Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1888-01-07
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE RRUukLYN DIEINES SUNDAY
SERMON.
SERMON.

\ preverh is contract wisdom, knowledge
III chunks, n IDIary IN q sentence, the eIec-
tic1ty u many clouds dfschargtd1n one bot,
arlEcr put through a MIL race. When Christ
quotes The TrOvcrb Of the t.xt He m"ane to
set FORTH tt" ludIcrouS behavior Of those wln
make a great buster about SINAI! sins and
have no appreciation Of great ONES. e
IN my text Il snlali meet AMI 4 ltrgc quad
ruped are brought INTO comparison a Giat
AMI a camel. hol hpyc III museum r ~ the
desert seen the latter, a great awkward,
spawning c~reatlIEe, with back two >t"rl.S
high, AMI stomach having "a coll~'tIon Of
reservoirs for desert travel. an animal for
hidden 10 the jews as food, ana IN many
llt"rattres entitled the ship Of the desert.
The gnat spoken 81 IN the text IS III the" grub
form. II IS born in pool or pond, after a few
weeks becomes a Chrvsaii4, and then after a
few days becomes the gnat as We recogniZe
il. II i, in It's smallest SHAPE. and yet InhabIts
the water for my text IS q mi-print, and
ought - read, STRAIN outa gnat.'
Ny taxi -howsy You tn" Prince of in"on.is-
teuclts. 4 man after long oh erpacon has
formed the suspicion that III 4 cup pf watar
he is about to drink there Is a grup or the
grand parent of a glat. He goes an gets Il
sieve or etriIner. lie takes the water and
Iours II through the siey,. in the broad light.
Ic says. Il would rather doaanNtiIng almost
IlAn drink this water until tins lary1 b. cK-
flrpatrl. This water IS brought under IN
QUESTION. I'll" experiment is sIcc,$afIl Ihn
! water PUSHES through Tn" sieve and leaves
against the side OF the SIEVE the grub pr gnat.
Then the man carefully removes tn" insect
md drinks the water III pluciditv. But going
out one day, and hungry he d-vourS a snip
of TIA" desert, the camel, which the Jews
w"r. forbidden u eat. The astronomer has
no cOiupunotiOnS Of conscience. He suffers
from no Indigestion. He puts the lower Jaw
under the camclis fore foot, and his upper
inv over the hump of the camcfs back, and
Tves one swallow and the drOmcdary disap-
l"ars forever. lilo strained out a gnat; he
swallowed n camel.
While Chri,ts audience were vet smiling at
The appositeneSs and wit Of his illustration
Tor smile they did in church unless thew were
too stupid TO understand the hyparboIe-
Christ practically sad to them. Tina IS
YOU PunrtIlious about small things. rcck-
Joss about affairs of great magnitude. No
subject ever with"red under Il surgeons knife
moro bitterly than did the PharIsprs under
thri,ts scalpcl Of truth. As IN anatomist
VIII take n human body to pieces and put
them under n microscope for examination SO
Christ finds His way TO the heart Of The dead
J harIscc and cut, 1t out and puts it under the
IlasS OF Inspection for all generations to ex-
imine. Those Pharisces thought that Christ
would Halter them and compliment them.
nnd how they must have writhei under the
Ielhot words rs he said: ~ 8 fools, W wi!ited
tcls.lchrcs, We blind guides, which strain out
L gnat and swallow q camel"
There are III our day Il great many l,nats
strained out and a great many caInels swal-
lowed, and 1t Is the OBJ ject of this sermon to
sketch a few persons who are extensiV ely en-
lagtsl in that business.
tnst. 1 remark that all those ministers OF
thu Gospel are photographed in the text who
are very ScrupulOus about the convtntionali-
Ines o1 religion, but put no particular stress
upon matters of vast Importance. Church
slvices ought TO be grave and solemn. There
J. no room Tor frlNOllty in religious convoca-
ton HIt there ara jlluStra n apl tkn.o
ARE hyperboleS like that of Christ in he text
that Will irradiate sith smiles any inttlli-
Gent auditory. There are men like th0,. blind
EuldrS OF the text who advocate, only those
things IN religious service which draw the
corners of the mouth down. and d%enounce all
thOs" things which have a tendency to draw
me corners of the inouth up. and these men
VIII 20 To installations and to prtsDrteries
ana IL conferences and to associations. their
pockets iull OF tine SleveS to strain out the
-nats, while IN their own churches ut home
every SnniaE there are tittg peopit. sounl
as.eep. They make their churches a treat
'iormltorv. ami their sonnIferous sermons
are a cradle, AMI the drawlei out hmm, q
lullaby. VIM" some WakttuI SOui IN q rev
with her ian keeps the flies OF unconscious
persons approximate NoH, | say it is worse
to sleep III church than to smile IN church,
for the latter implies at least attention,
wFlu' the former implies the II Iitfer-nce of
the hearers and thu stalility OF the speaker
~ min NIL ', III
from long watching with the sick drow-
slnesS VIII sometimes oycrpouer one,
but when a minister Of the Gospel
looks OF upon an audience anu finds
healthy and lntelllg' nj people struggling with
droWsinc>S. II Is time for hmm to Civ, out the
doNolpEN or pronounce the bcnrlicticn. The
great !auit Of church services to day is not
too much vivacity, but too much som
nolenc". Tho ON" Is All irritating gnat
that may bt easily strained out the other i
- great, N~prlnlIu- and sleepy ecei came! OF
the dry desert. In all our sabbath $, iooIs,
IN al our Bible classes. III all our pllnit,. we
need e. brighten up our religious message
VITA such ChtlSt like NtacIty as we find in
the text.
take down from my liiltry the Lio-ra
pllt> oi mnEtcrs and writers OF past aces
inspired ami unlnSptTrd, who have, done til.
most to bring souls 10 tt>us Christ. and
una thht without i NlnGlecNccption. they con
stcrated their W. ANA their numor L. CHRIST
Elijah used II wlicn he advised The Baalite.
as theN could not make their God respond
telllnE them 10 call louder, lis their to,
'uEht lr sound asleep or gone n hunting
'ohNs'd 1t when ho >ani 10 his Seli-cuu,vilet
coini"rt"rs VISION Will die with You.
,hrl not only u>,si II III the text. but when
-" ironically compliment II the Iutrriiee
tulti~V>. SAVING The whole n@e Il not
ihy>lean, and when ~ one word He ii.
Hcrlt"'i the cunning II lierul, saving: sc,
~, and tell that fox. Matthew Henry
't - l'' II HlNl ist-' Ia Tit
last c"ru~cat,~l with humor as summed
clouds with heat amt lightning. John Eun
vans wrltin-> arc rs fan of huuor ~, the,
nfe 81 SAVING truth. artthcre iS not an age
ia1l more who has ever rcii Pilgrims TO
freSs VII" dos not rrlurfnter that whit,
ieadilg Il he SMILED as often rs h. went
'hrysn>inin. G,orEe Herbert. Rolsrt South
.J9hn Wesley, 'ieorge " hit-iielti. Jeren,
'ANIor, Row and Iiil, George q; t1nney an.
.htm"n Of the Ta>t she greatly advance.
We kIliEtoin If tItsi cpu~s,rttnl their vi
NJ their hunlol IL the rau~4 II Christ \.
- ms tNta III ii. the ages. AN say 10 fhes
Dung theological students. who cluster il
ls~a services Sahhath hv Saht44th. ,harl-.
H"ur wits as ken Is cireterS, AMI then TAX,
l lem INTO TINS HOY war.
- i a very snort bridge between a smil,
sNd "A Tear, a suspension bridge fro,a eve I.
! 2, anu II IS soon crosses. over. trI n .mila i
9 'metlineS Just rs sacred as q tear Ttere !
= much Religion, AMI | think n little mon,
Eta sprung morning than IN "A Starl,ss MID
o ght. religious work " <hout any huulo
G. Wit IN Il Il banquet with a side ri beef
: hd that raw, and no condiments, AMI Il.
DESERT succeeding. People viii not st dowr
a >url a banquet. BY all means remove al
h'Eoiltf AMI AL tathoS an all liShtr rsS an
q vui-arIty strain them ont through III
H"" al hoy discrimination. but. on Ia.
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