The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1899-10-20
'TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE HORNETS MISSION LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
From tho Seventh Chapter and Eighth
Verse of Deuteronomy as Follows;
Hornet"


fields and the orchards and the vine
yards. The Colorado beetle, the Ne
braska grasshopper, the New Jersey
locust, the universal potato-beetle,
seem to carry ON the work which was
begun ages ago when the insects
buzzed out of Noah's Ark as the door
was opened.
In my text, the hornet flies out on
its mission. 1t is species of wasp,
swift In its motion and violent in its
sting. Its touch is torture to man or
beast We have all seen the cattle
run believing under the cut of its
lancet. In boyhood We used to stand
cautiously looking at the globular
nest hung from the tree-branch, and
while we were looking at the wonder
full covering, we were struck with
something that sent us shrieking away.
The hornet goes in swarms. 1t has
captains over hundreds, and twenty
of them alighting on one man will pro-
duce certain death.
The Persians attempted to conquer
Christian city, but the elephants and
the beasts on which the Persians rode
Were assaulted by the hornet, so that
J the whole army was broken up, and
the besieged city was rescued. This
burning and noxious insect stung out
the Hittites and the Canaanites from
their country. What cleaning sword
and chariot Of war could not accom-
Mich hx,t ha NJ, ~ n,
insect. "The Lord sent the hornet"
My friends, when we are assaulted
by great Behemoths of trouble, we be-
come chivalric, and we assault them;
we get on the high-mettled steed Of our
courage, and we make cavalry charge
at them, and, If God be with us, we
come out stronger and better than
when we went in. But, alas for these
insectile annoyances of life-these foes
too small to shoot-these things with
out any avoirdupois weight-the gnats
and the midges and the flies and the
wasps and the hornets! In other
words, 1t is the small singing annoy
ances of our life which drive us out
and use us up. In the best-conditioned
life, for some grand and glorious pur-
pose God has sent the hornet
l remark, in the first place, that
these small singing annoyances may
come in the shape Of nervous organ
: ization. People who are Frustrated
under typhoid fevers or with broken
bones get plenty Of sympathy; but who
II hat 10 norvnnc0 Tho
doctors say, and the family say, and
everybody says, ooh, she's only lit
tie nervous; that's ALL" The sound Of
a heavy foot, the harsh clearing Of a
throat, discord in music, want of
harmony between the shawl and the
glove on the same person. curt an
swer, passing slight, the wind from
the east, any one of ten thousand an
noyances, opens the door for the hor-
net. The fact Is, that the vast majority
OF the people in this country are over
worked, and their nerves are the first
to give out. A great multitude are I'M
der the strain Of Leyden, who. when
he was told by his physician that If he
did not stop working while he was in
such poor physical health he would
die, responded, Doctor, whether live
or die, tho wheel must keep going
round" These sensitive persons, of
whom speak, have bleeding sensi-
tiyeness. The flies love to light on
anything raw, and these people are
like the Canaanites spoken of in the
text or in the context-they have
very thin covering, and are vulnerable
at all points. "And the Lord sent the
hornet" ~
Again, the small insect annoyances
may come to US In the shape Of friends
and acQuaintances who are always say
ing disagreeable things. There are
some people you cannot be with for
half an hour but you feel cheered and
comforted. Then there are other peo-
pie you cannot be with for five minutes
before you feel miserable. They do
not mean to disturb you, but they
sting you to the bone. They gather
up all the yarn which the gossips spin,
f.ld retail it. They gather up all the
adverse criticisms about your person.
about your business, about your home,
about your church, and they make
your ear the funnel into which they
pour 1t. They laugh heartily when
they tell you, as though it were good
Joke, and you laugh. too-outside.
These people are brought to our at
tention in the Bible, in the book OF
Ruth. Naomi went forth beautiful
and with the finest of worldly pros
poets. into another land, but after
while she came back widowed and sick
and poor. What did her friends do
when she came to the city? They all
went out, and instead of giving her
common-sense consolation. what did
they do? Read the book of Ruth and
find out. They threw up their hands
and said, SIS this Naomi?" as much as
to say, How awful bad you do look!"
When | entered the ministry looked
very pale for years. and every year, for
four or five years. many times year
was asked If l had not consumption.
and passing through the room l would
sometimes hear people sigh and say,
"A-ah, not long for this worldl" !
resolved in those times, that never,
In any conversation would saw any,