The Penn's Grove record., 1901-08-09
DIR, TALMAGES SERMON
sUNoA DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: a JOY Inspiring R~elielon-solo-
mons wisdom-Sweet Spices Of Chris
tianity 1t Counteracts All Trouble -
No DoIorous Music Needed.

as DpInE IOY INSpTTTIE TW5VVWW- VI UVTVTI
text. III. Chronicles tx, 9, "Of spices great
abundance: neither was there any such
spice as the Queen of Sheba gave hing
What is that building out yonder, gilt,
tering in the sun? Have you not heardE
It is in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
King Solomon has just taken to 1t his
bride. the Princess Of Egypt. You see the
pillars of the portico and a great tower,
adorned with 1000 shields of gold, hung
on the outside of the tower, 800 OF the
shields Of gold manufactured at Solomon,s
order: 500 were captured by DAVID, ms
father. in battle. See how they blaze in
the MONDAY sun! .,.
solomon goes up the ivory stairs of his
throne. between twelve lions in statuary,
and sits down on the back of the golden
bull. the head of the huge beast turned to-
ward the people. The family and the at
tendants Of the king are so many that the
caterers of the palace have TO PROVIDE
every day 100 sheep and thirteen oxen,
besides the birds and the v%enison. | hear
the stamping and paving OF 1000 fine
horses in the royal stables. There were
important officials who had charge, OF the
work of gathering the straw and the bar
lev for these horses. King Solomon was
an early riser, tradition says, and used TO
take a ride out at daybreak, and when IN
his white apparel, behind the swlttest
horses of all the realm and followed by
mounted archers in purple, as the caval-
cade dashed through the streets of Jeru-
salem I suppose it was something worth
getting up at 5 O'Clock in the morning to
look at. IL
of the present day-crowned imbeciilty'
An the splendors of his palace and retinue
were eclipsed by his intellectual power.
Why, he seemed to know everything. He
was the first great naturalist the world
ever saw. Peacocks from India strutted
the basaltic walk, and apes chartered IN
the trees, and deer stalked the parks, and
there were aquariums with foreign hSh
and a~viaries with foreign birds, and tradl,,
ton saws these birds were so well tanned
that Solomon might walk clear across the
CITY under the shadow of their wings as
they lowered and fitted about him.
More than this, he had a great repuita-
ton for the conumdrums and riddles that
he made and guessed. He and King Hi
ram. his neighbor, used to sit by the hour
and ask riddles, each one paying IN money
if he could not answer or guess the riddle.
The Solomonie navy visited all the world.
and the sailors, of course, talked about
the riddles and enigmas that he made and
solved, and the news spread until Queen
Balkis, away off south, heard of it, and
sent messengers with a few riddles that
she would like to nave Solomon solve and
a few puzzles that she would like to have
him find out. She sent, among other
things, to King Solomon a diamond with
ahole so small that a needle could not pen
citrate it, asking him to thread that dla,
mond. And Solomon took a worm and
put it at the opening in the diamond, and
the worm crawled through, leaving the
thread in the diamond. The queen also
sent a goblet to Solomon, asking him to
fill it with water that did not pour from
the sky and that did not rush out from
Iha aar}h apd immediately SDlOmOD mt
a slave on the back of a swift horse and
galloped him around and around the parl!
until the horse was nigh exhausted, and
from the PRECIPITATION of the horse the
III : N.1}. She also sent to King
solomon 800 boys in girls dress and 500
girls in boys dress, wondering if he would
be acute enough to find out the deception
Immediately Solomon, when he saw them
wash their faces, knew from the way they
applied the water that it was all a cheat.
Queen Balkis was so pleased with The
acuteness of Solomon that she said, IN
just go and see him for myself Aonder
it comes-the cav~alcade-horses and dro-
medaries, chariots and characters, jung
ling harness and Gathering hoofs and blaz-
ing shields and flying ensigns and clapping
cymbals. The place is saturated with the
perfume. She brings cinnamon and SAT
from and cslamus and frankincense and all
manner of sweet spices. As the Tetinue
] EMttl5 tAiOhki Az khNt lit " nv -NtW'
inhales the aroma. "Halt!" cries the char
ioteers as the wheels grind the gravel in
front of the pillared portico OF the king,
Queen Balkis alights in an atmosphere be-
witched with perfume. As the dromeda-
ries are driven up to the kings store
houses and the bundles of c~amphor are
~unloaded, and the sacks of cinnamon and
the boxes OF spices are opened the pur-
veyors of the palace discover what my text
announces: "Of spices, great abundance.
Neither was there any such spice as the
Queen of Sheba gave to King solomon"
Well, my friends, you know that all the
o~logians agree in making Solomon a type
of Christ, and in making the Queen Of
Sheba a type of every truth seeker, and |
will take the responsibility of saying that
all the spikenard and cassia and franklin
cense which the Queen of Sheba brought
to King Solomon is nightly suggestive of
the sweet spices of our holy religion.
Christianity is not a collection of sharp
teehniealities and angular facts and chro-
biological tables and dry statistics.
Our religion is compared to frankineense
and to cassia, but never to nighCshade.
1t is a bundle OF myrrh. 1t is a dash OF
holy light. 1t is a sparkle of cool foun-
tains. 1t is an opening of opaline gates;
1t is a collection of spices. Would God
that we We're as wise in taking spices to
our divine King as Queen Balkis was wise
in taking the spices to the earthly Solo
mon.
The fact is that the duties and cares of
this life, coming to us from time to time,
are stupid often and inane and irtolerable.
Here are men who have been battering,
climbing, pounding, hammering for twenty
years, forty years, fifty years. One great.
long drudgery has their life been, their
faces anxious, their feelings benumbed,
their days monotonous. What is neces-
sary to brighten up that mans life and to
l pnFaEta,, shat add AE-AA-14alr, nAl l., amt
sparkle into the mans spirits? The spic-
cry of oar holy religion, Why, if between
the losses of life there dashed the CLEAN
OF an eternal gain, ii between the betray-
ais of life there came the CLEAN of the un-
dying friendship of Christ, if in dull times
in business we found ministering spirits
flying to and fro IN our office and store
and shop, everyday life, instead OF being
a stupid monotone, would be a glorious in
spiration, penduluming between calm sat
i~sfaction and high rapture.
How any woman keeps house without
the religion Of Christ to help her is a
mystery to me. To have to spend the
greater part of ones life, as many women
do, in planning for the meals, and stitch.
ing garments that will soon be rent again,
and deploring breakages, and supervising
tardy subordinates, and driving off dust
that soon again will settle, and doing the
same thing day in and day out and year
- RA0 NNh thF bAAAAA wy AAAAA RAlNNhoF "AAA
the back stoops, and the spectacles crawl
to the eyes, and the grave breaks open
under the thin sole of the shoe-oh, it is
a long monotouy! But when Christ comes
} the drawing room, and comes to the
kitchen, and comes to the nursery. and
comes to the dwelling, then how CHEEKY
becomes all womanly dutiesl She is never
alone now. Martha gets through f%retting
and joins Mary at the feet OF Jesus, All
day long Deborah is happy because she can
help I~apidoth; Hannah, because she can
make a coat for young Samuel; Miriam,
because she can watch her infant brother;
Rachel, because she can help her father
water the stock; the widow OF Sarepta, be
cause the cruise Of oil is being replenished,
o woman, having in your pantry a nest
Of boxes containing all kinds of eondi.
ments, why have you not tried in your
heart and life the spicery of our holy reli,
giony Martha, Martha, thou art careful
and troubled about many things, but one
thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen
that good part which shall not be taken
away from her
| must confess that a great deal Of the
religion of this day is utterly lnsIPid.
There is nothing pjquant or e!evat,ug