The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-09-28
FROM THE SOUTH SEA
Or. TALMAeE SENDS A LESSON FROM
FAR AUSTRALIA.


ed Above What They Are Able to Dear.
BROOKLYN, Sept 2S.-Rev. Dr.. Tai.
mage, who is now preparing to leave
Australia for India on his round tho
world tour, has selected as tho subject
for today's sermon through tho press
"The Tax Collectors Conversion" the
text being taken from Luke xix, 0,
"This day is salvation como to this
house "
zaooheus was politician and tax
gatherer, He had an honest calling, hut
tho opportunity for "stealings" was so
large the temptation was too much for
him, The Bible says he twas sinner"
that is, in the public sense, How
many fine men have been ruined by off,
cial positionl 1t is an awful thing for
any man to seek office under govern.
ment unless his principles of integrity
are deeply fixed. Many man upright
in an insignificant position has made
shipwreck in a great one. AS far as ]
can tell, in the city of Jericho this Gao
cheus belonged to what might be called
the ring" They had things their own
way, successfully avoiding exposure, if
by no other way perhaps by hiring
somebody to break in and steal the |
vouchers Notwithstanding his bad rep
! utation there were streaks of good about
him, as there are about almost every |
man. Gold is found in quartz, and
sometimes in very small percentage.
The Thronging to See Jesus
Jesus was coming to town. The peo-
| pie turned out en- masse to see him.
Here he comes. the Lord of glory, on
foot, dust covered and travel weary,
limping along the way, carrying the
griofs and woes of the world. He looks
to be GO years of age, when he is only
about 30. Zaccheus was short man
and could not see over the peoples heads
while standing on the ground, so he got
up into sycamore tree that swung its
arm clear over the road. Jesus advanced
amid the wild excitement of the surging
crowd. The most honorable and popu-
lar men of the city are looking ON and
trying to gain his attention. Jesus, in
stead of regarding them, looks up at the
little man in the tree and says: "Zac-
cheus come down. l am going home
with you. " Everybody was disguised to
think that Christ would go home with
SO Gishcnorable a man.
sec Christ entering the front door Of
the house of Zaccheus. The king of
heaven and earth sits down, and as he
looks around ON the place and the fam
lily he pronounces the benediction of the
text, ''This day is salvation come to this
house.
Zaccheus had mounted the sycamore
tree out Of mere inquisitiveness. He
wanted to see how this stranger looked
the color of his eyes, the length of his
hair, the contour of his features the
height of his stature. "Come down."
said Christ.
Idle Curiosity.
And SO many people in this day get
up into the tree Of curiosity or specula-
ton to see Christ. They ask thousand
queer questions about his divinity,
about Gods sovereignty and the eternal
DEGREES They speculate and criticise
aid hang onto the outside limb of a
great sycamore, but they must como
down from that if they want to be
saved. We cannot be saved as philoso-
piers, but as little children. You can
not go to heaven by way of Athens, but
by way of Bethlehem.
Why be perplexed about the way sin
came into the world when the great
question is how we shall get sin driven
out of our hearts. How many spend
their time in criticism and religious
speculation! They take the rose of
Sharon or the lilly Of the valley, pull
out the anther, scatter the corolla and
say, lis that the beautiful flower of re-
ligion that you are talking about?'' No
flower is beautiful after you have torn
it all to pieces. The path to heaven is SO
plain that fool need not make any
mistake about it, and yet men stop and
cavil. Suppose that, going toward the
Pacific slope, l had resolved that /
would stop until I could kill all the I
grizzly bears and the panthers on either .
side Of the way | would never have {
got to the Pacific coast When went
out to hunt the grizzly bear, the grizzly
bear would have come out to hunt me.
Here is a plain road to heaven Men {
they can make game of all the theories
that bark and growl at them from the 6
thickets. They forget the fact that, as 6
they go out to hunt the theory, the the |
CRY comes out to hunt them, and SO they {
perish. s
Must Become a Little Child. |
We must receive the kingdom of i
heaven in simplicity. William Penning- /
ton was one of the wisest men of this /
country-a governor Of his own state !.
and afterward speaker of the house Of =
epresentativcs-yet when God called y
him to be Christian he went in and II
sat down among some children who ~ =,
were applying for church membership, VI
and he said to his pastor, "Talk to me y
just as you do to these children, for n
know nothing about it, There is no
need Of bothering ourselves about mys-
teries when there are SO many things :
that are plain
DR.. Ludlow, my professor in the theo- o
logical seminary, taught me a lesson i y
shall never forget While putting :,
variety of questions to him that were Il
he turned upon me, some !. =
what in sternness, but more in love, and =
said, MIR. Talmage, you will have to =
let God know some things that you 81 81
don't. We tear our hands ON the y
spines OF the cactus instead of feasting ,
our eye on its tropical bloom. A great =
of people now sit swinging :. a
themselves on the sycamore tree of their "
PRIDE and | cry to you: "Zaccheus, =
come down! Come down out of your y
pride, out of your inquisitiveness, out Of =
your speculation. You cannot ride into :
the gate Of heaven with coach and four, J. "
position ahead and lackey behind Eek NJ
sept We become as little children, ye IL
cannot enter the kingdom of God God Il
has chosen the " ak things of the world <,
to confound the mighty. Zaccheus, t
come down, come downl''
What Zaccheus Did. al
L notice that this tayoatberar accom-. NC