The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-07-24
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Biblical Demonstration Of the Ger
tain Exposure Of Fraud.
Evil Inhuence of the Hypocrits Upon the
Church of Christ-Attempts TO
Evade Responsibility for
Sin are Futile.

fraud is bound to be followed by Q,
posture. 1t is based on the text:
And Samuel said: What raeaneth then tn
pieating OF the sheep In mine ears, and lowin
OF the oxen which hear.-I Sam uei, w., IA
The Amalekites thought they ha
conquered God, and that He would no
carry into execution His threat
against them. They had murdere,
the Israelites in battle and out OF bat
tie, and left no outrage untried. Fo
400 years this had been going on, ant
they say: "God either dare not pun
Ash us, or He has forgotten to do so.
Let us see. Samuel, Gods prophet
tells Saul to go down and Stay all tn,
Amalekites, not leaving one of then
alive; also to destroy all the beasts in
their possession-ox, sheep, camel and
ass Hark! l hear the tread of 21O, 0O(
men, with monstrous Saul at Their
head, ablaze with armor. his shield
dangling at his side. holding in his
hand a spear, at the waving Of which
the great host march ed or halted. /
see smoke curling against the sky.
Now there is thick cloud of it, and
now see the whole city rising in a
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 a 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 threats, the cry
of pain, the laugh ofrevenge, the curse
Kissed between clinched teeth an
army's death-groan. Stacks of dead
On all sides, with eyes upshot and
mouth yet grinning vengeance. Huzza
for the Israelites. Two hundred and
ten thousand men wave their plumes
and cap their shields, for the Lord God
hath given them the victory.
Yet that victorious army of Israel is
conquered by sheep and oxen. God,
through the prophet Samuel, told Saul |
to Stay all the Amalekites. and to slay |
all the beasts in their possession, but
Saul, thinking that he knows nose
than God, saves Agag, the Amaelkitish
king, and five drove of sheep and a
herd of oxen that he can not 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 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 little way off.
Saul had no idea that the prophets
ear would be so acute. Samuel saws
TO Saul: If you have done as
God told you, and slain all the Amale-
kites and all the beasts in their posses
sion, what meaneth the bleatIng of the
sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of
he oxen that l hear?" All. one would
have thought that bushes would have
the cheek of Saul! No, no!
lie says the army-not himself, Of
course, but the army-had saved the
heep and oxen for the sacrifice; and
hen they thought it would be too
BAD, anyhow, to kill Agag, the Amale-
Irish king. Samuel takes the sword
md slashes Agag to pieces; and then
'e takes the skirt Of his coat in true
riental style, and rends it in twain,
s much as to say: "You, Saul, Just
Ike that, shall be torn away from youa.
mpire, and torn away from your :
hrone." In other words. let the ma
ions of the earth hear the story that
aul, by dsobcying God. won flock
I sheep, but lost a kingdom.
learn from this subject that God :
I'LL expose hypocrisy. Here Saul pre-
ends he has fulfilled the Divine COM !,
iission by staying all the beasts be- /,
'nging to the Amalekites, and yet at !,
ne very moment he is telling the story
nd practicing the delusion the secret /,
ONES out, and the sheep bleat and the !
Ken below. !
A hypocrite is one who pretends to I
e what he is not. or to do what he
oes not. Saul was only a type of a
ass. The modern hypocrite looks :
wfully solemn, whincs when he prays, .
nd during his public devotion shows r
great deal of the whites of his eyes. !
e never laughs, or, il he does laugh,
c seems sorry for IL afterward, as .
lough he had committed some great
discretion. The first time he gets a I.
prays 20 minutes in public, :
nd when he exhorts he seems to i'm. F..
ly that all the race are sinners, with +
ne exception, his modesty forbidding :
lie stating who that one is. There are :
great many churches that have two !
+ three ecclesiastical Uriah Keeps.
When the fox begins to pray look out y
'r your chickens. The more genuine I
,ligion man has the more comfort !.
BILE he will be; but you may know a 4
'ligious imposter by the fact that he a
rides himself on being uncomfortable.
man Of that kind is of immense dam =
70 TO the church of Christ. A ship s
ay outride hundred storms, and \
It handful of worms in the plank q
ay sink 1t to the bottom. The church \
God Is not SO much In danger Of the G
clones Of trouble and persecution n
at como upon 1t as Of the vermin of
ypocrisy that infest IL. Wolves h
Q of no danger to the folds of a
ID unless they look like sheep. A