The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1892-04-15
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE GREAT DIVINE ON BIBLP
PROVERBS.
Men Who Have COnsecrated Their Wit
MS Well as Their Wisdom to the
Cause of GhrIst-Abhoring Small
Sins and Reckless of Large Thefts.

tendency to Journalism in religion and
to hypocritical pretense III society re-
ceived severe castigation from the
pulpit of the Brooklyn tabernacle this
morning. DIR. Talmage made a vigor-
GUS onslaught upon it, basing his re-
marks on the text, Matt. 90 "a: "Ye
blind guides, who strain at q gnat and
swallow camel"
A proverb is compact wisdom,
knowledge in chunks, a library in a
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 a great
buster about small sins and have no
appreciation of great ones.
In my text small insect and large
quadruped are brought into COMPARE
soma gnat and camel. You have in
museum or on the desert seen the lat
ter, great awkward sprawling
creature, with back two stories high,
and stomach having a 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. tits 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
misprint and ought to read 'strain
out gnat"
NY text shows you the prince of in
constituencies. A man after long obser-
walton has formed the suspicion that in
cup of water he is about to drink,
there is grub or the grandparent of a
gnat He goes and gets a sieve or
strainer. He takes the water and
pours it through the sieve in the broad
light He says, 81 would rather do
anything almost than drink this water
until this larva be extirpated" This
water is brought under inquisition.
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 devours a
ship of the desert" the camel, which
the Jews were forbidden to eat. The
astronomer has no computations OF
conscience. He suffers from no indi-
gestion. He puts the lower jaw under
the camels forefoot, and his upper jaw
over the hump of the cancels back, and
gives one swallow and the dromedary
disappears forever. He strained out a
gnat he swallowed camel.
While Christ's audience were yet
smiling at the appositeness 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 a
surgeons knife more bitterly thar
did the Pharisees under Christ's
scalpel of truth. AS an
anatomist will take human body tC
pieces and put them under a micro
scope for examination, so Christ finds
his way to the heart of the dead Phari
see and cuts it out and puts it under
the glass of inspection for all genera
tions to examine. Those Pharisee'
thought that Christ would flatter then
and compliment them, and how they
must have writhed under the red-ho'
words as he said; "Ye fools, We whitet
sepulchres, we blind guides which
strain out a gnat and swallow {
camel
There are in our day great many
gnats strained out and great many
camels swallowed, and it is the objec
of this sermon to sketch a few persons
who are extensively engaged in tina
business.
First, remark, that all those minis
ters of the Gospel are photographed il
the text who are very scrupuIous abou
the conventionalities of religion
but put no particular stress upon mat
tiers of vast Importance. Churcl
services ought to be grave ant
solemn. There is no room for frivolit,
in religious convocation. Blu
there are illustrations, and there ar
hyperboles like that of Christ in tn
text that will irradiate with smiles an,
intelligent auditory. There are mel
like those blind guides of the text VIII
advocate only those things in religion
service which draw the corners of tn
mouth down, and denounce all thos
| things which have a tendency to draw
> the corners of the mouth up, and thes
: men will go to installations an
to presbyteries and to con
ferences and to association
their pockets full of fine sleeves to strait
out the gnats, while in their owr
, churches at home every Sunday Their
are fifty people sound asleep. The
/ make their churches a great dormitory
and their somniferous sermons are
0 cradle, and their drawled out hymns
lullaby, while some wakeful soul in
5 pew with her fan keeps the flies off ur