The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-07-07
STAND FIRM
When Beset by Small Trials and
TribulatiOns.
Sermon Preached In Brooklyn Tabernacle
by Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage, D. D., on
Sunday. Iuly lst, 1888.
,ubiect: "Footmen and Horses" !"

Wearied thee, then how cRns't thou con-
tend with hOrses3 And II In the land of
peace, wherein thou trustedst, they
wearied thee, then how wilt thou do In
the swelling OF JOrdanp"
jeremiah had become impatient with
his troubles. God says to him: "If you
cannot stand these small trials and per-
secutiOns, what are you going to do
when the greater trials aud persecu-
tiOns come? If you have been running
race with fOOtmen and they have
beaten you, what chance Is there that
you will Outrun hOrses% And then the
figure is changed. You know that In
April and May the Jordan OVertlOws its
banks, and the waters rush violently on,
sweeping everything before them. And
God says to the Prophet: 'If you are
overcome with smaller trials and vexa-
tiOns which have assaulted you, what
will you do when the trials and annoy
ances and prosecutions OF life come In a
freshetP" "If, In the land of peace
wherein thou trustedst, they wearied
thee, how wilt thou do in the swelling
of JOrdanp
IprOpOse, If God will help me, in a
very practical way to ask-if 1t Is such a
difficult thing to get along without the
religion of Jesus Christ, when things
are comparatively smooth, what will we
do without Christ amid the OverpOwer-
ing misfOrtunes and disasters of life
that may come upon usp II troubles
slow as fOOtmen surpass us, what
will we do when they take the feet of
hOrsesp And IL now in our lifetime
we are beaten back and submerged Of
sOrrOws because we have not the re-
ligiOn of Jesus to comfort us, what
will we do when we stand In death and
we feel all about us "the swelling of
JOrdan?" The fact that you have come
here, my brother, my sister, shows that
you have some things you believe In
common with myself. You believe there
Is a God. There is not an atheist In all
this house. do not believe there ever
was a real atheist in all the world. Ma
pOleOn was on ships deck, bound for
and as he paced the deck thinking Of
the great affairs of state and of battle,
he heard two men on the deck cOnVers-
ing about God; one saying there was a
God and the other saying there was
none. Napoleon stopped and looked up
at the starry heavens, and then turned
to these men and said: Gentlemen, l
heard one of you say there was no God /;
If there Is no God will you please tell
me who made all thatp" Aye, IL you
had not been persuaded OF 1t before, you
hEb ~ hOW1 lOI blD
ing heavens declare the glory of God,
and the earth shows his handiwOrk.
But you believe more than that: you be-
lieVe there was a Jesus; you believe
there was q cross; you believe you have
an immortal soul; you believe 1t must
be regenerated by the spirit Of God OF
YOU can never dwell In bliss eternal. l
think great many of you will say you
believe 1t important to have the religion
of Jesus Christ every day Of our life, to
smooth our tempers and purify our
minds, and hold us imperturbable amid
all the annOyances and vexatiODs OF
life. You and have seen 80 many men
trampled down by misfOrtuneS because
they had no faith in Jesus, and you say
to yourself: eff they were so easily
overcome by the trials Of life, what will
it be when greater misfOrtuneS come
upon them-heart-b breaking calamities,
tremendous griefs?" Oh, II we have no
God to comfort us when our fortune 60
eth, and we look upon the graves of our
children, and our houses are desOlate,
what will become of usp What a sad
thing 1t is to see men all unhelped of
God going out to fight giants of trouble;
no closet OF, prayer in which to retreat;
no promise Of mercy to sOOthe the soul;
no rock of refuge in which to hide from
the blast. Oh, when the swift courses
of trouble are brought up, champing
and painting for the race, and the reins
are thrown upon their neeks, and the
lathered flanks at every spring feel the
stroke of the lash, what can we do on
foot with themP If having run with
the fOOtmen they wearied us, how can
we contend with hOrsesp We have
all yielded to temptation. We have been
surprised afterward that 80 small
an inducement could have decOyed us
from the right. How insignificant a
temptation has sometimes captured our
soul. And IL that Is so, my dear brother,
what will 1t be when we come to stand
In the presence of temptation that pros
tTated David and Moses and a Peter
and some Of the mightiest men In all
Gods kingdomp Now we are honest
but suppose we were placed in some
path of life, as many Of Gods children
have been, where all the force of earth
and hell combine to capture the sOulf
without Jesus we would go down under
| 1t. II already we have been beaten by
Insignificant f0Otmen, we would be dis
| taDced 10000 leagues by the horses. All
don't like to hear a man say: al could
not commit such sin as that. cam
understand how a man could be carried
away like that" You don't know what
you could do IL the grace of God lett
you. You know what John BunyaI
said when he saw man staggering
along the street, thoroughly imbueC
with his habits. He said: There goel
John Bunyan but for the grace of God
\ / can say when see one utterly fallen
''There goes De Witt Talmage but fOl
/ the grace of GOdP II we have been de
livered from temptation 1t is because thl
strong arm of the Lord Almighty hal
been about us, and not because we wert
any better than they. 1t Is great foil!
to borrow trouble. IL we can meet thI
misfortunes Of to-day we will be able Il
meet the troubles of tomorrow; but sup
pose now IL, through lack of the re
ligton OF Jesus, we are OverthrOwn BY
small sins, does not our common sens
teach us that we cannot stand vi
against great ones; IL we cannot carr,
a pound, can we carry a Thousand
pounds; If we are discounted, cOminJ
into battle with one regiment, a battai
lon will cut us to pieces. If we are un
flt to cope with one small trial, won't w
be overcome by greater onesp If tn
foOtmen are too much for us. won't tn
odds be more fearful against US wheI
we contend with h0rsesp thank CO.