The Indiana State sentinel., 1893-07-05
HEARD AT THE TABERNACLE
DR.. TALMAGE on THE LESSON OF
THE PHARIsEE AND PUBLICAN.
True Repentance Is a Cody sorrow
for sin-By the Deeds of the Law
No Flesh Can BE Justified, and SO
the SeIf-Satisfed Are Condemned.


Talmage had selected as his subject for
today a picture Of contrasts. Arrogance
and Humility" the text being Luke
xviii, Is. "God be merciful to me, a sin
nerr'
No mountain ever had a more brilliant
coronet than Mt. Moriah. The gIories OF
the ancient temple blazed there. The
mountain top was not originally large
enough to hold the temple. and so wall
600 feet high was erected, and the noun
tain was built out into that wall. 1t was
at that point that Satan met Christ and
tried to persuade Him TO cast himself
down the SEQ feet. The nine gates of
the temple flashed the light Of silver and
gold and Corinthian brass, which Corin-
THAN brass was mere precious stones
melted and mixed and crystalized. The
temple itself was not so very large
structure. but the courts and the ad-
iuncts of the architecture made it half
a mile in circumference.
We stand and look off upon that Won
drous structure. What's the matter?
What strange appearance in the temple?
Is it fire? Why, it seems as if it were
mansion all kindled into flame. What's
the matter? Why, it's the hour of morn
ing sacrifice, and the smoke on the altar
rises and bursts out of the crevices and
out of the door and wreathes the noun
tain top with folds of smoke. through
which glitter precious stones gathered
and FURNISHED by royal muniicence.
1 see two men mounting the steps of
the building. They go side by side; they
are very unlike; no sympathy between
them-the one the pharisee. proud ar
rOgant, pompous, he goes up the steps
of the building. He seems by his manner
to say: clear the track! Never before
| came up these steps such goodness and
| conservation"
The Repentant Sinner.
Beside him was the publican, bowed
down seemingly with a load on his
heart. They reach the inclosure for wor-
ship in the midst of the temple. The
pharisee goes close up to the gate of the
| holy of holies. He feels he is worthy to
| stand there. He says practically: Il
am so holy I want to go into the holy of
| holes. Lord, am a very good man.
| I'm a remarkably good man. Why, two
| days in the week l eat absolutely
nothing. I'm so good. I'm very gener-
Gus in my conduct toward the poor L
have no sympathy with the common
rabble; especially have l none with this
poor. miserable, commonplace, wretched
publican who happened TO come up the
stairs beside me-"
The publican went clear to the other
side of the inclosure, as far away from
the gate of the holy of holies as he could
| get, for he felt unworthy to stand near
the sacred place And the bible says he
stood afar off. Standing on the opposite
side of this inclosure he bows his head,
and as orientals when they have any
trouble beat their breasts so he begins
! to pound his breast as he cries, GOD be
| merciful to me, sinnerr'
oh, was there ever a greater contrast?
| The incense that waited that morning
| from the priests censer was not SO sweet
as the publican's prayer floating into the
| opening heavens, while the prayer Of the
pharisee died on his contemptuous lips
| and rolled down into his arrogant heart.
Worshiping there thel join each other
and go side by side q 'n the steps, the
pharisee cross, wtetched, acrid,
saturnine; the publican with his face
shining with the very joys of heaven.
for II tell you that this man went down
to his house justified rather than the
other"
Now, I put this publican's prayer un-
| der analysis, and l discover In the first
place that he was persuaded of his sim
fulness. He was an honest man. he was
a taXgatherer, he was an officer of the
| government. The publicans were tax
gatherers. and Cicero says they were
the adornment of the state. OF course
they were somewhat unpopular, because
people then did not like TO pay their
taxes any better than people now like
to pay their taxes, and there were many
who disliked them. Still. l suppose this
publican, this taxgatherer, was an hon
orable man. He had an Office of trust
There were many hard things said about
him, and yet, standing there in that in
closure of the temple amid the demon
strationS of Gods holiness and power,
he cries out from the very depths of his
stricken soul, God be merciful to me g
sinnerr' BY what process shall I prove
that I am a sinner? BY what process
shall / prove that you are a sinner?
Shall / ask you to weigh your motives,
to scan your actions, TO estimate your
behavior? / will do nothing of the kind
I will draw my argument rather from
the plan of the work that God has
achieved for your salvation.
The ImperiIed Soul.
You go down in a storm to the beach,
and you see wreckers put on their rough
jackets and launch the lifeboat and then
shoot the rockets to show that help is
coming out into the breakers, and you
| Immediately cry "A shipwreckp' And
when I see the Lord Jesus Christ putting
aside robe and crown and launch out
on the tossing sea of human suffering
and satanic hate, going out into the
laundering surge Of death, 1 cry, "A
shipwreck"
1 know that our souls are dreadfully
lost by the work that God has done to
save them. Are you a sinner? Suppose
you had a commercial agent in Charles
ton or San Francisco or Chicago, and
you were paying him promptly his
salary, and you found out, after awhile,
that notwithstanding he had drawn
the salary he had given nine-tenths of
all the time to some. other commercial
establishment. Why your indignation
would know no bounds. And yet that is
Just the way we have treated the Lord
He sent us into this world to serve
Him. He has taken good care of US
He has clothed us, He has sheltered us,
and He has surrounded us with 10000
benefactions, and yet many of us have
given nine-tenths of our lives to the
service OF the world the flesh and the
devil Why, my friend, the bible is full
of confession, and | do not find anybody
is pardoned until he has confessed.
What did David say? 81 will confess
my transgressions unto the Lord" What
did Isaiah say? "Woe is me, because 1
am a man OF unclean lips" What did
Ezra say? "Our iniquities are increased
over our head, and our trespass is grown
up into heaven" And among the mill
ions before the throne of God tonight
not one got there until he confessed.
The coast of eternal sorrow is Strewn
with the wreck of those who, not talk
ing the warning, drove with the cargo
of immortal hope into the white tangled
Of he hrno o1ra~