The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-06-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
An Eloquent Plea for Practical
Christianity.
ehe Union OF the Supernatural and HUI
man Seen In the Isibie-The Wing
OF Inspiration Evident IN
Every Chapter.

the following discourse on swing and
Hand" in the Academy OF music, New
York city, basing it on the text:
The likeness OF the hands OF a man was IN
der their wings.-Ezeklel X, 81.
While tossed on the sea between
Australia and Ceylon, first particu-
lnrly noticed this text, of which then
and there made memorandum. This
chapter is all a-hutter with cherubim.
Who are the cherubim? An order OF
angels, radiant, mighty, all-knowing,
adoring, worshipful. When painter or
sculptor tried in temple at Jerusalem,
or in marble OF Egypt to represent the
cherubim, he made them part lion, or
part OK, or part eagle. But much OF
that is an unintended burlesque of the
cherubim whose majesty, and speed
and splendor we will never know until
lifted into their presence we behold
them for ourselves, as l pray by the
pardoning grace of God we all may.
but all the accounts Biblical, and all
the suppositions human, represent the
cherubim with wings. each wing about
! seven feet long, vaster, more imposing
than any plumage that ever floated in
earthly atmosphere. Condor in fight
above Chimborazo, or Rocky mountain
eagle aiming for the MONDAY sun, or
albatross in play with ocean tempest,
/ 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 won
derous than the human arm; with
power of making itself more light, or
more heavy; of expansion or contrae-
/ ton; defying all attitudes and all
! sbysms; the bird looking down with
pity upon boasting man as he tolls up
the sides of the Adirondacks, while
the wing with few strokes puts the
! highest crags far beneath claw and
beak. But the birds wing is only Il
feeble suggestion of cherubims wing.
The greatness of that, the radiance of
that, the Bible again and again sets
J forth.
! My attention is not more attract ted
| by those wings than by what they re-
veal when lifted. In two places IN
! Ezekiel we are told there were hands
under the wings; human hands; hands
| like ours. 1.-The likeness of the haE.s
of u man under the wings" We have
all noticed the wing of the cherubin,
but no one seems yet to have noticed
| the human hand under the wing.
| There are whole sermons, whole an.
thems, whole doxologies, whole millen.
NUNS in that combination of hand ana
wing. If this world is ever brought to
: God, it will be by appreciation of the
fact that supernatural 'and ,human
agencies are to go together; that which
! scars, and that which practically
works; that which ascends the beav-
ems, 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 con-
structions of the Bible. The wing of
inspiration is in every chapter. What
realms of the ransomed earth did
Isaiah fly over? Over what battle
| fields for righteousness; what corona
tions; what dominions of gladness;
what rainb 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 founda-
! hon of all good legislation; Amos, the
! herdsman, showing his hand in smiles
drawn from fields and flocks; the fish
ermen apostles showing their hand
when writing about Gospel nets; Luke,
the physician, showing his hand by
giving especial attention to diseases
cured; Paul showing his scholarly
hand by quoting from heather poets,
and making arguments about the re-
surrection 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 so human; SO full of heart
beats; so sympathetic; so wet with
tears; SO triumphant with palm
branches, that it takes hold of the hui
man race as nothing else ever can take
hold of teach writer in his own
style: Job, the scientific; Solomon, the
oyal-blooded; jeremiah, the despond-
emit; Daniel, the abstemous and heroic
why, we know their style so well 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 human fundamentally. 1.-The
likeness of the hands of man was un.
der the wings"
OAgain, behold the combination of my
text in all successful Christian work.
We stand or kneel in our pulpits, and
social meetings, and reformatory asso.
Citations, Offering prayer. Now, If any.
thing has wings, it is prayer. 1t can
fiy farther and faster than anything
can now think of. In one second oil
time from where you sit it can fly tc
the throne of God and alight in En-
gland. In one second of time frsn
where you sit it can fly to the throne Of
God and alight in India. 1t can girdle
the earth in a shorter time than you
can seal lsyter, or clasp belt, OF
hook an eye Wings, whether that
n ~ ~