
the bare branches. Our northern woods
ARE deserted concert halls. The organ lofts
I'm the temple of nature are hymuless. Trees
which were full of carol and chirp and chant
are now waiting for the coming back of
rich plumes and warbling voices, solos,
duets, quartetes. cantatas and Te Deums.
but the Bible is full Of birds at all seasons,
and prophets and patriots and apostles, and
Christ Himself, employ them for moral and
religious purposes. My text is an extract
from the sermon on the mount. and perhaps
ht was at moment when flock OF birds
flew past that Christ waved His hand toward
them and said, "Bebold the fowls Of the air"
tAnd so in this course Of sermons on God
Everywhere preach to you this third SER
mon concerning the Ornithology Of the
Bible: or, God Among the Birds.
\ Most of the other sciences you may study
or not study as you please. Use your own
Judgment exercise your own taste. But
about this science of ornithology we have
no option. The divine command is positive
when it says in my text, Behold the fowls
Of the airm That is study their habits.
Examine their colors. Notice their speed.
See the hand Of God In their construction.
the text, for was brought up among the
race Of wings and from boyhood heard their
mathis at sunrise and their vespers at sum
set.
Their nests have been to me q fascination,
and my satisfa ction is that never robbed
one Of them any more than, would steal
child from a cradle, for bird is child OF
the sky, and its nest is the cradle. They are
almost human, for they have their loves and
hates, affinities and antipathies, understand
joy and grief. have conjugal and maternal
instinct, wage wars and entertain jealousies,
have a language Of their own and powers OF
full of them! 1t Is useless to expect to un.
derstand the Bible unless we study natural
history.
Five hundred and ninety-thres times does
the Bible allude to the facts Of natural his.
tory, and I do not wender that it makes 50
many illusions pathological. The skies
and the caverns of Palestine are friendly to
the winged creatures, and 50 many fly and
roost and nest and hatch in that region that
Inspired writers do not have far to go to get
pathological illustration Of divine truth.
nized in the Scriptures.
r Oh, what variety of wings in PALESTINE
The dove, the robin. the eagle, the cormo-
rant or iplunging bird, hurting itself from
ky to wave aud with long beak clutching
It's prey; the thrush, which especially dis
likes a crowd; the partridges; the hawk,
bold and ruthless, lowering head to wind.
ward while watching for prey; the swan, at
home among the marshes and with feet so
constructed itcan walk on the leaves Of wa.
Ter plants; the raven, the lapwing, malodor.
pus and in the Bible denounced as inedible.
though It has extraordinary headdress;
had habit Of dropping on stone the turtle
Il had lifted and so killing it for food, and
on one occasion mistook the bald head OF
Eschylus the Greek poet for white stone,
and dropped turtle upon 1t, killing the
camous Greek; the cuckoo, with crested
head and crimson throat and wings snow
tipped. but too lazy to build Its own nest,
and SO having the habit Of depositing its
eggs in nests belonging to other birds; the
bluejay, the grouse, the plover, the magpie,
the kingfsher, the pelican, which Is the carl
cature Of all the teathered creationi the owl,
the goldfnch, the bittern, the barrier, the
bulbul, the osprey; the vuiture that KING OF
scavengers, with neck covered with repulsive
down instead Of attractive feathers; ;the.quar.
reisome startling; the swallow, flying milea
minute and sometimes ten hours in Success
Eon; the heron, the quail, the peacock. the os-
ficb, the lark, the crow, the kite, the bat,
che blackbird and many others, with all
colors, all sounds, all styles OF flight, all
habits. all architecture Of nests, leaving
nothing wanting in suggestiveness. They
were at the creation placed ali around on
the rocks and in the trees and on the grounN
to serenade Adams arrival. They took
their places on Friday, as the first man was
made on Saturday. Whatever else he had
or did not have, he should have music. The
first sound that struck the human ear was
birds voice.
Yea, Christian geology-for You know
there Is Christian geology as well as an In.
fidel Seolocy-Chris6sn- geology comes in
and helps the Bible snow wnat we owe to
the bird creation. Before the human race
came into this world the world was occupied
by reptiles and by all sorts Of destructive
monsters-millions Of creatures, loathsoms
and hideous. God sent huge birds to clear
the earth OF these creatures before Adam
and Eve were created. The remains OF these
birds have been fourd imbedded in the
rocks. The skeleton of Sae eagle has been
found twenty feet in height and fifty feet
from tip Of wing TO tip OF wing. Many ar.
clear the earth Of creatures that would have
DESTROYED the human race with one clip.
like to find this harmony Of revelation and
science and to have demonstrated that the
God who made the world made the Bible.
Moses, the greatest lawyer Of all time and
. great maa for facts, had enough sentl'
ment and poetry and musical taste to well
come the Illuminated wings and the voices
divinely drilled into the first chapter OF
Genises. How should Noah, the old ship.
carpenter, 600 years Of age, find out when
the world was fit astic for lImau residence
after the universal freshss! A bird will
tell, and nothing elso can. No man can
come down from the mountain to invite
Nosh and his family out to terra frma, Tor
the mountains we're submerged. As bird
first heralded the human race into the
world, now bird will help the human race
back TO the world S.at had shipped sea
that whelmed everything.
Noah stands on Sunday morning at the
window Of the ark, In his hand cooing
dove, so gentle. so Innocent, 30 afectionate,
and he said: "Now, my little dove, fly away
over these waters explore and come back
and tell us whether it is safe to land" After
long flight it returned hungry and weary
and wet and by its looks and manners said
to Noah and his family: The world Is not
ne Tor you TO dlSemoarK- Moan Walteu
week, and next Sunday morning no let the
dove fly again for second exploration, and
Sunday evening it came back with a leaf
that mad the sign OF just having been
plucked from living fruit tree. and the
bird reported the world would do tolerably
well for q bird to live in, but not yet sutd.
ciently recovered for human residence.
Noah waited another week, and next Sun
day morning he sent out the dove on; the
third exploration, but II returned not, for it
found the world 10 attractive now 1t did not
want to be Gagged again, and then the
emiSrants from the antedituvian world
landed. 1T was bird, that told them when
60 take possession OF the resuscitated planet.
O. tho kr,,a ~ raco 1gere savad hv q birds