Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-04-06
eNAT AND CAMEL
We Strain Out tho First and Swallow
the Latter.
To steal . Dollar y. the onat-r. steal
Thousands cf pviisr- IL the Camel
Sermon ny Rev. r. DEWITT
raiossEe. DID


Dr. Taimagc based his sermon Sunday
ON the text, Matt Ssiii, "a; "Yc blind
guides. who strain nj gnat and swal-
low "a camel"
A provcrh la compact wisdom. kncwl-
edge In chunks. a library In sentence.
the electricity Of many clouds dis
charged In one bolt, river put through
n mill-racc, when Christ quotes the
provcrb OF the text lie means Ia set
forth the ludicrous behavior OF thc-r
who mako great blustcr about small
sins and have no appreciation OF great
ones
In my text n small insect and largo
quadrupcd are brought into comparison
IA gnat and u camel. You have Ia n
museum or ON the desert seen I'll. latter
n great awkward, sprawling creature.
with back two stories high and stomach
having n collection of reservoirs for
desert travel. AN animal forbidden u
the Jews ns food. and I'm many litcra-
lures entitled the ship of the desert"
The gnnt spoken of In the text Is In the
grub form. ~ IN born in pool or pond.
after few wccl,s becomes chrysalis.
and then. after few days, becomes the
gnat as we recognize H. Hut the I'M
sect spoken of In the text IN I'm ia vory
smallest shape. and Il yet inhabits tuc
water. for my text IN misprlnt, and
ought To read strain out gnnt."
My text shows you the prince ~ In
consistcncics A man after long OBJ
scrvntion hns formed the suspicion That
IN cup OF water he Ia about To- drink
there Is n grub or the grandparcnt OF
gnat He goes and gets sicvc or n
straincr. lie takes the wntcr and pours
IL through the sieve In the broad light
He says l would rather lo anything
almost than drink this water until this
lnrva hc cxtirpatcd" This water II
brought under inqulsition. Thccxpcri-
ment h sr.ccssfui The water rushcs
through the sieve and leaves ngninst the
side OF the sieve tlc grub or gnat Thcn
the man carefully removes the insect
md drinks The water In placidity. But
going ont one day, and hungry, he de-
YOURS 'ship Of the desert" the camel,
which the Jews were forbidden to eat
The Rastronomcr has no computations
OF conscience. lie suffers from no indi.
gcstion lie puts the lower jaw under
the camcrs forcfoot, and his upper Jaw
over the hump Of the camcls back. and
the dromcdnry disappears forever. lie
strained out gnat, ho swallowed
camel
While Christs audience were vet
smiling Mt the appositcncss and wit 81
His illustration for smile they did IN
church, unless they were too stupid To
understand the hypcrbolc--C Christ prac-
tically said Ia them. THAT ~ YOU"
Punctilious about small things; reckless
about affairs 81 great magnitude. No
subject ever writhcd under u surgeons
knife more bitterly than did the Phar-
'secs under Christs scalpcl of truth. A.
an unatomist will take human body
To pieces and put them under micro
scope for examination. so Christ finds
His way Ia the heart OF the dead Phnr-
isce and cuts IL out and puts ~ under
the glnss OF inspection for
oil generations 10 examine. Those
Pharisecs thought that Christ wonld
ilnttcr them and compliment them, and
how they must have writhcd under
the rcd-hot words AS He said "Ye fools.
yc white sepulchcrs, we blind guides.
which strain out "A gnat and swallow "A
camel"
There nre In our day great many
gnats strained out and great many
camcls swallowed, and IL Is the object
Of this sermon 10 sketch few persons
who are extensively engaged In that
business
First, ! remark, that all those minis
ters OF the Gospel are photographed Ia
the text who are very scrupulous about
the convcntionalitics OF religion, but
a. -
vast Importance. Church services ought
10 be grand and solemn. There IL no
room for frivolity in religious convoca-
ton. But there are illustrations. and
here are hyperbolcs like that OF Christ
In the text that will irradiato with
smiles any intelligent auditory. There
are men like those blind guides OF the
text who advocate only those
things in religious services which
draw the corners OF the mouth down.
and denounce all those things
which have "a tendency 10 draw the cor
ners Of the mouth up. and these men
will go 20 installations and presbyterics
and 20 conferences and % associations.
their pockets full Of fine sleeves 10 strain
Jut the Rnats, while In their own
churches at home every Sunday there
are fifty people sound asleep They
make their churches great dormitOry.
and their somniferous sermons are a
cradle, and the drawled-out hymns
lullaby. while some wakeful soul IN a
pew with her fan keeps the flies Oft I'M
conscious persons approximate. Now.
say IL Is worse 20 sleep In church
than 20 smile In church. for the latter
implies at least attention while the for
mcr implies the Indifference 81 the hear.
ers and the stupidity ~ the speaker
In old age, or from physical inhrmity.
or from long watching with the sick.
drOwsincss will sometimes OvcrpOwcr
one; but when minister 81 the Gospel
looks of upon an audience and finds
healthy and intelligent people strug.
Cling with drowsincss. II il time for
him - give out the doxology or pro-
nDanoe The bencdiction. The great
fault u church services to-day u not
to- much vivacity. but tosInuch som-
n Jlence. The one Is an Irritating 0nat
that may be- easily strained ont. tho
other Is n great, sprawling and sleepy
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