The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-08-05
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
WRITING IN DUST" LAST SUM-
DAYS SUBJECT.
From John, Chapter VIII, Verse O, as
Follows; Jesus STOPPED Down and
with His Fingers Wrote on the
Ground"

You must take your shoes off and
put ON the especial slippers provided
at the door if you would enter the Mo-
hammedan mosque, which stands now
where once stood Herod's temple, the
scene of my text. Solomon's temple
had stood there, but Nebuchadnezzar
had Numbered it down. Zerubbabel's
temple had stood there, but that had
been Frustrated. Now we take our
places in a temple that Herod built.
because he was fond Of great architec-
ture, and he wanted the preceding
temples to seem Insignificant. Put
eight or ten modern cathedrals togetf-
err and they would not equal that
structure. 1t covered nineteen acres.
There were marble pillars supporting
roofs of cedar, and silver tables, on
which stood golden cups, and there
were carvings exquisite, and inscrip-
lions resplendent, glittering balus-
trades and ornamented gateways. The
building of this temple kept 10000
workmen busy for forty-six years.
In that supendous pile of pomp and
magnificence sat Christ, and listening
throng stood about Him when a wild
disturbance took place. A group Of
men are pulling and pushing along
woman who had committed a crime
against society. When they have
brought her in front OF Christ, they
ask that He sentence her to death by
stoning. They are a critical, merci-
less. disingenuous crowd. They want
to get Christ into controversy and
public apprehension. If He say Let
her die" they will charge Him with
cruelty. If He let her go, they will
charge Him with being in completely
with wickedness. Whichever way He
does, they would howl at Him.
Then occurs a scene which has not
been sufficiently regarded. He leaves
the lounge or bench on which He was
sitting. and goes down on one knee, or
both knees, and with the forefinger or
His right hand He begins to write IN
the dust of the floor, word after word.
But they were not to be diverted or
hindered. They kept on demanding
that He settle this case OF transgres-
sion, until He looked up and told them
they might themselves begin the Wom-
ans assassination, if the complainant
who had never done anything wrong
himself would open the fire. GO
ahead, but be sure that the man VINO
filings the first missile is immaculate
Then He resumed writing with HIS
finger in the dust of the floor, word
after word. Instead Of looking over
His shoulder to see what He had writ
ten, the scoundrels skulked away Fin
ally, the whole place is clear of pur-
suers, antagonists and plaintiffs, and
when Christ has finished this strange
chirography in the dust He looks up
and finds the woman all alone.
The prisoner is the only one of the
courtroom left, the judges, the police,
the prosecuting attorney having
cleared out. Christ is victor, and He
says to the woman: Where are the
prosecutors in this case? Are they
all gone? Then I discharge you; go
and sin no more" 1 have wondered
what Christ wrote on the ground. For
do you realize that is the only time
that He ever wrote at all? know that
Eusebius says that Christ once wrote a
letter to Abgarus, the king of Odessa,
but there is no good evidence of such
a correspondence. The wisest being
the world ever saw, and the one who
had more to say than any one VINO
ever lived, never writing a book or a
chapter or a paragraph or word on
parchment! Nothing but the literature
of the dust, and one sweep of brush
or one breath of a wind obliterated it
forever.
Among all the rolls of the volumes
of the first library founded at Thebes
there was not one scroll of Christ.
Among the 100000 books of the Alex
andrian library, which, by the infa-
nous decree of Caliph Omar, were used
as fuel to heat the 1900 baths of the
city, not one sentence had Christ
penned. Among all the infnitude of
volumes now standing in the libraries
of Edinburgh, the British Museum, or
Berlin, or Vienna, or the learned -e-
positories of all nations, not one word
written directly by the finger OF
Christ. All that He ever wrote He
wrote in dust, uncertain. shifting dust.
My text says He stopped down and
wrote on the ground. Standing straight
IN a man might write on the grount
with a staff, but If with his fingers he
would write in the dust he must bend
clear over. Aye, he must get at least
on one knee, or he cannot write on the
ground. Be not surprised that He
stopped down, His whole life was
STOPPING down. STOPPING down from
castle to barn. STOPPING down from
celestial homage to monocratic jeer.
From residence above the stars to
where a star had to fall to designate
His landing-place. From heavens front
door 70 the worlds back gate. From
writing in round and silvered letters
of constellation and galaxy on the blue
scroll of heaven to writing on the
ground in the dust which the feet of
.. l.