The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-04-06
OUT OF BRICKKILNS.
DR.. TALMAGE breaches UPON THE
SUSTAINING POWER OF RELIGION.


SUSTAINING POWER OF RELIGION.
The Usual Great Audience Enraptured Over
His Glowing Discourse Trials and Temp
tati,ns of the world-A Curious Text and
Unique Sermon.
BROOKLYN, April lin the Brooklyn
Tabernacle this forenoon Rev. DR.. Tai
mage preached to crowded audience on
lsubject of unusual interest, as illustrat-
Ing the sustaining power of religion to
those who are in daily contact with the
world, its trials and temptations. The
text chosen was Psalms xviii, 13,
Though we have lain among the pots,
yet shall We be as the wings of dove
covered with silver and her feathers
with yellow gold"
suppose you know what the Israelites
did down in Egyptian slavery. They
made bricks. Amid the utensils Of the
brickkiln there were also other utensils
of cookery-the kettles, the pots, the
pans, with which they prepared Their
daily food, and when these poor slaves,
tired of the days work, lay down to rest
they lay down among the implements Of
cookery and the implements of hard
work. When they arose in the morning
they found their garments covered with
the clay, and the smoke, and the dust
and besmirched and begrimed with the
utensils Of cookery.
But after awhile the Lord broke ny
that slavery, and he took these poor
slaves into land where they had better
garb, bright and clean and beautiful ap
parel No more bricks for them to make
Let Pharaoh make his own bricks, Wher
David, in my text, comes to describe the
transition of these poor Israelites from
their bondage amid the brickkilns into
the glorious emancipation for which Goo
had prepared them, he says, Though "
have lain among the pots, yet shall W
be as the wings of dove covered with
silver and her feathers with yellow
gold"
A HARD TASKMASTER.
Miss Whately, the author of cele
brated book, Life In Egypt" said sh,
sometimes saw people in the east cooking
their food on the tops of houses, and tina
she had often seen just before sundowl
pigeons and doves, which had during tn,
heat of the day been hiding among tn,
kettles and the pans with which the foot
was prepared, picking up the crumbs tina
they might find. Just about the hour O
sunset they would spread their wing
and fly heavenward, entirely unsoiled b.
the region in which they had moved, fol
the pigeon is very clearly bird.
And as the pigeons flew away the set
ting sun would throw silver on thei
wings and gold on their breasts. So 20,
see it is not farfetched smile or al
unnatural comparison when David, il
my text, says to these emancipated Isra
elites, and says to all those who ar
brought out of any kind of trouble int,
any kind of spiritual joy, Though y
have lain among the pots, yet shall y
be as the wings of dove covered witt
silver and her feathers with yellow gold.
| Sin is the hardest of all taskmasters
| Worse than Pharaoh, it keeps us drudg
ing in most degrading service, bu
after awhile Christ comes, and he says
LET my people CO." and we pass on
! from among the brickkilns Of sin int
the glorious liberty of the gospel. w
put on the clean robes of Christian
| profession, and when at last we soa
away to the warm nest which God ha
provided Tor us in heaven we shall G
fairer than dove, its wings covere
with silver and its feathers with yelloy
gold.
THE DOVE AS A COMPARISON.
am going to preach something whic
some of you do not believe, and that j
that the grandest possible adornment
the religion of Jesus Christ. There ar
great many people who suppose tia
! religion is very different thing fror
what it really is. The reason men cor
denim the Bible is because they do nc
understand the Bible. They have nc
4 properly examined it. DR.. johnson sal
that Hume told minister in the bishop
ric of Durham that he had never pal
ticularly examined the New Testament
yet all his life warning against it. Fla
ley, the astronomer, announced his skel
ticism 70 Sir Isaac Newton, and Sir Isaa
Newton said: Now, sir, have exam
ined the subject, and you have not. An
am ashamed that you, protesting to
philosopher, consent to condemn
thing you have never examined"
And SO men reject the religion of jest
Christ because they really have never il
vestigated it. They think it somethin
undesirable, something that will M
work, something Pecksniffian. somethin
hypocritical, something repulsive, who
it is SO bright and so beautiful you migl
compare it to chaffinch, you might con
pare it to robin red breast, you migl
compare it to dove-its wings covere
with silver and it's feathers with yello
gold.
But how is it if young man becom
Christian All through the clubroon
where he associates, all through the bus
ness circles where he is known, there
commiseration. They say, "Whata pit
that young man who had such brig
prospects should SO have been despoilt
by those Christians, giving up all b
worldly prospects for something whit
is of no particular present worthr' He
is young woman who becomes Chri
tian-her voice, her face. her mamie
the charm of the drawing room.
Now all through the fashionable CT
Ties the whisper goes, "What pity tn
such bright light should have been e
tinguished, that such graceful ga
should be crippled, that such world
prospects shorld be obliteratedp A
my friends. it can be shown that I
ligion's ways are ways of pleasantne
and that all her paths are peace; that I
hgion, instead of being dark and dolef
and lachrymose and repulsive, is brig
and beautiful, fairer than dove,
wings covered with silver and its feat
ers with yellow gold.
BROWNING TROUBLE.
See. in the firs.pla what religion W