Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-11-09
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: s'The Looking CLASP

ing glasses OF the women assembling. -
Exodus xxxviil., g.
We often hear about the gospel in John
and the gospel in Luke. and the gospel ir
Matthew, but there is Just as surely gospel
| Of Moses. and gospel Of Jeremiah. and q
gospel OF David. In other words, Christ Is
as certainly to be found in the Old Testa,
ment as in the New
When the Israeltes were marching
| through the Wilderness they carried their
church with them. They called it the tabe--
nncle. 1t was a pitched tent, very costly,
very beautiful. The framework was made
of forty-elght boards Of acacia wool set in
sockets Of silver. The curtains Of the place
were purple and scar! let and blue and
line linen and were hung with most
artistic loops. The oandlesticks o.
that tabernacle had shaft and
! branch and bowl Of solid gold, nn1 the
figures OF cherubim that stood there had
| wings OF gold and there were lamps Of gold
and snuffers of gold, and tOnes Of gold. and
| rings OF gold. so that skepticism has some
times asked, Where did all that precious mn.
terial come from? It is not my place to fur
nish the precious stones. 1t is only to tell
that they were there.
1 wish now more especially TO speak of the
| laver that was built in the midst OF that
| ancient tabernacle. It was a great basin from
| which the priests washed their hands and
| feet. The water came down from the basin
j in spOuts and passed away after tho
| 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 contributions to
| the furniture. These looking glasses were
| not made Of glass, but they were brazen.
! Ihe brass was OF very superior quality and
! polished until 1t reflected easily the features
OF those who looked into it, 50 that this
layer Of looking glasses spoken o. in my text
did double work. 1t not only furnished the
water in which the priests washed thon-
selves, but it also, on its shining, polished
surface, pointed out the spots Of pollution
on the face which needed RblutiOn.
have to say that this is the only looking
| glass in which a man can see himself as he
| is. There are some mirrors that fattCr tho
| features and make you look better than you
are. Thenthere are other mirrors that dis
tort your features and make you look worse
than you are. but I want to tell you that
this lOoking-glass Of the gospel shows a man
just as he Is. When the priests entered the
ancient tabernacle, one glance at the
| FURNISHED side of this Iaver showed
them their need Of cleansing. So this
gospel shows the soul its need Of divine
washing. "All have einned and come short
Of the glory of God" That is one showing.
'All we. like sheep, have gone astray."
That is another showing. "From the
crown Of the head to the sole Of the foot
there is no health In u.s." That is another
showing. The world calls these defects,
behavior or wild oats" or "high living"
but the gospel calls them sin, transgression,
tllth-the abOminable thing that God hates.
1t was just one glance at that mirror that
made Paul cry out, "Oh, wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?" and that made
David cry out, purge me with hyssop, and
] shall be clean" and that made Martin
Luther cry out "Oh, my sins, my sins W [
am not talking about bad habits. You and
10 not need any Bible to tell Us that bad
habits are wrong, that hlaSphemy and evil
speaking are wrong. But I am talking of
a sinful nature, the source of all bad thoughts
as we'll as of all bad actions. The Apostle
Paul calls their roll in the first chapter of
Romans. They are q regiment Of death en-
camping around every hG.rt, holding it in a
tyranny from which nothing but the grace
Of God can deliver 1t.
Here, for instance, is ingratitude. Who
has not been guilty of that sn7 If a man
hand US a glass Of water we say, "Thank
you," but for the 10, 0GO merces that we are
every day receiving from the hand of God
how little expression of gratitude-for thirst
slaked. for hunger fed, for shelter. and sun
shine, and sound sleep, and clothes to wear,
how little thanks! [ suppose there are
men fifty years OF age who have never yet
beCE down on their knees in thanksgiving to
God for His goodness. Besides atingrati-
tude of our hearts there is pride-whO has
not felt ltit?-pride that will not submit to
God chat wants Its own way-a nature that
prefers wrong sometimes instead of right
that prefers 10 wallOw instead of rise up.
II you could catch a glimpse of your na1ur
nj heart before God, you would cry out in
amazement and alarm. The very first thing
this gospel does is to cut down our pride
and self sufffciency. If man does not fee
his loss and ruined condition before God. he
does not want any gospel. think the raa-
son that there are 50 few conversions in this
u iS a r a aah
ing is to make men believe that they are
pretty good anyhOw-quite clever, only
wanting little fixing up, few touches oil
divine grace, and then you will be all right
-instead of proclaiming the broad, deep
truth that PaysOn and Whitefleld thunderel
to race trembling on the verge of infinite
and eternal disaster. Now" says some one,
'can this really be true? Have we all gone
astray? Is there no good in us?" In
Hampt0n Court SOW room whe5e the
glasses and it made no difference which
way you looked you saw yourself. And so it
is In this gospel of Christ. If you once step
within its full precincts, you will find your
whole character reflected, every feature of
moral deformity, every spot Of moral taint.
If understand the word of God, its first an
nOuncementis is that we are lost.
Glory be to God, l find that this laver of
looking glasses was filled with fresh water
every morning, and the priest no sooner
lOOhtu On lis DuTuISilSu sue anu saw MS
need of cleansing than he washed and was
clean-glorious type Of the gospel of my
Lord Jesus, that first shows a man his sin
and then washes it all awayl
I want you to notice that this laver in
which the priest washed-the Iaver of look
ing glasses-was filled with fresh water every
morning. The servants of the tabernacle
brought the water in buckets and poured it
into this laver. So it is with the gospel of
Jesus Christ. 1t has fresh salvation every
day. It Is not stagnant pool filled with ac-
cumulated .cOrruptiOns. 1t Is living water,
which is brought from the eternal
rock to wash away the sins of yesterda., of
one moment ago. "Oh," says some one,
81 was Christian twenty years aGo"
That does not mean anything to me. What
brother, about pardon ten years ego, but
about pardon now, a fresh salvation.
If want to find out how a friend feels to-
ward me, do | go to the drawer and find
some old yellow letters written to me ten or
twelve years ago? No. l go to the letter
in the postoff1ce, and find how he feels tC-
ward me. 1t is not in regard to old com
munications we had with Jesus Christ. It !.
the communications we have now. Are We
not in sympathy with Him this morning,
and is He not in sympathy, with
psG s Do t}rna not IN spend Sn., SO much tS9 o.
wardrobe for the old, wornout shoes of
Christian profession. Come this morning
and take the glittering robe of Christ's
righteousness from the Saviour's hand. You
say you were plunged in the fountain of the
Saviour's mercy quarter of a century ago
That is nothing to me. 1 tell you to wash
now in this laver Of looking glasses and
have your soul made clean.
notice also in regard 70 this laver OF
looking glasses spoken of in the text that the
priests always washed both hands and feet.
The water came down in sDouts. so that
without leaving any tilth IN the nasln, the
priests washed both hands and feet. So the
gospel of Jesus Christ must touch the very
extremities of our moral nature.
man cannot fence off a small
part of his soul and say, "Now,
this is TO he a gar7e in which I will have
all the fruits and flowers of Christian char
acter. while outside it shall be the devils