Milford chronicle., 1906-08-17
Calmaqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.


refreshing mountain breeze, dispellihg
the heat. this sermon comes with ITS
suggestion of atmospheric rejuvena-
tion. The text is Hosea vi, l. Aour
goodness is as Il morning cloud
A sanity old preacher said III ms
Latter years: IF had my life TO nVe
over again would preach most OF my
sermons from familiar scenes OF the
Bible. like Christ feeding the multl-
tudes with the loaves and the fishes
beHeve Bible truths can best be |
driven home to the hearts OF men Dy |
ringing tile. changes upoA the OLD Ia
.miliar texts" That is true i'll one sense
But I believe also that an easy way to
illustrate our sermonic themes is from
.Ribls smiles drawn from nature. II
any man is Il lover of nature ana VIII
read. the Bible intelligently, he VIII
find the leaves of the sacred book hter-
ally filed with descriptions of natural
phenomena. Furthermore, if you study
church history. almost without eNcep-
ton you will find that the most popu-
lar preachers and the greatest winners
of souls for Christ have been men Ike
Henry Ward Beecher and John Mason
and Thomas Guthrie and Rowland hll
and Thomas Chalmers, who loved the
Aovrars and the stars and the birds
and the snowflakes. the same as ulu
David. the psalmist, and Hosea ana
Amos. the prophets, and Jesus CHRIST
many of whose parallels have the
aroma of the woods and the open neld'
Take. fer instance. the life of Charles
Kingsley. Do you wonder he grlpped
the heaBts Of his hearers and readers
as he did when you realize the nature
lover that he was? One night. after
he had recited to his guests the story
of n Cornish shipwreck, he led MS
friends out into the open yard, where
he stood under the pelting rain and
looked up at superb thunderstorm
as he cried: "What night. LOOK
Is it not splendid? This IS hlghl
when young men cannot talk or think
too much poetry" 1t was said that
he knew every nook and corner OF MS
beloved country. in the center OF when
was his parsonage. one day Wheh
out walking his son asked nm II he
thought he would ever lose his love
for the country. Charles hlhgsley
answered: 'Nay. If my friends ever
ask YOU that, tell them that am now
looking at the most beautiful scene l
eyer saw" Does not this sentence re-
veal the inner workings of a nature
loving heart? Did not Charles Kings
lev get many of his mightiest gospel
lessons by catching the echoes of them
in the falling waters as they tumbleo
down the cascade near to his own
home? Indeed. have always felt tha'
n minister was not Il fully developed
Teacher Of God unless he can Otter
find his text simultaneously from the
hook of nature and from the book ol
the Bible.
Natures Lessons.
Now. Hosea, the prophet draws from
nature a most beautiful sermonic sim
ile He seems to be standing by nigh
unon one of the hillsides overiooklni
the CITY of Jerusalem. That great cap
ital of the east is crowded with mucl
wickedness and apostasy. All nigh
long he stands there, with the roof o
sky for his covering. He thinks 0
how the Hebrew people have SHINE
and how they have been punished an
then repented and then sinned agaii
Their sins followed each other as so
diers in q line of march tread III eac
others footsteps. Thus the srea
prophet of the east reviews the nj
tory of his beloved people Ana as
Ueens and mourns over the sins OF I'll
Hebrew race the stars pale and
ont Then the sunlight rims the eas
ern hills and turns the early mornlr
clouds into curtains of gold. Then l
sees the dewdrOps glittering upon e
erv leaf. Then as the sun climbs hlg
or and higher in the heavens ana
feels the day grow hotter Hosea Sc
those early morning clouds eVapOra
and the dewdrOps disappear Inc
like a flash, springs from his lips Z
simiIe of the vapory repentances OF {
Hebrew race. 20 Ephraim, what sn'
I do with thee? o Judah, what sh'
do unto thee? For your goodness
as the morning cloud, and as the eal
dew it goeth away" Let us in Coz
name try to compare the vapory
bentances of our lives to this beautn
figure of the morning clouds.
First we would turn to the meteor
ogist and say: "Oh, student of
cloud land, tell us how these morni
clouds are formed. In the great ia
ily of clouds have they any indiV
ualities or peculiar characteristic
The prose poet of England, John X
kin. scans the hillsides of the heav'
and lauds the beauty of all the clo'
,rban he writes: Mature has tn
sand ways of rising above herseiI'
the noblest manifestations OF her ca
bility of colors are in the sunset am'
the clouds. There is no limit to
multitudes and no check to the
tensity of the hues assumed.
whole slrv from zenith to horizon,