Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-03-31
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The GREAT DIVINE ON BIBLE
PROVERBS.
Men Who Have Consecrated Their wit
as Well as Their Wisdom to the
Cause of Christ-Abhoring Small
Sins and Reckless of Largo Thefts.

to hypocritical pretense In society re-
ceived severe castigation from the
pulpit of the Brooklyn tabernacle this
morning. DR.. Talmage made n vigor-
Gus onslaught upon it, basing his re-
marks on the text, Matt. 90 "a: aye
blind guides, who strain at gnat and
swallow camel"
A proverb is compact wisdom,
knowledge in chunks, library in n
sentence, the electricity of many
clouds discharged in one bolt, river
put through mill race, When Christ
quotes the proverb of the text, he
means to set forth the ludicrous be-
havior of those who make n great
buster about small sins and have no
appreciation of great ones.
In my text small insect and large
quadrured are brought into COMPARE
soma gnat and camel You have in
museum or on the desert seen the lat
ter, a great awkward sprawling
creature, with back two stories high,
and stomach having n collection Of
reservoirs for desert travel, an animal
forbidden to the Jews as food, and in
many literatureS entitled "the ship of
the desert" The gnat spoken of in
the text is in the grub form. 1t is born
in pool or pond, after few weeks be-
comes a chrysalis, and then after few
days becomes the gnat as we recognize
it. But the insect spoken of in the
text is in its very smallest shape and it
yet inhabits the water-for my text is
a misprint and ought to read strain
out a gnat."
NV text shows you the prince of in
constituencies. A man after long obser-
walton has formed the suspicion that in
a cup of water he is about to drink
there is u grub or the grandparent of n
gnat ITe goes and gets n sieve or
strainer. lie takes the water and
pours it through the sieve in the broad
light. He says, II would rather do
anything almost than drink this water
until this larva be eXtirpatcd." This
water is brought under inquisitlon.
The experiment is successful.
The water rushes through the
sieve and leaves against the side of the
sieve the grub or gnat. Then the man
carefully removes the insect and drinks
the water in placidity. But going out
one day, and hungry, he dcvourS a
ship of the desert" the camel, which
the Jews were forbidden to eat The
astronomer has no computations of
conscience. lie suffers from no indi-
gestion. He puts the lower jaw under
the camels forefoot, and his upper jaw
over the hump of the cameis back, and
gives one swallow and the drOmedary
disappears forever. He strained out Il
gnat, he swallowed camel.
While Christ's audience were yet
smiling at the appositcncss and wit OF
his illustration-for smile they did in
church, unless they were too stupid to
understand the hyperbole-Christ prac-
tically said to them, THAT is you.
Punctilious about small things; reck-
less about affairs of great magnitude
No subject ever withered under Il
surgeons knife more bitterly than
did the Pharisecs under Christ's
scalpcl of truth. As an
anatomist will take human body to
pieces and put them under micro
scope for examination, SO Christ finds
his way to the heart of the dead Phari-
see and cuts it ont and puts it under
the glass of inspection for all genera
tions to examine. Those Pharisees
thought that Christ would flatter them
and compliment them, and how they
must have writhed under the red-hOt
words as he said "Ye fools, We whited
sepulchres, ye blind guides which
strain out gnat and swallow a
camel"
There are in our day great many
gnats strained out and a great many
camels swallowed, and it is the object
of this sermon to sketch few persons
who are extensively engaged in that
business.
First remark, that all those minis
tiers of the Gospel are photographed in
the text who are very scrupulous about
the conventionalities of religion,
but put no particular stress upon mat
tiers of vast Importance. Church
services ought to be grave and
solemn. There is no room for frivolity
in religious cOnvOcatiOn. But
there arc illustrations, and there are
hvperbolcs like that of Christ in the
text that will irrddiate with smiles any
intelligent auditory. There are men
like those blind guides of the text who
advocate only those things in religious
service which draw the corners of the
mouth down, and denounce all those
things which have tendency to draw
the corners of the mouth up, and these
men will 90 to installations and
to presbyteries and to con,
fercnces and to associations
their pockets full of fine, sleeves to strain
ont the gnats, while in their own
churches at home every Sunday there
are fifty people sound asleep. They
make their churches a great dOrmitory
and their somnifcrous sermons are a
cradle, and their drawled out hymns q
lullaby, while some walieful soul in a
pew with her fan keeps the flies off un,
conscious persons approximate. Now
! say it is worse to sleep il
church than to smile in church
for the latter implies at least attention
while the former implies the indiffer
ence of the hearers and the stupidity o.
the speaker. In old age, or from ply
steal intirmity, or from long watching
with the sick, drowsiness will some
times overpower one; but when a min
lister of the gospel looks off upon al
audience and finds healthy and intel
ligent people struggling with drowsi
ness, it is time for him to Civ,
out the doXology or pro
nounce the benediction. The great faul
of church services to-day is not to-
much vivacity, but too much somno
lence. The one is an irritating gna
that may be easily strained out; tn
other is great, sprawling and sleepy
eyed camel of the dry desert. In al
our Sabbath schools, in all our Bibl
classes, in all our pulpits we need t
brighten up our religious message wit
such Christ-like vivacity as we find i
the text.