, 1900-01-23
WHEAT OR CHAFF
REV. ROMINGER'S SERMON AT
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING.
John the Baptist Stands Out Above
the Best and Bravest of the Serv-
ants of the Race. Rising in Soil
tary Grandeur Like One of Those
Majestic Peaks of the Rockies

Majestic Peaks Of the Rockies.
-
There was \ Iorpo con~gragatio, ot
tho prasbvrariap chnrcb sunday morr
inc rho suhiact or tho s.rmor w,s
.wboo+ or char ,bo u.rorlr,. ,r r,hn
KineIase and tbroroIoss I,bp ,r,
pantist Glands m, ,bo,.o rho host and
bra vest of tho servants of rho race
risiro in solitary gropdour lilo ana ~
those iastic naak. or tho RocLioe
which Ca 1if+e oboyo tho r,,rro,,ai,,
ropgee and crothos with nlo,Is 10
was true to the greatest and most peri
lous trust that God ever imposed unOn
A man. He stood unm0yed amid the
mightiest foundations that pyer tested
a mans LOYALTY and faith He marks
the highest reach of human unsalGgh-
ness. Stern, outspukpu. full of a sense
of righteousness. bitter AGAINST every
form of evil, and conscious of a great
mission, he took his part in the drama
of the centuries ali unconscious of the
fact thai it. was soon to eliminate in
the supremp tragedy of history in
which he and his greater successor
were In he he chief yirtims
Withdrawiug from a rurrunt and
dangerous societv Tohn had zone IN the
desert whore the infinite and the etor-
nal had shaken IN him I,oking nm into
tho starry snaces he felt tbem awful as
svent forever Inv the breatb and the
vision of God When he came forth
from the desert he mashed like a meteor
upon the a%stonisheu vision of men.
Nv the sheer forcn nF his character
he had mastered public oninion He
had come from his haunts carving tha
wilderness and the maintains in his
souI and mon bunhIed themselves he
fore such blended nassivsnase and in
tensity of manhood His n~rophet-garb
and manner. and his announcement of
tho Iono evnactad kirg and kinedom
annaalsd to tho lavish national avnac.
tatiop and forged il into n white heat
60 that tba Rantisi cou,d mnld If a,
| his will uerod was ieaIous. tbe
Pbarisees were hateful and suspicious:
but the nonuIace believed. A word
from ,John would have kindled the mass
of Jewish discomfort into a furious
flame of revolution He had hut to
announce himself and Judea and Cali
lee would have hailed him as Messiah.
But not a word does he turn to personal
advantage.
Immense tbronss ovid round him
|-harlots. thieves thugs. debauchees,
tay-patherers extortiOners soldiers.
| nriests scribes LAWYERS. phariseas.
S~anducees notables and nobodies-all
were there thronging the desert TO
catch the accents of that strange voice
~rinpinp with scorn and Indignation for
no c~orruntions of his time. 70 the re-
neious leaders Of the dav he said. ave
offsnring of vipers." He called them by
their RIGHT names as Christ called
them whited sepulchers. hidden
graves actors masked men. If John
were tn talk that wav TODAY he couId
not get n drst-class pulpit or fashion,
able church but would have to take to
The wilderness or preach 70 the crowd
in the slums from the tail-pnd of a
cart
.,. no,iui,, - rno,
,onIt,m and to,d mon ,bot tbov uoro
.,idina into Tho obvsoos Thoir dosoont
from Abraham would'do them no good
If they were all swept from the face
of tbe Garth God could raise him nm
children from the stones that Law on the
Jordan banks. God would make a
clean sweep of all shams and frauds.
senarating the wheat from the chat and
burning m the chaff with unuuench-
able fire. The Baptizer was a strong
hater of shams and pretense and So
ciety. religion and politics were a vast
| gilded pretense, rotten to the core.
John sounded out the warning: RE
pent" and with a voice of thunder de
manded reform in every department of
life. II was the ]thunderbolt of God
smiling uDon a world of sinners. The