Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-09-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvISE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Tax Collectors Con-
version"


/ pIhle ssys he was a sInner'-that Is. In the
! nullic sense How many fine men have been
| ruined hy official position II IL an hWihl
| thing for any man 10 seek ofice under gov
| eminent unless his principles OF integrity
| ora JennIy fixed. Manga man upright In an
I insignificant position has made shipwreck IN
/ a ,,reot one AZ far rs | can tell, in the city
4 N Jericho this Xaccheus belonged 10 what
/ ,,i,b, no ceIicd the "ring." They had things
,bair own WAY, successfully avoiding exnO-
surc II nv no other way perhaps by hiring
somebody to break in and steal the vouch-
era. Notwithstanding his bad reputation
] there were strenks OF good about him. as
/ there are about almost every man. Gold is
/ found in quartz, ana sometimes in a small
1 percentage.
Jesus was coming TO town. The people
{ Turned out on mRsse to see Him. Here He
/ zones, the Lord OF glory on foot, dust COW
cred and travel weary. limping along the
wny, carving the rriefs and woes OF tho
world He looks 10 he sixty years OF age
when He is only about thirty. Zaccheus was
n short man and could not see over the pcn-
ple's heads while standing on the ground
so he got uD into a sycamore tree that swung
its arm clear over the road. Jesus advanced
nmid the wild excitement OF tho surging
crowd. The most honorable and popular
/ men Of the city are looking on and trying to
gain His attention. Jesus. instead OF re-
tho tree and says "Zucchpus. come down.
] am going home with you" Everybody
was dsgustei to think Tint Christ would go
4 home with so dishonorahle man.
see Christ entering the front door OF the
house Of Zacchcus Tho King OF heaven
| and earth sits down. and rs He looks around
/ on the place and the family He pronounces
the hrnedrtion Of the text. "rhis day Is sal
! walton come to this house.
: Tunchaus hal pDuntpl thp sVpamO trpa
Z out OF mere inQu 'stivrncss. He wanted to
| see how this stranger looked-the color OF
/ His eyes. the length OF His hair, the contour
/ nf His features the height OF His stature.
"Come down. said Christ.
And so many people In this day get up in
10 the tree OF curiosity or speculation to see
Christ. They ask II thousand queer qurs-
tions about His divinity. about Coils soy
ereIcnty and the eternal DEGREES. They
speculate and criticise and hang onto the
! outside limb Of a great sycamore, but they
must come down rom that II they want to
/ he saved We cannot he saved as philOso-
pliers. but rs little children. You cannot 20
10 heaven by way OF Athens, but 10y WY Of
/ bethlehem.
Why be perplexed about the way sin came
! into the world when the great question s
how we shall get sin driven out OF our hearts.
| How many spend their time In criticism aud
religious speculation They take tho rose
OF Sharon or the lilly OF the valley, pull out
the anther, scatter the corOlla and snv as
that the beautiful flower OF religion that Won
are talking ahOutW No flower is beautiful
after you have torn 1t all to pieces. The path
to heaven ia so plain that fool need not
! make any mistake about it. and yet men
stop and cavil. suppose that, going toward
the Pacific slope, had resolved that | would
! stop until | could kill all the grizzly bears
, and the panthers on either side OF the way.
would never have got to the Pacific coast.
! When went out TO nunt the grizzly bear
the grizzly bear would have come out to
| hunt me- Here Is plain road to heaven.
! Men say they will not take step on Il until
they can make game of all the theories that
bark and growl Mt them from the thickets
They 'orret tho fact that, ms they go .out to
hunt the theory, the theory comes out to
hunt them. and so they perish.
DIR. Ludlow, my professor In the theo-
logical seminary. taught me a lesson shall
never forget. While putting II variety OF
questions to him that were perplcxing no
turned upon me, somewhat In ster1ness
but more in love. and said. "Mr. Talmage,
you will have to let God know some things
that you don't We tear our hands on the
spines Of the cactus instead Of feasting our
eye on its tropical bloom. A great COM
pany OF people now sit swinging them
selves on the sycamore tree OF their pride,
and cry to you: "Haccheu1, come down
Come down out of your PRIDE out OF your
inquIsitiveness, out OF your speculation.
You cannot ride into the gate of heaven
with coach and four, position ahead and
lackey behind. Except We become rs little
children, ye cannot enter the kingdom OF
God God has chosen the weak things OF
the world to confoundthe mighty. Zaccheus,
como down, come down!
notice that this taxgatherer accompanied
IA, l.,.t CIrtat ,rttl tfNN
OF property that did not belong to him. He
says, "Gt have taken anything by false aC-
cusation, | restore fourfold"-that is, i!
have taxed any man for $40, 900 when he had
only $4,000 worth OF property and put in my
own pocket the tax for the last $4,000, | will
restore to him fouriol. II took from him
$40 | will give him $40. II took from him
$40 l will give him sl60.
Hundreds OF thousands OF dollars have
been sent to Washington during the past few
years rs "consclenca money / suppose
that money was sent by men who wanted tc
be Christians, but found they could not until
they made restitution. There is no need OF
our trying to come to Christ rs long rs we
keep iraudulently dollar or n farthlng in
our possession that belongs to another. Sup.
pose you have not money enough TO pay
your debts and for the sake OF defrauding
your creditors You put your property In
day Of judgment for pardon, but you would
not get 1t without first making restitution.
In times OF prosperity II Is right, against a
rainy day, to assign property to your wife,
but If. in time OF perplexity and tor tho sake
OF defrauding your creditors, you make such
assignment you become culprit before
God, and you may as we'll stop praying I'M
I'll you have made restitution. Or suppose
one man loans another money on bond or
mortgage, with the understanding that tho
mortgage can lie quiet for several years, but
as soon as the mortgage is given commences
foreclosure-the sheriff mounts the auction
block, and the property Is struck down ut
half price, and the mortgage buys 1t in.
The mortgagee started to got the property
at half price and IS thief and robber
Until he makes restitution there Is no mercy
for him.
You say 81 cannot make restitution. The
parties whom swInded are gone" Then
! say, Take the money up to the American
Bible Society and consecrate Il to God, -
Zaccheus was wise when he disgorgei his
unrlghteous gains, and it was his first step In
the right direction.
The way being plain, Christ walked into
thu house OF Iaccheus. He becomes differ
ent man his wife different woman the
children are different Oh, it makes n great
change In any house when Christ comes into
II !! How many beautiful homes are repre-
scented among you? There are pictures on
the wall, there Is music In the drawing room,
and Injuries In the wardrobe, and full sup.
ply In the pantry. Even II you were halt
asleep, there Is one word with which could
wake you and thrill you through and
through and that word Is "home ~ There
are also houses of suffering represented In
which there are neither pictures nor ward
robe nor adornment-only one room, AMI Il
plain cot, or a bunk In corner. Yet It Is the
place where your loved ones dwell, aud
your whole nature tingles with satisfaction
.. when you think OF 1t and call 1t home.
! Enough the world may scoir at US and pur.
] sue us. and all the day we he tossed about,
ut eventde we sail into the hnrbor OF home.
. Though there be no rest for us In the busy