The Opelousas courier., 1892-11-19
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.

hands and is in kings pataces."-Prov-
cribs xxx, IS.
Permitted as.I was a few days ago 50 at
tend the meeting of the British Scientific
Association at Edinburgh, / found that no
paper read had excited more interest than
that by Rev. DR.. McCook, of American, on
the subject Of spiders. 1t seems that my
talented countrymau, banisael from his
pulpit for a short time by i'll health. had in
the fields and forest given himself to the
study of insects. And surely if it is not be-
meath the dignity of God to make spiders it
is not beneath the dignity Of man to stu1y
them.
We are all watching for phenomena. A
sky full of stars shining from January to
January calls cut not so many remaks as the
blazing of enc meteor. A whole Hook OF
robins take not SO much Of our attention as
one laundering bat darting into the window
on a summer eve. Things Of ordinary sound
and sight and occurrence fail to reach us.
and yet no ~grasshopper ever springs; upon
our path, no moth ever dashes into the
evening candle, no mote ever floats in the
sunbeam that pours through the crack of the
window shutter, no harnacie on ships hull,
no burr on a chestnut, no limpet ciinging to
arocs, no rind of an artichoke but would
teach us a lesson if we were not so stupid.
God in His Bible sets forth for our consider
alton the lily, and the snowflake, and the
locust, and the stork's nest, and the hind's
foot, and the aurora borealis, and the ant
hills.
In my text inspiration opens before us the
gate of a palace, and we are indicted amid
the pomp of the throne and the c%ourtier,
and while we are looking around upon the
magnifcence inspiration points US to a
spider plying its shuttle AMI weaving its net
on the wall. 1t does not call us to regard
the grand surroundings OF the palace, Dut 10
.I~a, ,,1 oar,a consideration nf the
fact that The spider taketh hold with her
bands and is in kings palaces"
1t is not very certain what was the par
ticular species of insect spoken Of in the text.
but | shall proceed to learn from it the ex-
qu~isiteness of the divine mechanism. The
kings chamberlain comes into the palace
and looks around and sees the spider on the
wall and saws, Away with that intruder"
and the servant of Soionon's palace comes
with his broom and dashes down the insect.
saving. "What a loathsoms thing 1t Is"
But under the microscopic inspection l I'm
1t more wondrous of construction than the
embroideries on the palace wall and the u1-
holstery about the windows.
All the machinery Of the earth could not
| make anything so delicate and beautiful as
the prehensile with which that spider
clutches its prey, or as any of its eight eyes.
We do not have TO go so far up to see the
power of God in the tapestry hanging
1 around the windows of heaven, or in the
horses or chariots OF fra with which the
dying day departs, or to look at the noun
tain swinging out its sword arm from under
the mantle of darkness until 1t can str1ke
| with its scimeter of the lightning.
love better to study God in the shape OF
| a Avs wing, in the formation Of q hsh's
scale. in the snowy whiteness Of q pond lily.
I love to track His footsteps in the mouG.-
| ain moss, and to hear His voice in the hum
! of the rye fields, and discover the rustic or
| His robe oerlight in the south wind. On,
| this wonder Of divine power that can builda
| habitation for God in an apple blossom. n
tune o bes's voice until it is fit for the eter.
| nal orchestra, ard can say to a FREELY, Let
there be light:'' and from holding an ocean
in the hollow OF His hand, goes forth
| to find heights and depths and length and
breadth OF omnipoteney In a deWdrop, q
| dismounts from the chariot OF midnight
hurricane to cross over on the SUSPENSION
bridge of a spiders web
You NAV take your telescope and sweep it
across the heavens in order to behold the
glory Of God, but | shall take the leaf hold
ing the spider and the spiders web, n l
shall bring the microscope to my eye, AMI
while | gaze and look and study and am
COMPOUNDED 1 will kneel down in the grass
and cry, ssGreat and marvellous are Thy
works. Lord God Almighty"
Again, my text teaches me that insignlh-
canoe is no excuse for inaction. This spider
that Solomon saw on the wall might have
| said: II can't weave a web worthy OF this
great palace: what can / do amid all this
gold embroidery? / am not able to make
anything fit for SO grand a place. and SO
will not work my spinning jenny MOI Sc
said the spider. "The spider taketh hold
with her hands," On, what a lesson that Is
for YOU and mel You say if you had soms
great sermon to preach, ii you only had q
GREAT audiences to talk to, il you had a great
army to marshal, il you only had q con
~stitution to write, il there was SOM
tremendous thing in the world for you to q
then you would show US. Yes, you woui
| show us!
What if the Levite in the ancient temple
had refused to snuff the candle because he
could not be a high priest? What 1T tint
humming bird should refuse to sing Its song'
into the ear of the honeysuckle because i
cannot, like the eagle, dash its wing into TN
sun? What is the raindro, SHOULD retus5 q
descend because it is not a Niagara? VIVA
if the spider or the text should refnse q
move It's shuttle because it cannot weave
SoIomon's robe? Away with such folly ! !
you are lazy with the one talent, you woui'
be lazy with the ten talents. Ii Milo can
not lift the calf he never will have strength
to lift the OK. In the Lords army there l
order for promotion, but you cannot oe
general until you have been a captain,
lieutenant and a colonel. It is step by step
it is inch BY inch. it is stroke by stroke tina
our Christian character is builded. There
fore be content to do what God command
you to do.
God is not ashamed to do small things. Fl
is not ashamed to be foun1 chiseling a grain
of sand, or helping a honeybee to construc
its cell VITA mathematical accuracy, o
tinpeing q shell in the surf. or shaping thu
/ IsIIze = oa,o "a - What Hai door Hn60a
well. What youdo, DO well, be it a grea
work or a small work. Tf ten talents, employ
all the ten. If five talents, employ all thu
five. IL one talent, employ the one. lf only
the thousandtb part of a talent, employ
that. ''Be thou faithful unto death, and
will give thee the crowa of life" | tell you i
YOU are not faithful to God in a small sphere
You would be indolent and insignificant in
large sphere.
Again, my text teaches me that repulsive
ness and loathsomeness will sometime
climb up into very elevated places. Yo,
would have triei to kill the spider that So.
ONION saw. You would have said: "This !
no place for it. If that spider is determine;
10 weave a web, let it do so down in the cal
lar of this palace or in SO ne DARK dungeon
All! the spider of tn text could not be dis
couraged. It c1amoered on AMI climbed up.
higher ami higher and higher. until after
awhile it reached the kings vision, and hs
said, 1.-THE spider taketh hold with hel
hands, and is in kings palaces" AMI so IL
often is now that things that are loathsom;
and repulsive get up into very elevate:
places.
The church of Christ, for instance. is
palace. The King of heaven AM earth live
In 1T According TO the Bible, her beam
are of cedar, and her rafters of fir. AMI he
windows of agate, aud the fountains OF sal
vafinn das,a a rain o. lirht. It is q gloriou
palace-the church o. Go is, AMI yet some
times unseeinly AMI 10 ltbsons things cree
up into it-evil speaking and rancor an
SANDER and hackhit ng AMI abuse. erawlint