Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-13
SIN LIKE UNTO LEPR0SY.
FAITH IN THE LORD GOD OF
ELISHA THE ONLY CURE.


from the Life of Misunderstanding OF
the Requirements Causing Countless
Thousands to Scott when They Had
Only to cross tho Threshold to Gal n
Salvation.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, Dec. 12.-The Rev.
#. Dewitt Talmage, D. D., preached this
morning from the text IL Kings ", l:
she was leper." He said:
Here we have a warrior sick, not with
pleurisies, or rheumatisms, or consump-
tons, but with disease worse than all
these put together; red mark has come
out on the forehead, precursor OF complete
Disagreement and dissolution. l have
something awful to tell you. General
Naaman, the commander n-chier of all
the Syrian forces, has the leprosy! 1t is
on his hands, on his face, on his feet, on
his entire person. The leprosy! Get out
of the way of the pestilence! If his breath
strike you, you are dead man. The
commander-in-chief of all the forces In
Syriai And yet he would be glad to ex-
change conditions with the boy at ms
stirrup, or the hostler that blankets his
charger. The news goes like wildhre all
Through the realm, and the people are
sympathetic and they cry out: us it
Oossible that our great hero who shot
tAhab, and around whom we came with
such vociforatiOn when he returned from
victorious battle-can it be possible that
our grand and glorious Naaman has the
leprosy?
Yes. Everybody has something he
wishes he had nnt-Davld, an Absalom
to disgrace him; Paul, thorn to sting
him: Job, carbuncles 10 plague him;
Samson, Delilah to shear him; Ahab, a
Naboth to denv him; Hannah, MOrdecai
to irritate him; George Washington,
childlessness to afflict him; John Wesley,
termagant wife to poster him; Lean,
weak eyes; Pope, crooked back; Byron,
a club foot; John Milton, blind eyes;
Charles Lamb, an insane sister, and you,
and you, and you, and you, something
which you never bargained for, and would
like to get rid of. The reason OF this is
that God does not want this world to be
too Alright; otherwise, we would always
1 want to stay, and eat these fruits, and
he on these lounges, and shake hands in
this pleasant society. We are only IN the
vestibule Of grand temple. God does
not want us to stay on the doorstep, and
therefore he sends aches, and annoyances,
and sorrows, and bereavements of all
sorts to push us on, and push us up to-
ward ripper fruits, and brighter society,
and more radiant properties. God
is only whipping us ahead. The
reason that Edward Payson and Robert
Hall had more rapturous views OF Heaven
than other people had was because,
lthrough their aches and pains, God pushed
them nearer up to it. If God dashes out
one of your pictures it is only to show
YOU brighter one. If He sting your foot
3 with govt, your brain with neuralgia,
YOUR tongue with an ineXtlnguishable
thirst, it is only because He is preparing
10 substitute better body than you ever
dreamed of when the mortal shall put on
immortality. 1t is to push you ON and
push YOU up toward something grander
and better that God sends upon you. as
He did upon General Naaman, something
YOU do not want. Seated IN his Syrian
mansion-all the walls glittering
with the shields which he had
captured in battle; the corridors
crowded with admiring visitors who just
wanted to see him once; music and mirth
and banqueting filing all the mansion,
from tesselated floor to pictured ceiling
iNaaman would have forgotten that there
was anything better, and would have been
glad to stay there ten thousand years,
But. on, how the shields dim. and how
the visitors fly from the hall, and how the
music drops dead from the string and how
the gates OF the mansion slam. shut with
sepulchral bang, as you read the closing
WOTQS Oh tD0 euiOSluHls h0 was d leDUI
he was leperp'
There was ore person more sympathetic
with General Naamau than any other
Sperson. Naaman's wife walks the floor.
wringing her hands and trying TO think
what she can do to alleviate her husbands
suffering. All remedies have failed. The
Surgeon General and the doctors OF the
royal staff have met, and they have
shaken their heads as much as to say
In fnIy fhof 4 hp
i office.seekers had all folded up their rec.
concentrations and gone home. Probably
most of the employees of the establishment
had dropped their work and were think
ing of looking for some other situation.
What shall now become of poor Naaman's
wifef She must have sympathy some
where. In her despair she goes to little
Hebrew captive, a servant girl in her
house. to whom she tells the whole story
as sometimes, when overborne with the
sorrows of the world. and finding nc
sympathy anywhere else. you have gone
out and found in the sympathy OF some
humble domestic-Rose, or Dnah, OF
Bridget-a help which the world could
not give you.
What scene it was! One OF the
grandest women in all Syria, in cabinet
council with waiting maid over the
declining health of the mighty General
81 know something" says the little cap
tive maid, 81 know something" as she
bounds to her bare feet. "In the land
from which was stolen there is a certain
prophet known by the name of Elisha
who can cure almost everything, and
shouldn't wonder if he could cure ms
master. Send for him right away" Oh
hushv you say. "If the highest medica
talent in all the land cannot cure thai
leper, there is no need of your listen
ing to any talk OF serVan
girl" But do not scot, do no
sneer. The finger OF that little captiv,
maid is pointing in the right direction
She might have said: "This is a judgmen
on you for stealing me from my native
land. Didn't they snatch me off in the
night. breaking my fathers and mother
hearty and many time | have laid anC
cried all night because | was so home
sick" Then flushing up into childish In
dignation she might have SAID: 10000
for them; Pm glad Naaman's got the lep
rosy; l wish all the Syrians had the lep
rosy" No. Forgetting her own persona
sorrows, she sympathi2es with the suffer
ing Of her master and recommends him /,
the famous Hebrew prophet.
And how often it is that the finger o
childhood has pointed grown persons il
the right direction. o Christian soul
how long is it since that you got rid o
the leprosy OF slns You say: "Let m
see. 1t must be five years now" "Fiv
years. Who was it that pointed you &
40 nfutpo