The Penn's Grove record., 1897-07-16
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.


DIVINE.
Eloquent Exposition OF the way Saul Won
Flock and Lost n Kinrdom-Impres-
sive bessons Drhwn From an Old Bible
story--The Utter FutIiitv OF Fraud.
Text; "And Samuel said. what meaneth
then this bleating Of the sheen In mine
ears the lowing OF the oxen which I
hearf'-I Samuel XIV, IA.
The Amalekites thought ttsy had con-
qnered 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 o u hundred years This Ind
been going on, and they say, 'tGod either
aare not punish US or he has forgotten to
40 So. Let US see. Samuel, Gods
b Amalekites, not leaving one Of tbsm
alive; also TO destroy all the beasts In their
possession--ox, sheep. camel and ass.
Hark, hear the tread OF 30, 900 men. with
monstro9s u at their head, abiaze with
armof, his Shield dangling at his side, hold
ing IN his hand u spear, at the waving OF
which the great host marched or halted I
see smoke curling against the sky. Now
there Is o thick cloud of II, and now [ see
tue whole city rising In d chariot of smoke
behind steeds Of FIRE. II Is Saul that set the
city ablaze. The Amalekites and Israelites
meet the trumpets of battle blow peal on
peal, and there is a death hush, Then
there Is u signal waved, swords cut and
mack, 1avelins ring on shields, arms fall
from trunks and heads roll into the dust.
cash after cash, the frenzled yell, the
gurgiipg OF throttled throats, the cry of
pain, the laugh OF revenge, the curse Kissed
between clinched teeth-~an army's death
groan. Stacks Of dead on all sides, with
eyes unshut and mouths vet grinning ven.
geance. Huzza for the Israelitesl Two
hundred and ten thousand men wave their
Plumes and clap their shields, for the Lord
Coo hath given them the victory.
Yet that victorious army OF Israel Is con-
guered by sheep and oxen. God, through
the prophet Samuel, told Saul to Stay on
the Amalekites and to Stay all the beasts in
their possession, but Saul, thinking he
SHOWS more than God, saves Agag, the
Amalekitish king, and five drove OF sheep
and a herd Of oxen that he eannot bear to
XIII. Saul drives the sheep and oxen down
toward home. He has no idea tina 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 a 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 a little way off. Saul had no
idea that the prophets ear would be SO
acute. Samuel Gays to Saul, III you have
done as God told you and slain all the
Amalekites n oil the beast In their pos
session, what meaneth the hleatiDg Of the
sheep In mine ears and the lowing of the
oxen that I hear3" All, one would have
thought that bushes would have con-
sumed the cheek Of Saul. No, mol Hesays
the arlny-not himself, of course, but the
army-had saved the sheep and oxen for
sacrifice. and then they thought 1t 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
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 a kingdom.
l learn from this subject that God will
expose hypocrisy. Hero Saul pretends he
has fulfilled the divine commission by slay-
Ing oil h 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, n 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 wa only o type Of q class. Tho mod
srn hypocrite looks awfully solemn, whines
when he prays and during his public de-
v0tion shows o great deal of the white of
his eyes. He never laughs, or, II he does
laugh, he seems sorry for 1t afterward. us
though he had committed some great in
discretion. The first time he gets a chance
he prays twenty minutes in public, and
when he exhorts he seems to imply that all
the race are sinners, with one exception,
bis modesty forbidding the stating who
that n Is. There are a great many
churches that have two or three ecclesiasti-
cal Uriah Keeps.
= When the fox begins to pray, look out
FOR your chickens. The more genuine re-
ligion a man has the more comfortable he
will be, but you may know a religious i'm
poster by the fact that he prides himself on
being uncomfortable. A man of that kind
Is of immense damage to the church of
Christ. A ship may outride q hundred
storms, and yet o handful Of worms In the
planks may sink it to the bottom. The
church OF God is not so much In danger of
tho cyclones OF trouble and persecution
that come upon it as Of the vermin Of
hypocrisy that infest 1t. Wolves are of no
danger to the fold Of God unless they look
like sheep. Arnold was Of more damage
to the army than CORVALLIS and his hosts.
Oh, we cannot deceive God with q church
certiacatei He sees behind the curtain as
thing inside out. A man may through
policy hide his real character, but God will
after awhile tear open the whlted sepuleher
aud expose the putrefaction. Sunday
faces cannot gave him. Long prayers
eannot save him. Psalm singing and
churchgoing cannot save him. God will
expose him Just as thoroughly as though
He branded upon his forehead the word
"Hypocrite." Ho may think he has been
successful in tho deception, but at the
most unfortunate moment tho sheep will
bleat and the oxen will below.
nun = kta o--,nl hfsbana - aIJat, fiuoa ,yoo
going to excommunicate ono ofthe martyrs,
m he began in the usual form-"In tho
name of God, amen" "Stop,' says the
martyr. Don't say in the Nance of Godl'"
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 q member, they
almost always begin by being tremendously
pious, tho venom of their assault cores
pondfng to the heavenly fiavor of the pre-
Jude. Standing there, you would think
and that nothing kept them down but the
weight Of their boots and oyercoat, when
suddenly the sheep bleat and the oxen bel
low.
Oh, my dear friends, let us cultivate
simplicity of Christian characterl Jesus
Christ said; UNLESS you become as this
little child you nno enter the kingdom
fully now, but the Lord God will after
awhile expose your true character. You
must know the Incident mentioned in the
history Of Ottacas, who was askedt to kneel
In the presence OF Randolphus l., and when
before him he refused to do 1t, but after a
while he agreed to come in private when
there was nobody in the kings tent, and
then he would kneel down before him and
worship, but the servants .of the king
had arranged 1t so that by drawing a cord
tho tent would suddenly drop. ottacas