The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-04

BROOKLYN, April LIN the Brook
lyn Tabernacle this forenoon the Rev.
DIR. Talmage preached TO a crowded au-
dience on a subject of unusual interest,
as illustrating the sustaining power OF
religion to those who are in daily con-
tact with the world, its trials and tempt
atoms The text chosen was Psalms
xviii. IL. Though ye have lain among
the pots. yet shall We be as the wings
of a dove covered with silver and her
feathers with yellow gold"
I suppose YOU know what the Israel
ties 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 nipple
meuts of cookery and the implements Of
hard work When they arose in the
morning. they found their garments Gov
cred with the clay, and the smoke. and
the dust. and besmirched and begrimed
with the utensils of cookery. But after
awhile the Lord broke up that slavery,
and He took these poor slaves into
land where they had better garb. bright
and clean and beautiful apparel No
more bricks for them to make. Let
Pharaoh make his own bricks. When
David. in my text. comes to describe
the transition Of these poor Israelites
from their bondage amid the brickkilns
fY,fa 10 ole ri
God had prepared them, he says.
Though We have lain among the pots.
yet shall We be as the wings of n dove
covered with silver and her feathers
with yellow gold"
sin Hard Taskmaster.
Miss Whately. the author Of a eelebra-
ted book, Life In Egypt said she
sometimes saw people in the east cook
ing their food on the tops of houses,
and that she had often seen, just before
shutdown. pigeons and doves which had
during the heat of the day been hiding
among the kettles and the pans. with
!lich the food was prepared. picking up
the crumbs that they might find. Just
about the hour of sunset they would
spread their wings and fly heavenward,
entirely unsoiled by the region in which
cleanly bird. And as the pigeons flew
away the setting sun would throw sill
Yer on their wings and gold on their
breasts. So you see II Is not lar
fetched simile or an unnatural compar-
isOn when David in my text says 10
these emancipated Israelites and says
TO all those who are brought out of any
kind Of trouble into any kind of spir-
itual JOY Though We have lain among
the pots. vet shall We be as the wings
of a dove covered with silver and her
feathers with yellow gold
Sin is the hardest Of all taskmasteTs.
Worse than Pharaoh. it keeps us drudg
ing in a most degrading service, but af-
ter awhile Christ comes and He says,
Let my people 60" and we pass out
from among the brickkilns OF sin into
the glorious liberty of the gospel. We
put on the clean robes of a Christian
profession, and when at last we soar
away to the warm nest which God has
provided for us in heaven we shall go
fairer than a dove, its wings covered
with silver and its feathers with yellow
gold.
1 am going to preach something which
some OF you do not believe. and that is
that the grandest possible adOrnment is
the religion of Jesus Christ. There are
a great many people who suppose that
religion is a very different thing from
what it really is. The reason men con-
understand the bible: they have not
properly examined il. Dr. Johnson said
that Hume told a minister in the bish-
opric of Durham that he had never
particularly examined the new testa-
ment. yet all his life was warning
against it. HALEY. the astronomer, an
nOunced his skepticism TO Sir Isaac
Newton, and Sir Isaac Newton said:
Now. sir, / have examined the subject,
and you have not, and l am ashamed
that you, processing To be a philosopher,
consent TO condemn a thing you never
have examined" And SO many men re-
ject the religion Of Jesus Christ because
they really have never investigated it.
They think it something undesirable,
something that will not work. something
Pecksniffian. something hypOcritical.
something reDulsiVe when it is so bright
and so beautiful you might compare it
to a robin redbreast. YOU might compare
II to dove. its wings covered with sill
yer, and its feathers with yellow gold.
Paths of Peace.
But how is it if a young man becomes
a Christian? All through the club-rooms
where he associates. all through the bus
mess circles where he is known there is
commiseratiOn. They say: What pity
that young man who had such bright
prospects should so have been despoiled
by those Christians, giving up all his
worldly prospects for something which
is Of no particular present WORTH Here
is young woman who becomes a Chris
tian; her voice, her face her manners
the charm OF the drawing room. Now all
through the fashionable circles the Whis-
per goes, What pity that such a bright
light should have been extfnguiShed that
such graceful gait should be crippled.
that such worldly prospects should be
obliterated!' All, my friends. il can be
shown that religions ways are ways OF
pleasantness. and that all her paths are
peace; that religion, instead Of being
dark and dOleful and lachrymose and re-
pulsive is bright and beautiful. fairer
than dove, its wings covered with sill
Yer and its feathers with yellow gold.
See, in the first place, what religion
will do for a mans heart. / care not
how cheerful a man may naturally be
before conversion, conversion brings him
up to a higher standard of cheerfulness
i do not say he will laugh any louder. I
do not say but he may stand back from
some forms OF hilarity in which he once
1ndulge(i, but there comes into his soul
an immense satisfaction. young man
not Christian depends upon worldly
successes to keep his spirits up. Now ne
Is prOspered, now he has a large salary.
now he has a beautiful wardrobe. now
he has pleasant friends now he has
more money than he knows how to spend
everything goes bright and well with
him. But trouble comeS-there are ma nv
young men in the house this morning
VINO can testify out Of their own expert
ence that sometimes to young men
trouble does cOnne-his friends are gone
his salary Is gone; his health is gone.