The Penn's Grove record., 1888-12-15
DR.. TALMAGE's SERMON
An Obnoxious Diet.

An Obnoxious Diet.
sand these arc they which 70 shall have In
abomination among the fowls: the ovl
the ~yulture, and the bat These also shall
be unclean unto you among tho creeping things
that creep upon the earth: I. !. . the chameleon
and the snail. II 1870.
The Bible offers every possible vari-
ETY. of theme, of argument, and OF Illus
t~ration. We car not much In what
kind of q pitcher the water Of life Is
brought, IL it is only the clear. pure
water. God gave the ancients q list OF
the ANIMALS that they might eat. and ..
list of animals that they might not eat.
These people lived in a hot climate, and
certain forms OF animal food corrupted
their blood, and disposed them to scr0-
fulous disorders, depraved their APP
~Ietites. and bemeaned their souIA 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
lie has food that gives him the blood Of.
the lion. A missionary among the In
dians says that, by changing his style
of food to correspond with theirs, his
temperament was entirely changed.
There are certain.
FORMS OF rood
that have a tendency foaffect the moral
nature. Many a Christian is trying to
do by prayer that which cannot be done
except through corrected diet. For
instance, he who uses sw1ne's flesh for
constant diet will be diseased In body
and polluted of soul-all his liturgies
and catechisms Notwithstanding. The
Gadarene swine were possessed OF the
devil, and ran down q steep place into
the sea, and all the swine ever since
seem to have been similarly possessed.
In Levlticus, God struck this meat on
the table of His people, and placed be-
fore them a bill Of fare at once health
full. nutritious, and generous.
But, higher than this physical rea-
son, there was a spiritual reason why
God chose certain forms of food for the
a~ncients. God gave a peculiar diet to
his people, not only because he wanted
them to be distinguished from the sur
rounding nations, but because CERTAIN
birds and animals, by reason OF their
habits. have been
SUGGESTIVE OF MORAL QUALITIES
By the list of things from which they
were to abstain, God wished to pre-
judice their minds against certain evils;
and in the list Of lawful things given,
lie wished to suggest certain forms of
good. When God solemnly forbade His
people to eat the owl, the v~ulture, the
bat, the chameleon, and the snail, He
meant to drive out Of His people all the
sins that were thus emblemized.
l 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 broojs of super
stitions. 1t is doleful and hideous.
When it sings, it sings through its
nose. 1t loves the gloom of night bet
ter than the brightness Of the day.
Who has not slept in the cabin near the
woods, and been avail ened in the night
by the dismal s'too-lIoo" of the OwlY
Melancholy is the owl that is perched
in many a Christian soul. 1t Is an I'M
clean bird, and needs to be driven
away. A man whose sins are pardoned,
and who is on the road to heaven, has
no right to be gloomy. He says: II
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: II have lost
my property''; but l reply: "You have
infinite treasure laid up in heaven
You say: 81 am weak and sickly, and
going to die" Then be congratulated
that you are SO neal eternal health and
perpetual gladness. Catch a few morn.
ing larks for your soul, and stone this
owl off your premises.
AS Il little gal was eating, the sun
dashed upon her spoon, and she cried
"Oh, mamma, / have swallowed
SPOONFUL OF sUNsHNEl"
Would God that we might all indulge
in the same beverage! Cheerfulness-
1t makes the homeliest face handsome;
it makes the hardest mattress soft; il
runs the loom that weaves buttercups
and raIntows and auroras. God made
the grass black? No: that would be
too sOmbre. God made the grass redi
No: that would be too gaudy. God
made the grass green, that BY this par
able all the world might be led to a sub
dued cheerfulness. Read your Bible in
the sunshine. Remember that your
physical hes 1ih Is closely allied to your
spiritual. The heart and the liver are
only a few inches apart, and what af-
fects one affects the other. A historian
records that by the sound Of great
laughter in Rome, Hannibal's assault
ing army was frightened away in re-
treat. And there is In the great out
bursting Joy Of a Christian soul that
which can drive back any Internal be-
siegement. Rats love dark closets, and
Satan loves to burrow in gloomy soul.
"ReJoice in the Lord, o ye righteous!
and again l say, r~ejoicel"
Hoist the window of your soul In this
the IL O'Clock of your spiritual night.
Put the gun to your shoulder, and aim
at the blood jungle from which the
hooting comes. pull the trigger, and
drop that croaking, ~loathsome, hideous
owl of religious melancholy into the
bushes.
Again: taking the suggestion Of the
text,
DRIVE OUT THE vULTURE
from your soul. God would not allow
the Jews to eat it, 1t Lives on ~carcasses;
it fattens among the dead; with leaden
wing it circles about battle-fields. Will
son, the American ornithologist, count
ed two hundred and thi.ty-seven vul-
lures around one carcass. If crossing
the desert when there isno sign of wing
in the air a camel perish out of the
caravan, Immediately the air begins to
darken with vultures. There are many
professed Christians who have a vulture
IN their souls. They prey upon the
character and fpalinps of others A
doubtful reputation is a banquet for
them. SINE rival in trade or profess
sion falls, and the vulture puts out its
head. These people revel in the de-
tails Of a mans ruin. They say: Il
told you sol'' They rush into some
store and say: "IIave you heard the
news2 Just as I expected Our neigh
Dor has gone all to piecesl Good for
himl''
That rrofessedly Christian woman.