The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-07-17

beasts in their pOSSeSSlOn-Ox, Sneep
camel and ass. Hark! l ear h treat
of 30, 900 men, with monstrous Saul a
their. head, ablaZ with armor, hi
shield dangling at his side, holding
in his hand a spear, at the waving o
which the great host marched or halt
ed. | see smoke curling against the sky
Now there is n thick cloud of it, anC
now l see the whole city rising in {
chariot of smoke behind steeds of fire
1t is Saul that set the city ablaze
The Amalekites and I~sraelites meet
the trumpets of battle blow peal or
/ peal, and there is a death-hush. Their
there is n signal waved; swords GU
and hack; iavelins ring on shields; arms
fall from trunks, and heads roll int
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 clincheG
teeth-an army's death-groan. Stack:
of lead on all sides, with the eyes up
shot and mouth yet grinning venge'
ance. Huzza for the ~Israelitesi 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 Israe is
conquered 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 that he knows more
than God, saves Agag. the Amalekitish
king, and five drove of sheep and q
herd of oxen that he cannot bear to
LII C,,,1 ls-,- III eAa@@ 1900
down toward home. He has no idea
hat Samuel, the prophet, will find out
hat he has saved these sheep and
oxen for himself. Samuel comes and
asks Saul the news from the battle.
Saul puts on a solemn face, for there
is no n who can look more solemn
than your genuine hypocrite, and he
says, Il have fulfilled the command OF
the Lord" Samuel listens, and he
hears the drove of sheep a 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 beasts in their possession,
what meaneth the bleating of the
sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of
the oxen that / hear?" All, one would
have thought hat bushes would have
consumed the cheek of Saul! No, mol
He says 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, any
how, to kill Agag, the Amalekitish
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 as 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 d~isobeying God, won a
flock of sheep, but lost a kingdom.
/ learn from this subject hat God
will expose hypocrisy. Here Saul pre-
tends he has fulfilled the divine COM
mission by staying all the beasts be-
longing to the Amalekites, and yet at
the very moment he is telling the story
and practicing the delusion the secret
comes out, and the sheep bleat and the
oxen below.
A hypocrite is one who pretends to
be what he is not, or to do what he
does not. Saul was only a type of a
class. The modern hypocrite looks
awfully solemn, whines when he prays,
and during his public devotion shows
a great deal of the whites of his yes.
He never laughs. or, if he does laugh,
he seems sorry for it afterward, as
though he had committed some great
in~discretion. The first time he gets p
chance he prays 20 minutes in public
and when he eXhorts he seems to imply
that all the race are sinners, with y
exception, his modesty forbiddipg the
stating who that n is, There are q
great many churches that have two or
three ecclesiastical UPiah Keeps,
When the fox begins to pray look
out for your chickens. The nor gen.
uine religion a man has the more COM
Portable he will be; but you may know
a religious impostor by the fact that
he brides himself on being uncomfort-
able. 4 man of that kind is of i'm
mense damage to the Church of Christ.
A ship may outrids q hundred storms,
and yet a handful of worms in the
plank may sink it to the bottom. Tbs
Church of God is not so much in dan
ger of the cyclones of trouble and per-
secution that come upon it as of the
vermin of hypocrisy that infest it.
Wolves are of no danger to the folds
of God unless they look like sheep.
Arnold was of damage 10 the
army than CORVALLIS and his hosts.
Oh, we cannot deceive God with
a church certificate! He sees behind
Che curtain us well as before the cur
tain; He sees everything inside out. A
man may, through policy, hide his real
characters but God will after u while
tear open the whited sepulcher and ex-
pose the putrefaction, Sunday faces
cannot saw him; long prayers cannot
save him; psalm-singing and 0hHrGA-
going cannot save him. God will ex.
pose him just as thoroughly as though
lie branded upon his forehead h word
ffHypocrite,' lie may think he has
been successful In the deception, but
at the most unfortunate moment h
sheep will bleat and the oxen will
below.
One Of the cruel bishops of OldeR
time was going to cKeommupicate
of the martyrs, and LIS began in the
usual form-''In the name of GOD,
amen" "Stop!" says the martyr, don't
say in the name of Godr" Yet how
many ogtrages are practiced under the
garb of religion and sanctity! When,
in synods and conferences, MINISTERS
of the gospel are about TO say some
thing uRbPotherly and pnki9d about Q
member. they almost always begin by
being tremendously pious. the venom
of their assault corresponding to the
heavenly flavor of the prelude. Stand
Inn thapa un11 NUnn1l think fhnu NUar.n
ready 10 go right up into glory, and
that nothing kept them down but the
weight of their boots and oYerooats,
when suddenly the sheep bleat and the
oxen below.
Oh, my dean friends, let us cultivate
of Christian c~haracterl
Jesus Christ said: UNLESS you become
gs this little child, you cannot enter
tho kingdom of God" We may play
successfully now but the
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