Democratic messenger., 1893-06-24

ncs the Clusters af Hopes. of Prospects
and of Consolation Conveyed In the Cos.
pei of Christ.
! BEooKLYN. June ls.-Rcv. DIR. Talmage
in selecting "a theme for today's sermon in
the Brooklyn Tabernacle chose one pecul-
iarly Snitailrtothc season Of fruits. the title
being Grapes From Canaan" and the text
Numbers xiii. ~. And they came unto the
brook "f Eschol and cut down from thence
a branch with one cluster Of grapes, and
they bar" il hrtween two upon II staff"
! The long trudgc Of the Israelites across
the wilderness was almost ended. They had
come to he borders OF the promised land.
or the G0o090 adults who started from
Egypt for Canaan. how many do you sup
pose got there, Five hundred thousand
4 Oh. no Not an.t a. not 100. 200, nor 80. nor
~, nor 10. but only = men. Oh. it was rIi-
/ nous march that Gods people made, hut
/ their children were living. and they were
on I he march. and now that they had come
mp To the Dortlers Of he promised land they
were very curious to know what kind of n
place il was. and whether il would be safe
10 go over. Soa scouting party is sent out
| TO rcconnoitcr, and they examine the land,
and they come back bringing specimens OF
its growth.
Just ;s vou came back from California
bringing 10 Your family II basket Of pears
or plums or apples to show what mon
strous fruit they have there this scout
ng party cut Off the biggest bunch of
grapes they could find II was 50 large
that one man could not carry il. and they
thrus: II pole through the cluster. and there
was one man nj either end of the pole. and
so the bunch Of grapes was transported.
| WAS some lime ago in n lUxuriant vine
yard. The vine dresser had done his work
Tire vine had clambcrcd 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 il
seemed aS il all you had To do was to lift a
chaicc toward the cluster and its lifeblooi
would begin odripaway. But, my friends.
in these rigorous climcs we know nothing
about large grapes.
Striho states that in Bible times and i'm
Bible lands there Were grapevines 50 large
that it took two men with outstretchei
arms 10 reach round them, and he says
there were clusters cubits In length or
twice the length from the elbow TO the tip
of the long finger And Aclaicus, dwelling
in those lands, tells us that during the time
he was sinitten with fever one grape would
slake his thirst for the whole day. Nowon-
der. then. in these Bible times two men
thought it worth their while to put their
strength together to carry down one cluster
OF grapes from the promised land.
4 CLUSTER OF HOPES AND CONSULTATIONS.
But this morning ! bring you Il larger
cluster from the heavenly Eschol-a cluster
Of hopes. u cluster Of prospects. a cluster of
Christian consultations, and am expecting
that one taste Of il will rouse up your appe-
tite for the heavenly Canaan. During the
past winter some Of this congregation have
gone away never tn return. The aged have
put Gown their Staff aud taken up the scep-
ter. Ait i il: mi.li.irCamc home from office
or shop and did not 20 back again and
never will 10 back again. And the
dear children. some Of them, have been
gathered in ChriSt'> arms. He found this
world too rougl place for them, and so
he has gathered them in. And, OH how
many wounded souls there arc-wounds
for which this world offers no medicament
and unless from the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ there shall come "A consolation
there will he no consolation at ALL Oh,
that the God Of all comfort would help me
while preach. and that the God Of all com
fort would help you while you hear.
First, | console you with the divinely
sane, ione,l idea that your departed friends
are ~ much yours now as they ever were
know you sometimes get the idea in your
mind. when you have this kind of trouble,
4 .r n
they are no longer yours, but the desire to
have all our loved ones in the same lot in
the cemetery is "a natural desire. n universal
desire and therefore God implanted de
sire and is nightly suggestive Of the fact
family relations
IL our loved ones so away from our pos
session, why put a fence around our lot in
the cemetery? Why the gathering of four
or five names ON one family monumente
Why the planting of one cypress vine so
that ii covers all the cluster of graves.
Why put the husband beside the wife and
the children at their feet. Why the bolt
ON the gate of our lot, and the charge TO
the keepers Of the ground Ia see that the
grass i cut. and the vine attended to. and
the flowers planted' Why not put our de
parted friends in one common field or
grave Oh, it is because they are ours.
That child, o stricken mother. is as much
yours this morning as in the solemn hour
when God put it against your heart and
said as of old, Take this child and nurse
it for me. and will give thee thy wages"
IL is no mere whim. IL is a divinely planted
principle in the soul, and God certainly
would not plant lie. and he would not
culture lie, Abraham would not allow
Sarah Ia he buried in Il strangers grounds.
although some very beautiful ground was
offered him free gift but he pays 400
shekels for Machpelah, the cave, and the
trees overshadowing il. The grave has
been well kept, and today the Christian
traveller stands in thoughtful and admiring
mood. gazing upon Machpclah, where Abra-
ham and Sarah are taking their long sleep
of 4 900 years.
Your father may bc slumbcring under
the tinkling Of the bell of the Scotch kirk.
Your brother may have gone down in the
ship that fnundcrel off Cape Hatteras
Your little child may I've sleeping on the
verge of the towering western prairie, yet
God will gather them all up, however
widely the dust may be scattered Never
theless il is pleasant To think that we will
be buried together When my father died
and we took him out and put him down in
the graveyard of Somerville. it did not
seem sad To leave him there, because
right beside HIM was my dear, good. old.
beautiful Christian mother, and it seemed
as if she said: Il was tired. and came to
bed little early. | am glad you have
come. IL seems rs of old"
CoMPANIoSSHIP IL DEATH
Oh, il is "A consolation to feel that. when
men come and with solemn tread carry
you out To your resting place. they will
open the gate through which some of your
friends have already gone, and through
which many of your friends will follow
Sleeping under the same roof, at last sleep
ing under the same sod The autumnal
leaves that drift across Your grave will
drift across theirs, the bird songs that drop