The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-04-25
TALMAGE's SERMON.
a Discourse on Christ's Writing in
the Dust.
The Significance of the Immortal Sentence
Rendered More Forcible by the Rar.
ity of His Writing-The slit
erature OF the Dust"

his text was:
Jesus stopped down and wrote on the ground.
John viii, 6:
A Mohammedan mosque stands now
where once stood Herod's temple, the
scene Of my text. Solomon's temple had
stood there, but Nebuchadnezzar thun-
dered it down. Zorobabel's temple had
stood there, but that had been Frustrated.
Now we take our places in a temple that
Herod built because he was fond of great
architecture and he wanted the preced-
ing temples to seem insignificant. Put
eight or ten modern cathedrals together
and they would not equal that structure.
1t covered nineteen acres. There were
marble pillars supporting roofs of cedar
and silver tables on which stood golden
cups, and there were carvings exquisite
and inscriptions Respondent, glittering
balustrades and ornamented gateways.
The building of this temple kept ten
thousand workmen busy for forty-six
years. In that stupendous pile of pomp
and magnifcence sat Christ, and listen
ing throng stood about Him, when a wild
disturbance took place. A group of men
are pulling and pushing along woman
who had committed the worst crime
against society. When they have brought
her in front of Christ they ask that He
sentence her to death by stoning. They
are critical, merciless, disingenuous
crowd. They want to get Christ into con-
troversy and public apprehension. If he
say "Let her die" they will charge Him
with cruelty. If He let her go, they will
charge Him with being in completely with
wickedness. Whichever way He does, they
would howl at Him. Then occurs scene
which has not been sufficiently regarded.
he leaves the lounge or bench on which
he was sitting and goes down on one
knee, or both knees, and with the fore
finger of His right hand He begins to
write in the dust of the floor word
after word. But they were not to
be diverted or hindered. They kept
on demanding that he settle this
case of trangression until he looked
up and told them that they might
themselves begin the woman's assassina-
ton, II the complainant who had never
done any thing wrong himself would open
the fire. $50 ahead, but be sure that the
man who filings the first missile is immac-
ulate." Then He resumed writing with his
finger in the dust of the floor, word after
word. Instead Of looking over His shout
der to see what He had written the scoun-
drels skulked away. Finally, the whole
place is clear of pursuers, antagonists and
plaintiffs, and when Christ has finished
this strange chirography in the dust, He
looks up and finds the woman all alone
The prisoner is the only one of the court
room left the judges, the police, the
prosecuting attorneys having cleared out
Christ is victor, and He says to the wom-
an: where are the prosecutors in this
case? Are they all gone? Then discharge
you; go and sin no more"
My text says He stopped down and wrote
on the ground. Standing straight up a
man might write on the ground with a
staff, but If with his fingers he would
write in the dust, he must bend clear over
Aye, he must get at least on one knee or
he can not write on the ground. Be not
surprised that He stopped down. Stoop-
ing down from castle to barn. STOPPING
downfrom celestial homage to mobocratie
jeer. From residence above the stars to
where star had to fall to designate His
landing place. From Heavens front
door to the worlds back gate. From
writing in round and silvered letters of
constellation and galaxy on the blue
scroll of Heaven, to writing on the ground
in the dust, which the feet of the crowd
had left in Herod's temple. If in January
you have ever stepped out Of Princes
conservatory that had Mexican cactus
and magnolias in full bloom, into the
outside air ten degrees below zero, you
may get some idea of Christ's change of
atmosphere from celestial to terrestrial.
How many Heavens there are l know
not, but there are at least three, for
Paul was caught up into the third
Heaven"
Christ came down from highest Heaven
to the second Heaven, and down from
second Heaven to first Heaven-down
swifter than meteors ever fell-down
amidst stellar splendors that Himself
eclipsed-down through clouds, through
etmospheres, through appalling space
down to where there was no lower depth.
From being waited on at the banquet of
the skies to the broiling Of fish for his own
breakfast, on the banks of the lake. From
emblazoned chariots of eternity to the
saddle of mules back. The homage
cherubic. seraphic, archangehe, to
the paying of sixty-two and a half
cents of tax to Caesar. From the DEATH
less country to q tomb built to hide hu-
man dissolution. The uplifted wave of
Galilee was high, but He had to come
0oWu UclOTS VIII his IeeJ lie could touch
It; and the whirlwind that rose above the
billow was higher yet; but He had to come
down before-with His lip He could kiss
it into quiet. Bethlehem a-stooping down.
Nazareth a-stooping down. Death be-
tween two burglars a-stooping down.
Yes, it was in consonance with humilia-
tons that had gone before, and with self
abnegations that come after, when on that
memorable day in Herod's temple He
stopped down and wrote on the ground.
Whether the words he was writing were
In Greek. or Latin, or Hebrew, l can not
say, for He knew all those languages.
But He is still stopping down, and with
His finger writing on the ground; In the
winter in letters of crystals, in the spring
in letters of flowers, in summer in golden
letters of harvest, in autumn in letters of
fire on fallen leaves. How it would
eweeten up and enrich and emblazon this
world could we see Christ's caligraphv all
over it. This world was not flung outintc
space thousands of years ago and then
left to look out for itself. It is still under
the Divine care. Christ never for a hall
second takes His hand off of it, or it would
soon be shipwrecked world, a defunct
world, an obsolete world, an abandoned
world, dead world.