Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1898 — TALMAGES SERMON [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TALMAGES SERMON

IN this wintry season Dr. Talmage refreshes us with this glowing pastoral until we can almost hear the bleating •of the flocks in green pastures. The text is Psalms xxiii., 1, “The Lord' is my shepherd.” f What with post and rail fences and our pride in Southdown, Astrakhan and Flemish varieties of sheep, there is no use now of the old time shepherd. Such a one had abundance of opportunity of becoming a 7>oet, being out of"'doors twelve hours a day. and ofttimes waking up in the night on the hills. If the stars or the torrents of the sun or the flowers had anything to say, he was very apt to hear it. The Ettrick Shepherd of Scotland, who afterward took his seat in the brilliant circle ■of Wilson and Lockhart, got his wonderful poetic inspiration in the ten years in which he was watching the flocks of Mr, Laidlaw. There is often a sweet poetry In the rugged prose of the Scotch shepherd. One of these Scotch shepherds lost liis only son, and he knelt down in prayer and Avas overheard to say, “O Lord, it has seemed good in thy providence to take from me tlie staff of my right hand at the time when to us sand blind mortals I seemed to be most in need of it. and how I shay climb up the hill of sorrow and auld age without it thou mayst ken, but 1 dinna,” David, the Shepherd Boy. David, the shepherd boy., is watching his father's sheep. They are pasturing on the very hills where afterward a Lamb was born of which you have heard much, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” David, the shepherd boy, was beautiful, brave, musical and poetic. I think he often forgot the sheep in his reveries. There in the solitude. he struck, the harp string that is thrilling through all ages. David the boy was gathering the material for David the poet and David the rpau. Like other boys, David was fond'of using his knife among the saplings, and he had noticed the exuding of the juice of the tree, and when he became a man he said, “The trees of the Lord are full of sap.” David the boy, like other boys, had been fond of hunting the birds’ nests, and he had driven the old stork off the nest to find how many eggs were under her, and when he became man he said, “As for the stork, the fir trees are lieu - house.” In boyhood he had heard the terrific thunderstorm that frightened the red deer into premature sickness, and when he became a man he said, “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve.” David the boy had lain upon his back looking up at the* stars and examining the sky, and tp his boyish imagination the sky seemed like a piece of divine embroidery, the divine fingers working in the threads of light and the beads of stars, and he became a man and wrote, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers.” When he became an old man, thinking of the goodness of God, he seemed to hear the bleating of his father's sheep across many years and to think of the time when he tended them on the Bethlehem hills, and he cries out in the text, “The Lord is my shepherd.” If God will help me, I will talk to you of the shepherd's plaid, the shepherd’s crook, the shepherd's dogs, the shepherd’s pasture grounds, and the shepherd’s flocks. The Shepherd's Plaid. And first the shepherd’s plaid. It would bo preposterous for a man going out to rough and besoiliug work to put on splendid apparel. The potter does not work in velvet. The servant maid does not put on satin while toiling at her duties. The shepherd does not wear a splendid robe in which to go out amid the storms, and the rocks and the nettles; he puts on the rough apparel appropriate' to liis exposed tvork. The Lord our Shepherd, coming out to hunt the lost sheep, puts on no regal apparel, but the plain garment of our humanity. There was nothing pretentious about it. I know, the old painters represent a halo around the babe Jesus, but I do not suppose that there was any more halo about that child than about the head of any other babe that was born that Christmas eve iu Judea. Becoming a man, he wore a seamless garment. The scissors and needle had done nothing to make it graceful. I take it to have boon a sack with three holes iu it, one for the neck and twojfor the arms. Although the gamblers quarreled over it, that is no evidence of its value. I have seen two rag pickers quarrel over the refuse in an ash barrel. No; in the wardrobe of heaven he left the sandals of light, the girdles of beauty, the robes of power, and put on the besoiled and tattered raiment of our humanity. Sometimes he did not even wear the seamless robe. What is that hanging about the waits of Christ'/ Is it a badge of authority/ Is it a royal coat of arms/ No; it is :) towel. The disciples' foot are filthy from the walk on the long way and are not fit to be put upon the sofas on which they arc to Yocline at the meal, and so Jesus washes their feet and gathers them tip in the towel to dry them. The work of saving this world was rough work, rugged work, hard work, and Jesus put on the raiment, the plain raiment of our flesh. The storms were to beat him, the crowds were to jostle him, the dust was to sprinkle him. the mobs were to pursue him. () Shepherd of Israel, leave nt home thy bright array! For thee, what streams to ford, what nights nil unsheltered! He puts upon him the plain raiment of our hunt unity. wears our woes, and while earth and heaven and hell stand a maxed nt the abnegation wraps around him the shepherd's plaid. Cold mountains and the midnight air Witnessed the fervor of his prayer. The Shepherd's Crook. Next I mention the shepherd's crook. This w as a rod with a curve at the end,

which when a sheep was going astray was thrown over its neck aud in that way it was pulled back. When the sheep were not gping astray, the shepherd would often use it as a of crutch, leaning on it, but when the sheep were out of the way the crook was always busy pulling them back. Ail we, like sheep, have gone astray, and had it not been for the shepherd’s crook wo would have fallen long ago over the precipices. Here is a man who is making too much money. He is gettiug very vain. He says: “After awhile I shall be independent of all the world. O my soul, eat, drink and be merry!” Business disaster eomes to him. What is God going to do with him/ Has God any grudge against him?_ OK; TOT Gbflis throwing 1 over Kirn tlie’ shepherd’s crook and pulling him back into bettor pastures. Here is a man who has always been well. He has never had any sympathy for invalids. He calls them coughing, wheezing nuisances. After awhile sickness comes to him. He does not understand what God is going to do with him. He says, “Is the Lord angry with.me/” Oh, no! With the shepherd’s crook he has been pulled back into better pastures. Here is a happy household circle. The parent does not realize the truth that these children are only loaned to him, and he forgets from what source came his domestic blessings, Sickness drops upon those children and death - swoops upon a little one. He says, “Is God angry with me/” No. His shepherd’s crook pulls him back into hotter pastures. I do not know what would have become of us if it had not been for the shepherd's creek. Oh, the mercies of our troubles! You take up apples and plums from’under the shade of tlie'trees, and the very best fruits of Christian character we find in the deep shade of trouble. Uses of Adversity. When I was on the steamer coming across the ocean, I got a cinder in my eye, and several persons tried to get it out very gently, but it could not be taken out in that way. I was told that the engineer had a faculty in such cases. I went, to him. He put his large, sooty hand on me, took a knife and Wrapped the lid of the eye around the knife. I expected to be hurt very much, but without any pain and instantly he removed the cinder. Oh, Jhere come times in our Christian life when our spiritual vision is being spoiled and all gentle appliances fail! Then there comes some giant trouble and black handed lays hold of us and removes that which would have ruined our vision forever. I will gather all our joys together in one regiment of ten companies, and I will put them under Colonel Joy. Then I will gather all your sorrows together in one regiment of ten companies and put them under Colonel Breakheart. Then I will ask, Which of these regiments has gained for you the greater victories? Certainly that under Colonel Breakheart. In the time of war, you may remember at the South and North, the question was whether the black troops would fight, but when they were put into the struggle on both sides they did heroically. In the great day of eternity it will be found that it was not the white regiment of joys that gained your greatest successes, but the black troops of trouble, misfortune and disaster. Where you have gained one spiritual s'uecess from your prosperity, you have gained ten spiritual successes from your adversity. There is no animal that struggles more violently than a sheep when you corner it and catch hold of it. Down in the glen I see a group of men around a lost sheep. A plowman comes along and seizes the sheep and tries to pacify it, but it is more frightened than ever. A miller eomes along, puts down his grist and caresses the sheep, and it seems as if it would die of fright. After awhile some one breaks through the thicket. He says, “Let me have the poor thing.” He comes up and lays his arms around the sheep and it is immediately quiet. Who is the last man that comes? It is the shepherd. All, my friends, be not afraid of the shepherd’s crook! It is never used on you save in mercy, to pull you back. The hard, cold iceberg of trouble will melt in the warm gulf stream of divine sympathy. There is one passage I think you misinterpret, "The bruised reed he will not break.” Do you know that the shepherd in olden times played upon these feeds? They were very easily bruised, but when they were bruised .they were never mended. The shepherd could so easily make another one, he would snap the old one and throw it away and get another. The Bible says it is not so with our Shepherd. When the music is gone out of a man’s soul, God does not snap him in twain and throw him away. He mends and restores. “The bruised reed he will not break.” When in the o’er hanging heavens of fate The threatening clouds of darkness dwell, Then let us humbly watch and wait. It shall be well, it shall be well. And when the storm has passed nway And sunshine smiles oil tlood and fell llow sweet to think, how sweet to say, It has been well, it has been well! The Shcpherd’B IlogH, Next I speak of the shepherd’s dogs. They watch tin 1 straying sheep and drive them hack again. Every shepherd has liis dog—from the nomads of the Bible times down to the Scotch herdsman watching his flocks on the Grampian hills. Our Shepherd employs the criticisms ami persecutions of the world ns his dogs. There arc those, you know, whose whole work It is to watch the inconsistencies of Christians and bark at them. If one of God’s sheep gets astray, the world howls. With more avidity than a shepherd's dog ever caught a stray sheep by the flanks or lugged it by the ears worldlings seize the Christian astray. It ought to do us good to know that we arc thus watched. It ought to put us on our guard. They cannot bite us, if we stay near the Shepherd. The sharp knife of worldly assault will only trim the vines until they produce better grapes. The more you pound marjoram and rosemary, the sweeter they smell. The more dogs take after you, the quicker you will get to the gate. You have noticed that different flocks of sheep havo diferent marks upon them; sometimes a red mark, sometimes a blue niiirk.. sometimes a straight mark and sometimes a crooked mark. The Lord our Shepherd has a mark for ids sheep. It is a red mark—the mark of the cross. “Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”

Furthermore, consider the pasture grounds. The old shepherds used to take tlie sheep upon the mountains in the summer and dwell in. -the valleys in the w,inter. The sheep being out of doors perpetually, their wool was better than if they had been kept in the hot atmosphere of the sheep cot. Wells .were dug for the sheep and covered with large stones, iu order that the hot weather might not spoil tli.e water. And then the shepherd led his flock wherever he would; nobody disputed his right. So the Lord-our Shepherd has a large pasture ground. He takes us in the summer to the mountains and in the winter to the valleys. Warm days of prosperity eoute and we stand ou sun gilt Sabbaths, and on hills of transfiguration. and we are so high up we can catch a glimpse of the pinnacles of the heavenly "city. Then cold, wintry days of trouble come, and we go down into the 'valley of sickness, want and bereavement and we say, “Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow?” But, blessed be God, the Lord'*, sheep can find pasture anywhere. Between two rocks of trouble a tuft -*~of succulent promises; green pastures beside still waters; long, sweet grass between bitter graves. You have noticed the structure of the sheep’s mouth? It is so sharp that it can take up a blade of grass or clover top from the very narrowest spot. And so God’s sheep can pick up comfort where others can gather none. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” Rich pasture, fountain fed pasture, for all the flock of the Good Shepherd!

The hill of Zion yields A thousand sacred sweets Before we reach the heavenly fields Or walk the golden streets. Ttle Shepherd’s Fold. Lastly consider the shepherd’s fold. The time of sheep shearing was a very glad time. The neighbors gathered and they poured wine and danced for joy. The sheep were put in a place inclosed by a wall, where it was very easy to count them and know whether any of them liad been taken by the jackals or dogs. The inclosure was called the sheepfold. Good news I have to tell you, in, that our Lord the Shepherd has a sheepfold, and those who are gathered in it shall never bo struck by the storm, shall never be touched by the jackals of temptation and trouble. It lias a high wall — so high that no troubles can get in, so high that the joys cannot get out. How glad the old sheep will be to find the lambs that left them a good many years ago! Millions of children in heaven! Oil, what a merry heaven it will make! Not many long meter psalms there! They will be in tlie majority and will run away with our song, carrying it up to a still higher point of ecstasy. Oh. there will be shouting! If children on earth clapped their hands and danced for joy, what will they do when to the gladness of childhood on earth is added the gladness of childhood in heaven?

It is time we got over these morbid ideas of how w'e shall get out of this world. You make your religion an undertaker planning coffins and driving hearses. Your religion smells of tlie varnish of a funeral casket. Rather let your religion to-day come out aud show you tlie sheepfold that God has provided for you. Ah, you say, there is a river between this and thgt! I know it, but that Jordan is only for the sheep washing, and they shall go 4ip on the other banks snow white. They follow the great Shepherd. They heard his voice long ago. They are safe nowone fold and one Shepherd! Alas for those who are finally found outside the inclosure! The night of their sin howls with jackals. They are thirsting for their blood. The very moment that a lamb may be frisking upon the hills a bear may be looking at it from the thicket, Tlie Joy of Victory. In June, 1815, there was a very noble party gathered iu a house in St. Janies square, London. The prince regent was present, and the occasion was made fascinating by music and banqueting and by jewels. While a quadrille was being formed, suddenly all the people rushed to the jvindows. What is the matter? Henry Percy had arrived with the' nows that Waterloo had been fought and that England had won the day. The dance was abandoned, the party dispersed, lords, ladies and musicians rushed into the strpet, and in fifteen minutes from the first announcement of tlie good news the house was emptied of all its guests. Oh, ye who are seated at the banquet of this world or whirling in its gayeties and frivolties, if you could hear the sweet strains of the gospel trumpet announcing Christ’s victory over sin and death and hell, you would rush forth, glad in the eternal deliverance! The Waterloo against sin lias boon fought, and our Commandor-in-Chief hath won the day. Oh, the joys of this salvation! 1 do not care what metaphor, what comparison, you have. Bring it to me, that I may use it. Amos shall bring one simile, Isaiah another, John another. Beautiful with pardon. Beautiful with peace. Beautiful with anticipations. Or, to return to the pastoral figure of my text, come out of the poor pasturage of this world into tlie rich fortunes of the Good Shepherd. The shepherd of old used to play beautiful music, and sometimes the sheep would gather around him and listen. To-day my heavenly shepherd calls to you with tlie very music of heaven, bidding you to leave your sin and accept his pardon. Oh, that all this flock would hear the piping of tlie Good Shepherd! Copyright, 18U8.