The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-11-07
THE DIVINE MIRROR.
From the Far East DR.. TaImaAo Sends p
Message OF Grsce,

BROOKLYN, Oct. 28.-Rsv. Dr.. Tai
mage, who has left India and IS now 0;
his homeward, journey, has selected q
the subject Of his sermon today through
the press "The Looking Glass;" ha
text being Exodus xxxViii, s, And ht
made the iaVer Of brass, and the foot @
it was brass, of the looking GLASSES o
the wemen assembling"
We often hear about the gospel il
John, and the gospel in Luke, and ths
gospel in Matthew, but there Is just a;
surely gospel of Moses, and a gosps
of jeremiah, and a gospel Of David. II
other words, Christ is as certainly to be
found in tie Old Testament IS IN the
New.
When the Israelites were marching
through the wilderness theY carried
their church with them. They called il
the tabernacle. 1t was pitched tent
very costly, very beautiful. The frame
work was made OF 4S boards Of acacie
wood set IN sockets Of silver. The
curtains of the place were purplo anc
scarlet and blue and fine linen and were
hung with most artistic loops. The
csndlestick of that tabernacle had sbsft
and branch and bowl of solid gold, anC
the figures Of cherubim that stood there
had wings of gold, and there were lamps
of geld, and snufers of gold, ard tongs
Of gold, and rings fgold, 80 that skep'
ticism has sometimes asked, Where die
all that precious material come from!
It is not my place to furnish the pre-
clous stones. It is only to tell that
they were there.
wish now more especially to speak
of the layer that was built in the mlds!
OF that ancient taberhacle. It was q
great basin from which the priests wash
ed their hands and feet, The water
came down from the basin in spouts and
passed away after the cleansing. This
laVer, or basin, was made out OF the look
ing glasses of the women who frequent
ed the tabernacle, and who had made
these their contribution to the furniture.
These looking glasses were not made OF
glass, but they were braz9n. The brass
was OF q very superior quality and pol
isted until it reflected easily The
features Of those who locked INTO It.
SO that the laver spoke2 Of in my text
did double work-it not only furnished
the water in which the priests washed
themselves, but it also, on its shining
polished surface, pointed out the spots
of pollutisn on the face which Ceeded
ablution. Now, my Christian friends,
as everything IN that ancient tabernacle le
was suggestive Of religious truth, anC
for the most part positively symbolcsl
of truth, shall take that laVer Of looS'
ing glasses spoken of in The text as al
suggestive of the gospel, which first
shows Us cur sins as il mirror anC
then washes them away ~ divine ab!u
ton.
On. happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Ihavs to say that this is the only
hooking glass IN which man can see
himself as he is. There are some mir
rors that fatter tie features and make
YOU look better than you are. Then
there are other mirrors that disiort youl
features and make you look worse thar
you are, but I want to tell you that til;
looking glass Of the gospel shows g mar
Just a. be is. When the priests entered
the ancient tabernacle, ons glaece at the
FURNISHED side of this Iaver showed them
their need of cleansing, 90 this gospe
shows the soul It's need Of divine wash
ing. "Au have sinnea and come short
Of the glory of God." That is one
showing. "All We, like sheep, have
gone astray." That is another show
ing. "From the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot there is no health II
Us" That is another showing. ThI
world calls these defects, impecfections,
or eccentricities, or erratlc behavior, o.
wild oats" or ''hlgh living" but thI
gospel calls them sin, transgressi0n
flth-the aboninable thing that Goo
hates. It was just one glarce at thS
mirror that made Paul cry out, "Oh
W-etched man that I am, who shall de-
liver nae from the body Of this death?'
and that made David cry out, purge
me with hYssop, and I shall be clean,
and that made Martin Luther cry out
"Oh, my sins, nay sins! I an no
talking about bad habits. Yon and
do not need any Bible to tell Us that
bad habits are wrong; that blasphemy
and evil speaking are wrong, but an
talking of a sintul nature, the source O.
all bad thoughts as well as Of all bac
actions. The Apostle Paul calls then
roll in the first csspter Of Romans
They are regiment of death ercampiug
around every heart, holdiDglt in tY
ranny from which nothing but the grace
of God can deliver it.
Here, for instance, Is ipgratitude
Who has uot been guilty Of that sin? I
a man hand Us a glass Of water, we say
"Thank you," but for the 10, ,000mercie!
that we are every day receiving iron
the hand of God how little expression o
gratitude-for thirst slaked. for hunger
fed, for shelter and sunshine and SOUND
sleep and clothes to wear, how little
thanks! I suppose there are men sc
years of age who have never yet beer
down on their knees in Thanksgiving tc
God for his goodness. Besides thai
ingratitude Of our hearts there is pride
who has not felt ii?-pride that will moi
submit to God, that wants its own way
a nature that prefers wrong sometimes
instead OF right, that prefers to wallo1
instead of rise up. I 90 not care what
you call that. am not going to quar-
rel with any theol0gian or any man who
makes any preteasions to theology.
do not care whether you call it total
depraVity" or something else, simply
make the announcements of GODS word,
affirmed and confirmed by theexperience
Of hundreds of Chris tan people, the
imagination Of the heart Of man Is evil
from youth. "There IS none that doeth
good-no, rot one." We have q bad
nature. We were born with if. We
got it from cur parents. They got il
from their parents. Oar thoughts ore
wropg, cur action Is wropg, cur whole
life is obnoxious to God before conver-
sion, and after conversion lot enc good
thing in Us but that which the grace ot
God has planted and fostered. "Weu, "
you say, 81 can't believe that 10 be 500
All, my dear brother, that is because
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