The Penn's Grove record., 1899-07-21
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject. An Ancient Epigram-An Old
Saying Used to illustrate tho Ludicrons
Behavior OF Those Who Magnify Small
sins and ignore Great Ones,

WASHINGTON, y. Gin this discourse,
founded on IN ancient epigtam repeated
by Christ, DR.. Talmage Illustrates the folly
of being very particular about Insignificant
things, while neglectful OF vast concerns.
The text is Matthew kill, "a Y blind
guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow
8 camel"
A proverb Is compact wisdom, knowledge
in chunks, q library In a sentence, thu cleo.
tricity of many clouds discharged in one
bolt, a river put through a mill race. When
Christ quotes the proverb OF tho text, He
means to set forth the ludicrous behavior
OF those who make n great buster about
small sins n have no appreciation of
great ones. In M text 3 small insect AMI
a large Quadruped are brought into COM
p~artson--a gnat and Il camel. You have in
museum or on the desert seen the latter, a
great awkward, sprawling creature, with
back two stories high and stomach having
a collection OF reservoirs for desert travel,
an animal forbidden to the Jews as food
and In many liter9tures entitled "the ship
of the desert" Tse gnat spoken OF in the
text Is in the grub form, 1t Is born in pool
or pond, after a few weeks becomes n
chrysalis and then after a few days be.
m the gnat as we recognize it, But
the insect spoken of in the text is in its
very smallest shape, and 1t yet nhabits the
water. for my text is a misprint and ought
to read "strain out a gnat."
My text shows you the prince of incon-
sistencies. A man after long observation
has formed the suspicion that In a cup OF
water he is about to drink there Is q grub
or the g~randparent of a gnat. He goes
and gets n sieve or strainer. He takes the
water and pours it throughth sieve in the
broad light. He says. 81 would rather do
anything almost than drink this water I'M
til tai4 larva be extirpated." This water
is brought under inquisition. The expert
ment is successful. The water rushes
through the sieve and leaves against the
side of the sieve the grub or gnat. Then
the man carefully removes the insect and
drinks the water in placidity. But going
out one day and hungry, he devours a
''ship OF the de~art," the camel, which the
Jews were FORBIDDEN to eat. The gastron-
omer has no computations of conscience.
He suffers from no indigestion. He puts
the lower jaw under the camel's forefoot
and his upper jaw over the hump OF the
camel's back and gives one swallow, and
dromedary disappears forever. He strained
out n gnat; he swallowed u camel.
While Christ's audience was yet smiling
at the oppositeness and wit of His illustra-
tion-for smile they did, unless they were
too stupid to understand the h~yperboie--
Christ practicBll said to them, "That Is
you" Punctilious about small things;
reckless about affairs of great magnitude.
No subject ever WINGED under n surgeons
knife more bitterly than did the Pharisees
under Christ's scalpel of truth. As an an
ntomist will take Il human body to pieces
and put the pieces under q microscope for
examination, SO Christ finds His way to
the heart of the dead Pharisee and cuts it
out and puts 1t under the glass Of inspec-
tion for all generations to examine. Those
Pharisees thought that Christ would flatter
them and com pllment them, and how they
must have wrlthed under the redhot words
as He said, "Yefools, ye whtted ~sepulchers,
ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat
and swallow a camel"
There are in our day a great many nats
strained out and a great many camels swal-
lowed, and 1t is the object of this sermon
to sketch a few persons who are extensive
ly engaged in that business.
First, | remark, that all those ministers
Of the gospel who are very s%crupulous
about the eonventionalities Of religion, but
put no particular stress upon matters OF
vast Importance, are photographed in the
text. Church services ought to be grave
and solemn. There is no room for ~frlyolity
in religious conTocation. But there are IL
lustrations, and there are hyperboles like
that OF Christ In the text, that will irradi-
ate with smiles any intelligent audience.
There are men like those blind guides OF
the text who advocate only those things in
religious service which draw the corners
Of the mouth down and denounce all
those things which have a tendency to
draw the corners of the mouth up, and
these men will go to Installations and to
presbyteries and to conferences and to
associations, their pockets full OF line
sleeves to strain out tho gnats, while in
their own churches at home every Sunday
there are fifty people sound asleep. They
make their churches a great dormitory,
and their somniferous sermons are a cradle
and the drawled out hymns a lullaby,
while soma wakeful soul in a pew with her
faS keeps the flies off unconscious persons
approximate. Now, l say 1t is worse to
sleep in church than to smile in church,
for the latter implies at least attention,
while the former implies the indifference
Of the hearers and the stupidity Of the
speaker.
In old age or from physical innrmity OF
from long watching with the sick drowsi-
ness will sometimes overpower one, but
when a minister OF the gospel looks on
upon an audience and flnds healthy and
intelligent people struggling with drowsi-
ness it is time for him to give out the
doxology or pronounce the benediction.
The great fault OF church services to-day
is not too much vivacity, but too much
somnolence. The one Is an irritating
gnat that may be easily strained out; the
other IL a great, ~sprawling and sleepy
eyed camel Of the dry desert.
| take down from my library the biogra-
plies of ministers and writer's OF the past
ages, inspired and uninspired, who have
done the most to bring souls to Jesus
Christ, and / nnd that without a single ex.
ception they consecrGted their wit and
their humor to Christ. Elijah used 1t when
he advised the Baalites, as they could not
make their god respond, to call louder, as
their god might be sound asleep or gone
a-huntingr Job used it when he said tC
his s~elf-coneeited comforters, "Wisdom
will die with you" Christ not only useG
it in the text, but when Ho ironically com
plimented the corrupt Pharisees, saying
1.-THE whole need not a physician" and
when by one word He described the Gun
ming otHerod, saying, G. ye and tell thai
fox" Matthew henry's commentaries from
the first page to the last corruscated witt
humor, as summer clouds with heat light
ming.
Again, my subject photographs all those
who are abhorrent OF small SIM, while they
are reckless in regard to magnificent thefts
You will hnd many a merchant who, while
he is 80 careful thet he would not take c
yard OF cloth or n spool Of cotton from the
counter without paying for 1t, and who, IL
q bank cashier should make q mistake and
send in a roll of bills So too much, would
dispatch a messenger in hot haste to re.
turn the surplus, yet who will go into c
stock company, in which after awhile he
gets control of the stock and then water;
the stock and makes 300 600 appear Tx;
5000, 900. He only stole 500, 900 by tn,
operation. Many Of the men Of fortune
made their wealth In that way.
One of these men engaged In such un
righteous acts that evening, the evening o
the very day when he watered the stock
will find a wharf rat stealing u daily pape
from tho basement doorway and will 81
out and catch the urehin by the collar anC
twist tho collar so tightly the poor fellow
has no power to say that it was thirst TO
knowledge that led him to the dishones
act, but grip the collar tighter and tighter
saying: II have been looking for you
long while. You stole my paper fou
or five times, haven't you, you mis-
cradle wretehp" And then the oil
stock gambler, with a voice the.
can hear three blocks, will or
out, "Police, p~olleei' That sam
man the evening OF the day Il
which he watered the stock will kneel wit
his family in prayers and thank God 10
the prosperity Of the day, then kiss hi
children good night with an air whic
seems to say, II hope you will all grow u
to be as good as your fatherl' Prison
for sins insectiie in size, but palaces 10
crimes dromedarian. No mercy for sin
animaleule in proportion, but great leu
iency for mastodon iniquity. A poor bo
slyiY takes from the basket OF Il marke
rvouoan n ahoka Daur g1yinR soma Due ais