The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-05-24
WING AND HAND.
DR.. Talmage's Plea for a Practical
Christianity.
The Wing of Inspiration No Less Evident
in Every Chapter Than the Human
Hand Which Wrote It-Ms.ny
Examples Given.

| Talmage, preached at the New York
| Academy of Music, was a powerful
plea for practical Christianity. The
subject was: wing and Hand" the
text being Ezekiel X, 81: The like
ness of the hands of a man was under
their wings" Dr. Talmage said:
While tossed on the sea between
Australia and Ceylon first particular
| " noticed this text, of which then and
| there 1 made memorandum. This
chapter is all a-fiutter with cherubim.
| Who are the cherubim? An order of
angels, radiant, mighty. all-know-
| ing, adoring. worshipfuL When
painter or sculptor tried in tenn
pie 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 unin-
| tended burlesque of the cherubim
whose majesty. and speed and splendor
we will never know until lifted into
| their presence we behold them for our
| selves. as l pray by the pardoning
grace of God we all may. But all the
accounts Biblical. and all the SUPPOSE
/ tions human, represent the cherubim
/ with wings. each wing about seven
| feet long. vaster, more imposing than
any plumage that ever hoated in earth
| " atmosphere. Condor in flight
above Chimborazo, or Rocky noun
| tain 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 cherubim by the only wing we see
/ the birds pinion-which is the arm of
| the bird. but in some respects more
wondrous than the human arm; with
power of making itself more light, or
more heavy: of expansion and contrac-
ton; defying all attitudes and all
/ abysms: the bird looking down with
| pity upon boasting man as he tolls up
/ the side of the Adirondacks. while the
wing with few strokes puts the high
est crags far beneath claw and beak.
But the birds wing is only feeble
suggestion of cherubim's wing. The
greatness of that, the rapidity of that,
the radiance of that, the Bible again
and again sets forth.
| Nv attention is not more attracted
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
/ ike ours. The likeness of the hands
Of a man was under the wings" We
/ nave all noticed the wing of the cheru-
BIN, but no one seems yet to have no.
ticed the human hand under the wing.
/ There are whole sermons, whole au-
thems. whole doxologies, whole mill
! lenniums 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 go together; that which
scars, and that which practically
works: that which ascends the heavens,
and that which reaches forth to earth;
the terrestrial and the celestial; the
hand and the wing. We see this I'M
ion in the construction of the Bible.
! Moses. the lawyer. showing his hand
in the ten commandments, the founda-
ton of all good legislation; Amos, the
herdsmen. showing his hand in smiles
I lrawn from fields and fioclIs; 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
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 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: 50 full of heart-beats; so sym
pathetic: 50 wet with tears; so tri-
umphant with palm-branches. that it
takes hold of the human race as moth
ing else ever can take hold of teach
writer in his own style: Job, the scien-
titic: solomon. the royal blooded: Jere-
miah. the Respondent; Daniel, the alb
stemious and heroic-why, we know
their stvle 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 s1illfuI hand of human in
strumentalitv. The likeness of the
hands of man was under the wings
Again. behold this combination of
nv text in all successful Christian
work. We stand or kneel in our pull
pits, and social meetings, and reforma-
tory associations, offering prayer.
Now. if anything has wings, it is
prayer 1t can fiy farther and faster
than anything can now think of. In
one second of time from where you sit
it can Nv TO 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.
1t can girdle the earth in a shorter
time than YOU can seal a letter, or
clasp a belt. or hook an eye Wings,
whether that PRAYER starts from an
infants tongue. or the trembling lip OF
centeuarian. rising from the heart
of a farmers wife standing at the
dasher churn. or before the hot breath
of a country oven, they soar away,
and pick out OF all the shipping OF
the earth. on all the seas, the craft
on which her sailor boy is voyaging.
Yea, prayer can fy clear down into the
future When the father of Queen Vic
toria was dying, he asked that the in
FAINT Victori ia might be brought while
he sat nm in he'd: and the babe was
brought. and the father prayed: II
this child should live to become queen
of England, may she rule in the fear