THE WOUNDED DOVE

ON THE WINGS OF A DOVE 65-1128E 128 Right here I have a little story in my mind, I read one time out of a book. Now, I don't want to say this is sure; it may be in "The Decline of the First World War." I'm not positive of that now; if you miss seeing it, then I'm wrong. I either read it in a book... It's been many years ago. But it was certainly a--a really a--a dramatic thing that happened.

The American soldiers was pinned down

by German machine-gun fire

, and they were in kind of in a pit.

You soldiers, I guess, understand how they were on a reconnaissance somewhere. And they was pinned down, and they had just a little bit of ammunition left.

And the Germans was moving in great units,

moving in everywhere.

And they knowed that unless they'd get some reinforcement, some help, that they would soon all die (they had to);

the Germans coming right down off the mountain, looking right down their neck, going right into them like that.

And one of them happened to remember that he had a little mascot, a little pigeon.

So he knew that this pigeon, if it could get out of there, would carry the message to the main headquarters to where they'd been stationed. And so they set down and wrote on a note, "We are pinned down in a certain position at a certain area. We're out of ammunition, in a few hours we'll have to surrender or either we'll be massacred." And they pinned this, or tied it on the--the foot of this little dove and turned him loose. Now, he's a home-loving bird, so he... What does he do? He takes back home for his--meet, find his mate. She was worried about him; he'd have to come back home.

132 And as he went up, the Germans seen what had happened.

So the thing they done, they started shooting at the dove. And one of them hit him with a .30 caliber machine gun, or bullet, it broke his leg. Another one tore a big hunk out of his back. His chest was bruised all the way across.

One of his wings was crippled, the end shot off of it, and he flew sideways. But he kept climbing, and finally he made it.

Crippled, wounded, broken, bruised, but he fell in the camp with the message.

That was a great dove. But, oh, brother, Isaiah 53 tells us of One, came down from home and all that was good: And he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we were healed.

134 Sickness, superstition, and devils had us pinned down; there was no way out; the church had gone wrong; they'd went off on denominational things (and the Pharisees, Sadducees, and washing of pots and pans), and the Word of God become of no effect. But this little Dove came down, and there's only one thing could take place: there had to be a redeemer.

But being wounded, broken, beaten, torn, but He knowed His way back home. So from Calvary's cross where they bruised Him, mashed Him, tore Him, like a bunch of wolves upon Him, He made His flight from Calvary and then landed in heaven's doors, saying, "It's finished. It's finished. They're free. Sickness can be healed now. Sinners can be saved. The captive can be set free." Though He was bruised and wounded, that great battle there when even everything against Him... Even the poet cried out. Mid rendering rocks and darkening skies, My Saviour bowed His head and died; But the opening veil revealed the way To heaven's joy and endless day.