The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-06-03
BLOOD ATONEMENT
Rev. DIR. TaIrnage Clothes an Ola
story i'm New LaHguage-Sacrffiee OF
the DcfenscIess Dove-Two Birds Of
Ancient Jerusalem.

Ancient Jerusalem.
Copyright, 1898, by American Press
Association.)
Washington, May 29.-From a scene
of old DIR. Talmage in this sermon pre-
sents the old gospel under another
phase; text, Leviticus xiv, ST; And
the priest shall command that one
Of the birds be killed in an earthen
vessel, over running water. Al for the
living bird, he shall take it and the
cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the
hyssop and shall dip them and the liv-
ing bird in the blood of the bird that
was killed over the running water and
he shall sprinkle upon him that is to
be cleansed from the leprosy seven
times and shall pronounce him clean
and shall let the living bird loose into
the open field"
The old testament to very many
people is a great slaughter house
strewn with the blood and n and
horns and hoofs of b~utchered animals.
1t offends their sight; it disgusts their
taste; it actually n~auseates the stom-
ach. But to the intelligent Christian
the old testament is a magnificent cor
ridor through which Jesus advances.
AS he appears at the other end of the
corridor we a only see the outlines
of his character; coming nearer, we
can decry the features. But when at
last he steps pon the platform Of the
new testament, amid the torches of
evangelists and apostles, the orches-
tras of heaven announces him with a
blast of minstrelsy that makes up Beth
lehem at midnight.
There were a great many cages of
birds brought down to Jerusalem for
sacrifice-sparrOWs, pigeons and turtle
doves. 1 can hear them now, whistling
carOling and singing all around about
the temple. When a leper was to be
cured of his leprosy, in order to his
cleansing two Of these birds were
taken. One of them was slain over an
earthen vessel of running Water-that
is, clear, fresh Water-and then the
bird was killed. Another bird was
then taken, tied to a hyssOp branch
and plunged by the priest into the
blood of the first bird, and then, with
this hyssop branch, bird tipped, the
priest would sprinkle the leper seven
times, then unite the bird from the
hyssop branch and it would go soaring
into the heavens.
Now open your eye wide, my dear
brethren and sisters, and see that that
first bird meant Jesus and that the
second bird means your own soul.
There is nothing more suggestive
a Gagged bird. In the dow of it's
breast you can see the glow of south
ern chimes. In the sparkle of it's eye
you can see the flash of distant seas.
In it's voice you can hear the song 1t
in the wildwood. 1t is a child
of the sky in captivity. Now the dead
bird of my text, captured from the air,
suggests the Lord Jesus, who came
down from the realms of light and
glory. He once stood in the sunlight
Of heaven. He was the favOrite of the
He was the Kings Son. When
eyer a victory was gained Or d throne
Set up, re was the first to hear 1t. he
could not walk incOgnito along tne
for all heaven knew him. For
ages he had dwelt amid the
mighty population of heaven. NO mol
iday had ever dawned on the city when
was absent. He was not like an
prince, occasionally issuing
from a palace heralded by a troop of
clanking horse guards. No. He was
greeted everywhere as a brother, and
all heaven was perfectly at HON with
him,
THE KINGS SON.
But one day there came word to the
palace that an insignificant island was
in rebellion and was cutting itself TO
rieces with anarchy. I hear an ange
saw: Let it perish. The kings realm
is vast enough without the island. The
tributes to the king are large enough
without that. We a spare It, 'Not
So" said the prince, the kings son,
and l see him push out one day under
The protest of a great company. he
starts straight for the rebellious island
He lands amid the excavations of the
inhabitants that grow in violence until
the malice of earth has smitten him
and the spirits of the lost world put
their black wings over his dying mead
and shut the sun out. The hawks and
vultures swoOped upon the dove OF the
text until head and breast and feet
ran blood, until under the hocks and
beaks of darkness the poor thing per-
ished. No wonder it was a bird that
was taken and slain over an earthen
vessel of running water. 1t was a child
of the skies. 1t typified him who came
down from heaven in agony and blood
to save our souls. Blessed be his glor-
iouS name forever!
1 notice also in my text that the bird
that was slain was a clean bird. The
text demanded that it should be. The
raven was never sacrificed, nor the cor
morant, nor the vulture. 1t must be a
clean bird, says the text, and 1t Sug-
gests the pure Jesus-the holy Jesus.
Although he spent his boyhOod in the
worst village on earth, although bias
pileillleS were pOuIcu lllO HIS CdA
enough to have poisoned any one else,
he stands before the world a perfect
Christ. Herod was cruel, Henry VIII
was unclean, William III was treach-
erous, but point out a fault of our
King. Answer me, We boys who knew
him on the streets of Nazareth! An
swer me, We miscreants who saw him
die! The skeptical ailor have tried
for 1 800 years to find out one hole in
this seamless garment, but they have
not found it. The most ingenious and
eloquent infidel of this day, in the last
line of his book, all of which ~denounces
Christ, says, "All ages must proclaim
thai among the sons of men there is
none greater. than Jesus So let this
bird of the text be clean-its feet fra
grant with the dew that it pressed, its
beak carrying sprig of thyme and
frankincense, it's feathers washed in
summer showers. o thou SpOtleSS Son
of God, impress-us with thy innocence.
Thou lovely source of true delight,
Whom /, unseen, adore,
|. Unvail thy beauties to my sight,