The Penn's Grove record., 1892-03-04
REV. DIR. TALAAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DfvISE's SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject. 1.-The Gloriss- 3fthe Chris
tan Religion"

TEXT; "Behotu, tHe huJ ouSHot totd me.
Kings X. :.
Solomou had resolved that Jerusalem
should be the centre of all sacrel, regal and
commercial magnificence. He set himself
to work and ~monopolized the surrounding
desert as a highway for his caravans. He
built the city of Palmyra around. one of the
principal wells of the east, so that all the
long trains Of merchandise from the east
were obliged to stop there, pay toll ann
leave part of their wealth in the hands of
| Solomon's merchants. He manned the
fortress Thapsacus at the chief ford of the
Euphrates, and put under guard everything
that passed there.
Tn three great products of Palestine -
wine pressed from the richest clusters, and
! celebrated all the world over, oil, which in
that country is the entire substitute for but
ter and lard, and was pressed from the olive
branches until every tree in the country be-
came an oil well, and honey which was the
entire substitute for sugar-these three
! great products of the country Solomon ex-
ported and received in return fruits and
precious woods and the animals Of every
CLINE.
He went down to Ezion-geber and ordered
a feet of ships to be constructed, oversaw
| the workmen, and watched the launching Of
the flotilla which was to &c out on more than
! a years voyage to bring home the wealth OF
the then known world. He heard that the
| Egyptian horses were large and swift, and
long named and round Iimbed, and he re-
solved to purchase them, giving eighty-five
dollars apiece for them, putting the best Of
these horses in hi own stall and selling the
surplus to foreign po%tentates at great profit.
He heard that there was the best of tim
Der on Mount Lebanon, and he sent one
hundred and eighty thousand men to hew
down the forest and drag the timber through
the mountain gorges, to construct it into
RATS to be fioated to Joppa, and from thence
to be drawn by OK teams twenty-five miles
across the land to Jerusalem. He heard that
there were beautiful flowers in other lands.
He sent for them, planted them in his own
gardens, and to this very day there are
flowers found in the ruins of that city such
as are to be ound in no other part OF Pales-
tine, the lineal descendants of tho very
flowers that Solomon planted. He heard
that in foreign groves there were birds Of
richest voice and most luxuriant wing. he
sent out people to catch them and bring them
| there, and he put them into his cages.
Stand back now and see this long train of
camels coming up the kings gate, and the
OK trains from Egypt, gold and silver and
precious stones. and beasts of every hoof,
and birds of every wing, and fish of every
scalei See the p~eacocks strut under the
cedars, and the horsemen run and the char
lots WHEEL Hear the orchestral Gaze
upon the dancel Not stopping to look into
the wonders of the temple, step right on the
causeway and pass up to Solomon's palace.
Here we find ourselves amid acollection
| of buildings on which the king had hvished
the wealth Of many empires. The genius of
Hiram, the architect, and of the other
artists is here seen in the long line of corri-
doris, and the suspended gallery, and the ap-
proach to the throne. Traceried window
| opposite traceried window. BroDzed orna-
ments busting into lotus and lily and ponce
~granate. Chapters surrounded by network
AZ taat-ao in which imitation fruit saannnH
suspended as in hanging baskets.
Three branches-so Josephus tells us
| three branches sculptured on the marble, SO
| thin and subtle that even the leave seemed
to quiver. A laver capable of holding five
hundred barrels of water on six hundred
| brazen OK heads, which gushed with water
and filed the whole place with GOODNESS and
| crystalline brightness and musical plash.
Ten tables chased with chariot wheel and
lion and cherubim. solomon sat on a throne
of ivory. Att seating place of the throne,
on each end of the steps, a brazen lion.
Why, my friends, in that place they
trimmed their candles with shutters of gold,
and they cut their fruits with knives of gold,
and they washed their faces in basins of gold,
and they scooped out the ashes with novels
of gold, and they stirred the altar fires with
| tongs Of gold. Gold reflected in the wateri
Gold flashing from the apparel! Gold blaz-
ing in the CROWN, Goldl gold! goldl
vi eOuIst Tue nt"S VI lit dututhCc VI tlib
place went out everywhere by every cara
! van and by wing of every ship, until soon
the streets of Jerusalem are crowded with
| curiosity seekers. What is that long pro-
| cession approaching Jerusalem? | think
from the pomp of it there must be royalty in
the train. l smell the breath of the spices
which are brought as presents, aud l hear
the shout of the drivers, and | sea the dust
| covered caravan showing that they come
from far away. Cry the news up to the
palace. Til Queen of Sheba a~tvances. Let
all the people come out to see. Let the
mighty men of the land come out on the
palace corridors. Let Solomon come down
the stairs of the palace before the Queen has
alighted. Shake out the cinnamon and the
saffron and the calamus and the franklin
cence and pass it into the treasure house.
Take up the diamonds until they glitter in
the sun.
The Queen of Sheba alights. She enters
the palace. She washes at the hath. She
sits down at the banquet. The cupbearerS
bow. The meat smokes. You hear the dash
of waters from molten sea. Thea she rises
from the banquet, and walks through the
Conservatives, and gazes on the archi.
lecture, and she asks Solomon many strange
questions. n she learns about the religion
of the Hebrews, and she then and there be
comes a servan of the Lord Col.
She is overwhelmed. She begins to think
that all the spices she brought, and all the
precious woods which are intended to be
turned into harps and psalteries and into
ratings for the causeway between the
temple and the palace, aud the one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars in money-shs
begins to think that all these presents
amount to nothing in such a place and she is
almost ashamed that She has brought them,
and she says within herself: 81 heard a
great deal about this wonderful religion OF
the Hebrews, but l find it far beyond my
highest anticipatlons. 1 must add more
that fifty per cent. to what has been re-
lated. 1t exceeds everything that | could
have expected. The half-the half was not
told me.n
Learn from this subject what a beautiful
thing it is when social position and wealth
surrender themselves to God. When religion
comes to a neighborhood, the first to receive
1t are the women. Some men say it is be-
cause they are weakminded. [ say it is be-
cause they have quicker perception of what
Is right, more ardent affection and capacity
for subiimer emotion. After the women
have received the Gospel then all the dis
tressed n the poor of both sexes, those who
have no friends, accept Jesus. Last of all
come the people of affiueuce and high sociai
position. Alas, that it is sol "
Ii there are those here to-day who nave
been favored OF fortune, or, as L might bet
ter put it favored OF God, surrender all you
have n all you expect to be to the Lord
who blessed this Queen OF Sheba. Certainly
you are not ashamed to be found in this
queens company. l am glad that Christ
has had His imperial friends in all ages
Elizabeth Christina, queen of Prussia; Maria
Feodoroyna, queen OF Russia; Marie, em-
press of France; Helena, the imperial moth
er of Constantine. Arcadia, from her great
fortunes building public baths in Constants
nopie and toiling for the alienation of the
masses; Queen Clotilda, leading her husband
and three thousand of his armed warriors
to Christian baptism; Elizabeth, of Burgun-
dy, giving her jeweled glove to a beggar and
scattering great fortunes among the dis
tressed: Prince Albert, singing "Rock of
Ages in Windsor castle, and Queen Victo-
ria incognita. reading the Scriptures to 4