The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1898-06-10
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Bird Used TO Cure the Leper as Re-
corded in tire Old Testament.
Symbolic of the SOUS Flight tn Its Home
AbOve-CIRansed and Prepared the
S00I May Soar Upward as Did
the Turtle Dove.

Xly., 5-s:
And the priest shall command that
one Of the birds be killed in an earth
en- vessel, over running water. As for
the living bird, he shall take it, and
the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and
the hyssop, and shall dip them and the
living bird in the blood of the bird
that was killed over the running water;
and he shall sprinkle upon him that is
TO be cleascd 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 bones, and
horns, and hOofs of butchered ami.
mails. II offends their sight; it dis
gusts their taste; ii actually nauseates
the stomach. But to the intelligent
Christian the Old Testament is a mag
niiccnt corridor through which Jesus
advances. As He appears at the other
end of the corridor we can only see the
outlines of His character; coming near
CT we can descry His features But
when, at last, He steps upon the plat
form of the New Testament, amid the
the oScb>stras of Heaven announce
Him with blast of minstrelsy that
wales up Bethlehem at midnight.
There were great many cages of
birds brought down to Jesusalem for
sacrifice-sparrows and pigeons, and
turtle doves. l can hear them now,
whistling, caroling and singing all
around about the temple. When a
lcper was % be cured of his leprosy, in
order to his cleansing two of these
birds were taken; one OF them was
slain over al earthen vessel of run
hing water-thlt 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-tippCd,
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 eyes wide, my dear
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 flash of distant seas;
in its voice you can hear the song it
learned in the wildwood. 1t is a
child of the sky in captivity.
Now the dear bird of my text.
captured from the air. suggests the
Lord Jesus, who came down from the
realms of light and glory. lie once
stool in the sunlight of Heaven. He
was the favorite OF the land. lie was
the kings son. Whenever n victory
was gained or throne set up, he was
the first to hear il. lie could not walk
inCOrnito along the streets, for all
Heaven knew him. For eternal ages
he had dwelt amid the mighty popula-
tions OF Heaven. No holi iay had ever
dawned on the city when he was alb
sent lie was not Ike an earthly
prince, occasionally issuing from
palace heralded by a troop of clanking
horSe-guardS. No; he was greetc
everywhere as a 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 10 pieces with anarchy. l 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 1 see Him push out
one day. under the protest of great
company. He starts straight for the
rebellious island. lie lands amid
the eNecratiOnS 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 lis 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 hOcks and
beaks of darkness. the POOR thing per-
iShed. No wonder il was a bird that
was taken and slain over an carthcn
vessel OF running water. 1t was a
child OF the skies. IL typiied Him
who came down from Heaven in ag-
ony and blood TO save our souls
Blessed be His glorious name forever!
notice also in my text, that the
bird that was slain was a clean bird.
4
The raven was never sacrificed, nor
the cormOrant, nor the vulture. 1t
must be a clean bird, says the text,
and il suggests the pure Jesus-the
holy Jesus. Although He spent His
boyhoOd in the worst village on earth,
although blasphemies were poured in
to His ear enough 10 have poisoned
any one else. He stands before the
world a perfect Christ. Herod
was cruel, Henry VIII was un-
clean, but point out a fault of our
King. Answer me, ye boys who knew
Him on the streets of Nazareth. An
swer me, We miscreants who saw Him
die. The skeptical tailors have tried
for !. 500 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 denou1ees
Christ says: "All ages must proclaim
that among the sons of men there is
none greater than Jesus" So let this
bird of the text be clean-its feet
fragrant with the dew that it pressed,
its heal carrying sprig of thyme and
frs l1incense, its feathers washed in
shCr-7ers. o thou spotless Son of God,
impress with Thy innocence!
Thou lovely source Of true delight
Whom !, unseen adore.
Unveil Thy beauties 10 ny sight
That may love Thee EOre-"