Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1898-08-04
TIE MOB OF PHARlSEES.
Christ Rebuked Them When They
Brought TO Him Magtlalcn.
The Only Sentence lie Ever Wrote was
Written In Dust, and Wuh His FIN
ger. Hut IT Saved a Human
Itfr Ialmac'', sermon.


Iifr TaImaG,', sermon.
The text of pr Talmagr sunday was
John viii. Il: "Lcsu, stopped down ami
with hi, finger wrote ON tine ground.
luu must take your shoes off and
put On the especial slippers provided
II the door il Won would enter the Mo-
lammcdan mosque. which stands now
where once stool lIrrod's temple,
hc scene or my text. Solomon tenn
DE had stood there, but NrhuchauncI-
,ar had Numbered il down. Irruhha-
,rl's temple had stood there, hut that
,ad been pro>tratci. Now We take
pur places in a temple that llcrod
quilt. because he was fond oi great
architecture, and he wanted the pre-
'cdinw temples To seem Insignificant.
Tut ci.ht or ten modern cathcdral> to-
scthcr and they would not equal that
structure. 1t covered 10 acres. There
we're marble pillars. supporting roofs
# cedar, and silver tables, ON which
stood golden cups, and there were
arriving, exquisite, and inscriptions
-csrlcndcnt, glittcring balu>tradcs
Ind ornamental "atcways. The build
.ng of this temple kept 10000 work
men busy ii wears.
In that Stupcnduus pilc of pomp ana
nagnitic ne, sat Christ, ana listen
ny throug stood about Him when Il
Wild disturbance took place. a gruup
IF men are pulling and pushing along
1 woman who has committed a crime
| against society. When they have
brought her in front of Christ. thcy
ask that lie sentence her tn death 10y
,tonin". They are "A critical, mercl-
less, di>in~cnuouS crowd. They want
10 get Christ into controversy anu
public apprehension. Ii lie say, Let
hcr die" they will charge Him with
,ruclty. Ii lie let her go they will
,hargc Him with being in completely
with wiclcdncs>. Whichever way He
does they would howl at Inn.
| Then occurs a scene which has not
been sufficiently regarded lie leaves
the lounge or bench on which lie is
sitting, and goes down on one knee, or
both knees. and with the fore finger of
| His right hand lie begins IL write in
the dust of the floor. word after wor /.
But they were not to Ice diverted or
hindcred They kent on demanding
that lie settle this case of tran>grcs-
sion, until lie looked up aud told
| them they might themselves be-
riu the womans assassination, il
the complainant who had never done
anything wrong himself would open
the fire. Go ahead. but be sure the
man who filings the first missile is i'm.
maculatc. Then lie resumed writing
with his finger in the dust of the floor.
word for word. Instead of looking
over His shoulder 10 see what lie had
written, the >coundr,ls >kullled away.
Finally. the whole place is clear OF
pursucrS, antagonists and plaintiffs.
and when Christ had finished this
strange chirography in the dust lie
looks up ami finds the women all alone.
The prisoner is the only one of the
courtroom left, the judges, the police,
the prosecuting attorney having
cleared out. Christ j. victor, and lie
says to the woman: Where are the
prosecutors in this ease? Are they all
gone? Then | discharge You; go and
sin no more" | have wondered what
| Christ wrote on the ground For do
YOU rcaliZc that is the only time that
lie ever wrote at all? | know that
| EuscbiuS says that Christ once wrote
a letter To AhTaruS, the king of Fdessa
but there is no good evidence of such
a CORES pondcnce. The wisc>t being
the world ever saw. and the one who
| hal 4,
ever lived, never writing a book or q
chapter or a paragraph or word on
parchment. Nothing but the litera
ture OF the dust, and one sweep of q
brush or one breath of n Sind obiiterat
ed 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 100. 900 books of the Alex.
andrian library, which, by the infa,
nous decree of Caliph Omar. were used
as fuel to heat the 1000 baths of the
city, not one sentence had Chris,
penned. Among all the infinitude oi
volumes now standing in the libraries
of Edinburgh, the British museum, OF
Berlin, or Vienna, or the learned re.
positories of all nations, not one word
written directly by the finger of Christ.
All that He ever wrote lie wrote in
dust-uncertain, shifting dust.
My text says he stopped down and
wrote on the ground. Standing straight
up a man might write on the ground
with a staff, but if with his fingers he
would write in the dust he must bend
clear over. Aye, he must get at lcas,
on one knee or he can not write on the
ground. BE not surprised that lie
stopped down. His whole life was a
STOPPING down. STOPPING down from
castle to barn. STOPPING down from
celestial homage TO monocratic jeer
From residence above the stars tc
where a star had to fail to designate
His landing place. From Heavens front
door to the worlds back gate. From
writing in round and silvered letters
of constellation and galaxy on the
blue scroll of Heaven to writing on tn,
ground in the dust which the feet OF
the crowd had left in Hcrod's temple
Ii, in January, You have ever stepped
out of a princes conservatory that hat
Mexican cactus and magnolias in full
bloom into the outside air, ten degree.
below zero, you may get som, idea o.
Christ's change of atmosphere from ce
lestial to terrestrial. How many
heavens there are l know not, bu,
there are at least three for Paul wa.
caught up into the third Heaven"
Christ came down from the highes,
Heaven to the second Heaven, ant
down from second Heaven TO first
Heaven, down swiftcr than meteor:
ever fell, down amidst stellar splen
iors that Himself eclipscd, dowr
through clouds. through atmospheres
through appalling space, down tc
where there was no lower depth.
From being waited on at the banque
of the skies, to the broiling of fish fo
His own breakfast on the banks of tn,
lake. From emblazoncd chariots o
eternity TO the saddle of n mule
back. From the homage cherubic
seraphic, archangelic. to the paying O
or cents of tax TO Caesar. From tn,
deathless country to a tomb built t.
hide human dissolution. The uplifte,
wave of Galilee was high, but He ha,
to come down before, with His feet