The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-12-12
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIyINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "An Obnoxious Diet. :"

TENT: "And these are they ,ohtch ye shat
hare in abomination among the fouls: tn
shall be unc!edn to gou among The creepin!
things that creep upon the earth; the chdme
Ion and the s1aail."-Leviticus XII, 1880.
The Bible offers every possible variety o.
theme. of argument, and of illustration. We
care not much in what kind of a pitcher thu
water of life is brought, il it is only the
clear, pure water. Col gave the ancients c
list of tie animals they might eat, and 8
list of animals that they might not
and certain forms of animal food corrupted
their blood, and disposed them to scrofu.
lous disorders, depraved their appetites, and
bemeaned their souls. A 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
is 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 tend
ency to affect the moral nature. Many a
Christian. is trying to do by prayer
corrected diet. For instance, he who uses
swine'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
a bill Of fare at once healthful, nutritious
and generous
But higher than this physical reason, there
was 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
tain birds and animals, by reason
of their habits, have always been
suggestive of moral qualities By the list of
things from which they were to abstain. God
wished to prejudice their minds against GER
cain evils; and in the list of lawful things
good. When God solemnly forbade His peo-
DIE 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 emblemiZed.
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. It matches out whole broods
of superstitions. 1t is doleful and hideous.
When it sings, it sings through its
nose. It 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
stoo-hoo'' of the owl' Melancholy is the
owl that is perched in many, Christian
soul. 1t is an unclean 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: 81 have so
many doubts" That is because you are
lazy" Go actively to work in Christ's
cause, and your doubts will vanish.
You: You say: ,n+ 81 have have .%dn lost b5nys my
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.
As little girl was eating, the sun dashed
upon her spoon, and she cried: 70, mann
ma, have swallowed spoonful OF sun
shine" Would God that we might all in
dulge in the same beverage! Cheerfulness;
it makes the homeliest face handsome: it
makes the hardest mattress SOFT; it
runs the loom that weaves but
sd ssedqpd psd ss dnd rraa bs No 1d that Toud
be too sombre. God nade 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 a subdued cheerful
ness Read yo.r 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 of great
laughter in Rome, Hannibars assaulting
army was frightened away in retreat.
And there is in the great outburstins Joy
Of 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, y ye
righteous! and again say, reioice!'
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 croakins,
ioathsome, 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; it fattens among the dead:
with leaden wing it circles about tattle-
fields. Wilson, the American ornithologlst,
counted two hundred and thrty'seven
vultures around one carcass. If crossing
the desert when there is no sign of wing in
the air, camel perish out OF the caravon,
Immediately the air begins to darSen with
vultures. There are many professed Chris
tans who have a vu!tllre in their souls. They
prey upon the character and feelings OF
others. A doubtful reputation is o
banquet for them. Some rival in trade or
profession falls, and the vulture puts out his
head. These people revel in the details Of a
mans ruin They say: 81 told you so'
They rush into some store, and say: "Have
you heard the pewss Just as l expected!
Our neighbor has gone all to pieces! Good
for him!'
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 make
her long neglected calls. She tells
the story ten times before sum
rushes into the parlors to tell it, and into the
nursery to tell it, and into the kitchen to tell
it. She SAYS: "Would you have thought
it, Well, I always said there was
something wrong about her, Why.
should not sneak to her If l saw her in the
street. Is it not horrible, But better not
say any thing about it. because there
my name involved in the matter. l
guess I will just go over and ask them at No.
2,i3 whether they have heard it. Guess it
must be so. for Mary Ann says that her hus-
band saw q man who heard from his business
partner that his blind old grandmother had
seen something that looked very suspicious!"
The most loathsome. miserable, God-for-
saken wretch on earth isa gossip. I can tel!
her on the street, though have never seen
her before. She walks fast. and has her
bonnet-strings loose, for she has not had time
to tie them since she heard that last scandal.
She LOOKS both ways as she passes hoping to
seenew evidences Of depravity in the windows.
I think that when Satan has job so in
finitely mean that in all the pit he cannot
find devil m"an enough to DO it, AMI all
Dribes and threats have failed to get one