The Red Cloud chief., 1891-05-15
HUMDRUM RELIGION.
Dr.. Talmage Discourses on Needed
Pulpit Reforms.
Significance OF the Wisdom md splendor
OF SoIomon-Too Much Humdrum In
Churches True Religion Never
Gloomy-MOre Spice Needed.

III Il recent sermon at Kew.
t Witt Talmage took for his sub
lect .iumdrum Abolished and his
text was from III. Chronicles, tx. o: 'Of
spices great abundance; neither was
there any such spice a the queen Of
Sheba gave King Solomon" DIR. Tai
mage said:
What is that building out yonder
glistening in the sum? Have you not
heard? 1t is the house of the forest of
Lebanon. King Solomon has Just taken
TO it his bride, the princess of Egypt
You see the pillows of the portico, and
Q great tower, adorned with 1000
shields of gold, hung on the outside of
the tower-j00 of the shields of gold
manufactured at Solomon's order, 500
were capturned by David, his father,
In battle. See how they blaze in the
MONDAY sun!
Solomon goes up the ivory stairs OF
his throne, between twelve lions in
s~tatuary, and sits down on the back of
the golden bull, the head of the bronze
beast turned toward the people. The
family and attendants of the king are
SO many that the caterers of the palace
have 10 provide every day 100 sheep
and thirteen ken, besides the birds
and the venison. I hear the stamping
and paving of 1000 fine horses in the
royal stables. There were important
officials who had charge of the work of
gathering the straw and the barley for
these horses. King Solomon was an
early riser, tradition says, and used TO
take a ride out at daybreak; and when,
in his white apparel, behind the swift
est horses of all the realm, and fol-
lowed by mounted archers in purple,
the cavalcadc dashed through the
streets of Jerusalem, I suppose it was
something worth getting up at o o'clock
In the morning to look at
Solomon was not like some OF the
kings Of the present day-crowned i'm
b~ccility. All the splendor of his palace
and ~rctinuc were cciipscd by his intel
lectual power. Why, he seemed TO
know everything. lie was the first
great naturalist the world ever saw.
P~cacocios from India strutted the ba-
saltic walk, and apes chartered in the
trees. and deer stalkcd the parks, and
there were aquariums with foreign fish,
and aviarics with foreign birds; and
tradition says these birds were so well
tanned that Solomon might walk clear
across the city under the shadow OF
their wings rs they lowered and fitted
about him.
More han this, he had n great rcpu-
tation for the conundrums and riddles
that he made and guessed. He and
III HI. IL. ...-ll-- - - "a
by the hour and ask riddles, each one
paying in money II he could not answer
or guess the riddle. The Solomonic
navy visited all the world and the sail
ors of course talked about the wealth
of their king. and about the riddles n
cnigmas he made and solved; and the
news spread until Queen Balkis, away
off south, heard of il, and sent mes
scngcrS with n few riddles she would
like To have Solomon solve. and n few
puzzles which she would like TO have
him find out She sent among other
things to King Solomon n diamond with
"A hole so small that a needle could not
penetrate it, asking HIM Ia thread that
diamond. And Solomon took a
worm and put it at the opening
I'm the diamond, and the worm crawlcd
through, leaving the thread in the dia-
mond. The queen also sent a goblet To
Solomon. asking him to fill it with
water that did not flow from the sky,
and that did not rush out from the
earth; and Immediately Solomon put a
slave on the back of n swift horse and
galloped him around the park until the
larSa ,unS ninh nxhanSfn1 md from
the perspiration of the horse the goblet
was filled. She also sent King Solomon
five hundred boys in girls dress, and
five hundred girls in boys dress, won
dcring if he would he cute enough to
find out the deception. Immediately
Solomon, when he saw them wash their
faces. knew from the way they applied
the water that il vas all a cheat
Queen Balkis was so pleased with the
acldeness Of Solomon, hat she said:
.Ill Just go and see him for myself"
Yonder it comes-the Observation-Disclosures
and ~dromedarics. chariotS and chariot
GERS. jingling harness and Gathering
hoofs, and blazing shields, and flying
ensigns. and clapping cyrnbals- The
place is saturated with the perfume.
She brings cinnamon. and saffron. and
calamuS, and fr~ankincensc, and all
manner of sweet spices. As the retinue
sweeps through the gate the armed
guard inhale the aroma 'Halt!' cry
the c~harioteers, rs the wheels grind the
gravel in front of the p~illarcd portico
of the king. Queen Balkis alights in an
atmosphere bcwitched with perfume.
As the dromedaries are driven up To the
kings storehouscs, and the bundles of
camphor are unloadcd, and the sacks of
cinnamon. and the boxes of spices are
opened. the purvcyors of The palace dis
cover what my text 'of
spices, great abundance: neither was
there any such spices rs the queen of
Shcba gave To King Solomon"
Well. my friends, You know that all
theologiaus agree in making Solomon a
type of Christ, and making the queen
of Sheha "a type of every truthseeker.
and | shall take the responsibility of
saving that all the spikcnard and cassia
and frankinccnsc which the queen of
Sheba brought TO King solomon are
nightly suggestive of the sweet spices
of our holy religion. Christianity is
not a collection of sharp technicalities
and angular facts and chronological
tables and dry statistics. Our religion
is compared to frankincensc and TO cas-
STA, but never to nightshade. II is a
bundle of myrrh. 1t is a dash of holy |
light 1t is a sparkle of COO fountains
1t is an opening of opaline gates. 1t is
a collection of spices. Would God
that we were wise IN taking spices 10
our Divine King as Queen Balkis was
wise in taking spices TO the earthly
Solomon! What many of US most need
is to have the humdrum driven out of
our life and the humdrum out Of our
religion. The American and English
and Scottish church will die of hum
drum unless there be n change.
An editor from San Francisco q few
weeks ago wrote me saying he was get
ting up for his paper a symposium from
many clergymen, discussing among
other shings. '.Why do not people go to