Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-03-08
The MANY TEMPTATIONS.
DR.. TaImage Says the Assailauis Of
Virtue and Honesty Are
Numerous.
Needs For Divine Protection Cr@e:
Bringeth Salvation

TUE NOtAiOlA HtottNlibu ALaN uCdhCi III
fords TO all trusting souls. The text !.
Matthew xii, 81. Even as hen gather
eth her chickens under her wings, and VI
would not"
Jerusalem was in sight as Christ came
to the crest cf Mount Olivet, a height oi
700 feet. The splendors of the religious
capital OF the whole earth irradiated the
landscape. There is the temple. Wonder
is the kings palace. Spread out before
His eyes are .he pomp. wealth. the wick.
edness and the coming destruction OF .Ie-
rusalem, and He bursts into tears at the
thought of the obduracy of place that
He would gladly have saved and apostro-
phlzes. saving. 20 Jerusalem. Jerusalem,
how often woaid ] have gathered thy
children together. even as hen gathereth
her chickens Under her wings, and We
would not: -
Why Liz Christ select hen and chickens
as a eimile. Next 10 the appositeness OF
the comparison. think it was 20 help all
pubic teachers in the matter OF illustra-
ton 10 get down off their stills and Use
comparisons that all can understand. The
p.3iaest bird on earth Is the barnyard
fowl. Its only adornments are the red
comb in its head-dress and the wattles un-
der the throat. IL has no grandeur OF
gene-,oSy All we know is that its ances-
tors came from India. some OF them from
a heieh; OF 1000 feet on the sides OF the
Fimalayas. IL has no pretension OF nest
like the eagie's eyric. II has no lustre OF
plumagc like the goidfinch Possessing
anatomy that allows flight. vet about the
last thing it wants TO do Is to fly. and IN
retreat useS foo: almost as much as wing.
Musicians have written out IN musical
sca,e the song OF lark and robin redbreast
and nightingale. yet the hen OF my text
hath nothing that could be taken for a
song. but only cluck and cackle. Yet
Christ. in the text uttered while looking
upon doomed Jerusalem declares that what
He had wished for that city was like what
the hen does for hec chickens.
Christ WAS thus simple in His teach
ings. and yet how hard 1t Is for liz who
are Snnday-school instructors and editors
and preachers and reformers and those
who would gain the ears Of audiences TO
attain that heavenly and divine art OF sim
p,icity, We have to run course OF lit
crary disorders as children a course OF ply
steal disorders. We come out of school
and college loaded down with Greek my
thologies and out OF tine theological semin-
airy weighed down with what the learned
fathers said and we hy with wings OF
eagles and famingoes and albatrosses. and
1t takes 4 good while before we can come
down to Christ's simihtudes. the candle
under the bushel. the salt that has lost its
SAVIOR. the net thrown into the sea, the
sDitile on the eyes OF the blind man and
the hen and chickens.
] am in warm sympathy with the unprc-
tentious old fashioned hen because. like
most OF US, she has TO scratch for n living.
She knows at the start the lesson which
most people OF good sense are slow TO
learr-that the gaining OF livelihood i'm
plies work. and that successes do not lie
on the surface. but are to be upturned by
positive and continuous effort. The rea-
son that society and the church and the
world are so full of failures so full of loaf
ers, so full OF Gcadbeats is because people
are not wise enough 10 take the lesson
which any hen would teach them that il
they would find for themselves and for
those dependent upon them anything worth
having they must scratch for it. Solo
mon said. Go 10 the ant. thou sluggard."
j saw. Go 10 the hen. thou siuggard. In
the Old Testament God compares Himself
TO an eagle stirring up her nest. and in
the New Testament the Holy Spirit is
compared to descending dove, but Christ
in 4 sermon that began with cutting sar-
casm for hypocrites and ends with the
paroxysm of paihos in the text compares
Himself 10 a hen.
One day in the country we saw sudden
CONSERVATION in the behavior OF cd Dom.
mick. Why the hen should be so dis.
turbed we could not understand. We
looked about to see il a neighbours dog
see II storm cloud were lowering. We
could see nothing on the ground that could
terroriZe. and we could see nothing in the
air 10 rnfile the feathers of the hen. but
the lond. wild. affrighted cluck which
brought all her brood at full run under
her feathers made Us look again around
and above Us. when we saw that high ur
and far away there was n rapacious bird
Wheeling round and round and down and
down. and not seeing US as we stood in
the shadow. II came nearer and lower un
Ill we saw its beak was curved from base
to tip ard it had two flames OF fire fol
ewes. and it was a hawk. But all the
chickens were under old Dominick's wings
and either the bird of prey caught a
glimpse Of us or not able to find the brood
hudd'cd ander wing. darted back into the
c,oais
80 Christ calls with great earnestness to
all the young. Why. what is the matter
II is bright sunlight. and there can be nc
danger. Health is theirs. \ good home
is theirs. Plenty OF food is theirs. Pros
pect of long life Is theirs. But Christ con
tinnes 10 call. calls with more emphasi:
and urges haste and says not n second
oncl: to h, lost Oh. do tell us what is
the matter. All. now ! see: there are
hawks OF temptation in the air. there are
Nu,iurcs wheeling for their prey, there
are beaks OF death ready To nlunge. there
are claws OF allurement ready to clutch
Nov see the peril. Now | understand
the urgency. Now | see the only safety
Would that Christ might this day take
our sons and daughters into His shelter
AS a hen gaihereth her chickens under
her wing
The fact Is that the most OF them will
never mind the shelter unless while they
are chickens. IL Is a simple matter OF IN.
exorahle statistics that most OF those who
do lot come 10 Christ in youth never come
at all. What chance is there for the
Young without divine protection? There
are the grogshops. there are the gamb.
ling hells. there are the infdelities and
immoralities OF spirituaiism. there are the
had hooks. there are the impurities. there
are the business rasc2sitles. and so numer
--ous are these assaiants that il is a wonder
that honesty and virtue are not lost ar;
The birds of prey. diurnal and nocturnal,
They are ASA -sins OF the sky; they have
varieties Of taste. The eagle prefers III,
flesh oi the living animals: the vultuo
prefers the carcass; the falcon kills with
one stroke. while other styles OF beak
give prolongation OF torture And SO the
temptations OF this life are various
Fathers. mothers. older brothers and
sisters aud SabLath-schooi teachers. be
quick and earnest and prayerful and in.
FORTUNATE and get the chickens under wing.
May the Sabbath schoo.s o; America and
Great Britain within the next three months
sweep all their scholars into the kingdom.
Whom they have now under charge is UNI
certain. Concerning that scrawny. puny
child that lay in the cradle many wears
ago the father dead many remarked