Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-05-23
SINS AWFUL WORK.
Rev. Dr.. Talmage Warns the Peo-
pie Against Moral Poisons
The Caldrons of Sin and Death-Home
Influences For Good or Bad-IndoIence
the CaIdrOn of Iniquity-Advice
to Young Men.

mage 'ook for his subject "a Poisoned
Dinner" and his text was from Kings
Nv. 40: $50 they poured out for the men
to eat And it came to pass. as they were
ealing 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 al
G!lgal. He found the students very
hungry, as students are apt to be. 1t is
very seldom the world makes large pro-
vision for those who give Themselves to
intellectual toll In order that these stu
dents may be prepared to hear what
Elisha says, he first feeds their hunger
He knows very well it is useless to talk, to
preach, TO lecture to 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 pick up also some colo
quintida, a bitter, poisonous, deathful
herb. They bring ali 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
hungry students begins Immediately to
eat and he happens to get hold of some of
the coloquintida. He knew it by the
taste. He cried out: Poison, poison! o
thou man of God there is death in the
potf" CONSERVATION is thrown over the
whole group What fortunate thing it
was that this student so 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
temptation is pressed into it. Some dip it
out and taste, and reject it and live. 9th
ers 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 folieS and its suf-
ferings, to cry out: Beware! poison,
poison Look out for this caldron! Stand
back! Bewarew
Sin has done an awful work in our
world. 1t has gone out through all the
ages, it 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 COM
fort, and where there was death there
shall be life.
Some time ago, you will remember, l
persuaded you of the imports nee of being
charitable in judgment of others. At the
same time l said to you briefly what this
morning l wish to say with great empha-
sis, 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 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 a silken
lasso
group of emigrants settle in a wild
region. The next day a wild beast comes
down from the mountain and carries off
one of the children. The next day a 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 10 hunt those monsters down, to find
their hiding place. to light up and ransack
their houses. SO we want now not
merely to talk about the sins and
follies of the world, we want to go
behind them, back of them. Down
into the caverns where they hide we need
to 60 with the torch of Gods word in one
hand and the sword OF Gods eternal spirit
in the other to hunt out and STAY these in
Equities in their hiding places. Or to come
hoa 10 Z hx-
We want to find what are the caldrons of
sin and death from which the iniquities of
society are dipped out
First-In the first place. l remark, that
unhappy and undsciplined 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 scold- |
ing and fretfulness is dominant is blood re- |
lation to the gallows and the penitentiary! |
Peiulance is a serpent that crawls up into |
the family nursery and destroys every |
thing. Why, there are parents who even |
make religion disgusting to their children. |
They scold them for not loving Christ. |
They have an exasperating way of doing |
their duty. The house is full of the war |
place husband and sons go out to die.
o! is there a Hager leading away |
Ishmael into the desert to be smitten of |
the 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 Jesus? o! travellers 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 bride path, off |
OF which their inexperienced feet may
slip and up which comes the bowling of |
the wolf and the sound of looSened ledge
and tumbling avalanche: B essed is the
family altar at which the children kneeL
Blessed is the cradle in which the Chris
tian mother rocks the Christian child
Blessed is the song the little one sings at
when sleep is closing the ewes
and loosening the hand from the toy on
the pillow. Blessed is that mother whose
every heart throb is a prayer for her chill
iren's welfare.
The world grows old, and the stars
will cease to illuminate it, and the waters
TO refresh it, and the mountains to guard
il, and The heavens to overspan it and its
long story Of sin and shame and its glory |
Of triumph will soon turn TO ashes, but in
huences that started in this early home
roll on and roll up through all eternity
blooming in all the joy. waving in all the
exuliing ia all the song. or
shrinking hack into all the darkness.
Their mother, which way are Won Lead |
ing YOUR childrenf
\ house took fire and the owner was
very careful TO get ali the furniture out