Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-12-15
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINPs SUNDAY
SERMON

TEXT: "And these are they Which ne shall
hGue IN 0bomindt among the fouls. the
OtCI, the culture end the bat. These also
shall be unclean 10 you among the creeping
things that creep upon the earth; the chdme-
Ton and the snail. "-Leviticus XII, 1880.
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
clear, pure water. God gave the ancients a
list of the animals they might eat and
list Of animals that they might not
eat. These people lived in hot climate,
and certain forms of animal food corrupted
their blood, and disposed them to scrofu-
lous disorders, depraved their appetites, and
bemeaned their souls mans food, when
he has the means and opportunity of select
ing it, suggests his moral nature The rea-
SON the wild Indian is as cruel as the lion
il because he has food that gives him
the blood of the lion. A missionary
among the Indians says that, by changing
his style OF food to correspond with theirs
his temperament was entirely changed There
are certain forms Of food that have a tend
ency to affect 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
Bwine's flesh for constant diet will be dis
eased in body and polluted of soul-all his
liturgies and catechisms Notwithstanding.
The Gadarene swine were possessed of
the devil and ran down steep
place into the sea, and all the swine ever
since seem to have been similarly possessed.
In Leviticus, God struck this meat off the
table Of His people, and placed before them
bill Of fare at once healthful, nutritious
and generous
But, higher than this physical reason, there
was a spiritual reason why God chose certain
forms Of food for the ancients. God gave
peculiar diet to his people, not only because
he wanted them to be distinguished from
the surrounding nations, but because GER
tain birds and animals, by reason
suggestive of moral qualities By the list of
things from which they were to abstain. God
wished to prejudice their minds against GER
tain evils; and in the list Of lawful things
given, be wished to suggest certain forms of
good. When God solemnly forbade His peo-
pie to eat the OWL the vulture, the bat,
the chameleon, and the snail, He meant to
drive out of His people all the sins that were
thus einbemzed.
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
evil. The owl is the melancholy bird of
night. 1t matches out whole broods
of superstitions. 1t is doleful 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
been awakened in the night by the dismal
"too-hoo" of the owll Melancholy is the
owl that is perched in many Christian
soul. 1t is an unclean bird, and needs to be
drivenaway. man whose sins are pardoned,
and who is on the road to heaven, has no
right to be gloomy. He says: 81 have SO
many doubts" That is because you are
lazy Go actively to work in Christ's
md ,wf1l ieb
property;S but reply: "You have
infinite treasures laid up in Heaven You
say: II am weak and sickly, and going to
die" Then be congratulated that you are so
near eternal health and perpetual gladness
Catch a few morning larks for your soul,
and stone this owl off your premises
ASS little girl was eating, the sun dashed
upon her spoon, and she cried: 20, mann
ma, have swallowed spoonful of sun
sinner Would God that we might all in
dulge in the same beveragel Cheerfulness;
makes the hardest mattress soft; it
runs the loom that weaves but
tlrcups. and rainbows, and auroras
God made the grass blackl No; that would
be too sombre God made the grass red.
No, that would be too gaudy. God made the
grass green, that by this parable all the
world might be led to subdued cheerful
ness Read your Bible in the sunshine.
Remember that your physical health is
closely allied to your spiritual. The heart
and the liver are only few inches apart,and
what affects one affects the other. A histor-
rian records that by the sounds sof great
laughter in Rome, Hannibal's assaulting
army was frightened away in retreat
And there is in the great outbursting joy
of a Christian soul that which can drive
back any internal besiegement. Rats love
dark closets, and Satan loves to burrow in
gloomy soul. Rejoice in the Lord, o ye
riRhteousl and again say, reioicei'
. Hoist the window of your soul in this the
twelve O'Clock Of your spiritual night. Put
the gun to your shoulder, and aim at the
black Jungle from which the hooting comes,
pull the trigger. and drop that croaking,
loathsome, hideous owl of religious melan-
choly 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; il fattens among the dead;
with leaden wing it circles about battle
fields. Wilson, the American orntholOgist,
counted two hundred and thirty seven
vultures around one carcass. II crossing
the desert when there is no sign of wing in
the air, camel perish out Of the caravan,
Immediately the air begins to darken with
vultures There are many professed Chris
tans who have a vulture in their souls. They
prey upon the character and feelings of
banquet for them. Some rival in trade or
profession falls, and the vulture puts out his
head. These1people revel in the details of a
mans ruin. They say: ~ told you so.n
They rush into some store, and say: "Have
you heard the Dewsl Just as ! expected
Our neighbor has gone all to piecesl Good
for himia
That professedly Christian woman, having
heard Of the wrong-doing of some sister in
the church, instead of hiding the sin with
mantle of charity, peddles it all along the
streets She takes the afternoon TO mako
her long neglected calls She tells
the story ten times before sum
down, and every time tells it larger. She
rushes into the parlors TO tell il, and into the
nursery 70 tell 1t, and into the kitchen to tell
t. She SAYS: "Would you have thought
I'll Well, I always said there was
something wrong about her. Why.
should not speak to her II I saw her in the
street. Is II not horrible2 But better not
cay any thing about IT, because there
may be some mistake / do not want
my name involved In the matter
guess l will just go over and ask them at No.
~ whether they have beard it, Guess it
must be 80. for Mary Ann says that her hus-
band saw man who heard from his business
partner that his blind old grandmother had
Ieen something that looked very suspciousl"
The most loathsome. miserable, God for
aaken wretch on earth lisa gossip / can tell
-. - A. y