The Progress., 1898-06-04

| the poor thing persisted. No wonder il
was bird that was taken and slain over
an earthen vessel of running water. 1,
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
| glorious name forever!
A Clean Bird.
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 a clean bird
says the text, and it suggests the pure .Je
sus-the holy Jesus. Although hc spent
his bOyhood in the worst village on earth
although blasphemicS We're polrcd into
his ear enough to have poisoned any one
else, he stands before the world Il perfect
Christ. Herod was cruel, Henry VII
was unclean, William III was trcacherous
but point out q fault Of our King. Answer
me, We boys who knew him on the streets
OF Nazareth! Answer me- We miscreant<
who saw him die The skeptical t;lilors
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 denounces
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 frag rant with
the dew that it pressed its beak carrying
sprlg OF thyme and frankincensc, its feath-
ers washed IN summer showers. O thou
spotlcss Son Of God, impress us with thy |
innocence!
Thou lovely source of true delight,
Whom l, unseen, adore,
Unvel thy beauties to my sight,
That may love thee more.
remark, also, in regard to this first !
bird mentioned in the text that it was a
b ir.3 no,
saulted, with it's iron bcak it strikes like a
bolt against its adversary. This was a
dove or sparrow, we do not know just
which. Take the dove or pigeon in your
hand, and the pecking of its beak on your
hand makes you laugh at the feebleness of
Its assault. The reindeer after it is down |
may fell you with it's antlers The OK |
after you think it is dead may break your
leg in Its death struggle. The harpooned
whale In Its last agony may crush you in |
the coil Of the unwinding rope. But this
was dove or a sparrow-perfectly harm
less, perfectly defenseless-type of him
who said, Il have trod the wine press
alone, and there was none to help" None |
TO help! The murderers have it all their ]
own way. Where was the soldier in the
ltoman regiment who swung his sword in |
The defense of the divine martyr? Did they
out one drop of oil on his gashed feet? |
Vas there one In all that crowd manly and |
generous enough to stand up for him?
We're the miscreants at the cross any more !
ntcrfcred with in their work of spiking |
linn fast than the carpenter in his shop |
irving nail through pine board? The |
women cried but there was no balm in |
heir tears. None to help none to help! !
my Lord Jesus, none to help! The wave
If anguish came up to the arch of his feet,
anne up to his knee, f1oated to his waist !
ose to his chin, swept to his temples, yet
lone to help! Ten thousand times ten |
thousand angels in the sky ready at COM
nand to plunge into the bloody ARRAY and |
trike back the hosts of darkness, vet none 1
o help, none to help!
Oh, this dove of the text in its last mo-
nent clutched not with angry talons! 1t
lunged not a savage beak 1t was a dove |
helpless, defenselcss. None to help, !
one to help!
AS after severe storm in the morning
on go out and find birds dead on the Y
now, so this dead bird of the text makes | (
lc think of that awful storm that swept
40 earth on crucifixion day, when the \
rath of God and the malice Of man md l "