The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-04-14
QUEEN OF THE FIELD
REV. DIR. TALMAGE PAYS TIKI
Butte TO THE LILY

I'm His Easter Sermon the Eio4"o
Divine Interprets the Message Of the
Flowers-They speak nvar1ed Tones
Typical of Resurrection
copyright 1899, by American FfeS
Association.)
In this Easter sermon Dr. IdlnLase
interprets the message winch the NV
ers bring to the anxious, the oeSpll
and the bereaved; text, Luke XII, 20
eff then God so clothe the grass'"inoh
ia today in the field, and tomorrow IS
cas+ into the oven, how much more Will
DC c1othe YOU, o we of little faith!
rbe ,i,v of the queen of Bible flowers.
The rose may have disputed her throne
~ modern times and won IT, put the
-ose originally had only five petals. IL
was under the long continued ana III
tense gaze of the world that the rose
blushed into it's present beauty. III the
p;h1a train. cassia and hyssop ana
Z and myrrh and splKenaio
and campho and the rose follo" 'he
1;,v Fourteen times in the Bible IS the
1i,v mentioned; only twice the rose.
The rose may now ave wider EMPIRE
but the lily reigned in the time VI
Esther. in the time of Solomon, IN the
go ~ Christ. Caesar mad his throne
on the hills. The lily had her throne III
The valley. In the greatest sermon That
uyoc ayar preached there was only one
dover and that a lilly. The BEDFORD
dreamer. John Bunyan, entered tne
house Of the interpreter, ana was sho" 80
a cluster of flowers, anu was 'o"
"consider the lilies
We may study or reject other Sciences
at orr option-it is so with ASTRONOMY,
A. 10 so with chemistry, 1t is SO VIII
i,risprudence, it is so with pnyslolosy,
- &c co with geology-but the science oL
1870 Christ commands US to study
when He saws. Consider the lines.
Measure them from root to tip OF petal.
Inha1a their breath. Notice the grace
fniness of their poise. Hear the Whisper
of the white lips of the eastern ana the
red lips of the American NY.
Pa1onpinp to this royal family of lines
are the lily of the Nile, the Japan my
the Lady Washington OF n olerrass
tbe Golden Band lily, the Giant lily OF
Nepaul, the Turks cap lily, the AFRICAN
lily from the Cape of Good hope AL
these lilies have the royal ploOo III I1 nL
.-ains RIIt T take the lilies of my text
this morning as typical of all flowers
and their voice of floral beauty seems
to address us saying, "Conslder the
lilies. consider the azaleas, CONSIDER the
fuchsais, consider the geranlums'. on
slider the ivies, consider the hyaclntns'
consider the heliotropes, consider the
~o1eanders." With deferential and CRATE
fn1 and intelligent and Worshipful Souls
consider them. Not with ins1pld sehll-
mentalism or with sophomorlc Vapo[,
ing. but for grand and practlca. anu
EVERYDAY and, if need be, homely uses,
consider them.
ANGELS OF THE GRASS.
H. - n1c or M
grass. They all have voices. Wnen the
Clouds speak, they thunder; when the
whirlwinds speak they scream; Wneh
the cataracts speak they roar but Wnen
the flowers speak they always Whisper.
7 stand here to interpret their message.
What have you to say to US, y ye an
gels of the grass? This morning mean
ito discuss what flowers are good Tor.
That is my subject, What are mowers
good for?'
T remark, in the first place, they are
good for lessons OF GODS p~roVluenCia
care. That was Christ's first thought.
All these flowers seem to address US To-
day saving, God will give you ap-
narel and food" We have no Wheel
with which to spin, no loom with Wn1ch
to weave, no sickle with which TO mar
vest. no we'll sweep with which TO draw
water but God stakes our thirst with
the dew, and God feeds us with the
bread of the sunshine, and God has ap-
pareled us with more than Solomonlc
regalfty. We are prophetesses or aue-
uuate wardrobe. eff God so clothed us
more clothe you, o ye of little falth!
Men and women of worldly anXieties
take this message home with you. How
long, has God taken care of you? guar
ter of the journey of life! a Tie
Journey of life? Three-quarters the
Journey of life? Can you not trust Hin
fhe rest of the way ? God does moi
oro~o;.a xyor opIrthjnp like that WHICH
the Roman emperor had on his table al
vast expense-500 nightingales' tongues
but He has promised to take care OF
you. He has promised you the necessl-
ties, not the luxuries-bread, not cake
If God so luxuriantly clothes the grass
of the field, will He not provide fol
YOU, His living and immortal children!
He will.
No wonder Martin Luther always
had a flower on his writing desk Tor an
SEPARATION! Through the cracks or the
prison floor a flower grew up to cheer
Picciola. Mungo Park, he great nav
eler and explorer, had his life saved by
a flower. He sank down in the desert &c
die; but, seeing q flower near by. IL
suggested Gods merciful 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 evangels of the sky.
USES OF FLOWERS.
II you ask me the question, VIVA
are flowers good for? I respond, they
are good for the bridal day. The bride
must have them on her brow, and sht
must have them in her ham The mar
riage altar must be covered with them
A wedding without flowers would bt
as inappropriate as a wedding wlthou
music. At such a time they are for con
graduation and prophesies Of good. 81
much of the pathway Of life is covered
up with thorns, we ought to " tn
beginning with orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such oc
c~asions, for in 80 out of 100 cases 1t L
the very best thing that could hav'
happened. The world may criticise ar
pronounce it an inaptitude and ma.
lift it's eyebrows in surprise and thinl
it might suggest something better, blu
the Zoo who sees the 20, 40, so years o.
welded life before they have begun ar
ranges for the best. So that flowers, il
almost all cases are appropriate for tn,
marriage day. The divergences of dis
-1o;k;or will haoopoo Observation-Disclosures