Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-11-26
AN OBNOXIOUS DIET.
DR.. TALNAGES ELOQUENT TABERNACLE
SERMON YESTERDAY.
Clean and Unclsan PoOd-SOms Of the Foil An
imals Men Harbor in Their Souls-fhs
Owl Of Melancholy and the
Vulturs Of Envy.

VI
Special Telegram 10 Ge Register.
BROOKLYN, November 25.-At the Tab
ernscls this evening, the great tongrega-
tion sang the hymn beginning:
Awake my soul TO joyful lays,
And siug the great Redeemer's praise"
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, D. D preached,
taking for his text: "And these are they
which ye shall have in sbomination among
the fowls, the owl, the vulture, and the
bat. These also shall be uncltan to You
among the creeping things that creep upon
the earth; the chameleon and the snail. "
-Leviticas, Ii, 1890. Following is the
discourse in full:
The Bible offers every possible variety
of theme, of argument, and Of illustration.
We care not much in what kind of
pitcher the water of life Is brought, il it is
only the clea-, pure water. God gave the
ancients o list of the animals that they
might eat, and list Of animals that they
might not eat These people lived in q
hot climate, and certain forms of animal
food corrupted their blood, and disposed
them to scrofulous ditorders, dspravei
their appetites, and bemeaned the souls.
A mans food, when he has the means and
opportunity of selecting it, suggests his
moral nature. The reason the wild In
dian is as cruel as the lion is because he
has food that gives him the blood of the
lion. A missionary among the Indians
say that, by changing his style Of food TO
correspond with theirs, his temperament
was entirely charged.
But, higher than this physical reason,
there was a spiritual reason why God chose
certain forms of food for the sncients. God
gave peculiar diet to His people, not only
because He wanted them to be distin-
guished from the surrounding nations, but
because certain birds and animals, by rea-
SON of their habits, have always been sug-
gestive of moral qualities. By the list OF
things from which they were TO abstain,
God wished to pre- dice their minds against
certain evils; and in the list of lawful
things given, He WISHED to suggest certain
forms Of good. When God solemnly for
bade His people to eat the owl, the yul-
ture, the bat, the chameleon. and the
snsil, He meant 10 drive out Of lispeopls
all the sins that were thus emblemized.
THE SUGGESTION OF THE TEXT.
take the suggestion of the text, and say
that one of the first unclean things the
Christian needs to drive out Of his soul is
the owl. The owl is the melancholy bird
of night. 1t matches out whole broods of
superstitions. 1t is dolefal and hideous.
When it sings, it sings through its nose.
1t loves the gloom of night better than the
brightness of the day. Who has not slept
in the cabin near the woods, and has
been awaken ned in tie night by the dismal
"too hoo" Of the owl? Melancholy is the
owl that is peIche1 in many Christian
soul. 1t is an uuclean bird, and needs to
be driven away. A man whose sins are
pardoned, and who is on the road to heav'
en-, has no right to be gloomy. He saws;
Il have so many doubts" That Is be-
cause "you are lazy" Go actively to
work in Christ's cause, and your doubts
will vanish. You say: ~ have lost my
property" but l reply: "You have infinite
treasures laid up in heaven" You say;
II am weak aud sickly and going to die.
Then be congratulated that you are 80 near
eternal health and perpetual glsdness.
Catch few msrning larks for your soul,
and stone this owl off your premises.
Again: taking the suggestion Of tbetext,
drive out the vulture from your soul. God
would not allow the Jews to eat it. 1t
lives on carcmses; it fattens among the
dead; with lea1eu wing ii circles about bat
tle.felds. Wilson, the American orni-
thologist, counted two hundred and thirty
seven vultures a-oupd one carcass. II
crossing the desert when there is no sigu
of wing in tie air q canal perish out OF the
caravan, Immediately the air begins to
darken with vultures. There are many
professed Christians who have vulturei in
;;hhss;r souls. They prey upon the character
and feeling, Ga 1f Ssttaisrs, A doubtful rsputa'
ton is a banquet for them. some tiVal IN
trade or profession fsllg, and the value
puts out it's head. These people revel in
the details of mans ruin. They say: VI
told You 80 " They rush into some store
and say: "Have you heard the news? Just
as / expected! Oar neighbOr has gone all
10 pieces! Good for him"
The SIN OF GOSSIP.
That professedly Cbristisn woman, hay-
ing heard of the wrong-doing Of some sis-
ter in the church, instead Of hiding the
sin with q mantle of charity, peddle' it all
along the streets. She takes the af' ernoOn
to make her long-neglected Calls. She tells
the story ten times before sundown, and
every time tells it larger. She rushes into
the parlors 10 tell it, and into the nursery
TO tell it, and into the kitchens to tell it
She says: "Wculd you have thought it?
Well, / always said there was something
wrong about her. Why, | should not
speak to her if I saw her in the street. 1s
it net horrible? But better not say any
thing about 1t, because there may be some
mistake. do not want my name involved
in the matter. Iguess will Just 90 over
and ask them at No. 263 whether they
have heard it. Guess it must be so, for
Mary Ann says that her husband saw n
man who heard from his business partner
that his blind old grandmother hsd seen
something that locked very 'suspiciousn'
Again: taking the suggt stion Of the text,
drive ont the bat from your soul. No
wonder God set this bird among the I'M.
clean. 1t is an offense to every one. Let
il fly into the window OF summer night,
and sll the hands, young and old, are
against it. It is half bird and half mouse.
1t seems made partly 10 walk and partly
to fiy, and does neither we'll; and becomes
an emblem OF those Christians who try to
cling to earth and heaven at the same
time. They want 10 walk on ea'th in
worldlinsss, and yet fly toward heaven in
spirituality; and their soul, between feet
and wipg', is constantly psrpleIed. Oh,
my brethren, be one thing or the other
CHOOSE THE WORLD,
if you prefer it; and zee bow many dol
lars you can win, and how much applsusf
ycu can g,in, and bow large business
you can establish, and bow grand house
you can build, and how fast . span ol
horses you can drive. You may be pros.
psred until you can fail for five hundred
thousand dollars, instead Of having the
disgrace Of failing for only ten thousand
as some, unenterprising people do. 1t Ii
quite o reward to be able for ten
or twenty years to be called ons
of the solid men of Brooklyn or Boston
and then, to make your fortune Last as
long as possible, we will give You splen'
did funeral, and You shall have twenty
FIVE carriages following you, with some