The Penn's Grove record., 1893-02-24
RBV. DR.. TALNiGR.
The BReoKLyN BIvtNEs SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject. God Among the sherls.n

hHN ttf IDTD Sdlu nnTO lHOSpS.
1oke "nfo thee si0eef SPICES, stacte anl
onychd."-Exodus XXX. 81. .
You NAV not have noticed the shells Of
the Bible, although in this early part of the
sacred book God calls Won to consider and
employ Them as He C lei Moses to consider
and employ them. The onycha OF nv text
is a shell found on the banks of the Red Sea
ana Moses and his army must nave crushed
many of them under foot as they crossed
the hisected waters, onycha on the beach
am onycha in u e unfolded bed OF the deep.
! shall speak OF this shell as a beautiful and
Practical revelation of Col, and as true as
tne frst chanter OF Genesis and the last
cnapter of Revelation or everything be.
tween.
Not only is this shell. the onycha. found
az Inc Red Sea, but in the waters of India,
IL not only DELEGATES the eye with its conyo-
buttons or beauty, white and lustrous and
serrated, but blesses the nostril with a num-
gent aroma. This she. "a .h, accustomed to
feed on soikeDard, is redolent with that
o1orous piant-redoient when alivs and re-
aoient when dead. It's shells when burned
bewitch the air with fra srance.
In nv text Col comman is Moses to mix
TINS onchya with the perfumes of the altar
In the ancient tabernacle, and l propose to
NIX some OF its perfumes at the altar of
brooklyn tabernacle, for, having spoken 10
you on the Astronomy of the Bible: or,
God Among the Stars;' tue Chronology OF
the Bible; or, God Among the Centuries. /"
the ''Ornithology Of the Biole; or. God
among the Birds" the "~Mineraiogv of the
Bible; or, God Among the A~methysts;"
the '~lchthyoiogy of the Bible; or, Col
among tine Fishes" l now come to speak of
the "Conchology OF the Bible, or, Goo
Among the Shells.n
1t Is a secret that you may keen for me
Tor l have never be, ore told it to any one,
that in all the realms Of the natural world
there IS nothing to me so fascinating, SO
completely absorbing, so full of uggestiya-
ness, ass shell. Wdat? More entertaining
than a bird, which can sing, when a shell
cannot singt Well, there you have made a
great mistake. Pick up the onycha from
the banks of the Red Saa or pic up a bivafve
from the beach OF the Atlantic Ocean and
listen, and you hear a whole choir of marine
voices-hass, alto, soprano an unknown
tongue, but seeming to chant, as l put them
to my ear, "Fhe sea is His and he made it;'
others singing, ''rhy way. o God, is in the
sea" Others hymning, "der uleth the raging
Of the sea."
what" says some one else, ''does tn.
he'll impress you more than the starr" In
some respects, yes, because l can handle the
shell an closely study the snell. while 1
eat.not naudie the star, and il | study it
must stuJy it at q distance of millions and
millions OF rifles.
w mar, says some one else, 'ar5 YOU
more Impressed by the shell than the
hower?' Yes, for it haS far greater varis-
ties and far greater Richness OF color, as ]
could show you in thousan is Of specimens,
AM because the sdell aoes not fade. as does
the rose ieaf, but maintains its beauty cen
fury after century, 50 that the onycha
winch the hoof of PhaTaohs horse knocxei
asioe in the ehass OF the Israeiite across the
Red Sea may ave kept its ulster to this
hour. Yes, they are so particolored ami
many coiored that you might pile theni up
until YOU would rave a wall with all the
colors o. the wall of heaven, from the iaspeT
at the bottom to the amethyst at the top.
o., the shells! The petritiei foam OF the
sea. Oh, the shellsi The hardened bubblei
of the deep. On, the shells, which are the
diadems thrown BY the ocean to the feet Of
the continents. How the shells are ribbed
grouved. cyiindered, mottlej, iridescentl
They were used as coin by some of the Ma
ions. They were fastened in belts by
others, and maze in handles OF WOODEN i'm
plements by still Others. Moliusss not only
Of the ses, but moiiusR Of the land. Do yoI
know how much they nave had to do witt
the worlds history? They saved the church
DI God from REIMBURSEMENT.
The lsraelites marched out Of Egypt
e,0Oe,0 600 strong, besides hocks aud herds,
The Billie says ''tGe people took their dough
before 1t was ~leavened, their kneading
troughs being bound up in the clothes or
Their shoulders. They were thrust forth Out
OF Egypt and could not tarry; neither had
they prepared for themselves any victuals.n
Just think of it? Forty years in the wilder
ness. lnfdelity Uriumphantly asks How
could they live forty years in the wilderness
with ut fooof You say mama fell. Oh,
that was alter a long while. They wouit
have starved fifty times before the mannt
fell. The TACT is. they were chiefly kept
alive by the mollusss of the land or sheiled
creatures. Mr.. Fronton and Mr.. Sicsrd
took the same route from Egypt toward
Canaan that the Israelites toog, and they
give this as their testimony.
although the cniinren OF Israel must
have consisted OF about 2.000.O 600 souls, with
baggage and innunerable fiocSs and herds,
they were not likely to experience any in
con yeRience in their march. Several thou-
sand persons might walk abreast with the
greatest ease IN tine very narrowest part of
the valley in which tney first began to file
OFT. 1t soon aiterwari expands TO above
three LEAGUES in width. Vita respect to
forage they would be at no loss. The
ground is covered with tamarisk, broom,
clover and SAINT foin, OF which latter
especially caIneis are passionateiy foo, be-
sides almost every varieGy OF odorlferouf
plant aud hero proper tor pqsturage.
1.-THE whole sides of the valley through
WHICH tue CnihlTcu Oh lsTtti HitfCutu ara
still tufted with rush oo1. waich douot-
less afforaed 1901 Tor their beasts together
with many drier sorrs Tor lighting fire. or
which the lsraeiites Gould with the greatest
ease Jake the dcu sn they brought with them
on small iron plates, which form a constant
~appendage to the baggage of an oriental
traveller. Lastly, the nerJage underneath
these trees and shrubs is completely covered
with snails oil a pro1igious SIZE and OF the
best sort, and, however uninyiting such q
repsst ought appear to us, they are here es-
TENED q great delicacy. They are SO plenti-
fui in this valley that 1t may be literally said
that 1t is Diff ult to take one step withou'
treading on them"
So the shelled creatures saved the host OF
on the march to the promised
LAND, and the attack of infidelity at this
point is defeated by the facts, as iniidelity IL
ALWAYS defeated by facts, since it is founded
ignorance. In writing q printing our
point has NJ the bottoma mark
Ike a period ant over it a flourish like the
swing OF a teamster's whip, aud we put this
Interrogation point at the end of a question,
in the Spanish language the inberroga-
ton point is twice usei for eacn question.
At the beginning Of the gu ssttod tne inter-
point is presented upside down,
ana at the close of the question right side
When iniidelity puts a question about
the Scriptures, as IL always indicates igno-
the question: OuBHL ID Ne priittd WiLu
interrogation points, one at the begin-
and one at the CLOSE, bat both upside
down.
Thank God for the wealth OF mollusks all
40 and down the earth, whether feeding
The lsraeiites on their way TO tide land flow
Ing with milk and honey, or, as we are bet
ter acquainted with the nollusks, when
lung 10 the beach of lake or sea. There are
three great families OF them. II l should
Ask you TO name three of the great royal
iamilies OF the esrth, perhaps you wound re-
pond, the house OF Stewart, the house of
.apsburg, the house OF Bouraon, but the
three royal families OF moliusSs are the uni
valve, or shell in one part, the biyaive. OF
OF two parts, and m~u.tivalve, or shell
n many parts and 1 see God in their every
in their every tooth, in their
svery cartilage, in their every igament, in,
heir every spiral ridge, and In their every
color. prisn on nrisrn, and their = Isntation
OF thin shells for still ponfs AMI thick coat
ing for hoisterons sens. They all dssli unon
God.
" hat is the use Of all this arcAitect ,rs o,
the shell, and WIN is ID nictqrsi from the
outside lilo clear down into It's l.bvrinths Of
Why the infnitv OF skin AMI
radiance in a SHELF What is the use OF the
color and exquisite curve of a thing so in
significant asa shellishf Why, when the