, 1886-04-18
THE BOOK OF JOB.
SERMON BY THE REV. Or. DEEMS,
OF NEW YORK.



NEW YoRK, April 1l-At the Church OF
the Strangers, that beautiful granite house
OF worship which Cornelius Vanderbilt pre-
sented TO DIR. Deems in 1859, this morning the
popular preacher spoke on the Book Of job.
As Usual the congregation was largely made
up Of merchants and tradesmen from all
parts OF the United States. DR.. Deems took
for his text the Eplstle OF St james Il, 8:
Eye have heard OF the patience of Job, and
have seen the end OF the Lord; that the Lord
is very pitiful, and OF tender mercy
Tho doctor had Just returned from a three
weeks lecturing tour through the south and
west The following Is n full stenographic
report OF HIS sermon:
On the Sunday morning before I left you.
a discourse wns delivered on this text, setting
forth very important lessons to be learned
from the book called the Book OF Job, and
from the character OF tho man and the his
tory Of the man therein described There are
three lessons now, beloved, which / desire to
call your attention TO this morning. The
frst Is this, that the Book OF Job teaches a
lesson Of humility 10 tho age in which we
live. There have been many influences abroad
TO make this a grand-to make this Justly n
proud age.
For a long time the wheels OF the chariot
OF progress seemed TO be clogged; but then
they began and have gone round with great
r~apldity, and there has been very great prog
ross made When you and go back-those
OF us who are old-to the days OF our boy
hood, and recount the triumphs OF science in
our age, II appears as II we were born in an
ago OF MIRACLE When the president Of the
British Association for the Promotion Of
Science last year made a brilliant review
~ tAu fuaf- - a.. aaaa s. s.aur. all
very proud Of the age in which
we lived. Whom | was born people lived.
comparatively, like savages. Tho poor people
OF New York now live as the rich people did
then, although l do not kno a respectable
person In New York that would care to live
differently from the manner in which /
found John Jacob Aston living down on
Broadway forty years ago.
Then, again, we have made such an appli-
cation OF our seien tihc learning TO tho aid Of
living that all our houses and furniture
bring to us comforts OF a very superior
character. And we know 30 much,
we have learned 50 much and so
rapidly thai IL does seem as II
nobody could learn as much In the same
length OF time. But we forget hat we are
standing upon tho shoulders OF our ancestors,
and thus have our horizon enlarged, not by
our personal altitude, but by the altitude at
which our ancestors have placed us. And
when We came TO look at all this we became
very proud OF ourselves, and are disposed
rather TO look down upon the ancients than
thank them for the ton thousand blessings
which they ave transmitted TO us. As a
striking illustration Of this, we have the
Book Of Job. / arise from the brilliant
achievements OF which l have spoken;
ana tn MORN trauatfAsr A.A.,I
the four continents and seeing the Wonder
full progress; l arise from reading n speech
tina seems TO nave boon made In London
but n moment before I read It, because 1t
has come so quickly over the wires; l arise
from reading Gladstone's mastery exposition
Of his great plan OF s~tatemanship, and l say
TO myself, how great all this Isl what a
wonderful age this isl that | am disposed
to look down on those who lived In primi-
tive times. They had TO walt until the camel
plodded over tho desert to fetch them the
news, which was a month old when IL
reached them
But the balloon OF my pride receives a
wonderful puncture when / tako up tho
chapter in Job that l read, and ! say TO my
self. Here Is the oldest piece Of literature ex-
tanL No man knows when it was
written. There are indications OF scholar
ship In the book which shows that
it could not ave been written before
the exile. There are certain other indica-
tons which show 1t could not nave been
written before tho time OF Solomon There
are certain indications which seem TO show
that II was written either before the time OF
Moses or that Moses wrote it Perhaps he
did; who knowsf He was the only man
about his time that could have done IL and
49,. .,i.. w... ttat L.I a.. I.t..wu
Old Lyman Beechor wns asked one day by
a pert young man, rs he came out OF church,
how long It took him to make the sermon he
had Just preached; and he said forty years,
sir. Moses had forty years for study. You
and | have been in his study, away back yon-
der eight days up from Suez by camel ride or
Arab walk. There alone Is a study In which
a man could think out such a dream
rs this. and he had forty years To
do II amid tho sheep OF his father-in-law.
Whoever wrote IL must ave spent forty
years In thinking out this triumph of all
literature-this first and grAndest Of all
human literature. / hold between my hands
here that which is high water mark OF human
thought; nothing since the ages nave begun
equals that There Is not a student OF litera-
ture that would dare risk his reputa-
tion upon saying that anywhere in the
Orient In Grecian literature, In Roman or In
modern literature, Is there anything which,
as a work OF art, which as a triumph, is equal
to tho amount OF literature held this moment
between the huinb md forefinger OF my left
hand There it stands. topmost Of all that is
brightest
As we consider the work Of the great
writers-of thoss whom we call great men,
how small the four great men are; Homer.
Ha.th.. GI.L....-. - aTue... r-nt----
no more Why, there is not a man upon the
face Of the earth who would dare TO say that
there is anything 10 cqual the Book OF Job.
None OF the men l have named over said
anything 10 grand and true as the Statements
in the Book OF job. Here Is the Oldest pro
duction OF human genius that is the grand
eat in its scope, the DEE pest in It's thought,
the highest In It's aspirations, and the most
brilliant OF the imagination that human
genius has ever produced.
Now whore Is your evolution Why does
not some man approach this great work. you
may ask. IL stands out yonder, built in the
face OF ayes, To rcbuke the pride OF succeed
ing ages, and with all that any other man
has bccn able 10 do since this book
was written, was TO climb up Its lofty steps
unto il great height, II possible, and grasp
ri and admire IT, j. there contained a sim
pie question Of philosophy In any manS writ
ing- .incc the days Of Moses which Is not dis
cussei herri
Has there bseu a single sorrow or a single
sigh In all agcs that Is not represented and
wiped away by some sentence herei Here
where Coils relation TO the spiritual world
and 10 man and Gods government OF the
world Is discussed by men who were not
faithful entirely TO the truth. and by on.
man that was entirely faith lul to the truth,
that was thu first martyr to the truth Of the
merry AMI tho justice Of God against The
old doctrine 81 the correlation Of punishment
very Remarkable Recovery.
Mr. Geo. V. Willing, Of Manchester.
Mich writes. sANfv wica has han aluoat