Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-05-02
soul REST. !"
Sermon by Rev. r. c. Cave, of Hopkins.
Vile, KY. in the Second Presbyterian
Church, Sunday Morning

N0NNO"N-NNf
never wrote his sermons, and hence would
not be able to furnish it to u.s. The services
of Mr.. M. W. McKown, a stenographit
reporter in Maj. Fippen's Office, were pro
cured and below is a verbatim report a,
furnished by him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden and will give yourest. Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me, for I an
meek and lowly in heart; and you shall fine
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light"
have read the three last verses of the
18th chapter of the testimony of Matthew.
These verses introduce for our consideration
the subject of soul rest, to which. I shall
endeavor to address myself, with your kind
intelligence, for little while this morning.
The longing for rest is universal. The
poet who sings, ooh! where shall rest be
found. Crest for the weary soul, voice
a sigh that rises from all hearts, Men every.
where are seeking and searching for rest
but few, comparatively, find it. The fail
ure of those who find it not is due to the
fact that they entertain false conceptions OF
what constitutes it and are led by these to
look for it in things that give it not. ]
shall endeavor this morning, in the first
place, to indicate some of the false ways in
which men seek for rest, and then to point
you to the true way-the only way-in
which we can find the peace for which the
soul longs.
Perhaps the lowest conception of rest is
that entertained by those who imagine il
can be found in freedom from labor; who
look upon the decree that ''man shall eat
hTaa hx-tl n - 1 I,
greatest curse that rests upon our race, and
who sigh for the paradise of the lazy man,
that consists in freedom from exertion, in
doing nothing but eating, drinking and
sleeping away the precious hours of life
This may be rest for the lazy swine, which,
having eaten its fill, is content to
lie down and sleep until returning hunger
shall drive it up to exertion again, but this
is not rest for the being made in the image
of God. He who seeks this will find that
the hardest of all hard work is doing no
thing. | have some where read that Spi-
nola, being told that some one had died from
having nothing to do, said THAT is enough
to xiii any general of us all" 1t is difficult
to conceive of a life more burdensome, more
restless and unhappy than that of him who
has nothing to do. Better any work than
that Going out under the burning summer
sun and breaking rocks with which to pave
the streets of your city is infinitely better,
infinitly more satisfying to the soul than the
rest of Incidence which brings penury, want,
and shame which leads to bitter recollec-
tons of time misspent and opportunities
unimproved; which leads the soul to lament
in anguish what it is and what it might have
been;andi which dwarfs, degrades, paralyzes,
and destroys all who enjoy it.
Perhaps little higher conception
of rest is that of those who fancy that it is
to be found in worldly pleasures. Fair in
form, lovely to look upon, clad in garments
OF beauty, her lip wreathed in smiles, fas-
CITATION in her eyes, pleasure stands before
them, and with fair hand points them to
what seem fowery paths in which they may
walk and be satisfied. Eagerly they press
forward in her train. They sing of the
| flow ing bowl and drink of its contents.
! They indulge without restraint their appe-
! tites and passions to to find at last, like
! Scotland'S bard
Pleasures are like peoples spread,
You grasp the flower its bloom is she'd u
/ There are those who have still higher
conception of rest-an idea that it consists
in the things that wealth can give. 1t may
be that they are oppressed by poverty, and
! look to wealth to free them from its bur
| dens; or it may be that their hearts are fixe(
on the pomp and show and Injuries o
the world, and look to wealth to satisfy thei
desires. In either case, gold is that which
in their thoughts, will satisfy the longing
of the soul. Gold is the Aladdin's LAM
that can bring deliverance from all thei
cares, and supply all their wishes. AS the,
think, to possess riches is to possess indie
pendence, to be secure from want, to hav
all pleasures at command. and, hence, to b
happy. And SO they toll for gold, and whel
they have succeeded when they have pile
heaps of mammon around them they fin
that they are still dependent, still insecure
that there are cares which palace doors ca
not shut out; that there are heartaches whic
fine ralment cannot ease; that there ar
soul-longings that all the wealth of cart
cannot satisfy; that their dreams of rest t
be found in riches were but castle in the all
never to be realized.
There are those, also, who seek for res
in fame. There are ambitious spirit
who cannot be content to walk
the lowly paths of life, BIT
like Hotspur, would pluck bright homo
from the pale-faced moon" They love til
praises of men, and think that they ca
feed their souls on the applause of til
! world and satisfy them with such food |
order to gain earthly honors and earthl
power they endure hardships, bare the
bosoms to the battles storm, and expos
themselves to dangers of almost every kline
When they have reached the goal of the
ambition, when they have climbed to til
topmost pinnacle of fame, when they hay
been so successful as to grasp even ii
sceptre and the crown, they realize that til
poet summed up all of happiness that ca
be found in human greatness, in Just on
line, when he said, Uneasy lies the hea
that wears CROWN
Again, there are those to whom life itse
is burden. few, it may be, but SO
few. Perhaps their lives have been wrecl
ed on the shoals of dissipation, and, wit
property squandered and health shattert
! and friends gone from them, they are idea
to use and name and fame" and, Co
scious of their degradation and overcon
by sense of shame, they shrink from IL
society of men; or, it may be, that disal
pointments have darkened their lives; tn
all of their fondest hopes have been blaste
that the future, which once rose before the
bright and beautiful as a dream, now offe
nothing but tolls and tears. Whatever
the cause, this fair world, with all its vari
|
of melody, has become to them a sad al
, dreary waste, and the burden of their sol
= is,
. ''I'm sick of life, I'm weary"
They look upon the face of the dead, cal
and still, and free from all signs of car
. and failing to distinguish between the sta
of the body and the state of him who on
. lived in the body, they dream that they C,
. find rest in death-that the grave, with
D darkness and its stiffness, offers to them
: asylum where they may find deliveran
from all their tormenting fears and Bit
memories and remorseful papgs. And
Christians encourage them somewhat in Il
j dream by retaining among our hymns, a
4 sometimes singing the false sentime
eouched in the topchingly sad and beauti
lines of Montgomery;
. s'There is a calm for those who weep,
! A rest for weary pilgrims found,
Softly they lie, and sweetly sleep,
Low in the ground.
> The storm that racks the wintry sky