The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-04-12
AN EASTER SERMON
Or. Talmage Draws inspiration
from the Field.
ANGELS OF THE GRASS,

yeaVed.


ers bring to the anxious, the dispirite'
and the pereaved; tex,, Luke XII, Is
s'If then Goo so clothe the grass, whicl
is today in the field, and tomorrow Is
cast into the oven, how much more
will he clothe YOU, Oye Of litl!e
faith?'
The lily is the queen Of Bible fow-
ers. The rose may have disputed her
throne in modern times and won it, but
the rose originally had only FIVE petals
1t was under the long continued and
intense gaze of the world that the rose
blushed into its present beauty. In
the Bible train, cassia and hysSop and
frankinecense and myrrh and spikenard
and camphor and the rose follow the
lily. Fourteen times in the Bible IS
the Ely mentioned, only twice the rose.
The rose may now have wider empire,
but the lily reigned IN the time o. IS
ther, in the time of Solomon, IN the
time of Christ. Caesar had his throne
on the hills. The lily had her throne
in the valley. In the greatest sermon
that was ever preached there was only
one flower, and that lily. The Bed
ford dreamer, John Bunyan, entered
the house of the interpreter and was
shown cluster Of flowers and was told
to consider the lilies.
We may study or reject othersciences
at our option-itis is so with astronomy,
it is 50 with chemistry, it is so with
jurisprudence, It is so with physiology,
it is so with geology-but the science
Of botany Christ commands Us to study
when he says, Consider the lilies.
Measure them from root to tip Of petal.
Inbale their breath. Notice the grace
fulness of their poise. Hear the Whls-
per of the white lips Of the eastern
aud the red lips of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family Of
lilies are the lity of the Nile, the Japan
lily, the Lady Washington Of the sier-
ras, the Golden band lily, the Giant
lily of Nepaul, the Turk cap lily, the
African lily from the Cape OF Good
Hope. All these lilies have the royal
blood in their veins. But | take the
lilies of my text this morning as typl.
cal Of all flowers, and their voice OF
floral beauty seems to address US saying
Consider the lilies, consider the aza-
leas, consider the fuchsias, consider the
geraniums, consider the lvies, consider
the hyacinths, consider the heliotropes,
consider the oleanders. With defer
ential and grateful and intelligent and
worshipful souls, consider them. Not
with insipid sent;mentalism or with
sophomore vaporing, but for grand and
practical and everyday, and, if need be,
honely uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angels Of the
grass. They all have voices. When
the clouds speak they thunder, when
the whirlwinds speak they scream,
when the cataracts speak they roar, but
when the flowers speak they always
whisper. l stand here to interpret
their message. What have you to say
to US, 0 ye angels Of the grass? Ibis
morning I mean to discuss what flowers
are good for. That is my subject,
What are flowers good for?
Iremark in the first place, they are
good for lessons Of Gods provioential
eare. That was Christ's first thought.
All these flowers seem to address US to-
day, saying: God will give you apparel
and food. We have no wheel with
which to spin, no loom with which to
weave, no sickle with which to harvest
no well sweep with which to draw water
but God slakes our thirst with the dew,
and Sod feeds US with the bread Of the
sunshine, aud God has appareled US
with more than Solomonic regality. We
are prophetesses Of adequate wardrobe.
IF God so clothed US, the grass Of the
field, will he not much more clothe you,
0 ye Of little faith" Men and women
Of worldly anxieties, take this message
home with you! How long has God
taken care OF you? Quarter Of the
journey Of life? Half the journey of
life? Three quarters the journey Of
life? Can you not trust him the rest OF
theway? God does not promise you
anything like that which the Roman
emperor had on his table at vasc e1-
pense-500 nightingales' tongues but
he has promised to take care Of you. He
has promised you the necessities, not
the luxuries-bread, not cake. II God
so luxuriantly clothes the grass Of the
field, will he not provide fer you, his
living and immortal children? He
will.
No wonder Martin Luther always had
flower on his writing desk for inspira-
ton! Through the cracks of the prison
aoor flower grew up to cheer Picc:ola.
Mungo Park, the great traveller and ex-
plorer, had his life saved by flower.
He sank down in the desert to die, but,
seeing flower near by, it suggested
Ge6's nerciful care, and he got up with
new courage and travelled On to safety.
I said the flowers are the angels Of the
grass. I add now they are the evangels
Of the sky.
If you ask me the question, w hat
are flowers good for?" l respond, they
are good for the bridal day. The bride
must have them on her brow, and she
must have them IN her hanC. 1he
marriage altar must be covered with
them. 4 wedding without flowers
would be as inappropriate as wedding
without music. At such time they
are for congratulation and prophecies Of
good. So much of the pathway Of life
is covered up with thorns, we ought to
cover the beginning with orange bios
soEas.
Flowers are appropriate on such oc
easions, for in ninety-nine out OF a
hundred cases it is the very best thing
that could have happened. The world
may criticise and pronounce it an in
aptitude and may lift its eyebrows in
surprise and think it might suggest
something better, butthe God who sees
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