St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-07-02
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Bird Used to Cure the Leper a Re-
corded in the Old Testament.

1 0H0 0SS0 10 SUF0 inc 1epof n tie
corded in the Old Testament.
Symbolic OF the Souls Flight to IL HON
Above-Cleansed and Prepared the
Soul May Soar Upward ~ Did
the Turtle Dove.
From scene of old DR.. Talmage, il
this sermon. presents the old Gospe
under another phase. Text: Leviticu
xiv, ST.:
And the priest shall command tina
one of the birds be killed in an earth
en- vessel, over running water. As TO
the living bird, he shall take it, an,
the cedar wood, and the scarlet, an,
the hyssop. and shall dip them and tn
living bird in the blood Of the Dir,
that was killed over the running water
and he shall sprinkle upon him that i
to be cleased from the leprosy sever
times, and shall pronounce him clear
| and shall let the living bird loose int,
the open field"
The Old Testament, to very many
people, is . great slaughter hous,
strewn with the blood. and bones, ans
horns, and hoofs of butchered ami
mails. 1t offends their sight; it dis
gusts their taste; it actually nauseate!
the stomach. But to the intelligent
Christian the Old Testament is mag
nificent corridor through which Jesu.
advances. As He appears at the othe,
end of the corridor we can only see the
outlines Of His character; coming near
cr we can descry His features But
when, at last, He steps upon the plat
form of the New Testament, amid the
torches of evangelists and apostles,
the orchestras of Heaven announce
Him with = blast of minstrelsy that
wakes up Bethlehem at midnight.
There were a great many cages Of
birds brought down to Jesusalem for
sacrifice-sparrows, and pigeons, and
turtle doves / 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 run
ming water-that is clear, fresh water,
and then the bird was killed. Another
bird was then taken, tied to 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 0y,on x-n,Yr V~,;l1 vrr 1ao~
brethren and sisters, and see that the
first bird meant Jesus, and that the
second bird means your own soul
There is nothing more suggestive
than a Gagged bird. In the down of its
breast you can see the glow of south
ern climes; in the sparkle of its eye
you can see the fash Of distant seas;
in its voice you can hear the song it
in the wildwood. 1t is a
child of the sky in captivity.
Now the dear bird of my text.
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 land He was
the kings son. Whenever a victory
was gained or throne set up, he was
the first to hear it. He could not walk
inc0gnito along the streets, for all
Heaven knew him. For eternal ages
he had dwelt amid the mighty popula-
tons of Heaven. No holiday had ever
dawned on the city when he was alb
sent. He was not like an earthly
prince, occasionally issuing from
palace heralded by troop of clanling
No; he was greeted
everywhere as brother. and all Heav-
en- was perfectly at home with him.
But one day there came word to the
palace that an Insignificant island
was in rebellion, and was cutting
itself to pieces with anarchy. hear
an angel say: Let it perish. The
Kings realm is vast enough without
the island. The tributes to the King
are large enough without that We can
spare" Not so, said the Prince, the
Kings son; and see Him push out
one day, under the protest of great
company. He starts straight for the
island. He lands amid
the excavations Of its inhabitants,
that grow in violence until the
malice of earth had smitten Him, and
the spirits of the lost world put their
black wings over His dying head and
shut the sun out. The hawks and vul.
lures swooped upon this dove of my
text, until head, and breast, and feet
ran blood-until, under the flocks 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. It was q
child of the skies. It typified Him
who came down from Heaven in ag-
pny and blood to save our souls
Blessed be His glorious name forever!
/ notice also in my text, that the
bird that was slain was clean bird.
The text demanded that it should be.
The raven was never sacrificed, nor
The cormorant, nor the vulture. 1t
must be = clean bird. says the text,
md it suggests the pure Jesus-the
holy Jesus. Although He spent His
Doyhood in the worst village on earth,
although blasphemies were poured in
% His ear enough to have poisoned
my one else. He stands before the
world perfect Christ Herod
vas cruel, Henry Will was I'M
lean, but point ont a fault Of our
King. Answer me, We boys who knew |
linn on the streets of Nazareth. An
wer me, We miscreants who saw Him |
lie. The skeptical tailors haye tried |
or ], 800 years to find out one hole in
his seamless garment, but they have
Tot found it. The most ingenious and |
loquent infidel of this day, in the last
inc Of his book, all of which denounces
;hrist says: IAN ages must proclaim
hat among the sons of men there is
lone greater than Jesus" So let this
'ird of the text be clean-its feet
ragrant with the dew that It pressed,
IS beak carrying sprig of thyme and
rankincense, its feathers washed in
howers o thou spotless Son of God,
IMPRESS with Thy innocence!
Thou lovely source OF true delight,
Whom l. unseen adore.
Unyeil Thy beauties to my sight,
That may love Thee more"
I remark, also, in regard to this FIRST
ird, mentioned in the text, that 1t
Tas defenseless bird. When the
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