The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-07-05
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Grapes From Canaan"

dVpi UtSy CuUe uL!O HGC UTOOhDJ ES-
ehol end cut do,ra from thence a 6rdncE ,eith
one cluster Of grapes. and they bare It 6e:oceea
taco upon staT."-Numbers xiii, %.
The long trrdge OF the Is-aeiites acrosstfe
wilderness was almost ended. They had
come to the borders OF the promised land.
OF the coo, ,0C0 adults who started from Egypt
for Canaan, how many do you suppose got
the-e2 Five hundred thousand? Oh, no.
Not 2G0, 900. not 100. 900. nor 80. nor 90. nor
10, but only men. Oh, It was 1uinoas
march that Gods people made. but their
children were living. and they we-e on tho
march, and now that they nad como up TO
the borders of the promised land they were
yery curious to know what kind Of place it
was a2d whether it would be safe togo cro-.
So q scouting party is sent out to recon-
hotter, and they examine the land, and they
come back bringing specimens of its growth.
Just as you came back from California,
bringing to your family basket of pears or
plums or apples to show what monstrous
E1lit they have there. so this scouting party
out eff the biggest bunch Of grapes they could
find. Il wss SO lcrSe that one man could not
carry Il, 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.
was some time ago in luxuriant vine
yard. 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 a cup which the vine
drank until with flushed cheek 1t 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 II
all you had to do was to lift a chalice toward
the cluster and its lifeblood would begin to
drip away. But, my friends, in these rigor-
pus climes We know nothing about laESe
grapes.
Bible lands there were grapevines SO large
that II took t$o men with outstretched arms
to reach round them, and he says there were
clusters two cubits in length, or twice the
length from the elbow to the tip Of the long
finger. 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 wonder. then. in
those 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. .------z.r>e-->-s-rs---~a'
: But this morning bring you larger clus-
ter from the heavenly Eschol-a cluster OF
hopes, q cluster Of prospects, a cluster OF
Christian consultations, and am expecting
that one taste Of 1t will rouse up your appe-
lite for the heavenly Canaan, During the
past HlutcI SOl4C VI tulS SOuSLCSGLAOl1 haNO
gone away never to return. The aged have
put down their staff and taken up the scepter.
Men in midlife came home from Office OF
shop and did not go back again and
never will 60 back again. And the dear
children, some Of them have been gathered
In Christs arms. He found this world too
rough place for them, and so He has gath
cred them in. And, oh, how many wounded
souls there are-wounds for which this world
ofra frNp thn
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ there shall
come q consolation there will be no consola-
ton ct all. Oh, that tho God Of all comfort
would help me while preach and that the
God OF all comfort would help you while you
hear! "-~1s:s5EsssaeassSSssssSSaa
SEEst, console you with the divinely sane
hoEeI idea that your departed friends are as
much yours now as they ever were. know
you sometimes get the idea in your mind
when you have this kind Of trouble that your
friends are cut off from you and they are no
ioyed ones in the same lot in the cemetery is
q natural desire, universal desire and there
fore q God implanted desire and is mighty
suggestive Of the fact that death has no
power 10 break up the family relations.
II our loved ones go away from our posses
sion, why put q fence around our lot in the
cemetery? Why tho gathering Of four or five
uhLeS Ou Ouo LILO
planting OF one cypress vine so that It covers
all the cluster Of graves2 Why put the hus-
band beside the wife and the children at their
feet? Why the bolt on the gate OF ouc lot.
and the charge to the keepers of the ground
to see that the grass is cut and the vine at
tended to and the flowers planted2 Why not
put our departed friends in one common
field and grave2 Oh, it is because they are
ours.
rb,+ ,b;,d n ,tr;ot-on -, o+ba- ia M ,,,,ob
yours this morning as in the solemn hour
when God put it against your heart and said
as Of o!d, "Take this child and nurse It for
Me, and will give thee thy wages" It is
no nere whin. It is a. divinely planted
principle in the soul, and God certainly
would not plant lie, and He would not
culture a lie! Abraham would not allow
Sarah to be buried in strangers grounds,
although some very beautiful ground was
shekeis for Machpelah, the cave, and the
trees overshadowing it. The grave has been
we'll kept and to-day the Christian traveller
stands in thoughtful and admirinS mood
gazing upon Machpelah, where Abraham
and Sarah are taking their long sleep Of
1000 years.
Your father may be slumbering under the
tnkling OF the bell OF the Scotch kirk Your
prvtuer may nave gone down In the snip that
foundered of Cape Hatteras. Your little
child may be sleeping on the verge OF the
Towering western prairie. Yet God will
gather them all up, however widely the dust
may be scattered. Nevertheless it 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 at Somer-
vile, it did not seem so sad to leave him
there, because right beside him was my dear
good, old, beautiful Christian mother and it
elo r
came to bed little early. am glad you
have come; 1t seems as Of Ole"
Oh, it is u consolation to feel that when
men come ana 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, ct last sleeping under the
same sod. The autumnal leaves that drift
across your grave will drift across theirs, the
bird songs that drop On their mound will
drop on yours, and then in starless winter
nights, when the wind comes bowling
through the gorge, you will be company for
each other. The child close up to the bosom
of its mother. The husband and wife remar-
ried on their lips the sacrament OF the dust.
Brothers and sisters who used in sport to
fling themselves on the grass, now again re-
clining side by side in the grave, in fecks Of
sunlight sitting through the long, 1.-the will
lows. Then at the trumpet Of the archangel
to rise side by side, shaking themselves from
the dust OF ages. The faces that were ghastly
and fixed when you saw them last oil afusn
with the light Of interruption. The father
looking around on his children and saying.
"Come, come my darlings this Is the norn.
inc of the resurrection Mrs. Sisouraey
wrote beautifully with the tears and blood OF
her own broken heart: