The Monmouth inquirer., 1906-10-11
CalnnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. d.


of uncharitable judgment OF others,
lest we, by such means, miss the bless
I ing that comes of entertaining angels
unawares." The text Is Genesis xviii, 2,
"And, 10, three men stood by him."
When gentleman travels in the far
east he does not stop at public Inn,
but lodges with the people he meets on
the way. Thus one day Abraham was
sitting at the door of his tent. Off in
the distance he sees three travel stain
ed men approaching. At once, accord
ing to the social customs then practiced
and with the cordial hospitality of the
east, Abraham runs toward these three
travellers and kneels at their feet and
says: 'sCome and lodge with we. larry
and rest yourselves and eat of my
bread. After refreshing yourselves you
can continue on your journey" The
three travellers accepted this kind invi-
tation Abraham spread before his
guests the best food he had. He killed
calf. His wife baked for them some
hot bread After the meal was over
one of the strangers said. sWhere is
thy wife?" Abraham went and called
Sarah Then, as the three men were
about to go, they said practically these
words: "Oh, We aged and childless ones,
the dearest wish of your hearts is about
to be fulfilled In your old age you
shall have a son. To make long
story short, Abraham and Sarah found
out that their guests in human form
were not simply three men, but three
angelic messengers of God. What an
lnconceivable privilege that was! Let
us think about it this morning, remem-
bering that we, too, can entertain an
gelic messengers almost every day if
we will. We can entertain them, as
did Abraham, when strange travellers
approach our dwellings and perhaps
knock at the door for admittance. You
may think these strangers are men, as
did Abraham, but they are not. They
are messengers of God. Thus the ques-
lions which now confront us all are:
"Will we let in these angelic visitors?
VIII we receive from them the spiritual
blessings which God intends us to get2"
Shall we, in the first place, receive
the angelic visitors who come from
God dressed in the rough garments of
poor men? These messengers come to
us almost daily, as the three strangers
came to Abraham in olden time. As
we approach the Hebrew patriarch's
tent we see him sitting under the shad-
ow. 1t is almost noon. The intense
/ Syrian sun is beating down upon the
F, plains. Most of the work was done.
The shepherds or the cattleman's day
does not begin, as with many Of us,
at 8 or 8 O'clock These men start
their work very early in the morning.
While it Is yet dark the busy wives
and daughters are up preparing the
early breakfast. Then with the first
light of the day the sheep and the
cows and the horses begin to get rest
less. They want to get out and feed
upon the rich grasses. Then the fiocks
and the herds begin to move, and by
10 O'clock the animals are well fed
and are resting themselves under the
shadows of the trees until late in the
afternoon. Abraham, like wise mas
ter, had seen that his herdsmen and
shepherds had cared well for his stock
Then when the hot sun begins to beat
down he goes back to his tent to pre-
pare for dinner and take rest and
have a quiet chat with his dear wife
time was over ninety years of age and
Sarah had passed her threescore years
and ten, yet they were still lovers as
when in their youth they had taken
journey into faroff Egypt and the
kings messenger wanted to select
Sarah for Pharaoh's bride.
The Three Travellers.
While the busy Sarah is preparing
the midnoon meal Abraham, sitting by
his tent suddenly puts his hand over
his brow and begins to look. He seems
to be watching something afar off.
what is it. Abraham?' says his wife
''Do you see any one comingT YES"
answers the aged lover II think see
three travellers. They are strangers to
me. They must be poor men. They
are coming afoot. In this country
horses are 50 cheap that all except the
poorest can own one. These men have
not even a donkey with them. They
must truly be very poor. L wonder if
! they have enough food along. Poor
/ fellows. See how tired and hungry
they look. Sarah. We have so much;
let us give them a good meal and start
them on their journey afresh. No man
ought to be travelling in this awful
heat" ''All right, Abraham" / think
hear Sarah say. "All right. You go
and ask them to tarry will hurry up
and prepare some meal, and you send
and kill calf, and we will give them
feast fit for king" Thus Abraham
runs and salutes these strangers who
are travelling afoot He says, "Stran-
gers, will you come and lodge with
me?' Lesson the first These three
angelic messengers came to Abraham's
| tent afoot. They came as poor men.
| They came as Gods messengers often
come to US, when they look up into our
faces and piteously beg: "yyilt thou
feed me? Wilt thou clothe me? am