The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-11-21
SECRETS
Which Can Not Be Hidden
Away.
The Great Secret of Hearts Penetrates all
Mysteries. And Lays Bare the Decep-
tiOn of Our Natures.

BROOKLYN, November 18.-Dr. Talmage
preached to-day in the Brooklyn Taber
nacle, his subject being "The Secret
Out" Before the sermon he explained
the 18th chapter of Matthew, showing
that the heart needs to be washed as well
as the hands. The opening hymn was:
"He leadeth me, oh. blessed thought"
The text was 1. Samuel xV.. IA: "And
Samuel said, what meaneth then this
bleating of the sheep in mine ears and
the lowing of the oxen which hearW
The following is the text of the SER
mon:
Hundreds of thousands of youth last
Sabbath transatlantic and cisatlantic,
studied these incidents in the interna-
tiOnal Sunday school series. The Amale-
kites thought they had conquered God
and that He would not carry into execu
tiOn His threats against them. They
had murdered the Israelites in battle
and left no outrage untried. For 400
years this had been going on and they
say, "GOd either dare not punish us or
he has forgotten to do So" Let US see.
Samuel, Gods prophet, tells Saul to go
down and slay all the Amalekltes, not
leaving one of them alive; also to de-
strOy all the beasts i'll their possession
OK, sheep, camel and ass. Harkl L hear
the tread of 100000 men with mOnstrOuS
Saul at their head, ablaZe with armOr,
his shield dangling at his side, holding
in his hand spear, at the waving of
which the great host marched or halted.
The sound of their feet shaking the
earth seems like the tread of the great
God as marching in vengeance he
.tramples nations into the dust. see
smoke curling against the sky. Now
there is thick cloud of it; and now L
see the whole city rising in a chariot of
smoke behind steeds of fire. 1t is Saul
that set the city ablaze. The Amale-
kites and Israelites meet; the trumpets
of battle blow peal on peal, and there Is
a death hush. Then there Is signal
waved; swords cut and hack; javelins
ring on shields; arms fall from trunks
and heads roll into the dust. Cash after
cash, the frenzied yell, the gurgling of
thrOttled thrOats, the cry of pain, the
laugh of revenge, the curse Missed be-
tween clenched teeth,-an army's death
grOan. Stacks of dead on all sides, with
eyes unshut and mouths yet grlnnlng
vengeance. Huzza for the Israelitesl
Two hundred and ten thousand men
wave their plumes and clap their shields,
for the Lord God hath given them the
victory.
Yet that victorious army of Israel are
conquered by sheep and oxen. God,
through the Prophet Samuel, told Saul
to slay all the Amalekites, and to slay
all the beasts in their possession; but
Saul, thinking that he knows more than
God, saves Agag, the Amalekitish king,
and five drove of sheep and herd of
oxen that he cannot bear to kill. Saul
drives the sheep and oxen down toward
home. He has no idea that Samuel, the
prophet, will find out that he has saved
these sheep and oxen for himself.
Samuel comes and asks Saul the news
from the battle. Saul puts on a solemn
fhara ia Whn lOOk
more solemn than your genuine hypO-
critic, and he says: 81 have fulfilled the
commandment of the Lord" Samuel
listens and he hears the drove of sheep
a little way off. Saul had no idea the
prophets ear would be so acute. Samuel
says to Saul: "If you have done as God
told YOU and slain all the AmalekiteS
and all the beasts in their possession,
what meaneth the bleating of the sheep
in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen
that | hear" All, one would have
thought that bushes would have con-
sumed the cheek of SAUL No, mol He
says the aTmy--nOt himself, of course, but
the army--had saved the sheep and
oxen for sacrifice, and then they thought
it would be TOO bad anyhow to kill
Agag, the Amalekitish king. Samuel
takes the sword and he slashes Agag to
pieces; and then he takes the skirt Oi
the coat in true Oriental style and rende
it in twain, as much as to say: You
Saul, just like that shall be torn away
from your throne" In other words, lei
all the nations of earth hear the story
that Saul by disObeying God won q
flock of sheep but lost a kingdom.
1 learn first from this subject thai
God will expose hypocrisy. Here Sau
Dretends he has fulfilled the divine com
mission by Staying all the beasts belong
ing to the Amalekites, and yet at the
very moment he is telling the story anC
practicing the delusiOn, the secret comes
out and the sheep bleat and the OxeI
below. A hypocrite Is one who pre-
tends to be what he is not OF to do wha
he does not. Saul was only type of 6
class. The modern hypOerite looks aw
fully solemn, whines when he prays ant
during his public devotion shows grea
deal of the whites of his eyes. He neye
laughs, or If he does laugh he seem
sorry for it afterwards, as though he hat
committed some great indiscretiOn. Tn
first time he gets chance he pray
twenty minutes in public, and when h
exhOrts he seems to imply that all tn
race are sinners with one exception, hi
mOdesty fOrbidding the stating VIII
that one sis. There are great man
churches that have two or three eeelesl
astical Uriah Heeps. When the fox be
gins to pray look out for your chickens
The more genuine religion man ha
the more comfortable he will be; bu
YOU may know a religious impOster b
the fact that he prides himself on th
fact that he is uncomfortable. ma
of that kind is of immense damage
the church of Christ. A ship may out
ride a hundred storms and yet hand
full of worms in the planks may sink
to the bottom. The church of God Is nc
so much in danger Of the cyclones Q
trouble and persecution that come upo
it as of the vermin of hypocrisy that fir
tests it. Wolves are Of no danger to th
fold of God unless they look like sheel
Arnold was of more damage to the arm
than CORVALLIS and his hosts. oh, W
cannot deceive God with church cert
fcatel He sees behind the curtain q
well as before the curtain; He see
everything inside-Out. man ma.
through policy, hide his real character
but God will after while tear open tn
whited sepulchre and expose the putr'
faction. Sunday faces cannot save hin