The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1896-07-04
TALMAGEs SERMON.
Divine Benehoenoe That Watcheth
Even a Sparrow.
Gods Protecting Care for the Humblsst Of
His Creatures-He knoweth What
u Beet for Man and None
Need Hope for More.


Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage delivered the
following discourse before his Wash
ington congregation, taking for his
text:
Are not two sparrows sold for farthing'
and one Of them shall ncs fall on the ground
without your Father. Matthew L. 20
You see the Bible will not be limited
IN the choice Of symbols. There 10
hardly q beast, or bird, or insect,
which has not been called to illustrate
some Divine truth-the ox's patience,
the ants industry, the spiders skill,
the kinds surefootedness, the eagles
speed, the doves gentleness, and even
the sparrow's meanness and insignif-
canoe. In oriental countries none but
the poorest people buy the sparrow
and eat it-so very little meat Is there
on the bones, and SO very poor is it.,
what there Is of 1t. The comfortable
population would not think of touch
Ing 1t any more than you would think
Of eating bat or lamprey. Now, says
Jesus, il God takes such good care of
q poor bird that is not worth a cent,
will He not care for you, an immor-
tai?
We associate God with revolutions.
We can see a Divine purpose in the
discovery of America, in the invention
OF the art Of printing, in the exposure
OF the Gunpowder plot, in the contriv-
ance of the needle-gun, in the ruin of
an Austrian or Napoleonic despotism;
but how hard 1t is to see God in the
minute personal affairs of our lives!
We think Of God as making a record
OF the starry host, but can not realize
the Bible truth that He knows how
many hairs are on our head. 1t seems
q grand thing that God provided food
Tor hundreds of Israelites in the des-
ert; but we can not appreciate the
truth that, when a sparrow Is hungry,
God stoops down and opens its mouth
and puts the seed In. We are struck
with the idea that God fills the uni
verse with His presence, but can not
understand how He encamps in the
crystal palace of a dewdrop, or finds
room to stand between the alabaster
pillars of the pond lily. We can see
God in the clouds. Can we see God in
these flowers at our feet?
| We are apt to place God on some
great staRe-or try TO do it--expecting
Him there to act out His stupendous
projects; but we forget that the life OF
a Cromwell, an Alexander, or Wash
ington, or an archangel, is not more
under divine inspection than your life
or mine. Pompey thought there must
be mist over the eyes of God because
he so much favored Cesar. But there
Is no such mist. He sees everything.
We say Gods path is in the great wa
ters. True enough; but no more GER
tainly than-He is in the water In the
glass on the table. We say God guides
theStars In their courses. Magnificent
truth! but no more certain truth than
that He decides which road or stree,
you shall take in coming to church.
Understand that God does not sit up
on an Indifferent or unsympathetic
throne, but that He sits down beside
you to-day, and stands beside me to
day, and no affair of our lives is so in
significant but that it is of Importance
to God.
In the first place, God chooses our
occupation for us. / am amazed tc
see how many people there are dissat.
isfied with the work they have to do.
think three-fourths wish they were
in some other occupation, and they
spend great deal Of time regretting
that shey got i'll the wrong trade or
profession. | want to tell you that
God put into operation all the influ-
ences which led you to that particular
choice. Many of you are not in the
business that you expected to be in.
You started for the ministry and
learned merchandise; you started for
the law and you are a physician; you
preferred agriculture and you became
mechanic. You thought one way;
God thought another. But you ought
not to sit down and mourn over the
past. You are to remember that God
arranged all these circumstances by
which you were made what you are.
Hugh Miller says: Il will be a
stonemason," God says: ''You will be
geologist." David goes out to at
tend his fathers sheep; God called
him to govern a nation. Saul goes
out to hut his fathers asses, and be.
fore he gets back finds the crown OF
regal dominion. How much happier
would it be IL we were content with
the places God gave usl God saw your
temperament and al! the circum.
stances by which you were surround
ed, and / believe nine-tenths of you
are in the work you are best fitted for.
hear a great racket in my watch, and
/ tind that the hands and the wheels
and the springs are getting out OF
their places. / sent 1t dow to the jew
elers and say: Overhaul that watch,
and teach the wheels, and the spring,
and the hands to mind their own bust
ness" You know a man having a large
estate: He gathers his working hands
in the morning, and says to one: You
| go and trim that vine," to another:
"You go and weed those fowers;" to
another: you pillow that tough glebe;'
| and each one goes to his particular
work. The owner Of the estate points
the man to what he knows he can dc
best, and so 1t is with the Lord.
remark further that God has ar
| $4,000 tha ,x1aca fav our dxyalltn ~