The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-06-12
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS SERMON IN THE NEW
YORK ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
Subject: " Wing and Hand"


TEXT: "The likeness of the hands OF a
man was under their wings. "-Ezekiel K, 81.
While tossed on the sea between Australia
and Ceylon first particularly noticed this
text, OF which then and there made memo
randum. This chapter is all afutter with
cherubim. Who are the eherubim? An or
der Of angels radiant, mighty, all knowing
adoring, worshipful. When painter or sculp-
tor tried in temple at Jerusalem or in mar
BILE Of Egypt to represent the cherubim he
made them part lion or part OK or part
eagle. But much Of that is an unintended
burlesoue OF the cherubim whose majesty
and speed and splendor We will never know
until lifted into their presence We. behold
them for ourselves, as pray by the pardon
ing grace Of God We all may. But all the &C
counts Biblical and all the suppositions hu-
man represent the cherubim with wings,
each wing about seven feet long, vaster,
more imposing than any plumage that ever
foated in earthly atmosphere.
Condor in flight above Chimborazo, or
Rocky Mountain eagle aiming for the noon
day sun, or albatross in play with ocean
tempests, presents no such glory. We can
get an imperfect idea of the wing Of cheru-
bin by the only wing we see-the birds
pinion-which is the arm of the bird. but in
some respects more wondrous than the hu-
man arm: with power of making itself more
light or more heavy, OF expansion and con-
traction; defying all attitudes and all abysms;
the bird looking down with pity upon boast
ing man as he toils up the sides Of the Adj
rondacks, while the wing with a few strokes
puts the highest crags far beneath claw and
beak. But the birds wing is only feeble
suggestion Of cherubim's wing. The great
ness Of that, the rapidity of that, tie
radiance Of that, the Bible again and again
sets forth.
NV attention is not more attracted by those
= wings than by what they reveal when lifted.
In two places in Ezekiel We are told there
were hands under the wings-human hands,
hands like ours. ''The likeness of the hands
of man was under the wings" We have
all noticed the wing of the cherubim, but no
one seems yet to have noticed the human
hand under the wing. There are whole ser
mons, whole anthems, whole doxologies, whole
millennir ms in that combination OF hand
and wing. If this world is ever brought to
God, it will be by appreciation OF the fact
that supernatural and human agencies are to
20 together-that which scars and that which
practically works, that which ascends the
heavens and that which reaches forth to
earth, the Joining of the terrestrial and the
celestrial, the hand and the wing.
We see this union in the construction OF
the Bible. The wing of inspiration is in
eyery chapter. What realms Of the ran
somed earth did Isaiah fly over. Over what
battlefelds for righteousness. what corona
lions, what dominions ofgladness. what rain.
bows around the throne did st. John hover!
But in every book Of the Bible you just as
certainly see the human hand that wrote it.
Moses, the lawyer, showing his hand in the
Ten Commandments, the foundation OF all
good legislation; Amos, the herdsman, show
Ing his hand in simiies drawn from fields
and focks: the fishermen apostles showing
their hand when writing about Gospel nets;
Luke, the physicians; showing his hand by
giving especial attention to diseases cured;
Paul showing his scholarly hand by quoting
about the resurrection that stand as
firmly as on the day he planted them, and
St. John shows his hand by taking
his imagery from the appearance OF the
bright waters spread around the island OF
Patmos at hour Of sunset, when he speaks OF
the sea OF glass mingled with fire; scores OF
hands writing the parallels, the miracles,
the promises, the hosannas, the raptures, the
consultations, the woes OF ages. Oh, the
Bible is 80 human, so full OF heartbeats, 30
sympathetic, 40 wet with tears, 80 trium-
phant with palm branches. that it takes hold
of the human race as nothing else ever can
Job, the scientific; Solomon, the royal
blooded; Jeremiah, the despondent; Daniel,
the abstemious and heroic-why, we know
their style so we'll that we need not look to
the top Of the page to see who is the author.
No more conspicuous the uplifting wing OF
Inspiration than the hand, the warm hand,
the flexible hand, the skillful hand OF hu-
man instumentality. "The likeness OF the
hands Of a man was under the wings"
osn hah al inof nf NV nyf
In all successful Christian work. We stand
Or kneel in our pulpits and social meetings
and reformatory associations offering prayer.
Now, If anything has WINGS it is prayer. 1t
can fly farther and faster than anything I
Fan now think of. In one second Of time
from where you sit it can fly the throne Of
God and alight in England. In one second
Of time from where you sit it can fly to the
throne of God and alight in India. It can
girdlethe earth in shorter time than you can
zeal a letter. or clasp belt, or hook an eye.
Infants tongue or the trembling lip of CEN
tenarian, rising from the heart Of a farmers
wife standing at the dashing ehurn, or be-
Tore the hot breath of country
pven, they soar away and pick
put Of all the shipping of the earth on all
the seas the craft on which her sailor boy
Is voyaging. Yea, prayer can fly clear down
Into the future. When the father of Queen
Victoria was dying, he asked that the infant
Victoria might be brought while he sat up in
bed, and the babe was brought, and the
become Queen of England, may she rule in
the fear Of God!" Having ended his prayer,
he said, "Take the child away" But
all who know the history OF Eng
land for the last fifty years know that
the prayer for that infant more than seventy
years ago has been answered, and with what
emphasis and affection millions Of the
Queens subjects have this day in chapels
and cathedrals. and sea, supplicated, "God
Bave the Queen"
Prayer flies not only across continents. but
across centuries. II prayer had only feet, it
might run here and there and do wonders
But it has wings, and they are as radiant Of
plume and as swift to rise or swoop or dart
or circle as the 'cherubim's wings which
swept through Ezekiel's vision. But, oh, my
friends, the prayer must have the hand un-
der the wing, or it may amount to nothing.
The mothers hand, or the fathers hand.
must write to the wayward boy as soon as
you can hear how to address him. Christian
souls must contribute to the evangelism Of
that far off land for which they have been
mighty Gospel" unless you are willing to
give something OF your own meaEs to make
1t fly. Have you been praying for the saliva
ton Of young D1an's soul2 That is right
but also extend the hand OF invitation to
come to religious meeting.
It always excites our sympathy to see q
man with his hand in sling. We ask him:
''What Is the matter2 Hope it is not Il
felon;" or, "Have your fingers been
orushed?" But nine out Of ten of all Chris
hans are going their life long with their
hand in sling. They have been hurt by in