The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-11-14
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssThe Looking Glass"

TEXT. 'And he made the laver OF brass
and the foot OF it was Of brass, Of the look.
ing glasses OF the women assembling. =.
Exodus xxxviii., 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 gospel OF Jeremiah. and a
gospel of David. In other words. Christ Is
AS certainly to be found In the Old Testa'
ment as In the New.
When the Israelites were marching
through the wilderness they carried their
church with them. They called it the taber.
nacle. It WAS pitched tent. very costly.
very beautiful. The framework was made
of forty-eight boards Of acacia wood set In
were purple and scarlet and blue and
fine linen and were hung with most
artistic loops. The candlesticks 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 tones Of gold. and
rings of gold. so that skepticlsm hos some
times asked, Where did all that precious ma
terlal come from? It Is not my place to fur.
nish the precious stones. 1t 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. 1t was great basin from
which the priests washed 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 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.
The brass was of a very superior quality and
polished until 1t reflected easily the features
OF those who looked into 1t, so that this
layer of looking glasses apoken OF in my text
did double work. 1t not only furnished the
water In which the priests washed them.
selves, but it also. on its shining, polished
surface, pointed out the spots of pollution
on the face which needed ablution.
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 fatter the
features and make you look better than you
are. Then there 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-g glass Of the gospel shows man
Just as he Is. When the priests entered the
ancient tabernacle. one glance at the
FURNISHED side OF this laver showed
them their need OF cleansing, So this
gospel shows the soul its need OF divine
washing. "All have sinned and come short
OF the glory OF God" That Is one showing.
GAIL 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 US" That Is another
showing. The world calls these defects,
imperfections. or eccentricities, or erratic
behavior, or ''wild oats" or "high living"
but the gospel calls them sin, transgression,
tlth-the abominable thing that God hates.
s,,,S oil ~ fho$
made Paul cry out, "oh, wretched rcan
that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body Of this death2" 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. my sins" I
am not talking about bad habits. You and
I do not need ar Bible to tell US that bad
habits are wrong, that blasphemY and evil
speaking arc wrong. But am talking OF
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 regiment OF death en-
camping around every heart, holding 1t In
tyranny from which nothing but the grace
of God can deliver 1t.
Here, for instance, Is ingratitude. Who
has not been guilty Of that sin7 II man
hand US glass OF water We say, "Thank
you," but for the l0, QUO mercies 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 I suppose there are
men fifty years OF age who have never vet
been down on their knees in thanksgiving to
God for His goodness. Besides thatingrati-
tude Of our hearts there Is pride--wno has
not felt it?-pride that will not submit to
God that wants its own way-a nature that
prefers wrong sometimes instead OF right {;
that prefers to wallow instead OF rise up.
II you could catch glimpse ofyour natur-
al heart before God, you would cry out in
amazement and alarm. The very first thing
| this gospeldoes Is to cut down our pride
his loss and fuined condition before God, he
does not want any gospel. think the rea-
son that there are so few conversions in this
day Is because the tendency OF the preach
ing is to make men believe that they are
pretty good anyhow-quite clever, only
wanting little fixing up, few touches OF
divine grace, and then you will be all right
instead Of proclaiming the broad, deep
truth that Payson and Whitefeld Numbered
- race trembling on the verge Of infinite
and eternal disaster. "Now," says some one.
"can this really be true2 Have we all gone
astraY2 Is there no good IN us?' In
Hampton Court saw a room where the
Iour waIIs were covered win IooK1ng.
glasses and 1t made no difference which
way you looked you saw yourself. And so II
Is IN this gospel OF Christ. II you once step
within Its full precincts, you will find your
whole character reflected, every feature OF
moral deformity, every spot of moral taint.
| II understand the word Of God, its first an
nouncement Is that we are lost.
Glory be TO God, find that this laver OF
looking glasses was filled with fresh water
every morning, and the priest no sooner
| looked on its FURNISHED side and saw his
need of cleansing than he washed and was
clean-glorious type OF the gospel OF my
Lord Jesus, that first shows a man bis sin
and then washes 1t all away!
want you to notice that this laver IN
which the priest washed-the laver 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. 1t is not a sragnant pool filled with ac-
| cumulated icorruptions. 1t ts living water,
| which Is brought from the eternal
rock to wash away the sins OF yesterday, OF
| one moment ago. "Oh," says some one,
~ was a Christian twenty years ago "
| That does not mean anything to me. What
are you now2 We are not talking, my
brother, about pardon ten years ego but
about pardon now, fresh salvation.
II want to find out how friend feels t.
ward me, do I 20 to the drawer and find
some old yellow letters written to me ten or
twelve years ago! No. 90 to the letter
that was stamped the day before yesterday
in the postofice, and find how ho feels to 10
ward me. 1t Is not In regard to old com.
munications we had with Jesus Christ. it is
the communications We have now. Are wa
NOT In sympathy with Him this morning.
! and is He not In sympathy with
US? Do not spend SO much OF