The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1889-05-23
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Pointed Discourse on "a Poi
soned Dinner"
Strong Drink and It's CompanIon Evils
Brought TO Bar-The Blighting
Effects of Intemperance on
the Home.

/ LollONlUS HtTiDDD III lflt bTOOhlyu 1dDCE-
! nacle, taking for his text:
| So they poured out for the men to eat And
II came to pass, they we're eating OF the pot
| tage, that they cried out and said: o, thou
| man OF God, there is death in the pot And
they could not eat eof.-I Kings, iv.. 90.
| Elisha had gone down to lecture to the
students in the theological seminary at
| Gilgal. He found the students very hun
| cry, as students are apt to be. 1t is very
seldom the world makes large provision
| for those who give themselves to intel
| lectual toll. In order that these students
may be prepared to hear what Ellis ha says,
| ne first feeds their hunger. He knew
| very well it is useless to talk, TO preach,
| to lecture with hungry men. So Elisha,
| recognizing this common-sense princi-
| pie, which every Christian ought to rec
| ognize, sends servants out to get food
| for these hungry students. They pick up
| some good, healthful herbs, but they
| happen to pick up also some coloquin-
| tida, bitter, poisonous, deathful herb.
| They bring all these herbs; thsy
| put them into the boiling pot;
they stir them up, and then por-
| ton of this food is brought to the stu
| dents and their professors. Seated s.t
| the table, one of the hungry students bo-
| gins Immediately to eat, and he happens
| to get hold of some of the coloquintida.
| He knew it by the taste. He cries out:
| 'Poison, poison! Oh, thou man of God,
| there is death in the potl" Consterna-
| ton is thrown over the whole group.
| What fortunate thing it was that this
| student so early found the coloquintida
in the mixture at the tablet 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 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. Aud it is
the business of every minister of religion
and every man who wishes we'll to the
human race, and who wants to keep the
world back from its follies and its suffer-
ings, to cry out: Beware! poisonl poi
son! Look out for this caldron! Stand
back Bewarer
Sin has done an awful work in our
world. 1t has gone out through all the
ages, 1t has mixed up a great caldrou 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 COM
fort, and where there was death there
shall be life. Some time ago, you will
remember, | persuaded you of the i'm
portance of being charitable in 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 de-
nounce the sin; that while we pity the
unfortunate, we must be vehement
against transgressieu. Sin is a jagged
thing that needs to be roughly handled.
You have no right to garland it with fine
phrases or lustrous rhetoric. You can
not catch buffalo with silken lasso.
group of emigrants settle in a wild
region. The next day wild beast comes
down from the mountain aud carries off
one Of the children. The next day wild
beast comes. down from the mountain
and carries off another child. Forthwith
all the neighbors band together, and they
go 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 go behind
erns 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 hiding places. Or, to come back
to the figure suggested by my text we
want to find what are the caldrons of sin
and death from which the iniquities of
society are dipped out
In the first place, l remark, that un-
happy 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 government, are
raising up a generation of vipers. A
home where scolding and fretfulness are
dominant is blood relation to the gallows
and the penitentiaryl Petulance is a
serpent that crawls up into the family
nursery sometimes and crushes every
thing. Why, there are parents who even
make religion disgusting to their chill
dren. They seold them for not loving
Christ. They have an exasperating way
of doing their duty The house is full of
the war-whoop of contention, and from
such place husband and son go out to
die.
Oh, is there Hagar leading away Ish-
Hltti lutO iut utHtTb W Dt Sillltttu vi INC
thirst and parched of the sand? In the
solemn birth hour a 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 even-time,
when the angels of God hover over that
home, do they hear the children lisping
the name of JesusY o traveller for eter-
nifty, 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 bride path OFF which
their inexperienced 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 children kneel Blessed is
the cradle IN which the Christian mother
rocks the Christian child. Blessed is the
song the little ones sing at nightfall,
when sleep is closing the eyes and loos-
ening the hand from the toy on the pill
low. Blessed Is that mother whose every
heart throb is prayer for her children's
welfare.
The world grows old, and the stars will
cease TO illuminate II, aud the waters TO
refresh it, and the mountains to guard it,
aud the heavens TO overspan it, and its |
long story of sin and shame, and glory |
ana Triumph Wlll soon turn 10 ashes; Dut |
influences that started in the early home |
roll on and roll up through all eternity
blooming in all the JOY, waving in all the |
triumph, eKulting in ali the song, or
shrinking back into all the darkness. |
Father, mother. which way are you lead
ing your childreni A house took fire and |
the owner was very careful 10 get all his |
furniture out. He got all his books out, /
and ne pot all his pictureS ont and he got I
all his valuable papers ont, but he forgot,
to ask, until it was too late: "Are my i
children safei" Oh, when the earth shall |
melt with fervent heat, and the mountains
shall blaze, and the seas shall blaze, aud !
the earth shall blaze. will your children
be EafeG win your children be safer I'm. /,
hnnnv and rndiscinlined hnfnes are the |