Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-05-17
A POISONED DINNER.
euaIEcT OF DR.. TALMAGE's TAeER-
K66AE 5E1T=S77, MAY IL.

Parallel Drawn Between the Past and
Present-The ColOquintida Of Mighty
Observation-Disclosures of Iniquity to BE
Found Everywhere in Modern Life.
BROOKLYN, May 12.-The Rev. 7. De Witt
Talnage, D. D., preached at the Tabernacle
today to a vast congregation, who sang with
grand effect the hymn beginning;
Ny soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise,
And hosts Of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies
His snbieot was "a Poisoned Dinner" and
his text II Kings iv, 40; 80 they poured out
for the men to eat And it came to pass as
they were eating Of the pottage, that they
cried out. and said, o thou man Of God, there
Is death in the pot. And they could not eat
thereof"
Elisha had gone down to lecture to the
students in the theological seminary at Gil
Gal. He found the students very hungry, as
Students are apt to be. 1t is very seldom the
world makes large provision for those who
give themselves to intellectual toll In order
that these students may be prepared to hear
what Elisha says, he first feeds their hunger
He knew very well it is useless to talk, to
preach, to lecture, to argue with hungry
men.
So Elisha, recognizing this common sense
principle, which every Christian ought to
recognize. sends servants out to get food for
these hungry students. They pick up some
good healthful herbs, but they happen to
nick M also some coloquintida, bitter, poi
souous. beautiful herb They bring all these
herbs. they put them into the boiling pot
they stir them up, and then portion OF this
food is brought to the students and their pro
fessors. Seated at the table, one Of the hun
grv students begins Immediately to eat, and
he happens to get hold of some Of the colo
ouintida. He knew it by the taste. He cries
ont: "Poisou. poisonl o thou man Of God,
there is death in the potp CONSERVATION IS
thrown over the whole group. What for
tunate thing it was that this student so early
found the coloquintida in the mixture at the
tablet You will by reference find the story
is precisely as have mentioned it.
cALDRoNs OF SIN AND DEATH
Well. in our day there are great caldrons
of sin and death. Coloquintida Of mighty
temptation is pressed into it. Some dip it
out. and taste, and reject it and live Others
dip it out, taste it, keep on and die. And it
is the business of every minister of religion
and every man who wishes well to the human
race, and who wants to keep the world back
from its follies and its sulferings, to cry out;
''Bewarel poison, poisonl Look out for this
caldronl Stand back BewareP
Sin has done an awful work in our world.
II has gone out through all the ages, it has
mixed up great caldron Of trouble and suf-
fering and pain, and the whole race is poi
soned-poisoned in body, poisoned in mind
poisoned in soul But blessed DO God that
the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ is the antidOte
and where there was sin there shall be par
/ don, and where there was suffering there
! shall be comfort, and where there was death
there shall be life
Some time ago, you will remember, per
! suaded you of the importance Of being char
liable in Judgment of others. At the SAINT
/ time said to you briefly what this morning
wish to say with great emphasis, that whil'
we sympathize with the sinner we must de
ncunce the sin, that while we pity tho unfor
tunate we must be vehement against trans
erosion. Sin is a Jagged thing that needs Il
be roughly handled. You have no right t
garland it with fine phrases or lustrous rhet
| oric. You cannot catch a buffalo with
sill1en lasso.
A group Of emigrants settle in a wild re
gion. The next day wild beast comes dow
from the mountain and carries off one of tn
children. The next day wild beast come
down from the mountain and carries of an
other child. Forthwith all the neighbor
band together, and they go out with torch il
one hand and gun in the other to hunt thes
monsters down, to find their hiding place, t
light up and ransack the cayerns, and to dc
stroy the invaders of their houses. So W
want now not merely to talk about the sin
and the follies of the world; we want to G
behind them, back of them Down into til
caverns where they hide we need to go wit
the torch of Gods Word in one hand and til
sword of Gods eternal Spirit in the other
hunt out and slay these iniquities in thei
hiding places. Or, to come back to the iigur
suggested by my text, we want to find wha
are the caldrons Of sin and death from whic
the iniquities Of society are dipped out.
uNDIscIPLINED HOMES.
l. In the first place, remark; that u
happy and undisciplined homes are the ca
drons of great iniquity. A good home
deathless in its influence. The parent ma
be dead. The old homestead may have bee
J sold, and it may have gone entirely out
the possession Of the family Tue house
self may be torn down. The meadow broC
that wound in front of it may have chung,
It's course OF elllelg III iSA up AHS iSAi5 "a
of old fashioned hollyhocks and the ridg
and hedges of wild rose may have be-
graded, and in place thereof there may
now the beauties of modern gardening. ~
old poplar trees may have cast down the
! crown Of verdure, and they themselves ms
have gone in the dust. Some day you sa
e 81 think I'll go and look at the old place
You go and look at the old place, but o
how changed Your eyes are full Of tea
all the time you are walking around t
old place But Notwithstanding all I
changes in that place It is holding IN inf
, ence over you, and will hold an infuen
d over you until you die.
Q The dewdrops that you dashed from
i. chickweed, as thirty years ago you drove
cattle aiield the hreaies that flashed in 20
fathers house on a summer night when
evenings were too short for a candle;
tinged pebbles you gathered into your apr
from the margin OF the brook; the berr
you strung for necklace, and the daisies ;
plucked for your hair-they have all beech
!. mart of the fiber Of your immortal natu
2 You never get away from it. II you live
Z ninety years You viii never get away from