The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1894-11-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Brass Laver in the Midst OF
the Tabernacle.
A Mirror Suggestive OF the Gospel-The
Only Looking-Glass In Which
Man Can See Himself as
GCd Sees Him.

this week. The subject is ''The Look
ing Glass" and is based upon the text:
And he made the LAYER of brass and the foot
of 1t was brass, of the loolzing-glasses Of the
women assembling. EXODUS xxxyiti..8.
We often hear about the Gospel in
John, and the Gospel in Luke, and the
Gospel in Matthew; but there is Just
as surely Gospel of Moses, and Cos
pei of Jeremiah, and Gospel of David.
In other words, Christ is as certainly
to be found in the Old Testament as in
the New.
When the Israelites were marching
through the wilderness they carried
their church with them They called
it the tabernacle. 1t was pitched
tent; very costly, very beautiful The
framework was made of forty-eight
boards of acacia wood set in sockets of
silver. The curtains of the place were
purple, and scarlet, and blue, and fine
linen, and were hung with most ar
tistic loops. The candlestick of that
tabernacle had shaft, and branch, and
bowl of solid gold, and the figures of
cherubim that stood there had wings
of gold; and there were lamps of gold,
and snuffers of gold, and tongs of
gold, and rings of gold; so that skep-
ticism has sometimes asked: Where
did all that precious metal come from2
1t is not my place to furnish the pre-
cious stones; it is only to tell that they
were there.
/ wish now more especially to speak
of the laver that was built in the midst
Of that ancient tabernacle. It was
great basin from which the priests |
washed their hands and feet. The water i
came down from the basin IN spouts |
and passed away after the cleansing. |
This laver or basin was made out of |
the looking glasses of the women who |
had frequented the tabernacle, and |
who had made these their contribution
to the furniture. These looking
glasses were not made of glass, but
they We're brazen. The brass
was of very superior quality
and polished until it reflected
easily the features Of those who
looked into it. So that this laver of
looking glasses spoken of in my text
did double work; it not only furnished
the water IN which the priests washed
themselves, but it also, on its shin
ing, polished surface, pointed out the
spots of pollution on the face which
needed ablution. Now, my Christian
friends, as everything in that ancient
tabernacle was suggestive of religious
truth, and for the most part positively
symbolical of truth, shall take that I
iaver of looking-glasses spoken of in
the text as all-suggestive of the Cos
pei, which first shows us our sins as in {
a mirror, and then washes them away
by Divine ablution. Il
Oh, happy day. happy day, /
When Jesus washed my sins away, 1
have to say that this is the only
looking-glass in which man can see
himself as he is. There are some mir {
rors that fiatter the features, and make
you look better than you are. Then /,
there are other mirrors that distort 4,
your features, and make you look I
worse than you are; but want to tell /,
you that this looking glass of the G
Gospel shows a man just as he is. t
When the priests entered the ancient
one glance at the FURNISHED
side of this laver showed them their q
need of cleansing; so the Gospel =
shows the soul it's need of di- S
vine washing. ''All have sinned and t
come short of the glory of God" That 7
is one showing. ''All we, like sheep, r
have gone astray." That is another a
showing. From the crown of the r
head to the sole of the foot there is no !
health in u.s." That is another show 6
ing. The world calls these defects, t
imperfections or eccentricities, or I
erratic behavior, or wild oats" or II
high living" but the Gospel calls n
them sin, transgression. filth-the p
abominable thing that God hates. 1t "
was just one glance at that mirror that s.
made Paul cry out: ooh, wretched man j
that am, who shall deliver me from e
the body of this death?" and that made n
David cry out: purge me with hys- C
sop. and shall be clean;" and that Il
made Martin Luther cry out: ooh, n
about bad habits. You and do not 81
need any Bible to tell us that bad S,
habits are wrong, that blasphemy and L
are wrong But L am 81
talking of sinful nature, the source t;
Of all bad thoughts. as well as of bad b
actions. The Apostle Paul calls their is
roll in the first chapter of Romans. 81
They are regiment of death encamp- y
ing around every heart, holding it in n
a tyranny from which nothing but the 81
grace of God can deliver it. Il
Here, for instance, is ingratitude. h
Who has not been guilty of that sin? o
If a man hands us a, glass of water, we &
say: THANK you:" but for the ten b
thousand mercies that we are every t.
day receiving from the hand of God, il