The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-07-15
DR. lNMl@'S SUNDAY SERMON.
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE.
Eloquent Exposition of the Way saul Won
aFiock and Lost Kingdom-Imprcs-
sive Lessons Drawn From an Old Bible
StDry-The litter Eutilitv of Ernud


Flock and Lost n Kingdom-Impres-
sive Lessons Drawn From an Old Bible
Story-The Utter Futility Of Fraud.
TEXT: "And Samuel said, What meaneth
then this bleating OF the sheep In mine
ears and the lowing OF the oxen which /
hear?"-I Samuel xv., IA.
The Amalekites thought they had con-
quered God and that he would not carry
into execution his threats against them.
They had murdered the Israelites In battle
and out OF battle and left no outrage un-
tried. For four hundred years this had
been going on, and they say, "God either
dare not punish us or he has forgotten to
do So" Let us see. Samuel, Gods
prophet, tells Saul to go down and slay all
the Amalekites, not leaving one of them
alive; also to destroy all the beasts in their
possession-ox, sheep, camel and ass.
Hark, hear the tread Of 2l0, men, with
monstrous Saul ut their head, ablaze with
armor, his shield dangling at his slde hold
ing in his hand spear, at the waving OF
which the great host marched or halted.
see smoke curling against the sky. Now
there Is thick cloud Of 1t, and now / see
the whole city rising in chariot OF smoke
behind steeds Of fire. 1t Is Saul that set the
city ablaze. The Amalekites and Israelites
meet; the trumpets Of battle blow peal on
peal, and there Is death hush. Then
there is signal waved, swords cut and
hack, javelins ring on shields, arms fall
from trunks and heads roll into the dust.
Cash after cash, the frenzied yell, the
gurgling OF throttled throats, the cry OF
pain, the laugh Of revenge, the curse Kissed
between clinched teeth-an army's deaf
groan. Stacks OF dead on all sides, with
eyes unshut and mouths yet grinning ven-
geance. Huzza for the Israelites! Two
hundred and ten thousand men wave their
plumes and clap their shields for the Lord
God hath given them the victory.
Yet that victorious army Of Israel is con-
quered by sheep and oxen. God, through
the prophet Samuel, told Saul to slay all
the Amalekites and to slay all the beasts in
their possession. but Saul, thinking he
knows more than God. saves Agag, the
Amalekitish king, and five drove Of sheep
and herd OF oxen that he cannot bear to
kill. Saul drives the sheep and oxen down
toward home. He has no idea that Samuel.
the prophet, will find out that he has saved
these sheep and oxen for himself. Samuel
comes and asks Saul the news from the
battle. Saul puts on solemn face, for
there Is no one who can look more solemn
than your genuine hypocrite, and he says,
II have fulfilled the command OF the
Lord Samuel listens, and he hears the
drove of sheep n little way off, Saul had no
idea that the prophets ear would be so
acute. Samuel says to Saul, "If you have
done as God told you and slain all the
Amalekites and all the beast in their pos
session, what meaneth the bleating of the
sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the
oxen that | hear?" All, one would have
thought that bushes would have con-
sumed the cheek Of Saul. No, no! Hesays
the army-nOt himself, OF course, but the
army-had saved the sheep and oxen for
sacrifice, and then they thought it would
be too bad anyhow to kill Agag, the Amale-
kitish king. Samuel takes the sword, and
he slashes Agag to pieces, and then he
takes the skirt of his coat in true oriental
style and rends it in twain, as much rs
to say, you, Saul, Just like that, shall be
torn away from your empire and torn away
from your throne" In other words, let
all the nations Of the earth hear the story
that Saul. by disobeying God, won a flock
of sheep, but lost kingdom.
learn from this subject that God will
expose hypocrisy. Here Saul pretends he
has fulfilled the divine commission by slay-
ing all the beasts belonging to the Amale-
kites, and yet at the very moment he is
telling the story and practicing the delu.
sion the secret comes out, and the sheep
picdt anu tnc ONtu DelOW.
A hypocrite is one who pretends to be
what he Is not or to do what he does not.
Saul was only type Of class. The mod
ern hypocrite looks awfully solemn, whines
when he prays and during his public de-
votion shows great deal Of the white OF
his eyes. He never laughs, or, II he does
laugh, he seems sorry for 1t afterward, as
though he had committed some great in
discretion. The first time he gets a chance
he prays twenty minutes in public, and
when he eShorts he seems to imply that all
the race are sinners, with one exception.
his modesty forbidding the stating who
that one is. There are II great many
churches that have two or three ecclesiasti-
cal Uriah Heeps.
When the fox begins to pray, look out
for your chickens. The more genuine re-
ligion man has the more comfortable he
will be, but you may know a religious i'm
postor by the fact that he prides himself on
being uncomfortable. man OF that kind
Is of immense damage to the church OF
Christ A ship may Outride n hundred
storms, and yet Il handful OF worms in the
planks may sink it to the bottom. The
church OF God is not so much in danger Of
the cyclones OF trouble and persecution
that come upon 1t as OF the vermin OF
hypocrisy that infest it.. Wolves are of no
udupeI W tuc IOlu Ol uOu UNLESS tney look
like sheep. Arnold was OF more damage
to the army than CORVALLIS and his hosts.
Oh, we cannot deceive God with church
certificate! He sees behind the curtain as
well rs before the curtain. He sees every
thing inside out. A man may through
policy hide his real character, but God will
after awhile tear open the whited sepulcher
and expose the putrefaction. Sunday
faces cannot save him. Long prayers
cannot save him. Psalm singing and
cannot save him. God will
expose him just as thoroughly as though
He branded upon his forehead the word
''Hypocrite." He may think he has been
in the deception, but at the
most unfortunate moment the sheep will
bleat and the oxen will below
One OF the cruel bishops Of olden time was
going to oexcommunicate one Of the martyrs,
and he began in the usual form-"In the
name of God, amen" stop" says the
martyr. Don't say in the name Of Godn"
Yet how many outrages are practiced un-
der the garb OF religion end sanctity. When
in synods and conferences ministers OF the
gospel are about to say something unbroth-
erly and unkind about o member, they
almost always begin by being tremendously
pious, the venom OF their assault corres-
ponding to the heavenly flavor Of the pre-
lude. Standing there, you would think
they were ready to 60 right up into glory
and that nothing kept them down but the
weight OF their boots and overcoat, when
dapl,, ha oh hlaot and ha oxn,, hal