The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-07-25
REV. TALMAGE'S SERMONS.
A Discourse that Enters Into All the
Practical Questions of Life.
None of Our Affairs Too Insignificant To Be of
Importance to God-"All Things Work To-
gether for Good to Them That Love God.

On Sunday, July Is, Dr. Talmage preached at
1.-THE Hamptons,n continuing his series of SER
mons on 'yoices of Gardens and Fields" His
subject to-day was: 1.-THE Cheap sparrow and
the text Luke xii. 5, 6: "Are not five sparrows
sold for two farthings, and not one of them is
forgotten before Godg" He said:
You see the Bible will not be limited in choice
of symbols. There is hardly beast, or bird, or
insect which has not been called to illustrate
some divine truth-the oxs patience, the
ants industry. the spiders skill. the
kinds sure-footedness, the eagles speed, the
doves gentleness. and even the sparrow's mean
ness and insgnificance In Oriental countries
none but the poorest people buy the sparrow and
eat it-so very little meat is there on the bones,
and so very poor is it, what there is of it. The
comfortable population would not think OF
touching it any more than you would think of
eating bat a lamprey. Now, says Jesus, II
God takes such good care of poor bird that is
not worth cent, won't he care for you. an i'm
mortal!
In the first place: God chooses for us our occu-
patton. am amazed to see how many people
there are dissatisfied with the work they have to
do. / think three-fourths wish they were in
some other occupation and they spend a great
deal of time in regretting that they got in the
wrong trade or profession. want to tell you
that God put into operation all the influences
which led you to that particular choice. Many
OF you are not in the business that you expected
to be in You started for the ministry and
learned merchandise; you started for the law and
you are physician; you preferred agriculture
and you became mechanic. You thought one
way; God thought another. But you ought not
to sit down and mourn over the past You are
to remember that Coda benefcent God, kind
God, loving God-arranged all these circum-
stances by which you were made what you are
Hugh Miller says II will be a stone mason"
God says: "You will be geoloeist7 David goes
out to tend his fathers sheep; God calls him to
l.
fathers asses. and before he gets back finds the
crown of mighty dominion How much happier
would we be if we were content with the places
God gave US! God saw your temperament, and
all the circumstances by which yon were sur
rounded, and believe ninetenths of you are in
the work you are best fitted for.
hear great racket in my watch. and / FIND
that the hands. and the wheels, and the springs
are getting out of their places. | send it down
to the jewelers. and say: Overhaul that watch,
and teach the wheels, and the spring. and the
hands to mind their own busin ess."
You know man having large estate. He
gathers his working hands in the morning. and
says to one: you go and trim that vine" to
another, "You go and weed those flowers" to
another, ''You pillow that tough eebe;" and each
one goes to his particular work The owner of
the estate points the man to what he knows he
can do best: and so it is with the Lord. He calls
us up and points US to that field for which we
are best fitted. So that the lesson for to-day,
coming from this subject, is: Stay cheerfully
where God puts you."
l remark further: That God has arranged the
place of our dwelling What particular city or
town. street or house. shall you live in, seems to
be mere matter of accident You 60 out to
hunt for house, and you happen to pass up a
certain street, and happen to sign, and you
select that house Was it all happening so? Oh,
no! God guided you in every step. He foresaw
the future. He knew all your circumstances
and He selected just that one house as better for
you than any one of the ten thousand habita-
tons in the city. Our house, however humble
the roof and however lowly the portals, is as
near Gods heart as an Alhambra or a Kremlin
Prove it, you say2 Proverbs iii, 33: ''He bless.
eth the habitation of the just"
| remark again, that God puts down the limit
to our temporal prosperity. The world of
finances seems to have no God in it. You can
not tell where man will land. The atf1uent
fall; the poor RISE The ingenious fail; the
ignorant succeed. An enterprise opening
grandly shuts IN bankruptcy. while out of the
peat dug up from some New England marsh the
millionaire builds his fortune The poor man
thinks it is chance that keeps him down, the
rich man thinks it is chance which hoists him.
and they are both wrong. It is so hard to real
ize that God rules the money market, and has a
hook in the nose of the stock gambler, and that
all the commercial revolutions of the world
shall result In. the very best for Gods
dear children NY brethren, do not
kick against the divine allotments. God
knows just how much money it is best for you to
lose. You never gain unless it is best FOR you to
gain You go up when it is best for you to go
up, and go down when it is best for you to go
down. Prove 1t, you say. l will: Romans viii,
%: "All things work together for good to them
that love God" You go into factory and you
see twenty or thirty wheels, and they are going
in different directions This hand is rolling off
this way and another hand another way; one
down and another up You say: what con-
fusion in a factery" o. no! all these different
hands are only different parts of the machinery
SO go into your life and see strange things
Here is one providence pulling you one
way, and another in another way. But
these are different parts of one machinery by
which He will advance your everlasting and
present well-being. Now you know that q sec
ond mortgage and a third and fourth MORTGAGE
is often worth nothing 1t is the first mortgage
that is good investment / have to tell you
that every Christian man has a first mortgage
on every trial. and on every disaster, and it
must make payment of eternal advantage to
his soul. How many worriments it would take
out of your heart if you believed that fully
You buy goods and hope tho price will go up
but you are in a fret and trown for fear the
price will go down. You do not buy the goods
using your best discretion in the matter, and
then say, 20, Lord have done the best could
| commit this whole transaction into thy hands y
That is what religion is good for, or it is good
for nothing
There are two things, says an old proverb, you
ought not to fret about. First, things that Won
can help; and, second, things which you cannot
help. If you can help them, why do you not ap-
ply the remedy? If you cannot help them you
might az well surrender first as last. My dear
brethren, do not sit any longer moping about
your ledger Do not sit looking so Responding
upon your stock of unstable goods Do YOU
think that God is going to allow you, Christian
man, to do business alonef God is the con
trolling partner IN every firm; and, al
tough your securities may fail, al
though your store may burn, God will. out of an
infinlty of results. choose for you the very best
results. Do not have any IDEA that you can over
step the limit that God has laid down for your
prosperity. You will never get one inch beyond
it. God has decided how much prosperity you
can stand honorably, and employ usefuily and
control righteously; and at the end of 1856 you
will have just so many dollars and cents, just so
much wardrobe, just so much furniture, Just so
many bonds and mortgages, and nothing more
will give you 800 for every penny beyond that
God has looked over your life. He knows what
is best for you, and He is going to bless you in
time and bless Won for atarnitv: and He will do