The Bossier banner., 1897-06-17
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Lessons Drawn From the Story OF
Elijah and the Ravens.
Help for Those in Need Comes From Coo
The Creator of All Iniinit" i'll Ee-
source Relief Through Tn
expected Sources.

ferrrs. delivered the following appro- |
priotn sermon before his congre cation,
basing it on the text:
And the ravens brought him brad and tt">A
in the morning aad bread and flesh IN tn" even
ing. |. Kings, xviii, t.
The ornitholngy Of the Bible i>a very
interesting study. The Stork which
hnowrth her appointed time, The
common >parroWs teaching the lesson
of Gods providvnct. The o,trichcs of
the desert, by careless incubation, IL
lustratiny the rrcllles>nr>S of parents
who do not take enough pains with
their children. The eagle Syn'olyz-
ng riches which take wings and fly
away. The pelican emblcmiZlng S"ll-
tud, The bat. Il fake of the darkness.
The night hawk, the oseifrage, the
cuckoo, the lapWing. the osprey, by
the command of Got in Ievitlcu>,
flung out of the worlds bill Of fare.
| would like to have been with Audu-
bon as he went through the woods,
| with gun and pencil. bringing down
and >letchng the fowls of heaven, his
unfoldcd portfolio thrilling all Chris
| tendon. What wonderful creatures of
| God the birds are. Some of them, this
morning. like the songs of Heaven let
loose, bursting through tn" gates of
| Heaven. Consider their feathers, which
| are clothing and conveyance at the
same time: the nine vrrtrbrar of the
neck; the three cye}ids to each eye, the
| third cvclid an extra curtain for grad
uating the light Of the san. Some of
these bird, stavrnger> and some OF
| them orchestra. Thank Gol f"rquaiIs
| whistle. and Iark'S carol, and the tWit-
| ter of the wren. called by the an
clients the king of birds. because
when the fowls of Heaven went
into contest as to who
should fly the highest, and the caglc
swung rearcst tn" sun, a wren on back
of the eagle, after the eagle was cN-
hausted, sprany up much higher, and
SO was called by the ancients the king
of birds Consider those of them that
have golden crowns and cr|>t>, show
ing them to be feathertd imptrialS.
And listen to the humming birds Scre
made in the car Of the hOncysuCille.
Look at the hcIted kingtisher, striking
|
to the voice of the owl, giving the key
note 10 all croakcr5. And bchold the
condor among the Andes, battling with
the reindeer. | do not know whether
an aquarium or aviary is the best altar
from which to worship God.
There is an incident in my text that
battles all the ornitholoyical wonders
Of the world. The grain crop had been
cut off. Famine was in the land. In
cave by the Brook Chrrith sat min
lister of God. Elijah, waiting for some
thing to eat. Why did he not 90 to
the neighhor,? There We're no neigh
bors: it was d wilderness. Why did
he not pick some of the berries? There
were none. Ii there had been
they would have been dried up.
Seated one morning at the mouth OF
the cave, the prophet secs flock OF
birds approaching. OH. if they wcr,
only partridgeS> or if he only hal at
arrow with which to bring them
down, But as they come nearer ii:
finds that they ar. not com2Stible, but
uncl"an. and the eating of them wnult
be spiritual death. The strength o
their Dt2b, the length Of their wings
the blarkntss of their color, their loud
harsh ''crucl. crucIl.' prove them tt
be ravens.
4 They whirr around about tn,
prophets head. and then they come OF
q huttering wing and pause on the l"ve
Of his lip,,and one of the ravens bring
80 bread, and another raven brings meat
| L a Il H.;
tiny cargo they wheel past. and other
. come. until after awhile the prophr
has enough, and the black servant, G
the wilderness table are gone. Fu
ca oa six months. and Some say q whole year
x morning and evening. "a breakfast an
is a supper bell souded as these raven
~ rang out on the air th"ir"cruc1. crucl..
- Guess where they got the food from
The old rabbins say they got it frol
The Kitchen Of King Ahab. Others sa
that the ravens got their food trol
plus Obadiah, who was in the hab
Of feeding the prosecuted. Som
SAY that the ravens brought the food
their young IN the trees, and tn;
Eli iah had only to climb up and get i
Some say that the whole story is III
probable; for these were carnivnrot
birds, and the food they carried Wa
the torn flesh of living beasts, an
therefore ccremonially unclran: or
was carrion. and would not have bee
fit for the prophet. Some say The
were not ravens at all, but that II
word translated ''ravene" in my te:
ought to have been translated "-irah>
SO it would have read: "Ihe Aral
brought bread and flesh in the NOR
ing. and bread and flesh in the eve
ing" Anything but admit the Bib
to be true.
Hew away at this miracle until a
the miracle is gone. Go on with Il
depicting process, hut know. my brot
er that YOU are robbing only one ms
and that is yourself-of one Of II
most comforting. beautiful, pathet
and triumphant lessons in all the age
| can tell you who these purveyo
were-thay were ravens, | can t
you who freighted them with prov
- ions-God. | can tell YOU who launcht
! tbau-GoS can toll Won who tauIr