Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-13
A POISONED DINNER.
DR.. Talmage Speaks of the Effects of
Sin Upon the World,
THE INIQUITIES OF SOCIETY.
Undisciplined Homes the Source of Much
KretchedneSS.
BE INIQUITIES OF SOCIETY.
TIE DANGERS OF A LIFEOF IKDOLENCE.
ESPECIAL rrLpesAn TO rHr ptsrAroH. !

tabernacle to-day to vast congregation
who sang with grand effect the hymn begin
ming:
Ny soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise,
And hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies.
His subject was ga Poisoned Dinner,
and his text II Kings, iv, 40: $50 the,
poured out for the men to eat. And it cam
to pass, as they were eating of the pottage
that they cried out and said, o thou maj
of God, there is death in the pot. Ant
they could not eat thereof"
Elisha had gone down to lecture to the stu
dents in the theological seminary az Gilgal
He found the students very hungry, as student
are apt to be. II is very seldom the worlC
makes large provision for those who give them
selves to intellectual toll, In order that thest
students may be prepared TO hear what Elish:
says. be first feeds their hunger. He knew
very well it is useless to talk, to preach, to lee
ture with hungry men.
So Elisha, recognizing this common sense
principle, which every Christian ought to rec
ogniEe, sends servants out to get food for thest
hungry students. They pick up some good
healthful herbs, but they happen to pick NJ
also some coloquintida, a bitter, poisonous
ueathful herb. They bring all these herbs
they put them into the boiling pot they stil
them up. and then a portion of this food is
brought to the students and their professors
Seated at the table, one of
THE HUNGRY STUDENTS
begins Immediately to eat, and he happens to
get hold of some of the eoloquintids. he knew
1t by the taste. He cries out: Poison, poisonl
. thou man Of God, there is death in the potP'
CONSERVATION is thrown over the whole group.
What fortunate thing it was that this student
80 early found the coloquintida in the mixture
at the table! You Will by reference find this
story is precisely as have mentioned it
Well, in our day there are great caldrons of
sin and death. Coloquintida of mighty tempta
ton is pressed into it. Some dip it out and
taste, and reject 1t and live. Others dip it out,
taste II, keep on and die. And it is the busi-
ness 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 sufferings, to cry out: "Bewarel
poison, poisoni Lookout for this caldron!
Stand back! Bewarer'
Sin has done an awful work in our world. It
has gone out through all the ages il has mixed
up great caldron Of trouble and suffering and
pain, and the whole race is poisoned-poisoned
in body, poisoned in mind, poisoned in soul
But blessed be God that the gospel of Jesus
Christ is the antidote, and where there was sin
there shall be pardon, 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 charita-
BILE in the judgment of others. At the same
time said to you briefly what this morning
wish to say with great emphasis, that while we
Sympathize with the sinner we must denounce
the sin, that while we pity the unfortunate we
must be vehement against transgression. Sin
is jagged thing that needs to be roughly
handled. You have no right to garland it with
hne phrases or lustrous rhetoric. You cannot
catch buffalo with
A SILKEN LASSo.
A group of emlgrants settle in a wild region
The next day a wild beast comes down from the
mountain and carries Of one OF the children
The next day wild beast comes down from the
mountain and carries of another child Forth
with all the neighbors band together and they
60 out with torch In one hand and gun in the
other to hunt these monsters down, to find
Their hiding place, to light up and ransack the
caverns, and to destroy the invaders of their
houses. So we want now not merely to talk
about the sins and follies of the world, we want
to 60 behind them, back of them. Down into
the caverns where they hide we need to go with
the torch OF Gods word in one hand and the
sword of Gods eternal spirit in the other to
hunt out and slay these iniquities in their hid
ing places. Or, TO come back to the figure sug-
gested by my text, we want to find what are the
caldrons o. sin and death from which the
iniquities of society are dipped out.
l. In the first place, remark: that unhappy
and undisciplined homes are the caldrons of
great iniquity. Parents harsh and cruel on
the one hand, or on the other hand loose in
their government, wickedly loose in their gov
eminent, are raising up generation of vipers.
A home where scolding and fretfulness are
dominant is blood relation to the gallows and
the penitentiaTyi Petulance is a serpent that
erawls up into the family nursery sometimes
and crushes everything. Why there are pa
rents who even make religion disgusting to
their children. They scold them for not loving
Christ They have an exasperating way of do
ing their duty. The house is full of the war
whoop Of contention, and from such place
husband and sons
GO OUT TO DIE.
Oh, is there Hagar leading away Ishmael
into the desert to be smitten of the thirst and
parched of the sand? In the solemn birth houra
voice fell to thee from the throne of God saying:
''Take this child and nurse it for me, and will
give thee thy wages" At eventime, when the
angels of God hover over that home, do they
hear the children hsping the name of Jesus? D
traveller for eternity, your little ones gathered
under your robes, are you leading them on the
right road, or are you taking them out on the
dangerous winding birdie path, off which their
feet may slip, and up which
comes the bowling Of the wolf and the sound
Of loosened ledge and tumbling avalanche?
Blessed Is the family altar at which the chill
dren kneeL Blessed is the cradle in which the
Christian mother rocks the Christian child.
Blessed is the song the little ones sing at night
fall when sleep is closing the eyes and loosen
ing the hand from the toy on the pillow. Blessed
Is that mother whose every heart throb is a
prayer for her children's welfare.
The world grows old, and the stars will cease
10 illuminate it, and the waters to refresh it
and the mountains to guard it, and the heavens
10 overSpan II, and its long story of sin and
shame and glory and triumph will soon turn to
lshes; but influences that started in the early
Blooming in all the joy waving in all the tri- |
1mph, exulting in all the song. OF shrinking
back into all the darkness. Father. mother, |
which way are you leading your childrenP
A house took fire and the owner was very
,areful to get all his furniture out He got ali |
lis books out, and he got all his pictures out,
md he got all his valuable papers out but he |
orgot TO ask, until it was too late: ',Are nv |
,hiidren safe7 Oh, when the earth shall melt |
With fervent heat, and the mountains shall |
blaze, and the seas shall blaze, and the earth |
hall blaze, will your children be safe? VIII
-our children be safe? Unhappy and un-
disciplined homes are the source of much of |
ihe wretchedness and
SIN OF THE WORLD.
know there are exceptions to it sometimes.
from bright and beautiful Christian home a |
husband or son will go out to die Oh, how
ong you had that boy in your prayersi He
loes not know how many sleepless nights you |
lave spent over him. He does not understand
low many tears you have shed for his wayward-
less. Oh, it is hard. after you hare toiied for
child. and given him every advantage and |
very kindness, TO have him pay you back in |
ngratitudei As one Sabbath morning father
anne to the foot of the pulpit as l stepped out |
If il. and said. 20 my son, my son. my sonr' |
There is many a young man proud of his |
mother. who would strike into the dust any |
nan who would insult her, who is at this mo- |
nent himself. by his evildoing and his bad
labits. sharpening dagger to plunge through |
hat mothers heart A telegram brought him /
rom afar. He went bloated and Scared into /
he room and he stood by the lifeless form of |
lis mother.
Her hair gray; it had turned gray in sorrow. |
Those eyes had wept floods of tears over hls /
wandering. That still white hand had done 4
lin many kindness and had written many a /
owing invitation and good counsel He had /
'roken her old heart. he came into the room 4
md threw himself on the casket and sobbed /
outright: Mother, motherr' but those lips /
hat had kissed him in infancy and uttered so /
many kind words spake not; they were sealed.
aather than have such memory come on my
ouL would prefer TO have roll over on me /
he Alps and the Himalayas.
but while sometimes there are sons who turn /
M very badly coming from good homes 1
want TO tell you for your encouragement it is a
IFestt exception. Yet an unhappy and undis-
lpineo nome is the poisonous caldron from
Which vast multitude
DRINK THEIR DEATH.
Il 81 /