The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-05-23
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS SERMON IN THE NEW
YORK ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
Subject f" Wing and Hand"

der OF angels radiant, mighty, all knowing.
adoring, worshipful. When painter or sculp-
tor tried In temple Mt Jerusalem or in mar
BILE OF Egypt 20 represent the cherubim he
made them part lion or part OK OF part
eagle. But much OF that Is an unintended
buresque 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 ac-
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 |
floatcd 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 abysmsi
the bird looking down with pity upon boast
ing man as he )ils up the sides OF the Adj
rondacks. while the wing with few strokes
puts the highest crags far beneath claw and
/ beak. But the birds wing Is only "a feeble
suggestion Of cherubim's wing. The great
ness OF that, the rapldity of that, the
/ radiance Of that, the Bible again and again
sets forth.
! My attention isnot more attracted by those
wings than by what they reveal when lifted.
| In two places in Ezekiel we are told there
4 were hands under the wings-human hands
/ hands like ours. "The likeness Of the hands
! OF n man was under the wings" We have
| all noticed the wing Of the cherublm, but no
| one seems yet To have noticed the human
hand under the wing. There are whole SER
! mons, whole anthems, whole doNologies, whole
millenniums in that combination of hand
and wing. II this world is ever brought 10
| God IL will bo by appreciation OF the fact
| that supernatural and human agencies are to
! go together-that which soars and that which
practically works. that which ascends the
| heavens and that which reaches forth TO
earth, the joining OF the terrestrial and the
CELESTIAL. the hand and the wing.
We see this union In the construction OF
the Bible. The wing Of inspiration is in
every chapter. What realms OF tho ran
somed earth did Isaiah ily over! Over what
battleilelds for righteousness, what corona
tions, what dominions ofglndness. what rain
bows around the throne did ST. John hover!
But in every book of the Bible you just rs
certainly see the human hand that wrote it,
Moses, the lawyer, showing his hand In the
Ton Commandments, the foundation of all
good legislation; Amos, the hcrdsman, show
ing his hand in SMILES drawn from fields
and flocks: the fishermen apostles showing
their hand when writing about Gospel nets;
Luke, the physicians; showing his hand by
giving especial attention to.diseasas cured;
Paul showing his scholarly hand by quoting
from heather poets, ahd making arguments
about the resurrection that stand rs
firmly rs on tho 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 oil
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 50 human, so full OF heartbeats, so
sympathetic, 40 wet with tears, so trium-
phant with palm branches that IL takes hold
| of the human race rs nothing else ever car
, take hold oft. each writer In his own styl,
job. the scientific; Solomon, the roya
= blooded; Jeremiah, the despondent; Daniel
\ the abstcmious and heroic-why, we know
their style so well that we need not look &
4 the top of the page TO see who Is the author
No more conspicuous the uplifting wing o
= inspiration than the hand, the warm hand
I the flexible hand, the skillful hand of hu
man instrumentality. "The likeness Of tn
? hands OF man was under the wings"
} Again, behold this combination Of my tex
$ in all successful Christian work. We stant
!. or kneel In our pulpits and social meeting
and reformatory associations Offering prayer
Now, II anything has wings, II Is prayer.
can fly farther and faster than anything
can now think Of In one second of tim
o from where you sit 1t can fly to the throne q
. God and alight in England. In one secon
q, OF time from where you sit II can fly to tn
u throne Of God and alight in India. 1t ca
z girdle the earth In ashorter time than you ca
:. seal II letter. or clasp belt, or hook an eye
!. Wings, whether that prayer starts from II
n infants tongue or the trembling lip OF Ger
!. tenarian rising from the heart OF a farmer
II wife standing AT the dashing churn, or bt
d, fore the hot breath OF countr
oven, they soar away and PIC
y out OF all the shipping of the earth on IA
o the seas the craft ON which her sailor bo
Is Is voyaging. Yea. prayer can fly clear dow
Il into the future. When the father of Quee
u Victoria was dying he asked that the infai
y Victoria might be brought while he sat up
Al bed, and the babe was brought, and II
80 father prayed, III this child should live
- become Queen OF England, may she rule
d the fear of God" Having ended his praye
IL he said, "Take the child away" b.
II all who know tho history of En-
:, land for the last fifty years know tn
y the prayer for that infant more than seven
u years ago has been answered, and with win
Y. Emphasis and affection millions OF u
Queens subjects have this day in ehape
and cathedrals. and sea, supplicated, "GC
save the Queen!'
Prayer fies not only across continents. b
1t across centuries. II prayer had only feet
a might run here and there and do wonder
but III mas WluR1, anu tutg bEb ~ Tdiihhl
w plume and as swift to rise or swoop or da
n. or circle Us the cherubim's wings whil
II. swept through Ezekiels vision. But oh, n
-, friends, the prayer must have the hand u
~ der the wing, or II may amount TO nothin
lc The mothers hand, or the fathers han
he must write TO the wayward boy Us soon
,r you can hear how TO address him. Christie
souls must contribute to the evangelism
o. that far off land for which they have be
j praying. Stop singing "Fly abroad, tn
1 mighty Gospel" unless you are willing
n give something of your own means to ma
y, it fly. Have you been praying for the sal,
ny ton OF a young mans soul2 That Is rigl
re but also extend the hand OF invitation
he come TO a religious meeting.
:. II always excites our sympathy to SEQ
~ man with his hand in sling. We ask hi
ne "what is the matter? Hope 1t is not
ne felon;" or, "Have your fingers be
an crushed?" But nine out Of ten OF all Chr
-" tians are going their life long with tn
hand in sling. They have been hurt by
difference .or wrong ideas of what is be