Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-09-23
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divinss Sun.
day Sermon
Subject "Heaven's GIories."- Farewell
sermon I'm London)

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 Il seems that my
talented countryman, b1nishe1 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 stuly
| them.
We are all watching for phenomena. A
! sky full of stars shining from January 10
January calls out not so many remaks as the
blazing Of enc meteor A whole flock 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 10 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 barnacle on ships hull,
no burr on a chestnut, no limpet clinging to
arock, 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 aud the hin1's
foot, and the aurora borealis, and the ant
hills.
In my text inspiration opens before us the
| gate of palace, and we are indicted amid
the pomp OF the throne aod the courtier,
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 It does not call us to regard
the grand surroundings of the palace, but to
a solemn and earnest consideration of the
/ No1- IL l,,-
hands aud 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-
quisiteness of the divine mechanism. The
| kings chamberlain comes into the palace
and looks around and sees the spider on the
wall and says, away with that intruder"
and the servant of So.onon's palace comes
with his broom and dashes down the INSECT
saying, what a loathsome thing it is"
! But under the microscopic inspection | fin
| it more wondrous of construction than the
embroideres on the palace wall and the up
holstery about the windows.
All the machinery OF the earth could not
make anything so delicate and beauti. al as
the prehensle with which that spider
clutches its prey, or as any Of its eight eyes.
We do not have 10 60 so far up 10 see the
power Of God in the tapestry hanging
around the windows of heaven. or in the
horses or charots OF fire 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 it can strike
with its scimetsr Of the lightning.
love better to study Col IN the shape Of
a fly's wing in the formation Of a fish's
/ scale, in the snowy whitenesS of pond lily.
/ | love to track His footsteps in the mount
! -, nj q, hoor lIf1 x~aioa in thu hmm
OF the rye fields, and discover the rustic of
| His robe OF light in the south wind. Oh,
this wonder of divine power that can build
habitation for God in an apple blossom. and
/ tune a tees voice until it is fit for the eter-
nal orchestra, aud can say to a FREELY, Let
| there lie light and from holding an ocean
in the hollow of His hand, goes forth
| to find heights and depths AMI length and
| breadth OF omnipotency in a dewdrop, and
/ dismounts from the chariot Of midnight
| hurricane to cross over on the suspension
| bridge OF a spiders web
/ You may take your telescope AMI sweep IL
across the heavens in order to behold the
/ glory of God, but shall take the leaf hold.
| ing the spider and the spiders web. and l
stall bring the microscope to my eye, and
while gaze and look and study and am
COMPOUNDED will kueel down in the grass
and cry. Great ami marvellous are Thy
WORKS, Lord Gol Almighty"
Again, my text teaches ME that insignih-
/ canoe is no excuse for inaction. This spider
/ that Solomon saw on the wall might have
said: III can't weave a web worthy Of this
/ great palace. what can do amid all this
/ gold emoroi iery2 I am not able to make
anything fit for 50 grand a place, and so
viii not work my spinning jenny Not 50
said the spider The spider taketh hold
with her hands, Ga, what a lesson that is
for you aud mel You say if you had some
/ great sermon to preach, if you only had
great audience to talk to, if you had great
army to marshal if you only had con-
sttution to write, II there was some
tremendous thing in the world for you to do
then you would show US. Yes, you would
snow US.
What il the Levite in the ancient temple
had refused TO snuff the candle because ne
could not be a high priest2 What II the
! humming bril- should refuse to sing its songs
into the ear Of the honeysuckle because II
cannot, ike the eagle dash its wing into the
sum- What is the raindroo should refuse to
descend bscsuse it is not a Niagara, What
/ if the spider Of the text should refuse tc
move its shuttle because it cannot weave
| Solomon's robe? Away with such folly II
you are lazg with the one talent, you woud
be law with the ten talents. IL Milo can
not lift the calf he never will have strength
TO lift the OK In the Lords army there is
order for promotion, but you cannot be
general until you have been a captain, a
lieutenant and a colonel. IL is step by step,
it is inch by inch, it is stroke by stroke that
our Christian character is builded There
fore be content to do what God commands
! You to do
God is not ashamed to do small things He
is not ashamed to be found chiselny a grain
of sand, or helping honeybee to construct
its cell with mathematical accuracy, or
tingeing a she'll in the surf. or shaping the
bill of a claffinch What God does, Hedoes
well. What you do, do vel, be it great
work or 2 small work. If ten t1lents, employ
all the ten. II five talents, employ all the
five. If one talent, employ the one. II only
the thousandtb part OF talent employ
that. BE thou faithful unto death, and
will give thee the crown of life" tell you il
you are not faithful to God in a small sphere,
you would be indolent and Insignificant in a
large sphere
Again, my text teaches me that repu'sve-
ness and loathsomeness will sometimes
climb up into very elevated places You
would have tried to kill the spider that So
onion saw. You would have said: This Is
no place for it. If that spider is determined
to weave a web, let it do so down in the cell
lar Of this palace or in some dark dungeon.
Ahl the spider Of tho text could not be dis
couraged. 1t cam5ered on AMI climbed up.
higher and higher and higher. until after
awhile it reached the kings vision, and hs
said. "The spider taketh hold with her
hands. ard is In kings palaces And 50 it
often is now that things that are lolthsome
and repulsive get u into very elevated
places.
The church Of Christ. for instance. is a
palace. The King Of heaven and earth liv,s
in IT, According TO the Bible, her beams
are OF CEDAR aud her rafters Of fir, and her
windows of agato. and the fountains OF sal
walton dash a rain of light. 1t is a glorious
palace-the church o; Col is, ami yet some
times unseemly and lolthsoms things creep
up into it-evil speaking and rancor and
SANDER and backbiting and abuse crawling
up on the walls of the church, spinning a
web from arch TO area, and from the top OF
one communion tankard 10 the top of an
other communion tankarl. Glorious pal
ace in which there ought only TO DO light
and love aud pardon and grace; yet spider
in the palacel
Home ought to b. c1stle. II ought TO be
the residence of everything royal. Kind
ness, love. peace, patience aud forbearancs
ought to be the princes residing there, ana
vet sometimes dissipation crdwls up into
that home. and the jealous eye comes up,
and the scene OF peacs and plenty becomes
the scene of domestic jargon and dissonance.
You say. "What is tho matter with the
bousa ~ I will tell Won what is { Q matter